Article on rugging...

[kizi]

www.academialiberti.de/en/articles/read/11/Thermoregulation-in-horses-in-a-cold-time-of-year/


Most interesting.. Only reading on my phone so didnt verify!! Just thought I'd share..

[BJMM]

Thanks xx I shall have a look

[bertie666]

Think I read that one last year but its always good to read again =D

Makes so much sense to me - Ive become rather anti rug this year!

[hammie]

That's one hairy Arabian! The rolling pic looks more like a goat

So I'm not allowed to clean off the dirt... have they met Snowstorm!

Didn't realise the hair erectors were muscles.

All seems to make sense, but different breeds suit different climates after all, and if they live elsewhere won't they struggle temperature wise? But then, at the zoo we have lions and penguins living out in the same environment, so maybe not?

Also, crucially, once you ride them and ask them to work, things change don't they? The horse gets hotter than it might otherwise, then needs clipping, then gets rugged...

[kizi]

Yes that's the thing. It does suggest that horses are better if not forced to exercise in winter.. That their own natural activity levels slow down anyway..
I've gone quite anti rug this year two, only 2 of 20 rugged in light rugs.. (20 now being 11 though)
But I went anti rugs for other reasons.. Movement restriction, rubbing etc..
I found it quite an interesting read.. And to follow it would mean not riding when the weather is at its worse/coat at its thickest... Which tends to accidentally happen here anyway either due to frozen arena/roads/riders!!

[clara81]

I'm not anti-rugging but I am anti-overrugging which is most horses in my opinion! I've got a rug on my old pony for the first time but only because it's a struggle to get forage down her and I don't want her to lose any weight through being cold. To me it's backwards to rug all winter and then muzzle/keep in all summer to tackle weight. Riding at the weekend is no reason to clip a horse, especially one with a fine coat (i.e non-native). If you've got time to ride you've got time to cool down and dry off appropriately as far as I'm concerned.

[LuckyRed]

it's very interesting, but for those of us who want to ride our horses in winter and cant afford to keep a field ornament, it would have been nice to see a second part to the article on how to work a horse in winter and keep it healthy.

Questions that I'd like to get scientific answers (rather than opinion) are along the lines of, if I want to work my horse hard in winter (ie hunting, hunter trials, sponsored rides etc) such that he gets sweaty, is it better to clip so that the sweat can dry quickly or leave fluffy so that the sweat dries naturally, but does that put him in danger of over heating? And if you have got him sweaty and he's hairy, do you have to rug with fleeces / thermatex etc until he is dry, or turn out to dry naturally? (I once spent about 90 mins riding my horse on a particularly wet day and then about 4 hours waiting for her to dry off enough to rug up and turn out - I used 4 fleece / wicking rugs which all ended up soaked in the process of drying her off!)

[kizi]

Ya lucky red I agree they should have covered that to make the article complete, depends on their motive I guess.
I did find good tho the point that to dry off they will erect the hair muscle and find a windy spot to speed up the process and prevent over cooling.. So standing in with rugs on may take longer..
I would actually prefer to do more with mine.. But not enough to bother with clipping rugging etc etc and its the drying off that's the difficult part, both time wise but also for their health and well being..
Realistically (not scientifically) I can't imagine it's better to be hairy and working hard, dripping in sweat than clipped and carefully rugged... If hairy and working hard ensuring they get all the correct electrolytes etc replaced and temperature control etc would be far tricker than monitoring rug weights etc.. But reading that also if they are rugged it would seem full neck rugs would be better rather than trying to heat exposed areas, if indeed they cannot control specific areas at a time...

[mags]

Yes, a bit one-sided, that article.
For one, if my native pony was left to his own devices, he would not "naturally" lose weight over winter to make up for getting fat in autumn. He actually packs on more weight over winter if I don't watch him.
So, it's in his interest to be kept exercised (and mine, admittedly). The article points out that being too hot is more of a problem than being too cold. Unclipped, even a hack at a brisk walk would leave my boy sweating if I didn't clip him. So, not a realistic option. He gets a bib and no rug, and does fine that way.
It all comes down to the fact that domestic horses are not kept or used as feral horses are.
IMO, lack of adequate shelter is a major reason why so many people in the UK rug. Driving wind and rain will eventually get to the horse's skin. It would be preferable to have shelter rather than rug, but that's not a likely prospect for many. Also, some horses' coat just isn't up to the job for one reason or another. My senior mare has such a dippy back that water runs against the lay of the hair straight onto her skin. She needs a rain sheet when it's raining.

[Deleted]

I can't access the article but I can guess what it says, google macs equine and coolheat rugs, they say the same.

I agree with some bits.

I have a coolheat rug which I use in spring and early autumn when I need Talin clean for riding but he doesn't need extra warmth. However, even when he wasn't clipped he wasn't warm enough in it to just use that all winter. So I got a normal rug and used that for a few months. Then when I put his coolheat back on in spring he was still capable of puffing his coat up so I'm not sure I buy the idea that normal rugs stop them being able to puff their coat up.

I found when working Talin this winter, when he was sweating a lot he was becoming lethargic in his work. When I clipped him and he stopped sweating so much he was much happier again.

[mrsfields]

really interesting article!

my 2 have ended up having the winter off because we moved recently and have tons of renovation/work to do so have limited facilities for riding, and landscaping work is now on hold til spring... so they're living the life of riley at the moment!

i haven't rugged them yet because the temperatures are fluctuating enormously, and they both have amazing thick coats... like the article mentions, i check under their fur when they've been out in the rain (despite free access to shelter if they want) and their coat is also completely dry underneath - it's really fascinating!

in past winters, they've been rugged and clipped when in work, but here (from what i've seen in the local French horsey community) it's not unusual for working horses to have a few months off at some point in the year - spring/summer for hunters, and winter for many competition horses, who are then brought back into fittening programmes in late summer/early autumn for the hunters and early spring for the competition circuit... a local trainer here told me he thought it was good for the horses' "heads" to have time off like that... so i'm thinking winter might be quite a good time for us to do that...

it's the first time my lads have been off work for a long period for quite a few years, but i have to say, they're both looking fantastic on it! Ken my fjord cross has toned up beautifully since he's been out 24/7 despite being on ad lib forage and 2 feeds a day, as he was getting quite overweight at livery what with being stabled too much of the time, even though he was getting comparatively less feed/forage than he is now... i've got them on a track system over about 15 acres, with access to rotated inner paddocks as well, and they do seem to opt to spend a lot of time on track, and are doing a fab job of keeping themselves in great shape at the moment - they're incredibly active and do hooly around an awful lot at high speed...

cannot wait to get them back into some light then medium work in the spring though - it will be interesting to see if a few months off over winter makes a difference... and if so, it might be something i would be happy to do regularly!

[clipclop]

It also depends on the environment in which they are kept - unrugged horses in a field with good natural shelter on all sides and/or field shelters will be fine.

However, those horses who are kept in an unnatural environment (eg a paddock with electric fencing all round) need artificial warmth and shelter ie rugs.

Sent from my ST18i using proboards

[kizi]

I like mine to have some time off every year. It used be end of summer but now that I don't have the riding school anymore it works well for them to have their break at this time. Lets me get into winter routine too and they seem happy. They don't gain too much weight having time off work like they would other times of the year and I find it useful as often the ponies don't get much feed rest of the year so I can catch up a little on minerals etc this time, when they need it most and it doesn't matter if they get a bit too much energy (being kids ponies) because they are off work anyway.. That said they only get fibre anyway but still.. Winter break suits me.. So they can then also remain unrugged!

[shan]

Very interesting... I have to say despite my best intentions, circumstances have made me err on the side of light rugging at night as Sandy is out mostly on her own, but she will stay near the stables where the others are and the natural shelter of the trees & hedges is at the top of the field where she won't go, understandably, on her own.

[marsay]

Lucky red, no most of us don't choose to keep a field ornaments, thought that was a bit harsh but with short days and freezing temps it's not always practical to ride. With driving snow and icy conditions its not my idea of fun.

Opinion varies greatly on what to do and not do and I would be very interested in a scientific trial of riding hairy horses causes them any stress. I have one highland who sheds her coat quite late and really struggled last spring with that early heat but I didn't want to clip her as then she would be too cold at night, I do believe their bodies seem to manage as in the wild they would be running and playing more freely?
I have no shelter at the moment but they do have natural cover but still prefer to stand in the driving wind and snow, my hubby did well to phone me at work (as I work away) to tell me that they were fine and they had icicles on their backs which for a man I was impressed he listened to me. They were well cosy when he parted all the hair.
Ho hum its always such a balance, when i do ride in the winter she never gets sweaty so she must be OK, its just the spring that gives me anxiety. Anyway i am lucky I have fat hairy highland who eats anything and need very little pampering no stables or rugs or fancy feeds, I did try a Irish draught but for my lifestyle it didn't take long to go back to a hardy highland. Mind you people do look down their nose at me, short fat highlands, but i love em!!!