Which rug?

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lucysnapshot

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I have a 16.1hh 5yr old irish sports horse mare who is going to be off for 6months due to an injury, so im planning on wintering her out with my foal who will be weaned in october. They wil be out together with no man made shelter but plenty of natural shelter, so what kind of rug shall i use for both of them? I have a WB Landa combo 220gm and a WB orican combo which is 60gm i think. Or should i buy a warmer one?
 
The orican is heavier than the Landa if I remember rightly? Personally would make sure had a fully waterproof rub over and above anything else, is she a good doer?
 
I would keep it as lightweight as possible. It's usually the wet and the wind that gets to them. And as long as they have plenty of shelter, and some good quality haylage ad lib then I bet they will do very well.

Lots of people will say don't rug - and to a point I agree. I would play it by ear and not be too quick to rug. However, once the rugs go on, they'll have to stay on obviously.

I wouldn't go for a combo either. Either no neck - or a detachable neck.
 
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I think shes a good doer, iv only had her since may and shes been on box rest since iv had her! I think i'll just play it by ear and see how she gets on

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If that's the case, then remember that she might never have had to cope with 24/7 and it could well mean you having to feed her almost as much as you would if she was stabled until she adapts better. I would also try to keep her rug off until absolutely necessary to jump start her coat coming through but being up in the north east, that will probably be much earlier than for us softees! It's when they get wet that they get cold and lose weight. Another idea would be to stop all grooming for at least a fortnight before you turn them away so she can get some grease and protection into her coat which will help a lot.
 
Not sure if this helps, but I had blanket-clipped my mare (selle francais type) then turned her away in the depths of winter - she started off with a heavy-weight combo on, but it rubbed, so I put a medium weight on with no neck cover. She looked far better than she ever had stabled! Now I suspect she rarely gets rugged - MFH would be able to tell you though!
 
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