when do u start ruggin up 24/7 out horses

Firehorse

Firehorse

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jst wondered really. i usually go by the others in our field. there's a 27 yr old mare and a tb who both really need their rugs, so when they start having theirs on i will wait a week or two before rugging mine. altho he is new to me, and he is thin skinned and a bit woosie! he came with a full neck heavyweight rug so i;m guessing he's used to be tucked up very cosily!
 
When it starts getting colder will put a rainsheet on if needed and then either leave on or take off depending on the weather. Weight of rug used varies according to temperature, what the wind chill is and whether it is raining or not.

Most of ours are pretty hardy so don't tend to rug up until October time, but a couple are quite fine skinned and feel the cold so we rug as and when they start to feel the cold.

There's no hard and fast rule really as all horses are different.
 
Hmm, depends how the horses are looking, how cold it is, how much snow etc, usually about the beginning of December, not until the weather is permanently below freezing anyway.

We are being threatened with a (God Forbid) GREEN Christmas this year
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I am not happy, green means wet, wet means warm, warm means mud, I just do NOT do mud anymore.
 
I wont be thinking about rugging my Tbx until temps at night go below 7 degrees and maybe only then if it is raining and / or windy. With the sun on their backs they can heat up very quickly and ruggin early will prevent their own woolies coming through. I would go by how your horse feels rather than how other horses are rugged
 
When the weather is too cold for the amount of fur they have on them - usually end Oct/begin Nov, unless it gets really cold earlier. Once you start rugging them you have the constant worry of are they too hot/too cold, left to own their body thermostats and fur they can pretty much regulate themselves
 
Generally when my 30 year old Irish TB stops running away when I appear in the field with a rug. He also tells me when he's had enough of rugs by getting his off on a daily basis. I figure he's old enough to know what suits him.

Usually about November when they have their middleweights on and then change to heavy weights with necks New Year time. But depends very much on the weather and conditions. If cold but sunny, even snow, they're ok without their rugs in the day, but if miserable and wet then rugs on. I leave them without as long as possible and am always amazed every spring by the volume of insulating fluff I get out of them and then wonder why I worried about them being warm enough. It's the equivalent of them wearing an arctic weight duvet incorporating a waxed jacket.

We went to see the Queen's brood mares and without exception they all live out 24/7, in foal with no rugs. Many of them are TB's, but to be fair, they have very nice sheltered paddocks with shelters, but nevertheless are not in any way mollycoddled.

I supose the debate is whether we try too hard, but to an extent it depends on the individual horse. I have found that the more mine live out, the less inclined they are to be rugged up. Perhaps it's an acclimatisition sort of thing.
 
Usually put on a lightweight once it starts to turn colder - usually September ish. Then, end October (ish) the clippers come out and it's on with a midweight and the heavyweight is when it gets rally cold. Mind you....colder up here. Mine is out 24/7.
 
When it's too cold, I see shivering, tucked up or any sign of needing some human help to cope with a horsey situation!! Cob lives out all yr so I figure longer she can go without - better it will serve her if weather gets really really cold.
 
October at the earliest, sometimes not until December, depends on how bad the weather gets.
 
My natives (Welsh A & D and NF) will wait until it gets genuinely cold, the Shetland X won't be rugged (obviously). Have to keep an eye on Penny (the A) as she's getting on a bit now and I make a point of keeping her very slim during the summer (laminitis prone), so she feels the cold more in the winter.

Difficult to pick a month, November / Dec (?) depends, I need to 'feel' that it's the right time
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all depends on weather if it is a freezind day with sun shine i want rug but wet windy and cold i will i just go by what the weather does put generally from middle of october early nov i would say they would have there rugs on!
 
My two Arabs get rainsheets at night from mid-September onwards and heavier rugs probably from mid-October. But it's very weather/temperature dependent, they do have shelter, and a lovely bright day in early December usually merits rugs off!
 
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