Which weight of rug is your horse currently wearing? Hard to decide in the morning!

mhorses

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 December 2010
Messages
508
Location
UK
Visit site
Its so hard to judge which rug to put on my horse in the mornings.

Yesterday it was sunny and warm in the morning and i turned the horse out without a rug. When i arrived home in the afternoon he was standing at the gate quite cold. I put on his medium weight rug on in the stable without his neck piece.

This morning it was pouring from the heavens and rather cold so i attached the neck peice to his medium weight rug and turned him out. When i arrive home the sweat was dripping off him and the sun was beaming down.

Is anyone else struggling to decide what rug to wear?

I know horses can naturally heat themselves up easier than cool themselves.
 
I know that feeling well!! It can be difficult to decide what to put them in, especially if you're out working all day and can't get back to change rugs if the sun comes out or it decides its gonna rain!!! Because it's been so mild recently, my boy's in a lightweight (and sometimes neck) at night and if it looks like its gonna be sunny or dry all day, I'll take the rug off in the morning and he'll spend the day with nothing! But I do regret that sometimes because of the state he gets in through the day! :D
 
My girl was last fully clipped end of Feb and is either naked during the day or in her no fill amigo with no neck, at night she is wearing a waffle cooler just to keep the chill off.
Although not obese she can afford to loose a little weight so trying to keep her slightly cooler rather than warm in a last ditch attempt to shed a few pounds before we move to summer grazing.
 
My tb is in fly rug/lw in day as so mild, at night he's in mw/hw. Basically, I try and play it that if it drops below 5 at night, then it's hw! He's out 24/7 now too!
 
My boys in his 180g. He's also quite underweight, so I'd rather him be warm. He's not getting too hot either, so he's quite happy. If its really hot, I obviously put on his LW or let him go nakey for a few hours. :D
 
I am possibly (ok well probably :p) coddling my girl a bit but I am trying to get some weight on her so don't want her to be cold at all. She is in a HW with neck at night as she lives out at the top of a valley so can be cold and windy, and either a LW stable rug when she comes in for a few hours during the day or nothing if it is warm.
 
the weather can never make its mind up, walked the dogs at 6 this morning a a tad chilly.

My TB is fully clipped, so if in doubt I always put a thin or t/m for day time and a med on at night, having 24/7 turnout if he does get could I know as he is standing in his shelter when I get there.
 
NOTHING! I would say at the moment, although sometimes a little chilly it really isn't THAT cold and I would turn out in nothing heavier than a lightweight and then pop a fleece on in the stable overnight if he HAD to wear something...
 
I'm juggling depending on the weather forecast. Even if it's 7 degrees when I turn out, if it's going to reach 16 degrees during the day she'll go out naked. If it's only going to reach 12 degrees during the day, she's going out in her lightweight minimum fill rug. If warm but pouring down, her rainsheet.
 
My good doer is clipped naked and is going out rugless unless its raining, in which case he goes out in a light rain sheet with no fill.

I'm in Scotland.
 
My TB is out 24/7. Generally in day he is either in l/w or naked and at night l/w or m/weight. Weather dependant. I just watch the weather forecast and make a decision from there.
He hates being too hot, so would rather he got chilly for an hour or two than over heated as he would stress, lose weight and destroy his rugs!
 
I'm an evil mummy! Mine both had their last full clips at the end of Jan and are now out 24/7 rug less! They are both good doers so could do with shifting a few pounds anyway.
 
My fella is naked, has been for a few weeks now. He's a bit fat so even if it feels like its going to be a bit chilly he's staying naked.
 
Totally agree with the 'hard to know what to put on' factor :(

Chance is coming in at night still (the others are all out 24/7) because he is getting to be a proker again! :rolleyes:

I have got him in at nite with a fleece if its below 10 degrees naked if above as his coat is coming through now. In the day is pretty much the same unless its raining as we always have a wind up on the top summer fields and that is what makes it cold.
 
rug !! no rug at all. out 24/7 was fully clipped over winter - summer coat through and is fine with nothing on - if its chucking it down wears a no fill turnout rug. by the way shes a 7/8th TB! and competes in dressage.
 
My pure bred arab is now 100% naked.

She had a lightweight on until the weekend and was getting so sweaty under it during the day that I decided to take it off and give her a good bath to get the sweat and scurf off.

Obviously it has gone colder - I couldn't make it up on Monday evening to put it back on and as she could do with keeping the weight down decided to leave it. Even though I now feel cold, she is toasty to touch, so have decided to leave the rug off. She seems happy as she is and is scratching less with it off even though the hair is falling out of her in droves.

B
 
my boy is fully clipped cob its the wind chill that I don't like if its warm its nothing on then at night an amigo medium all my rugs breeth which is great.
 
Top