What rugs are your horses in atm?

Monty, 29yo full tb, unclipped out in 220g T/O with no neck. Out 24/7.

Zoomy, 13yo full tb, fully clipped out in 220g T/O with full neck. Out 24/7.

I am finding it very difficult to rug in this mild weather. It is the first time Zoom has been fully clipped but she would be naked if she wasn't clipped so it's hard to judge. She was clipped out yesterday and she's been in for a week with an injury, otherwise she would be in even less!

I can't believe how much people are rugging. How do your horses walk??!!
 
From my experience of being on a livery yard, most people I came across tended to judge how warm their horse was by putting their hand under the rug....and seemed to like them to be toasty warm there.....the same horses were also the ones that had sweat marks when the rugs were taken off
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I always thought that you should go by core body temperature, not surface temperature (as surface temp is the heat the body is trying to get rid of), so I always feel the base of their ears and in behind their elbow....I can tell when they are 'cold' or just right from doing this, and rug accordingly.
 
Dutch warmblood 4yrs fully clipped out inc face is in Jewel Equestrian t/out which is HW400g with full neck and a summer sheet underneath, he has been in this now for about 6 wks and I have just bought snuggy head as he is never that warm. At night he is in full snuggy hood with ears, and Fal silver interactive hw400g with full neck.
He hates the rain so thinks its going to be a long winter. Its just so hard to keep their coates nice looking and smooth throughout the winter.
 
TB with high chaser clip has sheet and then 200gm full neck TO (AMIGO) on with snuggy head in the day, night she stays the same, TB x Welsh D, clipped out but growing back, rapidly too, 200gm full neck (again Amigo), TB full clipped but growing back again 200gm (Premier Equine), all stay in there TO at night....
 
Zoom has been on box rest and the farmer was saying I was over rugging in a 150g stable rug since he put his hand under her rug and she was very warm...............but that's because I clipped her that morning and he was practically touching bare skin!!

Her ears are how I always tell. She has half a face left on. I really don't think 600g of rug can be good for any horse. Wouldn't the energy required to move around the field in all those rugs counteract the energy you are keeping in by keeping them so warm??
 
my appy x has a lightweight on and he only has that on so that his back is dry when we ride out each morning, it's still warm where i am, was poo picking last night in jeans and tee shirt! at the end of november!!
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Unclipped TB out 24/7 and currently wears either a 200g standard neck rug or 180g combo, depending on the weather (combo is for the rain).

I too check how warm she is by the base of her ears and she is warm enough.
 
just standing up for those that rug a lot-i check by feeling ears, elbows and up between back legs, and im looking for them to be warm, not hot, to the touch.

they are perfectly happy-can gallop/buck/fart/roll all the way over etc, they dont have any rug rubs or sweat marks.

600g of rug is nothing, when is blowing a gale with snow on the ground they go out for a few hours with their HW turnouts on top of 3 stable rugs and a thermatex, and can still gallop/fart/bronc/roll all the way over!!!

warm horses have better coats, use less calories keeping warm and dont get stiff.

TBH im a bit alarmed by some of the horses that are clipped and only in LW's, its not freexing ill agree but its not exactly warm either?! I hate seeing clipped horses with dull, stary coats, tucked up tummies and tight backs because their owners dont like 'over rugging'! clipped horses travelling in one sheet or warming up without an exercise sheet is one of my pet hates! how would you feel stripped of your PJ's and made to do aerobics in a cold menage! fair enough if you have a very warm horse who sweats up easily, but so many people complain the horse is tight over the back/tense/resistant etc, well wouldnt you be if you were shivering!!!

thats just the other side of the coin,and nothing personal aginst anyone in particular, just an observation!
 
All British natives, the two that are ridden have bib clips, none of them are rugged at the mo, which is proving to be a nightmare when trying to get ready to ride but it so warm at the mo.

Can anyone recommend a cheap lightweight rug (no filling) to fit a NF pony and Welsh Cob (obviously one each, they won't have to share!)
 
fully clipped westphalien in 200g stable rug and 450g premier equine storm buster on top
fully clipped holstein in 200g stable rug and 350g weatherbeeta taka combo
we are in scotland and right by the coast (sea 5 mins away can see it from the field) and although the actually temperature is not that low the chill factor we are gettng from the wind espically today is pretty bad!!!!!
 
Mine only started coming in at night from this weekend, they aren't clipped yet so they have what I'd described as light middleweights (aka washed out but still useable rugs!) during the day and nothing at night. Once they are clipped they'll get medium weight stable rugs and proper medium weights until it's colder then they'll get their heavyweights and neck covers on. I'm another one in Scotland but we have only had temps averaging down to about 6 during the day atm
 
My thermometer says it's 15 degrees here at the mo and the sun is shinning, Prince would be sweating in anything more than his rain sheet at the mo, he worked beautifully over his back when i rode him last night with no exercise sheet. His coat is lovely and shiny.
 
I'm afraid we will have to agree to disagree! I don't think it is ever necessary to rug your horse to that degree.

However I suppose as long as your horses are as happy and well as you say then that's fine.

Monty isn't clipped but he does feel the cold. He is nearly 30 and a full tb and drops weight when he is cold. He is looking very well for his age in a 220g T/O with no neck. It is not cold!!! Likewise, Zoom is a full tb and has a hunter clip. She is shiny and well covered. I wouldn't ever bother with an exercise sheet since since if I thought she needed her arse covered I would give her a blanket clip. However I guess going from 600g to 0g in 60 seconds would be a different matter.
 
Marley (unclipped podgy welshie) is living out with a no fill rainsheet on

and Teddy (unclipped 3/4 TB who is always cold) is living in (turnout finished) in a MW with a neck
 
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just standing up for those that rug a lot-i check by feeling ears, elbows and up between back legs, and im looking for them to be warm, not hot, to the touch.

they are perfectly happy-can gallop/buck/fart/roll all the way over etc, they dont have any rug rubs or sweat marks.

600g of rug is nothing, when is blowing a gale with snow on the ground they go out for a few hours with their HW turnouts on top of 3 stable rugs and a thermatex, and can still gallop/fart/bronc/roll all the way over!!!


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yes but at the moment its not like that, sure its rainy and windy and generally vile
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but it is very mild!! what will happen in jan/feb when it actually is freezing!! I am shocked actually by how many rugs some people have on their horses at the mo - although i do believe each to their own
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I have an 18yr old skinny connemara, he is fully clipped out and is in a mw/hw with neck in the day. before he was clipped a few weeks ago he was in a lw or naked if it was dry. he was just wearing a fleece at night in his stable but now has his mw stable rug with a neck over the top - he has a duvet to replace the fleece when it gets arctic but thats it. My stable is very exposed to wind though as he has a side window
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Oh dear over ruggers are going to hate me...

I have my WB in a 100grm rambo duo atm & he's fully clipped, he's stabled at night with ad-lib haylage (so that helps to keep him warm) & he is mega warm. No dull stary coat here, just mega shiny!!!
When the weather drops he will have another 100grm liner in.

My other 2 are un-clipped TB & IDxTB & have just moved from no fill rainsheets into 40grm Fal T/O's.

I have to watch my lot carefully as they do overheat at nothing. If i put 600grm of rugs on them i doubt i would have any horses left by the morning lol.
 
i dont think anyone is going to 'hate' anyone because of the amount/lack of rugs their horse is wearing.....i was merely pointing out there are 2 sides to every argument.

you obviously see a lot of over heated horses sweating to death and thats your bug bear, i barely ever see that but DO see lots of tucked up skinny sods that look cold and miserable, so thats my bug bear.

i do find it odd to boast about how few rugs your skinny older horse is wearing though........surely you need to be keeping the calories in? iv no dount that if my TB, who is fully clipped and works hard (relative to only being 4) for his living, was only in a MW rug, he would be much leaner and much harder to keep the weight on.
as it is, he is nicely round and shiny and doesnt need vast amounts of hard feed to keep him that way. extra rug or more feed=no brainer!

not every horse is so wimpy, i know that, but equally, not all are tough enough to need so little mollycoddling!!!!!!
 
Blue has a trace/chaser clip (over grown back full clip so hair left on is short), and is out 24/7 in a MW with no neck
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Hairy beasty Merlin is naked and a fluff ball
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I don't think that anyone was boasting about anything. As you and I have both said, everyone rugs and feeds in order to keep their horses happy and healthy. If that is the case then it's fine.

I am only talking from my own experience, and that experience is that I have never met any horse who requires that degree of rugging. However, I freely admit that my horses are little more than happy hackers who dabble in a bit of hunting/jumping etc. Perhaps if I was on a nice yard with proper horses I would see a different way of management..........notice i say different and not wrong!

In fact everyone in my field thinks that I over-rug!! I struggle to keep the weight on Monty and I find that over-rugging him causes him to lose just as much weight as under-rugging.

I am actually gonna stick all his rugs on at once and take a photo. He would look like a Michelin Man with both his turnouts on.......especially with his skinny spider legs
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"I am actually gonna stick all his rugs on at once and take a photo. He would look like a Michelin Man with both his turnouts on.......especially with his skinny spider legs "

lol....we did once have a very poorly show pony, who couldnt keep warm at all, and was in so many rugs he looked like a little hippo!!!!
 
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i do find it odd to boast about how few rugs your skinny older horse is wearing though........surely you need to be keeping the calories in? iv no dount that if my TB, who is fully clipped and works hard (relative to only being 4) for his living, was only in a MW rug, he would be much leaner and much harder to keep the weight on.


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I wasnt boasting - and just want to say that by skinny i dont really mean skinny i just mean for a native he is quite lightweight and fine, and naturally a slim build he's not a chubby native
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ahem.....
fully clipped ISH (but a wimp) out in day in 300g stable rug with 450g full neck turnout on top,and snuggy hood. in at night with same stable rug with 400g full neck stable rug on top and leg wraps.

fully clipped TB-out in day in 300g stable rug and 350g full neck turnout,and snuggy hood. In at night with same stable rug with 350g full neck stable rug on top,and leg wraps.

unclipped shetland (but a real wuss)-out in day in LW turnout with 350g full neck turnout on top, in at night in a thermatex, wool blanket folded up his neck,and 220g stable rug.

im quite sure a lot of people will say its too much, but they are happy, warm (but not sweaty) and it works for me so????

(and as an excuse, i used to produce show ponies for my sister and have never got out the habit of rugging up well!!)

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Where do you live? Antartica??
 
My lad is in his medium weight with no neck that he wears every winter...that seems enough at the moment and hopefully will be from now on. I am having to keep a check though as he feels the cold anyway and lost loads of weigth following box rest...so all his ribs are showing and he is bound to feel the cold more.
 
Well, I'm the bonny old West coast of Scotland and it has rained here CONSTANTLY for weeks. Main roads closed with flooding, burns at the stables have all burst their banks and have a current too strong to cross to collect horse - so I guess rugging really depends on where you live/the weather!
Its wild here!!
That said, my fat boy is out 24/7 in a 200g no neck as I'm looking for him to lose weight
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My fluffy wee beastie has got a rainsheet on today. I'm regretting that now though. I wasn't sure if he was in or out tonight so I just chucked that on him. As it is he's in, so he could have just gone nekkid, rolled and let the mud do the rugs work!
 
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