What rugs do you rug your natives in?

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Brambridge04

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I have a Newforest mare.....

Last year she was pretty poor when i got her so she was in a medium weight with neck, and medium weight underneath, and with correct feeding soon thrived.

This year i have just brought a 200gram fill with neck rug....i was going to put this on in september, and possibly used the MW underneath it again if/when snow hits?
 
It's called fur... :D I put a rug on only if the weather is extremely wet and windy. Last winter, he somehow managed to come out of the winter fatter than he went into it.

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almost all the foresters i ride live out 24/7 and have no feed except for hay in the winter, and have a bib, apron or Irish clip in the winter and wear a middleweight as they don't have much shelter and are in regular work. If they are not clipped...no rug...except for the oldies :)
 
My New Forest is a chilly soul and is rugged accordingly,he rarely sees one before late October though.
If in work I find it is so much easier if they are rugged ,they are healthier with you spending the time riding rather than hours of grooming or waiting for them to dry imo.
 
Your statement about "coming in pretty poor" is really quite important. Not for rugging purposes, but for health.

I think horses need to come in a little poorer from winter, especially natives, to buffer the spring rich pickings which will cover them well through summer.

Some owners are scared of this lean period but it is entirely natural and actually very good for their metabolism & hormonal balance. If only more people would allow for this lean/fat cycle we would see less metabolic issues.

I suppose then, what you mean by poor should really govern your energy input regime. A pony working hard over winter when his/her metabolism is already pretty slow means you need to keep pumping in the fibrous stuff and cut out the starchy stuff which is hard to digest when you're on a go-slow. The fibre digestion when sedate should generate enough heat to keep pony warm even when resting.

This is why rugging depends largely on lost insulation only. E.g. if you took off half his fur, then you need to replace what that fur would have meant in insulation value.

You only have to look at snow on a horses back that can't melt to see how good horse-hair is at insulation! It's truly marvellous.

Don't be scared of not rugging unless you have taken away natural insulation. Of course, bear in mind, I am being specific about our natives. They did evolve here before we even decided to pitch up a mud-hut and stop eating them for meat.

Do what you like with tbs and your wbs, they're a made up breed, pretty and fabulous, don't get me wrong, but require owner-emotion for rugging.
 
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If not in work, not clipped, no rug (out 24/7).
Partially clipped, partial work, m/w rug (out 24/7).
Hunter clipped, working up to 5 days a week, m/w rug and then 100g underneath if needed (out during the day).

I've done the two first, but the third are my plans for this year :)

Oh and he's a Welsh D, good do-er.
 
tallyho! said:
Your statement about "coming in pretty poor" is really quite important. Not for rugging purposes, but for health.

I think horses need to come in a little poorer from winter, especially natives, to buffer the spring rich pickings which will cover them well through summer.

Some owners are scared of this lean period but it is entirely natural and actually very good for their metabolism & hormonal balance. If only more people would allow for this lean/fat cycle we would see less metabolic issues.

I suppose then, what you mean by poor should really govern your energy input regime. A pony working hard over winter when his/her metabolism is already pretty slow means you need to keep pumping in the fibrous stuff and cut out the starchy stuff which is hard to digest when you're on a go-slow. The fibre digestion when sedate should generate enough heat to keep pony warm even when resting.

This is why rugging depends largely on lost insulation only. E.g. if you took off half his fur, then you need to replace what that fur would have meant in insulation value.

You only have to look at snow on a horses back that can't melt to see how good horse-hair is at insulation! It's truly marvellous.

Don't be scared of not rugging unless you have taken away natural insulation. Of course, bear in mind, I am being specific about our natives. They did evolve here before we even decided to pitch up a mud-hut and stop eating them for meat.

Do what you like with tbs and your wbs, they're a made up breed, pretty and fabulous, don't get me wrong, but require owner-emotion for rugging.
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Sorry i meant when i got her, just after summer she was pretty poor, going into winter!
 
Being the owner of a grey, yes grey connemara x TB gelding, I have to say that I do rug him through the winter as he turns into a complete mud monster! His turnout rug has a detachable neck and he only wears a lightweight unless it is really cold and then he will have a m/w. His stable rug is a lightweight.

As he has got older I have found that he has become a good doer. ( he is 13 now) when he was younger , he was a bit of a stress head and the weight always dropped off. During the winter I am able to manage his feeding better as he comes in at night and I am pleased when he starts to loose those extra pounds that he has put on over the summer.
 
No rugs, no feed for my natives through winter, just plenty of ad lib hay when it was snowing :) looked well covered coming out of winter too :D
 
my natives go out naked, they were the only ones in the field with no rugs on but they seemed the happiest. they get a handful (small) of chaff when they come in but that's it. they don't need or want anything else.
 
Before you shoot me, Drum is the worlds biggest wimp and WILL NOT come out of his stable in the rain/snow, you can not drag him out. Last year he was clipped and the only way we could stop him from losing weight was to wear a 400g stable rug with a 450g full neck turnout over the top and sometimes a cooler rug underneath. :o
 
He is fully clipped (as in no hair left :D) so he is rugged as any other clipped horse would be. He has a decent medium for most days and when its really cold he has a super heavy weight. Then at night he has a duvet and a meduim stable rug and someimes another rug if its cold.
 
my shetland will be fully clipped with lw rhino turnout and stable rugs, I have thinner rugs to go under if he's cold. Trying to get a exercise rug for when he is ridden (clipped because he still had his winter coat in July! And I hate the moulting process!)

Welsh cob will be fully clipped and he has lw rambo's, mw rambo's and flleece sherpa's etc to keep him warm as he's thin skinned and I worry about him!

Both stabled at night with ad lib hay and 2 small feeds to keep them happy :D
 
No rugs for my Welshie D...used to have him in a light medium weight all winter but he kept too much weight on and then got laminitis in 2009. So he has been rugless ever since and he did really well last winter even in the snow and -17 temp we got down too. He has access to a field stable at all times and is in for the night time with hay. He did not loose anything last winter weight wise so he cant have been struggling to stay warm at all!
 
my Welsh A is a woose she is in at night out in day , some morns recently gone t/o and she been shivering :confused::rolleyes:.

she has 3 different weights L_M_H and the same WO necks
 
I only ever rugged my highland x exmoor in a LW(50g filling) to keep him clean no neck on it and he had been clipped previous year and didnt throw a coat like previous winters when naked. Very occassionally he has had a MW on but only if i was worried his other rug was going to leak or it was bitterly cold.
My TB wont even be in a 200gm mw with neck at the end of sept/oct. He will only go into a rug when clip him late oct.
 
the other thing is that you don't want to say you'll put X rug on your horse/pony at X time, the way our weather goes you might get away with just a rain sheet until later. planning ahead is good for some things but not setting a date for when to rug/change rug weight etc.
 
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