Wintering out

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nijinsky

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I'm debating whether to leave horses out through the winter or bring them in. 2 are in foal & are both TB, 1 is a Welsh C pony & 1 is an ISH.

They have all been out since April coming in the odd night recently depending on the bad weather.

They are all in med t/outs at the moment, they are lovely & warm during the day but they don't feel that warm during night. I think it's too early to be putting their heavy weights on. None of them need to come in but the stables are there and ready should they have to come in. The last couple of nights I have to say have been freezing cold though.

How do you guys do it? Do you change rugs day/night or are they in same rug day & night?
 
My WB mare lives out and has a medium weight on at night then nothing during the day (if its sunny) depending on the weather, if its wet during the day she wears a lightweight waterproof. I am trying to be hard as i want her to feel the benefit of her heavyweight when it really gets cold.
I feed plenty of hay and good feed and she has a good covering, she doesn't seem to be bothered by the cold snap so I dont worry about her. I have to say my other WB who is stabled is in his heavyweight already but he isn't quite as hardy as her.
I think when they are turnout out they keep warmer because they can move around more unlike when they are stabled.
If your horses are holding their weight and condition in the rugs they are in I would say they are probably warm enough. Supposedly horses dont feel the cold as much as us, I try to remember this as its so tempting to rug them up too much!
 
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I'm debating whether to leave horses out through the winter or bring them in. 2 are in foal & are both TB, 1 is a Welsh C pony & 1 is an ISH.

They have all been out since April coming in the odd night recently depending on the bad weather.

They are all in med t/outs at the moment, they are lovely & warm during the day but they don't feel that warm during night. I think it's too early to be putting their heavy weights on. None of them need to come in but the stables are there and ready should they have to come in. The last couple of nights I have to say have been freezing cold though.

How do you guys do it? Do you change rugs day/night or are they in same rug day & night?

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My three live out. I find I have to rug according to the weather, and not to the time of year, so at the moment mine are rugged in HW due to the bad weather.
I feed and hay mine morning and night (and poo pick - joy).
I take their rugs off, give them a brush and replace them usually both ends of the day - and that's when I change the rugs if necessary. I keep the spares folded up and tucked under a tarpaulin at the edge of the field, for ease (my field is a bit from the yard).
My old Tb (19) feels the cold most, so she generally wears a HW, usually with a full neck. The other two are a bit more hardy so usually wear MWs with/without hoods (the higher the neck, the less mud they can wear
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It is a bit of work, and the horses have to be trained to stand quietly for rugging in all weathers, but then having them stabled is hard work too.
S
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Thanks all, so I think really I ought to be putting another layer on them at night (or a lighter one through the day). Just wondered if you all kept the same rug on day & night. Thanks.
 
I keep the same rug on day and night - my living out pony is a NF and has lived out all his life - he is only 6! He does not like stables. He is even clipped and still happy to be living out! I think they can move about more to keep warm and so I put on the minimum weight of rug to make sure he does not get hot during the day.
 
mine have the same rugs on day and night, still in mw and the youngsters will prob stay in that all winter, horses in work will go into heavyweight rugs, all staying out all the time... but they do have shelters if they want to use them.
eating hay and haylage keeps them very warm, btw, they have a big furnace working inside them all night! someone posted a brilliant link on here about why horses are perfectly adapted for very cold weather, unlike us, it really changed my thinking!
 
I'm new to this out 24/7 malarky so playing it by ear ATM.

I have a clipped 16yo pony who has dropped weight this year so I'm rugging him more than usual and two mini shetlands who are naked.

Now it is colder I have him in a HW Amigo in the day and add an underrug at night but will drop down to MW if it goes milder. Going to buy a warmer HW for if it goes colder.

However, I have bought them all in the last two nights as we have had lots of sleet and field is quite exposed and only have some natural shelter. Will leave them out if cold but dry.
 
Cheers K. It's Rosie - she seems a bit stressy in the stable but I don't know if that's just because we're not in a routine yet or that's the way she is.

Mine are all usually out 24/7 Apr - Nov then in at night Nov - Apr. Even though they are in they are still out at least 13-14 hours a day, I know of friends in livery whose horses are only allowed out 5 hours a day during winter.

I want to do what's best for them but also what's easier for me. I don't have field shelters so if the weather was to turn really bad I do think I'd bring them in anyway.

Mine too are just in MW at the mo but don't feel that warm at night but then it has been extra cold these last few nights.
 
My TB is living out 24/7 in a HW - given that we have been in the minuses and had a 4 inches of snow where she is, I don't think the HW is over-rugging at all. She is quite a slight mare, so I see no harm in keeping her well rugged. I haven't had to clip - she has a fine coat.

Where I keep her has pros and cons - we are right on top of a hill, so it gets colder than down in the valley, but we don't have any mud, because all the water drains straight off.
 
i think it's better if they're slightly underrugged, if you're unsure (esp at this time of the year). they can always have a run around to warm up, or a shiver (which warms them up too, apparently!), but if they're too hot and you're not there to change rugs, they're sweaty and stuck, which i think is much worse.
 
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i think it's better if they're slightly underrugged, if you're unsure (esp at this time of the year). they can always have a run around to warm up, or a shiver (which warms them up too, apparently!), but if they're too hot and you're not there to change rugs, they're sweaty and stuck, which i think is much worse.

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Yes, they are always better a little cold than sweaty.
I notice a lot of difference between my three - my Tb can't cope at all with cold, and will shake violently if left nude in a summer rainstorm (to the point she won't eat or move). She loves the heat, and will be out baking in the sun in the hottest of weathers when everything else is in the shade
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The others could both live out nude, but I prefer to rug than feed more. They sweat much more readily in hot weather.
So, ignore what people say, and rug each one as it needs.
S
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My lad manages well all winter in his medium weight and I have never had to put anything heavier on...he is a Welsh D but a total wimp when it comes to the cold and wet! I am leaving him out this winter for the first time and he is loving it! He has ad lib hay and limited grass and access to his field stable at all times. I just check the base of his ears and under his rug around his vital organ area to ensure he is warm and let him get on with it.
 
I have 2 veterans living out and they both have access to their stables at night. Both have their rugs changed in the morning and night and they wear thicker rugs at night as it gets colder overnight. Plus they are never left in a wet/damp rug. Neither have much hair and are in heavyweights during the day (370 - 400g) with full necks and have a lightweight (no filling) or a medium weight (200g) added at night currently depending on how much the temp drops. I generally go by the following as a rough guide for my old boys but also depends on if it's raining of course:

Temp in celcius
15 - 20 degrees - lightweight (no filling)
10 - 15 degrees - medium weight (200g)
5 - 10 degrees - heavyweight (370 - 400g)
0 - 5 degrees - heavy heavyweight (450g) or add a lightweight to 370g heavyweight
minus 0 degrees - heavyweight (370 - 400g) plus mediumweight (200g) or heavy heavyweight (450g) with a lightweight
 
I really wouldn't use that method to gauge whether the horse is warm or cold - checking the base of the ears is a far more accurate way of knowing.
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I really wouldn't use that method to gauge whether the horse is warm or cold - checking the base of the ears is a far more accurate way of knowing.
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It's based on trial and error over the last 10 years and checking their ears and bums to see how warm they are, it works for my 2...
 
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But i do live in Cornwall.

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where it is much milder than most of the UK.

I always check by feeling base of ears, rather than what time of year.
 
My TB x WB is just finishing his stint in the field as Idont think he is up to a winter out. I check his ears and all over too, as sometimes his coat is staring and others not. feel all over espec in armpits to gauge the temp. ATM - I am quite suprised- he is in a HW with a fleece under and he is a furry puffball. thought he would still be in a mW . Getting wet and cold is worse though than just being cold. Theres not much grass left but roll on saturday! In his box he will prob be quite warm.
 
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My tb is in a h-w turned out duning the day and a heavyweight stable at night. But i do live in Cornwall.

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Huh? Cornwall is the warmest part of the UK is it not?!
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I would turn your horses out TBH. Do they have access to shelter? If so, then why not? As long as they have decent hay and decent rugs they'll be fine. Mine all live out through Scottish winters no problem (including a Luso x TB who is hunter clipped normally). Yours are natives so they shouldnt need more than a 200g (med) rug anyway I wouldnt think. Mine are rugged from 200g to 350g turouts depending on the horse.
 
My Arabs and donkey are out 24/7 and at the moment are in medium-weight turnouts, but a couple of times last week it was minus 5 overnight and I changed them into heavyweights. TBH, that was a kneejerk reaction as I know perfectly well they're fine on cold but dry and windless nights - it's the wet and windy ones that chill them.
 
Huh??
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I was replying to Nijinsky, as it shows at the top of my post.

Nijinsky's method of checking body fur is not the way to gauge whether a horse is warm or not, checking the base of the ears gives a better reading.
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P.S. There are a few HHOers on here who, like me, keep horses in temperatures of sometimes as cold as -40. Only about 8 of my horses wear H/W rugs over the winter; most of the rest wear M/W rugs for the whole of the winter and probably about 10 live out with no rugs at all. All live out 24/7 and the breeds are also Arabs and TBs and WBs, so not just my QHs - they all cope just fine.
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So, all those that leave horses out 24/7 in the winter, how do you cope with the negatives, lack of grazing, poached fields, horses standing in mud constantly, sopping wet fields - this is just a question as these are some of the points that worry me.

I should have pressed quick reply, not directed at you Tia.
 
Well for me, the beauty (and only good side from what I can see) of living in a country that has seriously sub-zero stupid temperatures over winter, is that we do not have mud like you do. The ground freezes solid to about 3ft below ground level which restricts any jobs whatsoever that mean trying to put anything in the ground, so any fencing or building shelters etc all have to be done before the ground freezes.

We obviously cannot see any grass for months on end as it is usually under 2ft of snow - so we feed ad-lib hay.

When I lived in England, some of my fields became dusty at the gate entrances but some of them really didn't - it all depends on the soil structure. I did have sacrifice fields, only for use over winter and never used at any other time of the year. I rotated throughout the seasons and fields were only ever used for one season before moving onto other fields - this helped keep grazing good and stopped the ground in any field (except winter sacrifice fields) from being trashed.
 
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So, all those that leave horses out 24/7 in the winter, how do you cope with the negatives, lack of grazing, poached fields, horses standing in mud constantly, sopping wet fields - this is just a question as these are some of the points that worry me.

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I'm lucky in that my (rented) winter field is enormous - more than 5 acres for 2 horses and one donkey. It still has plenty grass ATM and on frosty nights or when snow is on the ground I feed hay in a HayHutch. The soil is sandy and well-draining so poaching/mud isn't a massive issue. Even on my previous yard, where the ground was very wet and mud was a constant presence, the advantages of wintering out far outweighed the disadvantages.

An awful lot depends on the individual horse - eg, does it have good feet or weak horn that will crumble if constantly wet? Is it thin-skinned, a poor doer, prone to mudfever? etc etc. I've been lucky in that my animals seem to thrive on being out, and it also keeps them calmer and fitter.
 
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