Just wondering have many of you started rugging your horses up yet or are you waiting for their winter coats to come through abit more? Im not entirely sure when would be the best time to start getting the rugs out. (None of our horses are clipped and they are all hardy breeds.)
For all my M & Ms that aren't shown, after christmas.
But my show ones are rugged up all year round:)
Unless you are going to compete your chaps over the winter, I would not rug them at all. What you like to see "all snuggled up" is not what the ponies would choose given the choice. Horses and ponies in thick rugs sweat very easily even by just walking around the field, let alone when they have a play time. This can lead to skin fungus and other irritating itchy conditions, as well as chills and back/kidney problems when the rugs are left on damp.
When ponies develop a naturally thick and greasy winter coat, and have adequate shelter (Field shelter, high thick hedge etc) from wind and weather in the field, rugs are not needed. Neither do they need rugs if in at night, cold fresh air never hurt any horse or pony, but wqrm, muggy clammy air or coat has! You can still give them a very low trace clip (belly and underside of neck) even if the are out 24/7 to make drying off after exercise easier.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com
The worst thing you can do it wait for them to get a thick coat, then rug them. Either you should have started as soon as the coats started "turning" in early Autumn, or leave it completely.
The only way to tell is to check the base of their ears. If they are cold, then you might consider rugging but you would also look at the horse in general. If the coat is standing up, the horse is shivering with his tail tucked down and looking generally miserable, then you should rug then!
There is no exact date. It depends entirely on the horse! The breeds you describe are all hardy and could go out all day and night without rugs (though rugs will help them stay cleaner) as long as they are well fed and have access to shelter from the elements. Trouble is, once you have rugs on horses they need removing and replacing at least twice daily and on one day you cannot turn them out without a rug (unless it is unseasonably warm) have a rug on the next and then turn them out without rugs. And you cannot put a rug on a wet/damp horse. All of yours that are working could do with a low trace clip and a rug but can still stay out at night with rugs.
Just because we had some cold weather with sub zero temperatures for a couple of nights the forecasters are predicting that we are going to have a hard winter!
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com I have clipped (stabled) horses and when the temperature did drop I put an extra blanket on them because they needed it but they have been taken off because now it is to warm for them.
A bad winter for animals is NOT when it is cold, they can deal with cold easily without rugs, a BAD winter is incessant rain and wind which drives the water into their coats and with horses such as yours they only need a lightweight rug to keep the rain off their backs.
My TB brood mares are still out and I haven't even thought about getting the rugs out yet.
He's already rugged up in a heavy turnout when it's cold at night and a medium if he's out during the day when it's a bit warmer. Where I am (Lancashire), it's already late autumn/winter weather and is really cold at night and all the horses at the yard are either in with a rug or out with heavy turnout's on:}
There are four arabs, a thoroughbred, a few cobs, sports horse and a part bred arab whom all have rugs on: D
our cob type horses are in rain sheets but our warm bloods and arabs are in their medium/autumn rugs=) if it is sunny during the day we take them off aswell=) our have very thick winter coats so they would probably be ok with just rain sheets, yours sound like they are quite hardy ^ ^ so they should be ok if one of them is old you could start rugging them up but it sounds like they will be fine=D hop i have helped Xx
i have a dales pony X (well on loan) but i am good/close friends with the owner and she told me to start rugging him up now 1. to stop him fluffing up as much as he does (flatten his coat down a bit haha) and 2. because it drops cold at night because it gets cold it can make them drop weight .. well i s'posse if your feeding your horse quite a lot then you dont really need to if you dont want to .. the horse i have winters well any way so we only put a light weight rug on him .. i usually take his rug of in the day when its not as cold and put it on when i go up there to feed for the night.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com some people might disagree with putting rugs on now, but i think its safer then taking a risk and your horse might drop a bit of weight ..
hope i helped:)
Ideally, our rule is usually if it's getting in the 40s at night. At that point, a light one goes on at night, and it comes off during the day. Our thoroughbred doesn't get much of a coat no matter what we do, and he gets runny noses if he's not being blanketed enough. Once temps are staying in about the 30s-40s, the lighter coats can stay on all day. Windy or cold and wet days will require more blanketing than one that, while cooler, is very sunny or not windy.
