Wintering Without Rugs

devilwoman

devilwoman

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I have never ever let my horses winter without rugs, last year they were both clipped and in full neck rugs as appropriate, each of them lost chunks of mane which rubbed out from the rugs, now they are not particularly competition horses but they do both show locally and so missing chunks of mane was not very pleasing.

I am considering letting them winter coat right up this year and go without rugs, they are stabled overnight every night so would not be like it 24/7 - just wondering if this would be cruel considering they are in previous years well rugged ? what are peoples opinions please ?
 
Hairy horror horse used to winter out without rugs and seemed much happier for it compared to the stressy rug years. He stayed out 24/7 (he had access to, but never used a shelter) and if you wiggled your hand into the wool was always lovely and toasty - he was a cobby thing and wasn't exactly devoid of hair.

Just be prepared for them to look like bog monsters, and winter coat falling out season isn't much fun either!

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Tea and toast... natural prozac
 
one of mine is being turned away this yr and i'm planning to winter her out 24/7 without rugs, i will add she is a super tough native and our natural shelter is great.
 
To be honest most people ( my self included) only really rug our horses for our convenience.

I'm sure your horses will be fine un rugged. ( allthough you may regret your decision when you want to ride and they come in plastered from head to hoof !! ) I'm not brave enough and wimp out by putting a lightweight turnout on my grey mud monster, and a good m/w on my mare who would drop away very quickly as she hardly grows any winter woolies.

I'll look out for your post mid winter to see how you're getting on as I'm sure your horses will be absolutely glowing!!
 
I know where your coming from with this one, my combo rugs have rubbed my traditional hairy cobs mane, ive been wondering if i can either go with standard necks or 3/4 necks this yr to avoid the rubbing, i have heard that if you use rugs with seperate necks they dont rub as much but im not sure??.
 
Had the same problem with my TBx - mane still looks ridiculous sticking up where it was rubbed out. A few years ago full necks didnt exist, nowadays we all have them and are they any better? I am not sure..... I dont think it made any difference to my boy. I did give him a bib clip as was riding and then full necked but this year he wont be ridden - I will still rug him as he looses condition fairly quickly (and lives out 24/7 )but this year I think I will leave him to get as wooly as possible and then rug and with standard rug - the difference this year is that I have a field shelter which both mine love and use it at the first sign of rain now and when too hot. I think with a good shelter to get out of the rain and wind you probably could do it without rugs but probably just lightweight standard necks especially as in at night (whilst out they move around and can keep warm that way - I was taught that stabled horses need more to keep warm)
 
half necks are terrible for rubbing the mane i never use neck rugs as he just gets to hot and that makes him rub
 
Is that why you are called 'Devilwoman'?
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Just see how it goes - if it's a mild winter then why not? Do what your horse is happy with, as another poster has put, unless a horse is clipped, rugs are really only for our convenience, horses can survive perfectly well without them, you may need to supply more hay tho
 
Keltic I found the detachable necks rub just the same my mare is evedence of that.
OP only thing I have found in doing this is they dont hair up as much the first winter without rugs,do get hairy but not the thick winter hair but get even hairier the following winter
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Well the one I have derugged did this
 
Go for it and see how far you can go!! Obviously you will keep an open mind to it. I'd say that rain was the bigger enemy than cold. you could get a lightweight and just pop it on for the worst of the weather...
 
the reason i rug my horse up coz she is a t/b and loses weight and the other one i rug so when he comes in at night he is dry and clean to put his rug on. But if you let therte coats grow give plenty of hay and if they have shelter they should be fine!
 
I turned my WelshxTB away last winter 24/7 with no rug, previous to that he had been clipped, rugged and stabled at night every year. He had ad lib haylege and he came out of the winter a big fat blob!

He grew a decent coat but was by no means super hairy and his skin was rarely wet underneath - the rain just ran off him.

I felt he was actually much better off without a rug - no rubs or worries about straps getting caught in trees, fences etc. And he never felt cold although I did give in & stick a rug on when we had a week of snow.
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eta: I actually think its somethimes worse to put a L/W on than nothing atall cos the horse can't then fluff up his coat against the cold.
 
Mine live out 27/7/365 in a large herd with hay and natural shelter.
Never ever rug the sec d....
The haffy has a LW if it rains for more than 2 weeks.
95% of the horses aren't rugged, usually only the very old or young or the TBs.
Out of 25+ horses only about 5 get hard feed regularly.

In fact this year I'm thinking about bib clipping the haffy to try and keep his weight down over winter when I can only ride at the weekend!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Is that why you are called 'Devilwoman'?
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[/ QUOTE ]

Yep sure is
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Will hopefully stick to this for the whole of the winter - i know they'll be fine its just me who'll cave in probably - I have a 2 year old Welsh D X Warmblood who wintered out the whole of the winter last year until February when I bought her, my other girl is a TB type X Cob she also wintered out the year before I bought her ( a couple of years back now) she was a little thin when I got her but not sure how much hay/feed she was given.

My girls have a large round bale in field so can eat as much hay as they like during day - overnight they have half a bale each so hay is not a problem for them.
 
I really wouldn't worry. I know TBs and warmbloods who winter without rugs. I didn't even rug my very old shettie. Although he was skinny, he was always toasty. 24hrs after he died, his neck was still slightly warm under the mane. Very surreal, but it did bring home just how good an insulator those woolly coats are!
 
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