Who's rugging and feeding for winter ??

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horse.love92

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Felt so bad putting my boy out in the pouring rain today , he's grown a little coat though so no rugging yet !
Anyway bought a bag of calm and condition ( his usual winter feed) going to start introducing a small amount so he goes into the winter with a little more weight .
Is anyone else now prepping their horse for winter or rugging at night?
 
Jazzy's been on C&C, chaff and bailey's 4 for a few weeks now. I bought him a no fill turnout with a neck yesterday too so at least he stays dry. He got quite wet on Friday and was quite cold. His thicker rugs are back from the cleaners this week.

Ponies have a token handfull of chaff to keep then happy whilst Jazz is eating.

I bought 2 new round hay bales in yesterday and all are now on ad-lib hay and in their winter paddock. OH even bedded down their stables today as well.
 
Am rugging to weather conditions, and have introduced feed but actually because he is working harder not to get weight on.
If it warms up or even just dries up i will stop rugging but will still feed.
 
started feeding hay as the grass has dried out and was just like straw, no goodness in it! mare got a horrible cough after a few days of hay, so have started her on a small feed so I can start her easy breathing supplement! they had their light weights on for the first time today, because its wet and going down to 6 degrees this evening!
 
Not upping their feeds yet but they had their lightweight rugs on for the first time today due to the torrential rain & strong winds - hopefully back to naked again tomorrow though as does seem a little early!
 
Mine had a rug on overnight last night and again tonight as it is cold and wet and he doesn't have much of a coat. If its dry tomorrow night he won't need it.

Feed wise, I have started putting haylage out because there isn't much goodness left in my grass. I feed a balancer all year round anyway to ensure vits and mins are fed so that doesn't change over winter anyway. I won't feed any other hard feeds unless any of them drop too much weight
 
Wow you guys stopped feeding hard feed? :eek:
Im rugging my TB and he is brought in every night (grazing issue) and is on two hard feeds a day ....*grumble* damn TB *grumble*!!!
 
Yes we are rugging, just a lightweight at the moment, not feeding though as she has weight to loose and has a field full of grass to munch through.

I don't think I could bear to listen to the rain or feel the cold on an evening without feeling incredibly guilty if she had no rug!
 
Tallulabelle said:
Yes we are rugging, just a lightweight at the moment, not feeding though as she has weight to loose and has a field full of grass to munch through.

I don't think I could bear to listen to the rain or feel the cold on an evening without feeling incredibly guilty if she had no rug!
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Can we move in? :(
 
Mine are being roughed off for the winter, so out without rugs and just on (ample) grass, apart from my old man who is 19yrs old and in a lightweight rug. I know it's not that cold, but with him once he gets cold from the rain it is he struggles to warm up again ( and I'm a total softie when it comes to him because he's a little sweetheart)
 
My 2mares are in but the boys are still out but they do have 2 short feeds a day + at the moment horsehage going onto hay next week as the grass isn't growing and even if it does there will be no goodness in it, did try rugging one up as e was shivering but either he or my youngster pulled it off as it was hanging round his neck. If this is hat winter is going to be like wet windy and cold they will be rugged up as last winter I didn't bother as it was dry very cold, and snow but they did well weight wise but have a feeling it won't be so good this winter.
 
Yep, started feeding him more mid-August and started rugging him for the past couple of weeks. He is a Hunter though and tends to stress his weight away when he is fit and during the Season and last year he ended up looking a bit poor so I'm starting early to try and prevent that! He is in tonight in this awful weather - he is very spoilt lol!
 
Ive put light weights on in the rain but not proper rugs yet, Ive got fat horses and grass left still in rested paddocks so am not overly wintery yet!
Id like them to drop some weight tbh. I have however had them in a few nights when its been wet as I want to save the fields slightly this year so I don't end up unable to turn out at all like last winter.
They still all get a handful literally of Healthy Hoof just to put supplements in
 
My 3 still have plenty of grass and to be honest I'd prefer them to drop some weight so not even considering rugs at the moment (two hardy ID x and a coloured cob). My plan is to keep them rugless as long as possible, with the aim of stabling them as little as possible over winter generally.
 
I try to keep minimum rugs on, but my horses all came in shivering today so I put on their 200g combos for the night. I expect the sudden drop in temperature is a shock to their systems as it is mine ! Had to do similar last year but they soon toughened up :)
 
Neither of my hairy ones has felt cold but being a devoted ponyhugger I quell my urge to rug when it turns chilly by giving them a slice of sympathy hay between them and a scattering of pony nuts, along with their usual feeds. I want them to grow proper winter coats so they won't get rugs until it is colder and wet. To be honest I only really feel sorry for them when the trees lose their leaves, as I don't have an actual shelter.
 
Not rugging yet, but started feeding mid august, and she has ad lib hay in the field. Have never had to feed this early, but she's dropping weight, ironically after the best summer for years. Can see this winter being costly!
 
A lightweight rug in the rain, when it's dry it's still plenty warm enough for him to go without. When it's been raining and windy the last week we've had to light the fire because it's cold so that's the reasoning behind the rug (v. scientific I think you'll all agree).
 
Not rugging as yet (some on yard have today) and am leaving off doing so as long as I can - I want the lad to grow a good winter coat - he's only been on grazing for 6 weeks (field very poor this year) and been on extra feed too and we're about two months behind :( .
 
I am extremely alarmed by the number of people who say their horses are coming in 'shivering'. It's September. It has barely dropped below 10 degrees at most. If my mare shivered at those temps I would be very very worried.
 
The warmblood had a no fill rain sheet on yesterday because it was piling it down & very windy :( other than that I won't be rugging unless it gets close to freezing on a night or when she's clipped. She's gotten a little over weight over the summer as we have tons & grass, & still do, so not on any hay or feed as yet.

A token feed of a little fibergy & pony nuts will start a few weeks before they come in as all the horses on the yard get a bucket of something when they come in over the winter & she will boot the crap out of the door of she doesn't :/
 
Moomin1 said:
I am extremely alarmed by the number of people who say their horses are coming in 'shivering'. It's September. It has barely dropped below 10 degrees at most. If my mare shivered at those temps I would be very very worried.
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I hate posts like this. Typical horsey persons comment of if my horse isn't shivering and yours is, it must be sick, dying etc.
No each horse is different, each to their own.
 
Just a quick warning (about the grass, not the rugs) some one said grass wasn't growing and if it did there would be no goodness in it.
Its worth remembering the danger of the quick flush of rich growth that often happens in September. It can catch a lot of owners out and is a real risk to laminitis sufferers.

Sorry, slightly off the original topic.
 
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I'm playing the rug game on a day by day basis. They've been in rain sheets for the last week or two for the showers we've been having but got the cobs got their medium weights on for yesterday - it was only 10 with a bitter wind plus I'm trying to prevent my girl growing too much coat to delay clipping. The foal has a rain sheet on as he's only 4 months old and I've learnt that if he doesn't have a rainsheet and we get the sort of persistant rain we've had over the last couple of days he gets very cold and stands there shivering so I end up bringing it - I'd rather put a thin rug to keep him dry and have him out than have to stable them. am really hoping he starts to grow some coat soon as don't want to rug him all winter.
 
My boy is in rugs and getting hard feed, but he didnt do well over the summer and is looking quite skinny and he feels the cold bless him.

I keep getting lots of comments about how its not cold enough to rug yet and that i am going to damage his coat ect ect but i would much rather him keep the little weight that he has on than look like a hat rack. He had a 100g on in the field yesterday and came in freezing cold so will have something heavy on from now on if the weather stays the same
 
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