Youngsters - to rug or not?

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pips2015

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Hey! I have a 2 year old cob cross. She lives out 24/7 with a field shelter and has hay. Just want some advice as to whether or not to rug her? Have been given various advice on what to do - some would rug and some wouldn't rug! Just wondering what others would do?
 
I would see how she is when the weather becomes bad, ideally I would not rug a youngster if it was in good condition and doing well, there are always exceptions but I would not rug until or if she showed that she required one but even then I would be reluctant preferring to encourage them into the shelter with plenty of hay. I certainly wouldn't rug just because someone else did.
 
I wouldn't have thought she would need rugging, providing she's on ad lib hay. Just check her daily and if she does feel cold, then rug accordingly.
 
If she has a shelter and hay she should be fine unrugged. normally horses that live out can move around and get close to others if they are in a small herd which means they will often be warmer than their counterparts that are in a stable.
 
Put warmth in her belly with quality fibre.

Rugs + youngstock can often = accidents, especially if your fencing is electric or other wire.
 
I wouldn't rug a normal, healthy two year old. Presumably it is not working, therefore not clipped and not having the oils groomed or bathed out of its coat, so should be fine, especially as she has shelter and is a hardy type.
 
Thankyou. That's what i was hoping just wanted confirmation! Shes a rescue, however is in good and improving condition. Not clipped and in a field of 4, so she has the herd warmth. Here's hoping :-)
 
I am not a fan of rugging youngsters either. A healthy cob cross with shelter and sufficient forage should be perfectly OK without a rug.
 
I'm not a fan of rugging to keep clean. They get a rug if their ears are cold and the weather is exceptionally bitter, and that includes any 2 year old I have. I had one who positively queued up for hers when her mum was done. You could see her say " Me too please". She bucked once the first time it went on, and was as good as gold thereafter.
I almost always only rug at night, though if expected to continue to pour all day it may just stay on.
One advantage is that having felt the benefit of a rug, putting a saddle on later when breaking seems to be a lot easier.
Did anyone else read on BBC news web site about Norwegian horses being trained to decide for themselves? They pushed a different shape of bar to select on, off or no change. Apparently they were proficient after daily 15 min lessons for 2 weeks.
 
We pretty much never rug our youngsters. Exception being if they are ill and can't be brought in.

We do however put rugs on and off them when grooming/as part of training just so they experience it.

Sounds interesting sunnyone, my two are fairly good at telling me if they want rugging or not, they would pick something like that up fairly quickly I would imagine.
 
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