Rugging A Wet Horse

Blanketing rugging pros and cons.

Rugging a wet horse.

His bed is a large open paddock not stabled. They are 11 21 and 24 yo 2x welshd 1x shetland welshx good do ers and have ad lib hay in small holed. Rugging a horse may affect the natural stimuli to trigger thermoregulation mechanisms. Before putting a rug or a heavier one on your horse consider all the many variables.

Rugging during wet weather is a real challenge. When the coat gets wet the hairs collapse and less air is trapped leading to faster heat loss. Rugging a horse just like us our horses feel the cold differently. The hair erector muscles need exercising like any muscle in order to work efficiently.

My boy is 17 and a tb so i am still a little reluctant to send him to bed without any rugs on it is still getting cold at night and occasionally quite wet. Rationing hay for a variety of reasons many performance horses are on rationed hay or haylage. Over rugging or putting a rug on too soon can compromise a horse s ability to do this. If you do decide to rug your horse during wet weather a rain sheet or unlined canvas is the best option as these rugs deliver rain.

They only get the chance to get rugged if its windy wet and cold. Clearly whether or not a horse has a thick winter coat has not yet grown one or has been clipped will have a big effect on the ability to retain heat. Rainsheet to 50g max no neck covers. Following on from the over rugging thread kinda.

Horses that are regularly stabled or clipped will be more vulnerable to chills than those that are used to living out and may easily overheat if wearing too many clothes. During the day he is usually. Don t tie them up to rug if they sidle up to you when the rug appears put it on. Jump to latest follow 1 20 of 24 posts.

Most healthy outdoor living horses can cope with cold it is wet that really gets to them. They have a field shelter and some drystone walls but exposed to the north. Mine are natives with bib clips and live out at 1000 feet. While the southern states can occasionally have cool wet weather during spring and summer the northern states experience rainfall accompanied by high humidity.

Here everyone has gone through the winter with temps down to 40 f and colder with windchill no blankets.