Will he be too warm?

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newhorse

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Hi

I have bought a 250gsm under rug to go under a 200gsm rug because of the heavy snow and generally horrible weather. Its been getting to minus 2 to minus 6

If I put a 250gsm under a 200gsm, will my horse be too warm do you think? He's not clipped

Thanks
 
I don't know your horse, so can only answer for mine, she has a blanket clip and would be too hot in those rugs. During the day she has a 150g on and at night she has a 250g on. Any more than this and she breaks out.
Unless he is a super cold sort then especially with him being unclipped I would think he would be far too hot.
What does he have on at the moment and is he warm enough (warm base of ears, not hot to touch or toasty!)?
 
What type of horse is it? Good doer or poor doer, and how thick's his coat? With the kinds of temperatures we've been having lately (-10 or lower :eek:) mine would be cold with just those rugs on.

ETA: but mine is clipped out.
 
It depends on how your horse is dealing with the weather, what breed, whether clipped, whether in or out or if carrying weight or a poor doer.
My unclipped Welsh D always used to be rugged in winter in an old MW with no neck and was toasty warm underneath...I thought he was happy like that but this year for various health reasons and to keep his weight down he is in a rain sheet when it is wet and nothing else...he is still fine and warm rather than toasty...he is coping fine even when stabled at night and it was minus 11 degrees the other night.
I was guilty before of sticking my hand under his rug and if he was not toasty warm, thinking he was cold...but in actual fact he should not be toasty warm at all! He should be warm at skin level but not necessarily at hair level..and certainly not toasty!
 
The only way to tell is to feel your horse. Bear in mind that horses are more comfortable if they are on the cool side, definitely not 'toasty'.
Put your hand through the hair behind the horse's elbow to get the best estimate of how hot he is.
TBH I would be surprised if an unclipped horse needed 450gm of rug at any time and anything more than possibly a thin-filled rug in very wet & windy weather. Ours are out during the day unclipped with no rugs. Horses in a stable at night are usually eating for most of that time and it is the digestive process, rather than moving about which keeps them warm.
 
There is no definative guide because there are so many factors to take into consideration. I work by feeling at the base of the ears and then under the rug. So my unclipped mare is more heavily rugged than my clipped gelding, but that is because she is a lot older and has had various viruses but if you wandered into the barn where she is stabled, you might wonder why a fluffy looking horse has so many rugs on..
 
My horse is on box rest in surrey. She is an ISH and is unclipped however her efforts of a winter coat are pretty feeble!
We are reaching 1degree in the day at the mo, and about -3/-4 in the night.
She is wearing a medium insulator high neck with a lightweigh underneath; until last night she was wearing the lightweight underneath a really heavy weight turnout with a neck but she pulled it over her head last night so I take it she doesnt want that one on anymore!
During the day she is in her medium weight. Hope this helps :)
 
My old horse is 29 and living out with natuarl shelter and a field shelter which is effectively a large stable with an open door. He is not particularly a poor doer but drops weight if cold, and also, you can tell how cold he is by how much he eats!

At night he is currently wearing a 200g turnout with no neck, with a h/w full neck turnout on top. He is nice and warm round the base of his ears (he was cold with just the h/w turnout on)

During the day he just has the h/w turnout on.

He has got a decent coat (for a TB) but it is nowhere near my welshs coat.

I felt sorry for the welsh beast and put a 100gm full neck turnout on (he doesn't have a field shelter, just hedging) and he did nothing but roll, I think he was too hot.
 
Horses vary so much it's almost impossible to know if that would be too much for your horse or not. It would be for my horses. At the most they've had a 200g rug on in this weather but have spent the bulk of it in 100g or 40g rugs. But they are all good doers, live out 24/7 so can move around all the time and have plenty of hay and feed to keep them warm too.

We check their ears, armpits and between their back legs to check their temperatures.
 
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