Welsh section a/rugs?!

My Welsh A has turn out rugs rain sheet and stable rugs, if ever she needs them, at this moment in time she doesn't, and she didn't last year even thou we had plenty of rain. But I never say never and she takes a 5ft. And these Welsh ponies bred now a days aren't as hardy as the original breed forty years ago.
 
I have a section A companion who gets wet right through and stands shivering under our pathetic bare trees when we have rain along with proper cold. Alas she didn't get the memo about native breeds not needing rugs (goodness knows what she did before as she did actually come off a mountain), in fact she is the only one I worry about when it rains heavily in winter. It's all about waterproofness though she has a 100g which is very handy when it has already been raining as soaks it all up and bone dry within the hour. She is only 3 though so part of it is having a slightly fluffy foal like coat, I hardly groom or bathe her, she's just delicate I guess! If there was a shelter or stable with hay in it she'd never come out :-)
 
mandwhy said:
I have a section A companion who gets wet right through and stands shivering under our pathetic bare trees when we have rain along with proper cold. Alas she didn't get the memo about native breeds not needing rugs (goodness knows what she did before as she did actually come off a mountain), in fact she is the only one I worry about when it rains heavily in winter. It's all about waterproofness though she has a 100g which is very handy when it has already been raining as soaks it all up and bone dry within the hour. She is only 3 though so part of it is having a slightly fluffy foal like coat, I hardly groom or bathe her, she's just delicate I guess! If there was a shelter or stable with hay in it she'd never come out :-)
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Shivering is natures way of warming the horse up. Its not something to be overly stressed about. The time that is most miserable for them is when the rain is accompanied by cold winds.

I have a picture of my pony on Xmas day - No rug on and covered in a layer of ice showing the insulating properties of the coat. She was warm as toast under the hair.
 
You’d have to look at the horse. My retired Welsh A and Welsh X are both 27ish only the Welsh X needed a rug 2 winters ago for around a week after wind and rain got through his coat, not at all last winter he did better. The Welsh hasn’t worn a rug since clipped. They do live out though.
 
Depends on the pony really. My sec A x is ok in cold dry weather but will really feel the cold in wet and windy conditions. I would get a couple of rugs just in case. You need two in case one gets soaking wet and you need to change it.
 
Sandstone1 said:
Depends on the pony really. My sec A x is ok in cold dry weather but will really feel the cold in wet and windy conditions. I would get a couple of rugs just in case. You need two in case one gets soaking wet and you need to change it.
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Totally agree. Am I the only one baffled by these threads? Why not rug the pony you have in front of you, rather than obsessing about breed.
 
I had 3 welsh A types until recently. One, the littlest would see a rug every few years! He does own some rugs but rarely needs one on.
The other two, both in their mid/late 30's are always rugged if its nasty weather.
I liked Shires Typhoons for mine as they are budget friendly, really light weight and dry easily. Also not a huge amount of choice in rugs under 5' i found. Swish were way to wide round the chest. Amigo's are also nice.
 
My sec B lived out all year and the only time she was rugged was when we had a sharer who wanted her clean. Funnily enough, she got laminitis early that spring. She lived out rugless those super cold snowy winters we had around 2010, she was absolutely fine. If your pony is coming in at night it won't need a rug and some might say that putting even a thin lightweight rain sheet on to "keep them dry" (and they never do keep heavy rain out) stops the coat from working as it should by flattening it so could well do more harm than good. Unless your pony is ill or clipped, leave it as nature intended, ie, designed to be living out on a mountain all year round.
 
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