Why do so many horses wear rugs when out in the summer?

I have a hairy traditional and I've started showing him, so he tends to stay in his fly rug to a) stop sun bleaching of his bay bits and b) to stop the flies getting to him (mainly his bum). He's quite a lot of white so helps to keep him that bit cleaner and I check him all the time to make sure he's not too hot/sweating up and he isn't. If it's really hot, I will leave him out naked, depending on the flies.

He gets his lightweight put on if it's going to be heavy rain for several hours, otherwise I'm happy that he'll just dry off. I'm also putting a lot of feed into him to help his growing and this along with a fly rug has really improved his condition, he's looking fab. He's coat is soooo shiny and glossy and he seems more than happy to be in his fly rug :)
 
Mine are both out in fly rugs all the time through the summer. Don't understand peoples prob with this - letting them be bitten and irritated by flys is wicked and something that can be easily avoided by leaving them in a light and comfy fly rug. The wimpy one sometimes has a lightweight on in the summer if it is raining with a breeze that would chill her. She is very prone to back probs and is a cold blooded wimpy soul so the last thing I want is for her to feel chilly and tense so making her back worse.
Each to their own tbh, owners know the needs of their horse so am happy to leave others to their routine with their horses as long as I am left to make the right (after much deliberation and worrying) decision for mine based on what suits each of them. Do wonder why some people get such a stress on about what others are up to! There must be something better to worry about, if not then embrace that and chill out!
 
Cazza525 said:
because some ppl wrap them up in cotton wool? I myself keep ponies.....they are rugless throughout summer,even when shown,but have access to shelter 24/7 and if really bad i bring them in.

I personally HATE fly rugs. I fully understand for sweet itch sufferers,but not anything else IMO.

There is nothing nicer to see than horses stood nose to tail under trees,batting flies off each other. Natural.
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i see what you mean about the cotton wool thing i have kinda been trained that way but am trying to break out of it !!! she only has a rug on if its raining or if it cold then if it turns warm someone takes it off :D
 
My mare wears a fly rug all summer to protect her from the biting insects, would rather this than be spraying all sorts on her 2/3 times a day. If its going to be a cold night she will have her bucas LW on, she's hard to keep condition on at the best of times so the last thing i need is for her to get cold.
The 2 ponies live naked in summer, once out 24/7 although i do have fly rugs on hand if they look like they are really being bother spec for one of them who lost her tail last year (my big mare bit it and it fell out!!)so doesnt have her natural fly swat!
 
So lots of reasons then! I’m not having a go by the way just really wondered why so many people do. My horse is a bit of a commoner so not at all sensitive (or cold or poor), so I’m probably just one of the lucky ones! I did bring him in when it was raining heavy the other day though but mainly because I didn’t want him to get struck by lightening! I guess it must be difficult to make a call with the unpredictable British weather!
 
I kept my old shire x naked for most of the year. I'd pop a rain sheet on him in heavy rain in the winter, but that was it. He was a 'hot' horse, had thick skin and it was healthier for him to have the air through his coat.

My TB is completely the total opposite. He shivers if he gets wet, and if the wind is too high (even in the summer). He has a bad, allergic reaction to fly bites, and reacts violently to flies. So...when he is turned out he is usually rugged. A fly rug if its warm and dry, a rain sheet if it's warm and wet, and he has quite an extensive wardrobe of different rugs to wear depending on the temperature and conditions that day. I never 'over rug' him to the extend where he would start to sweat. I also think its very important to keep rugs clean, which i do. He looks fabulous all year round. I'm sure if he was left to fend for himself, he would soon look miserable, drop condition, his whole body would be covered in swellings and blisters from where he rubbed the sores caused by fly bites, and he would be in a terrible state. That is why my TB is rugged most of the time when out.
If anyone wants to accuse me of mollycoddling him, please feel free to :D I think he's lucky to have me as his owner.
 
Because people mollycuddle their horses too much.

My natives are naked all summer (and are only rugged in worst weather over winter purely because they are now in their 20's and vaguely athritic). However, I do chuck a lightweight (outside layer of his WB Tristar) on my very slim TB x Luso. Its off when its nice though (which TBH in Scotland isn't that often!), but he only needs one raindrop to land on him for him to begin shivering... woose.
 
My old girl now wears a fly rug 24/7 as she gets fly strike/maggots on her melanomas otherwise. I am considering getting one for my little mare as she gets HUGE lumps from fly bites to her fine skin. My homebred boy wears a lightweight rug if it is persistant rain overnight as otherwise he becomes violently shivery (plus there is little shelter). I do not like to molly coddle horses, but there are good reasons for rugging, depending on the horse!
 
I think its fair to assume that most horse owners know their horses better than anyone else & therefore know when its suitable to rug them.
I have 2 horses- the WB is a complete wimp & is bitten to death by flys so wears a fly combo rug & comes in if its gets hot in the day. He also hates the rain & the only night I ever left him out in (v light) rain, he was hysterical & shivering in the morning. Never again. So, generally he is always wearing a rug during the summer, whether it be a fly rug or a rain sheet.
My cob is as tough as old boots & wears nothing.
2 very different horses, treated differently for their own needs.
Bx
 
Given up on fly sheets since mine got a wasp stuck under his and went crazy! The ID and Dales X don't need rugs, but my TB which is competing (doing WH) has a lightweight TO (the stripey Joules one lol :D ) He wears it at night and if its cold or wet. He has never sweated up in it and has it off now, but the other day when I was at work my mum left it off, then there was torrential rain, got back from work, ran up to field and he was shivering :( had to bring him in, towel dry him and rug him up. The other 2 horses get fat off fresh air, but my TB isn't the best do-er (though he isn't what I would call a poor do-er). Each to their own, eh?
 
Cazza525 said:
There is nothing nicer to see than horses stood nose to tail under trees,batting flies off each other. Natural.
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Obviously you don't get squadrons of these then.
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I used to rug in summer, horse got cold at night, hated the wet and lost weight, during the day the flies bothered him. Why should I have let him suffer when it took something as simple as a suitable rug to make life easier? He needed rugs, so he got them, end of.
 
I can understand why some people do, I personally keep my horse naked as much as possible in the summer, only put a lightweight on if it is going to be heavy rain for hours.

He has shelter and fly spray, luckily the flies here aren't too bad.

Last year a new livery had her horse in a fly rug for her sweet itch, and then a medium weight on top in the day, then a heavy weight at night, both full necks!!! The poor horse was always drenched in sweat with her nose to the floor and panting, we always took the rugs off and tried to stop the owner doing this. Her reason?.....That she came from Scotland and it is colder up there than here, and so the horse is used to having lots of rugs on.....WTF!!!

Luckily she left after a few weeks back to Scotland.
 
Only flysheets when the horse flys start as they both react to them, one get lumps all over and the other gets scabs where he's been bitten, also lw rugs at night if there is loads of rain ie more than 5 hrs worth... why not, just because they could cope fine with rain doesn't mean they enjoy it and as one is getting older he needs bit more pampering
 
I don't mind what people do really, but it has to be consistent - what I cannot abide is someone rugging their horse so they are toasty warm, then deciding that they don't need them anymore, and the poor horse hasn't grown in the hair, or got the grease to keep warm. Either rug, or don't rug, not one day this, one day that etc etc, because that is the worst option IMO.

It does sound like a few people might find a field shelter a better solution, then the horse can go in when it rains / shelter from the wind, but not get overheated otherwise. I have come across horses who wear far too many rugs tho - I once had someone pop on 3 of our coats and run round the school twice - she was so hot she finally got my point, considering the horse has its own layer of fur as well, and is adapted to living outside - if she was so hot 'trotting' twice around the school, how did she think he felt having a hoon around the field with friends. If you happen to feel how warm they are after they have been standing around, yes, it may feel cool. But most horses do move around during the day and their temp will go up accordingly.
 
I can understand fly sheets, but I have seen many this summer out in rugs in strong sunshine, and the horses have looked so miserable and are obviously very hot. A couple of hours in a cotton sheet before a show is fine. No, I don't understand a lot of it.
 
Cazza525 said:
I personally HATE fly rugs. I fully understand for sweet itch sufferers,but not anything else IMO.

There is nothing nicer to see than horses stood nose to tail under trees,batting flies off each other. Natural.
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My horse hates flies. When the horse flies come out he is driven insane by them. He also comes up in huge lumps when he gets bitten. It may be natural for him to be naked, but I wouldn't have a very happy horse!

I also use a lightweight if its very wet, mainly to keep him clean.
 
My biggest peeve is polo ponies being rugged up in heavyweights all through the summer!

I used to work for a chap many years ago and he would insist on all the polo ponies wearing heavyweights through the day and at night! Whenever i tried to tell him that they don't need them on in the day he would go mad, even when one of his horses went down with colic and nearly died because of the heat etc associated with the rug he still insisted they wear them.

What makes it worse is that as soon as the polo season has finished they get thrown out all winter with no rugs on at all!! And they wonder why the little TB's come back looking like welfare cases. Bloody madness......
 
I wonder how all the moorland/forest ponies cope without fly sheets.......hmmmm.

I'm lucky,my fields have all got shelters in and natural hedging. Spose that helps.
 
Cazza525 said:
I wonder how all the moorland/forest ponies cope without fly sheets.......hmmmm.
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In the wild they can find their own shelter, or they keep on the move to find areas less densely populated by flies. Domesticated horses in small paddocks can't do this :)

I don't use fly rugs, but luckily my area doesn't have many flies.
 
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heather_bambi said:
I can understand why some people do, I personally keep my horse naked as much as possible in the summer, only put a lightweight on if it is going to be heavy rain for hours.

He has shelter and fly spray, luckily the flies here aren't too bad.

Last year a new livery had her horse in a fly rug for her sweet itch, and then a medium weight on top in the day, then a heavy weight at night, both full necks!!! The poor horse was always drenched in sweat with her nose to the floor and panting, we always took the rugs off and tried to stop the owner doing this. Her reason?.....That she came from Scotland and it is colder up there than here, and so the horse is used to having lots of rugs on.....WTF!!!

Luckily she left after a few weeks back to Scotland.
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Good grief! I live in Scotland - that's SCOTLAND not the Arctic!
 
My horse wears a fly rug to keep him clean, it has the added bonus of keeping the horse flys at bay, and the additional added bonus of laying his mane over nicely.

I do hate to see horses at this time of year wearing more unless is cooler and pouring with rain, and I am willing to bet even at 7 degrees if dry they would not be cold.

Mine is a tb that wears his lightweight all winter otherwise he overheats and comes out in a sweat rash, his winter coat is so fine it never warrents clipping.
 
All these varied replies show you have to do what is right for your individual horse.

My TB is naked but on wet / windy days he has a rain sheet on. A few years ago I wouldn't have bothered, but now he's gettng older he definately feels the cold more.

My pony has to wear a fly rug as he rubs himself raw - I find on really hot days it actually keeps him cool.

My 4yr old (Irish x) was living out in the middle of winter naked - and he had a trace clip. He was the hottest horse I've ever knows. Even when it was minus 5 he just had a lw on and was fine!!

Horses for courses!!!
 
My horse is 31 so a bit wrapped in cotton wool

He has fly rug on in the day if its hot, if rain is forcast he has his mack on, he also has pink muzzle, pink fly fringe which he's not impressed with
 
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