Why are most horses so 'Over' these days...

What I find amazing is that people who rug their horses do not come on here and moan that the 'rug less / naked' brigade are wrong but we have constant threads from the rug less / naked brigade saying that all of us who rug our horses are mad and over cautious etc etc.

Don't even start me on barefoot and bit less ........... :eek::D
 
Barefoot Endurance said:
I can't quite believe how many horses are over rugged these days (I feel many are over shod and over bitted but that's another thread...)

There are many horses on my yard unclipped or just with a little clip wearing heavyweight full neck rugs! And it's not even below 5 degrees tonight! :-/

Why do people humanise them so much?
Click to expand...

I'd just like to say some people are over bearing in their know it all attitude to others horses, theres always someone who thinks they know better, personally id tell them to fizz off and do one if they challenged me on my horses and their management :D
 
Doormouse said:
What I find amazing is that people who rug their horses do not come on here and moan that the 'rug less / naked' brigade are wrong but we have constant threads from the rug less / naked brigade saying that all of us who rug our horses are mad and over cautious etc etc.

Don't even start me on barefoot and bit less ........... :eek::D
Click to expand...

LOL :D
 
Doormouse said:
What I find amazing is that people who rug their horses do not come on here and moan that the 'rug less / naked' brigade are wrong but we have constant threads from the rug less / naked brigade saying that all of us who rug our horses are mad and over cautious etc etc.

Don't even start me on barefoot and bit less ........... :eek::D
Click to expand...

Hey!!!!!! Barefoot aint all that bad you know ;) :D:D:D

I totally get what you mean, horsey people really do have to be in each others business dont they!!

I mean you come on a forum then expect folk to answer your threads perhaps with things you dont like or answer from people you dont like, part of it but in RL surely have a wee bit more tact and just stay the hell out?

BE im sure your a nice person and all but if it were my horse you were moaning about being over rugged on the yard I'd have a few choice things to say should you bang on about it, nothing personal but too many cooks and all that ;)
 
Because the rug making companies tell us our horses are cold, need to wear 6,000g rugs and that a 250g rug is a good 'summer' weight rug for those days it might not snow!!

Don't believe the hype and take the time to realise how horses regulate their heat!!
 
PandorasJar said:
When I was managing OHs yard I had to get owners to walk up to the field with me and actually feel how hot their horse was when requesting to rug up. They then saw my reasoning and dropped rugs down. All it takes is one comment on how cold it is and they're all out in HW's :( Too many people rely on others or temperatures rather than feeling the horse.

Logic doesn't even work half the time. Last March when it was rain non-stop for 3 days with wind but not particularly cold, some horses started to shiver. Problem was any rug on and they would swelter because the wind was cut out, smart horses got under the shelters, the rest shivered a little and carried on grazing. Only a couple were rugged, (including ours) but trying to explain to the owners with a LW on that a M/HW was not needed in this...

The main logic I had was that 'I'm cold'. :confused:

I have no problems with horses rugged (or unrugged) appropriately. I have a big problem with the number of people who lob a rug on and don't bother to check their horse.

FWIW mine are all unrugged and toasty, from tb's to cobs. If any feel differently they'll be rugged. It rarely happens over winter though, more often in spring/autumn. And all are out 24/7 unclipped.
Click to expand...

I dunno if I'm just a bit "gah!" at the judging that occurs all the time.

Like, we have 3 horses. They are kept in the way that suits them best, at all times. I dislike total strangers deciding a horse's owner isn't doing what is best for that horse as it doesn't fit with their narrow-minded ideal.

(when I said sticking hand under the rug, to get to that bit behind the elbow you have to stick your hand under her rug, right in the teeth zone...)
 
Xmas Beastie said:
Hey!!!!!! Barefoot aint all that bad you know ;) :D:D:D

I totally get what you mean, horsey people really do have to be in each others business dont they!!
Click to expand...

Sorry, I don't mean to be grumpy and tarr everyone with the same brush, I think that it is 'horses for courses' and what suits some does suit others but I do feel at the moment that the people who go for the let us say more back to nature approach tend to ram the whole thing down everyone's throat to the point of vomit inducing levels where by I hate the whole idea! ::D
 
Lolo said:
Baha! Bee is lovely, nearly all the time. She just likes her personal space... (we love mares. Reg pretty much lets you drape yourself all over him without batting an eyelid!)
Click to expand...

yes mares are defo 'most of the time'! not all the time :) but dont all we females like our personal space?

haha yes my geldings exactly the same! you can use him as a climbing frame and he wouldnt care!
 
Doormouse said:
Sorry, I don't mean to be grumpy and tarr everyone with the same brush, I think that it is 'horses for courses' and what suits some does suit others but I do feel at the moment that the people who go for the let us say more back to nature approach tend to ram the whole thing down everyone's throat to the point of vomit inducing levels where by I hate the whole idea! ::D
Click to expand...

Ahmen :D
 
I just love how no one that does rug their horses up to their eyeballs can actually give a reason... All the so called 'naturalists' can give lots of reasons for their barefoot, naked ponies... Lol
 
I think a lot of people worry their horses will be cold so over rug. But also sometimes our weather is so changeable you never really know what it's going to bring and what would be suitable!

Both the TB's I ride are in full neck medium weights, whilst tacking them both up today I had their rugs on them but undone and necks down and I noticed the bay one was getting a bit chilly. But the other one was just fine. They've both been full clipped but it's grown out a lot and I really wanted to put them in a lighter rug today as it was warm enough. But as they're not mine I didn't want to do anything really, but I think their owners dad is doing their main care at the moment and he will just chuck on what's there!

Problem is it's meant to start raining heavily tomorrow and the bay gets cold very quickly when damp. Have to be so careful as he's a bit of a poor doer as it is!

So you can see why people end up putting too many rugs on their horses but they just don't always know what they're dealing with!
 
Xmas Beastie said:
Hey!!!!!! Barefoot aint all that bad you know ;) :D:D:D

I totally get what you mean, horsey people really do have to be in each others business dont they!!

I mean you come on a forum then expect folk to answer your threads perhaps with things you dont like or answer from people you dont like, part of it but in RL surely have a wee bit more tact and just stay the hell out?

BE im sure your a nice person and all but if it were my horse you were moaning about being over rugged on the yard I'd have a few choice things to say should you bang on about it, nothing personal but too many cooks and all that ;)
Click to expand...

No I'm not very nice at all actually... The benefit of a faceless forum :D :rolleyes:
 
My mare won't tolerate a rug this year - just disposes of them....the boys have rugs a MW on the clipped welsh and a lightweight on the unclipped trotter. But all horses are different and as long as they are comfy it's ok. I do hate seeing show ponies rugged to the hilt and sweating, now that is cruel.
 
Barefoot Endurance said:
I just love how no one that does rug their horses up to their eyeballs can actually give a reason... All the so called 'naturalists' can give lots of reasons for their barefoot, naked ponies... Lol
Click to expand...

Because it is cold, maybe? Because perhaps with many years experience people are able to judge if their horse is cold?

Why should people justify how they care for their horses simply because it differs to how you choose to care for yours?
 
Doormouse said:
Because it is cold, maybe? Because perhaps with many years experience people are able to judge if their horse is cold?

Why should people justify how they care for their horses simply because it differs to how you choose to care for yours?
Click to expand...

But it is not cold, it's about 7 degrees out there...

I'm asking people to justify it because it makes no sense...
 
Barefoot Endurance said:
I can't quite believe how many horses are over rugged these days (I feel many are over shod and over bitted but that's another thread...)

There are many horses on my yard unclipped or just with a little clip wearing heavyweight full neck rugs! And it's not even below 5 degrees tonight! :-/

Why do people humanise them so much?
Click to expand...
One reason may be financial.

The horse uses around 80% of what he eats to keep warm. If he's rugged up it takes 80% of less, therefore rugging him up saves money.

It isn't always possible to know, when the horse is put to bed, whether the temperature will drop drastically overnight, especially as many horses are left for the night at 6pm or even earlier. When kept in stables or loose boxes they don't have the space to move around sufficiently to keep themselves warm without a rug.

And taking care of one's horse in the best way one knows how is not
"humanising" them. We are not talking about your horse here and it really isn't your place to criticise the way others care for theirs.
 
I can tell without question if my mare is cold and I don't have to shove my hand inside her rug

She clamps her tail for a start and is starving hungry for forage. She rushes into her stable if allowed and is a right grumpy misbehaved madam!!

Que thicker rug.:D
 
Barefoot Endurance said:
:D we aim to please :D
Click to expand...

Beware of being too much of an evangelist - you will dilute your message, and become a laughing stock - which is a shame, because mainstream religeous parties do realise that there is often a middle ground to be followed.

There are pros and cons for most things - and one must do for ones own nags and the lfestyles that we keep them in, as long as they suit us and our equines, and neither of our methods incur equine welfare issues.....
If I was a bibical person now I would quote some sort of Matthew 1 Chapter 3 text now - but I am not - would the Manual of Horsemanship 1966 edition, Chaper 10, para 11 help instead?
 
Question?? I had a mare in the be broken, so stabled since july. Owner a good friend of mine. her circumstances changed hugely horsewise, so she had nowhere to put the mare when she was ready to go home. I offered to keep her, but It would have to be in a field. Usually, she would have been out and unrugged, but I stuck a rug on her as she had been stabled for so long. I wouldnt have rugged her if she had been out all along. Was I wrong to rug her?? I thought I was being kind to her, considering.......
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top