Why dont fully clipped out cobs need a HW rug?

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Horsey_Gal

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At my saddlery, i asked their advice on whether my cob who is living out 24/7 at the mo would need a mw or hw rug? i said she'll either be getting a trace or blanket clip or just stay as she is. My response was that even if the horse was fully clipped she still wouldnt need a hw rug on?? is this correct? surely she'd loose weight? (the mare is a good doer, but she never asked this question!)
 
Not correct.. bad advice i would say. Even a cob fully clipped would need a heavy weight rug on in winter.. maybe not so much at the moment but it is very cold at night...

Teds in a mid weight and a fleece at the moment and he isnt clipped!

Lou x
 
Totally depends on your horse I would say. OH's mare is pretty hardy being 3/4 RID, and we still put a HW Combo on her even when she isn't fully clipped!
 
My fully clipped cob is in a heavyweight rug during the day at the momment - he doesn't seem to get sweaty with it and there is no sign that he has been rolling excessively to get rid of it. He wears it at night as well, but last night had a thin fleece under it as there was a very heavy frost. As the clip grows out I might use a lighter weight one during the day.

Do you think they meant if your cob isn't clipped - it seems a bit mad to me to say that a clipped horse doesn't need a warm rug
 
i dont see why a pony/horse who has just a trace clip would need a rug at all, let alone a HW!

A blanket clip, then pop on a MW.

If fully clipped, then i would use a fleece under a MW, then if it gets very cold, this can then be upped to a HW if needed.
 
The dispute is weather a fully clipped horse would need a rug..

My horse would be stiff and lose alot of weight if he wasnt rugged... and there is not alot of difference between a blanket clip and a trace clip.. so i dont see how ur change from no rug to a mw is valid...
Obviously all depends on the horses...
a fleece and a mw would be warmer than a hw alone as there is trapped hair
Lou x
 
Each horse is an individual - and should be treated as such.

Amy may was a little cob - and was a cold person.

Thumper is predominantly TB and is a hot person.
 
I think it depends on the horse. Mine gets cold even though he's a hairy cob, he's not rugged at the mo but when he gets clipped around Xmas time he'll need a HW last year he had a blanket clip and had a MW half neck rug with a HW full neck combo over the top. He was snugg with that lot on but whilst he a hair monster and its dry he doesn't need anything. Mind you last year I rugged early and regretted it!!
 
Really? so instead of buying a HW do you just buy a fleece rug to put on under a MW? also, could you turnout in a fleece rug under a MW? wouldn't it get wet in places? or slide round?
 
Mine is a MW/HW cob and fulyl clipped he GETS a MW, and if its VERY cold he gets a MW stable rug under his MW turnout. I did have a HW turnout, but he was either too warm or too cold, and if you added anything else he got too warm - silly really as a MW+MW will prob be very warm!

But I also use rugging to help with his weight - if he is a bit porky he can have a lighter rug. Also depends on the weather so its not always the same day in day out - if its very sunny he might get a fleece with a LW as he is dark and his LW rug is green so they absorb heat - MW is blue so will cook him if its really sunny.
 
I personally wouldn't use a fleece under a turnout rug on a horse that was living out 24/7 because you're right, they do slip and get exposed to the wet and thereby soak wet up inside the rug, which is counterproductive.

I do use a fleece as an under layer if it's the depths of winter and my horses are only going out for a few hours, but for a horse living out 24/7 I would get the right weight of rug for the conditions. And a good quality waterproof one.
 
ive turned out with a fleece under the turn out without trouble..
Went to one yard.. horses were out in fleeces only and were dripping wet.. this not good i dont think lol
Lou x
 
[ QUOTE ]
The dispute is weather a fully clipped horse would need a rug..

My horse would be stiff and lose alot of weight if he wasnt rugged... and there is not alot of difference between a blanket clip and a trace clip.. so i dont see how ur change from no rug to a mw is valid...
Obviously all depends on the horses...
a fleece and a mw would be warmer than a hw alone as there is trapped hair
Lou x

[/ QUOTE ]

it doesnt actually say that in the OP....i must be reading it wrong, or the OP has written it in a confusing manner......
 
[ QUOTE ]
Really? so instead of buying a HW do you just buy a fleece rug to put on under a MW? also, could you turnout in a fleece rug under a MW? wouldn't it get wet in places? or slide round?

[/ QUOTE ]

i they are out 24/7 then i'd get 2 fleeces..one for day and one for the night.


none of my Amigo fleeces slip or move??
 
It shouldn't need a HW 'at the mo', but might well do so further into the winter as the goodness in grass is further reduced and weather becomes more extreme - if you put a heavy weight on now, what more will you add when conditions become worse, unless you also discussed underrugs.
 
You could always look for one of those turnout rugs that has a specially designed uner bit... basically its two rugs but one attaches to the other so they dont slip about etc.
 
OMG - that is really irresponsible of whoever gave you that advice!!

Every horse is different and you can never say one wont need a HW rug just because the theory is that chunkier horses wont need them!!

Ignore her and work it out based on how warm your horse feels when you put your hand inside his rug
 
All horses are different - my TBx gets cold in MWs before she's been clipped whereas my cobs aren't rugged at all.
I generally find cobs tend to be able to warm themselves up better than other horses - because we all love are horses we like to wrap them up whether they need it or not
smile.gif

There are some great rugs out at the moment that are two layers - a LW and MW which you can clip together into a thicker rug.
 
Maybe they assume a cob will carry more meat on his bones than most other types. I have to say my 2 cobs do seem to run hotter than most other horses. Weather that is extra fat coverage
crazy.gif
or something in built I'm not sure but I wouldn't automatically put a heavyweight rug on either of them even with a full clip either.
 
My TB x cob and my TB do not even have even have a HW rug, my two littlies are unrugged, I give more hay as the weather gets colder - central heating from the inside. However I would of course review if they start to loose weight (chance would be a fine thing!)
 
None of my big natives wear a HW rug and they are fully clipped & live out.

They have MW rugs and when it gets cold they have fleeces under them.

A fleece is made out of PVC, recycled lemonade bottles! So, it is made out of similar stuff to the nylon rugs filled with nylon wadding. They don't soak up water and make the horse cold because fleece, being synthetic is not very absorbant and dries very quickly.

When mountaineers go up Everest and such places they don't just put on a massive down filled jacket/suit over their undies, they opt for lots of thin laryers and then a waterproof. Layers are far warmer than one thick covering because they trap layers of air. It is the trapped air that insulates and keeps you warm. The windproof, waterproof outer is to prevent wind chill. It works the same for neddies.

A MW with one or two layers under it is far warmer than a HW. It also has the advantage that you can sling the fleece or under rug in the washer meaning that you don't have to get your rug cleaned so often, if at all.

I find that it is not the air temperature that affects the horses, rather wind and rain. Far more chilling than a crisp calm winter day.

It is not just the hairiness of big natives that makes them more tolerant of the cold, they are bred from horses that evolved to live in cold climates so their whole system is better designed to deal with the cold.

The British Army did trials with various sorts of horse during the 19th century so they could establish which sort of animal would be the best to take on campaigns in different parts of the world as the British Empire encompased all climates from desert to Himilayan tundra. It was found that the ambient temperature for a native horse is 5 degrees C - minus 5 degrees C. Any colder and they feel it, any warmer and they feel hot. Obviously for blood horses who evolved to live in desert conditions, this is not true. Their systems evolved slightly differently. Hence, if the weather is very dirrernt to the climate of Aarabia, they feel it!
 
That's a terrible generalisation as everyone has said.

Each horse should be treated according to it's individual requirements - which change as they get older.

My sec D always used to keep really warm and didn't have HW rugs - now he's older he's already in a HW even though he's due to be clipped!
 
QR - I do sympathise with the girl at the saddlery. I work at a country store and you get all sorts of people asking you what you think their horses should have, from rugs to bandages. 1) I don't hold any sort of qualifications to tell you anything, I only work there! and 2) mostly they go against advice anyway as they tend to already have what they want in their head. I has one woman asking if I had any leg bandages with the tie up strings, I showed her the exercise bandages and she was concerned that they weren't stretchy enough up. She wanted them for support for a horse out in the field (I think it was injured in some way). I suggested vetwrap and she said no thats not stretchy, I said its VERY stretchy. In the end she went for a tail bandage??!!! as she was convinced this was what her friend used.
 
Pickle is fully clipped and a cyclesdale x, he goes between a MW and HW depending on the weather. Allthough some horses on my yard seem to have a LW fleece and a HW stable rug on at night which to me is completely excessive. One thing I would never put on pickle is a full neck rug he just doesnt need one!
 
When I was girl, (dribbles into sippy cup of weak, sweet tea) they didn't have this rug that rug and the other rug. They just had rug or not rug. And we all survived by and large, and so did our horses, it was remarkable.
Global warming? Humbug.
(wanders off down the corridor in carpet slippers)
 
[ QUOTE ]
When I was girl, (dribbles into sippy cup of weak, sweet tea) they didn't have this rug that rug and the other rug. They just had rug or not rug. And we all survived by and large, and so did our horses, it was remarkable.
Global warming? Humbug.
(wanders off down the corridor in carpet slippers)

[/ QUOTE ]

looooool
grin.gif


My sec D is hairy and in a LW with neckcover, he is quite warm in that when he is clipped after christmas he will get a MW rug (going for a chaser clip)
 
My native pony is hunter clipped. It was -3 last night and she was quite toasty in her MW with neck.

Last winter she was trace clipped, and found a MW too hot. She was best off with just a rainsheet to keep the wind and wet out.
 
My fully clipped cob only had a mw last winter, and the winter before that (before I had him). He is such a hot bod he did fine, but this winter he's got a fleece underneath a heavier t/o, just because he seems a bit colder in the mornings. He's only just had this combo last night though!
 
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