Will he freeze???

merlinsquest

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It was soooooo sunny and hot today that when I put merlin back out in the field today I took the liner out of his rug and took the neck cover off.

I have now noticed that its going to be -1 tonight.

He is well covered, not clipped and has a 100 rambo duo on, but no neck. He has plenty of grass and a dustbin full of hay......... do you think he will be ok???
 
I don't know the rug but I can say that I've left D out tonight with only a mw on. She has been in for most of winter but she is much happier out. The milder weather today persuaded some of the other liveries to leave their horses out so she had someone to stay out with. I'd say that if its the horse in your sig and they are unclipped then you'll probably be fine. It shouldn't rain tonight and that would be worse. If he gets a but chilly he can wander about to keep warm
 
Its a 100g rug (missed out the g)!!! I took a 100g liner out of it so he is half the warmth I suppose....

I couldnt go back to the yard to put it back on and thought he would be better off a bit chilly than to have baked during the day????
 
He'll be fine...they don't mind cold so much as rain
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Mine are all naked
 
freeze? no, not at all. he'll probably thank you for thinning out his rugs a little. mine is currently out 24/7 and naked, except for an unclipped coat and a thick layer of mud. two winters ago night time temps here dropped to about -25 (it's true!), and although he was stabled, he was not rugged then either. last week we had a night time low of -11 and the next morning my Tinker was still as warm as toast. no one at my yard puts a rug on their horse, except after work when a fleece is usually thrown on. and tonight's temp? about -5, i think......
 
That is reassuring, I assume that he wants to be all toasty, but in reality he is probably too warm anyway. He has kept his weight well this winter though. Last time he wintered out he got quite lean, and last winter he did the same even though he was only getting 2 to 4 hours turnout.
 
he will be fine horses have fur that is their natural insulator and tomorow it will be warm again by march hope to have all rugs off so time to reduce now anyway
 
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It was soooooo sunny and hot today that when I put merlin back out in the field today I took the liner out of his rug and took the neck cover off.

I have now noticed that its going to be -1 tonight.

He is well covered, not clipped and has a 100 rambo duo on, but no neck. He has plenty of grass and a dustbin full of hay......... do you think he will be ok???

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No, by morning he may have frozen solid...or possibly his ears might just fall off from the frostbite.
Or he may spend all night shivering uncontrollably, and you'll mistake him for a fine skinny TB in the morning as he'll have lost so much weight.
S
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On the other hand, it is meant to be dry and frosty, which horses tolerate really well....
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freeze? no, not at all. he'll probably thank you for thinning out his rugs a little. mine is currently out 24/7 and naked, except for an unclipped coat and a thick layer of mud. two winters ago night time temps here dropped to about -25 (it's true!), and although he was stabled, he was not rugged then either. last week we had a night time low of -11 and the next morning my Tinker was still as warm as toast. no one at my yard puts a rug on their horse, except after work when a fleece is usually thrown on. and tonight's temp? about -5, i think......

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How cruel! I'd never leave a little horsey out.
S
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I am sure his flab will keep him warm and hopefully if he is shivering, then he can shiver himself a topline and kill two birds with one stone
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Anyway at least if his ears fall off i wont have to get the mud off of them next time I groom him
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I am sure his flab will keep him warm and hopefully if he is shivering, then he can shiver himself a topline and kill two birds with one stone
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Anyway at least if his ears fall off i wont have to get the mud off of them next time I groom him
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Mine are all out... with MW's on the youngsters, if that makes you feel better?
Not that you're not horribly cruel, anyway
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S
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Mine stay out just in midweight (250g) rugs, down to minus 25.
If it is snowy and windy then I will bring them in.
But on a still dry night they are much happier out.
They have a field shelter but don't use it much.

I am sorry but before I came to Canada I would have classed minus 1 as rather cold, now I think of it as a warm day.
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my connemara is out without rugs tonight. The heaviest rug he has had on all winter has been a medium weight.
i dont believe in over rugging and ive never had a problem getting his summer coat through for the april or may shows!
this was him just before he went back out!
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He is very happy being out without rugs and it keeps his weight down.
 
Its only 100g less - 200g isnt a lot anyway. The cold isnt the problem, its wind and rain which makes them cold. Keep in mind he has his own coat and also is able to move about all night to keep warm! Its not like leaving him cooped up in a draughty stable...

I have 2 who are hunter clipped, Ive taken their neck covers off and will leave them off until it rains. I even took my Welsh Cobs (hunter clipped) rugs off totally yesterday during the day as it was so mild. He loved being able to have several good rolls after being rugged for months!
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So was Merlin a ice block this morning??? Had his ears dropped off as Shilly predicted???
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My theory is that she hasn't replied yet...because she's too busy with the hairdryer trying to thaw him out...and with the superglue, trying to fix the ears...hope she puts them on the right way round...
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Thanks for your concern guys
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He did indeed survive the night and looked very comfortable this morning at nine o'clock when I saw him
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Thought I would take a few piccys to prove he didnt need to be chipped off of the field....... and that he still has his lovely curly ears!!!

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Actually these were taken about 1 oclock when I went up to check him.... someone thought he was lame but he was just being lazy and draggin his hind feet!!!
 
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Awwww he is lovely..... and sooooo clean, how can you bear to turn him out again
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luckily he is quite a neat pony. he has never so far come in coated from head to foot. Just one side normaly. at the weekend he gets brought in and realy cleaned up so we can check legs etc more thoughrly. during the week he looks like a hairy muddy yeti!
 
My boy has just (today) had his rug taken off (MW Rambo Wug) as he was getting way too warm and hopefully we can keep it off. He has a full coat which had some growing time at the beggining of winter (till end of November) so it really quite thick and he lives out with lots of grass (he just moved fields into the one with no mud, lots of shelter and lots of grass lucky boy) and haylage and lots of food so I reckon he should be warm enough.
 
Took my liner off yesterday too - was far too warm a day for it and she's been out in it today without the liner. Just looked at your photos from this morning - it's a lovely colour those rambo duos go after a bit of mud rolling! Molly's favourite past time is getting caked in mud.
 
Yeah, those reflective strips were great til they got covered in mud!
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Love my rug though and wouldn't be without it. Your horse looks just like mine did on Friday night - I was still trying to get mud off her on Saturday morning even though I had groomed her on Friday!
 
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