what rugs to use!?

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myprincess

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I have a thoroughbred, with the ever changing weather i am struggling to know what to put him in, hes currently got on a light- medium and as hes terrified of clippers i dont want him getting cold and wooly but i also dont want him over heating any advice!? I'm up north so it does get pretty chilly at night and hes out 24/7 until mid october.
 
None of mine are rugged yet, it may be milder here in the south. the grass is still growing, they all look extremely well and have shown no sign of being cold most have hardly started changing their coats, as long as he has a decent amount of grass and hay if required he will be unlikely to get too cold and is at more risk of overheating.
Rugging will make little difference to how much coat he grows so rather than putting on something too heavy just give him some hay to eat if he needs it and keep him warm from the inside.
 
I'm right on the Scottish Border and not only is my usually very hardy warmblood rugged (just a rainsheet), her winter coat is almost fully through!

It is just a case of guaging how cold your horse is, if your horse is loosing condition etc.
 
Nobody can tell you what rugs to put on your own horse - you need to look at him and feel him to see whether he is cold or not. What rugs he needs depend on his type, the microclimate of your field etc.
 
Things are changing daily here and you have to be very flexible. My TBxWB is unclipped and she is currently naked most of the time with a lightweight on at night if it's going to be cold or wet. If it's going to be cold AND wet she's in a light/medium. Last winter she never needed anything thicker than a standard neck medium, but some winters here can be a lot harsher and I do have a couple of heavy weights for her. One with a standard neck, the other full neck. She has two of every weight. As soon as they start to leak they are either reproofed (with the spray on nikwax) or replaced. I do tend to wash them a lot as I like them to look clean and so they can lose their waterproofing, but the nikwax spray is excellent. The wash in reproofer doesn't work IME.

As a livery yard owner who only does full livery, I wish that all owners would provide their horses with two rugs of each weight because I hate having to put wet or very dirty rugs on their horses. But unfortunately I think it would be too rude of me to ask that they do.Also, I find that most horses come with one lightweight and one or two heavies. Nothing in between.
 
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I'm in Scotland and my boy is not clipped, out in the day in a mw and in at night with a fleece.
But no one can tell you what rug to put on him. If he is cold put a thicker rug on, if cold put a thinner one on!
 
I am in Scotland too and I did swither a bit at the weekend as it got quite cold. Then it got warm. Then we had 60mph winds and torrential rain but temps in double figures and now its cold and windy again. He's out 27/7, unclipped and unrugged (he's a lusitano-no bleddy coat to speak of). He's fine-no sign of being cold and he doesn't much like rugs so will review daily and that's all you can do really. Mine still have plenty to eat and a slice of hay every day.
 
TGM said:
Nobody can tell you what rugs to put on your own horse - you need to look at him and feel him to see whether he is cold or not. What rugs he needs depend on his type, the microclimate of your field etc.
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This. I am constantly checking the weather and temperature app on my phone (not that I am going to rug anytime soon its so mild) and it was pretty chilly overnight last night but when I walked the dog down to the fields this morning my boy was warm to touch under his armpit and round the base of his ears so plenty warm but he is naturally a very warm horse anyway. Sadly I dont think any of us can tell you what rug to put on when!
 
My compromise has been to chuck my mare's cooler on under her rainsheet right now - but I'm there 2 x day so can whip it off in the morning if it looks like its going to be warm. She has always struggled despite being one of those horses you'd think could be left unrugged.

My gelding grows an enormous coat and I find him very happy in the field with unmelted frost and snow on his back in the winter. Bring him in and give him hay and he starts to steam as he defrosts.
 
I'm down in the south so not much help to you but mine are all out at night unrugged and going into their winter coats.

As be positive has already said, it won't make really make any difference to his coat growth if he has a rug on or not. Studies have shown that it is the amount (or lack of) daylight that is the key factor in coat growth. Often it will look like they have less coat after wearing a rug as the weight of the rug just flattens it all down.
 
I'm North East Scotland but tbh it depends on each horse.

I have one here that has been in a middleweight out at night all summer, ridiculous but she hates being cold and we are in an exposed windy spot.

The other two have been in sheets/lightweights.

Horses for courses, look at the coat and feel under the rug to gauge what weight is needed if any.
 
Varies so much from horse to horse, day to day. Have a good feel, if cold, put a rug on; if warm, don't. Its not that complicated. If he's unclipped, chances are he wont need one unless his coat is very thin.
 
I despise the rugging culture (especially idiots who put their horses in "onesies" or hideous pink rugs), but realise that some rugs are required if your horse is in work and clipped. I've never used anything heavier than a medium weight (even when it snowed), but then I'm down south.

I've got:
1 LW turnout, plus spare,
1 MW turnout, plus spare,
1 LW stable rug, plus spare (hardly ever used),
1 MW stable rug, plus spare,
1 Cooler/Fleece,
1 Witney blanket which I use as a travel rug, plus a Witney exercise sheet.

That's for my lad whose clipped and in work. I don't rug my other neds because they're not in work and they're not clipped. If they want to get out of the rain, then they have a perfectly adequate field shelter.

I don't know if that's any help or not, OP.
 
Ask 1000 horse owners about rugging, you will get 1000 different answers.

This is totally fine but I despise those that imply that those that do need to rug their horses are somehow the devil incarnate.
For the record I have 4 horses, tonight :
1 is naked
1 is in a lightweight sheet
1 is in a lightweight fill
1 is in a medium weight
 
glamourpuss said:
Ask 1000 horse owners about rugging, you will get 1000 different answers.

This is totally fine but I despise those that imply that those that do need to rug their horses are somehow the devil incarnate.
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There's a huge difference between rugging out of *necessitation* and rugging for the pure sake of it/for fashion/because owner thinks their ponio/ned looks "cute" in a onesie. In my previous post, I was talking about despising those who fall into the *latter*, I was not talking about the former.
 
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VikingSong said:
There's a huge difference between rugging out of *necessitation* and rugging for the pure sake of it/for fashion/because owner thinks their ponio/ned looks "cute" in a onesie. In my previous post, I was talking about despising those who fall into the *latter*, I was not talking about the former.
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But if it's their horse & not hurting the animal then who is anyone to judge?

You say you hate them putting horses in pink rugs but if it's a rug where the fit & thickness is appropriate what does it matter what colour it is?
I really, really hate rugging threads because:
1) if you can't make a decision on what rug (or even if it needs one!) to put on the horse that you can see& feel & know without asking on the Internet....then should you have a bloody horse in the first place :D
2) it always turns into some self righteous bragging from those whose horses don't need rugs (not aimed at you BTW just an observation)
 
Like others have said, it's really hard to comment on whether your horse should be rugged or not. It's really your judgement call. I would just have a feel of him and see if he feels cold.

It's better to under rug then over rug, a horse can warm itself up by eating and moving around but a horse that is overrugged will have a hard time cooling itself down.

My Warmblood is quite a warm horse, I haven't got round to clipping yet so he's out naked 24/7 at the moment. I'm in Yorkshire, and the temperature has dropped (below 10) a couple of times in the past couple of weeks, but it's up to double figures again in no time. He's woolly so he has plenty of coat to keep him warm.


Most other people at the yard have started rugging and he's generally the only one out without a rug on, but until he's clipped he won't be having one. Unless it gets REALLY cold.
 
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