What rugs or lack of rugs are you using for horses out 24/7?

Have to admit, it makes me feel a bit ill at the thought of horses out in HW/MW rugs in May!

Meg's now out naked now the rain's cleared (she was only in a LW/rainsheet anyway) and Miloh has been naked all through winter.
 
Moomin1 said:
And what is wrong with me saying I wouldn't rug?!! Do I have to agree with rugging?! :confused:

As I said - if a horse has a veterinary condition which means they aren't keeping the condition or warmth then fine, or if they are old and unable to keep as much condition.

IMO all this talk of horses 'shivering' in average British temps when not rugged is the result of over rugging horses from an early age. We are in an over rugging 'culture' these days. I for one never recall seeing horses years ago that needed rugging half as much as the horses these days.
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The implication of your two posts read together was that those who are still rugging are somehow wrong. It is fantastic if you don't need to rug, but not all horses can cope like that. Mine has a very fine coat, and doesn't hold condition well. If she gets cold she'll drop weight, and I've spent a lot of money (and worry) getting weight on her. She lives in a very exposed field, that is on high ground, the only shelter is dry stone walls or a few trees.

FreddiesGal said:
love this and totally agree - don't think the horses on the Highlands pop to Robinsons when the weather gets a bit chilly!
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No but horses that live ferel on the highlands/moors/fells/mountains are generally unclipped native types that don't have much option. They will also tend to manage their weight by piling it on over summer and dropping over winter. A fine coated TB or WB cannot be expected to live in the same conditions.

Parker79 said:
It is dependent on soooo many factors!

1. The horse, type, coat, age, condition.
2. What shelter they have if any
3. Position of field (and if any shelter)
4. Amount of grass/hay available.

Many livery yards have turnout for 1-2 horses...small paddocks with no shelter...so an owner has to rug accordingly.

I have a TBx retired mare...I have never 'over-rugged' and always provided a good shelter....but my Friesian youngster seems to feel the cold! I tried him without rugs a few months ago but my YO intervened and said she found him cold a few times so we put the rugs back on...he is naked again now.

I think there are too many factors to consider for people to be generalising.
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Exactly.
 
Had a feeling this thread would cause some friction..

mine are currently out in fly rugs as we live in very wet land, and all are sensitive and one has SI..
At night, until last night all of mine were in 2 medium weights as it was still chilly, all were in a single medium last night and werent overly warm this morning, even our shetlands/foal were in fleeces/lightweights last night..
I completely over rug, but i do regular checks throughout the day/evening and make sure none of mine are too hot, theyre all very used to it, and they didnt actually get their pj's on last night til 10.30pm, after spending all evening naked :)
 
None. Even mine who hates the cold & has no winter coat left after a late clip is perfectly happy without, & has been for weeks.
 
now the weather is brighter/warmer i'm less likely to rug overnight
In response to "not rugging at 2degrees" - we kept having hail showers, it would be very abnormal for any horse (native or not) to have a summer coat and not be cold in that weather! So it would go back to dependent on feed available and shelter as to whether to rug.
Horses are shivering as its abnormal weather for may - i know of horses that cast their coats at the end of december due to the abnormally warm winter so then had a summer coat for what i would class as winter weather :o
 
Both mine are naked, although TB had a 100g on during the wet weather as she gets cold in the rain (got caught out twice and arrived to find a naked, shivering, wet horse).

Native x has been naked all winter as she grows a coat like a yeti!
 
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