# How do you decide which rug to put on?



## tonitot (26 September 2010)

How do you decide which rug to put on your horse? Do you go by what the temperature is, with it having to be within certain temperatures for each rug (if that makes any sense??)  or do you go by how you feel and how many layers you have on?

Hope this makes sense, can't think of any of the words I want tonight


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## pottamus (26 September 2010)

I know my horse and judge according to whether it will be dry or wet coupled with wind speed and temp. He has been fine so far with no rug even in the winds when the temp has got down to 5 degrees at night. But tomorrow it will be windy, wet and 11 degrees and I know that he will be chilled so will throw a rain sheet on him.


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## Balibee (26 September 2010)

pottamus said:



			I know my horse and judge according to whether it will be dry or wet coupled with wind speed and temp. He has been fine so far with no rug even in the winds when the temp has got down to 5 degrees at night. But tomorrow it will be windy, wet and 11 degrees and I know that he will be chilled so will throw a rain sheet on him.
		
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agree with this.  I know my horse well and which temp/wind speed/rain etc will make him feel so just rug according to his needs.


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## Snowysadude (26 September 2010)

pottamus said:



			I know my horse and judge according to whether it will be dry or wet coupled with wind speed and temp.
		
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Exactly the same, I have the added bonus that my horse appears to be cold blooded and when he gets too cold he will not let anyone ride him. He is quite literally "cold backed" and in summer isnt at all !!!


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## monkeybum13 (26 September 2010)

I go by the horse, not the weather forecast or how I feel.
I check ears, armpits etc to feel if they are freezing, warm etc.


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## eggs (26 September 2010)

monkeybum13 said:



			I go by the horse, ...
I check ears, armpits etc to feel if they are freezing, warm etc.
		
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Ditto this.  I do however check the BBC 24 hour forecast so that I have an idea of what the weather is likely to be like.

At the moment mine are still out unruggged during the day and may have a fleece on at night.  

As a rule we feel the cold much more than our horses.  Eating and digesting fibre in the hind gut is one of the main ways in which a horse generates heat.


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## ThePony (27 September 2010)

I live by the bbc 24 forecast! That gives me an idea of what's going on, then for temp I check her armpits etc and see how she is feeling. Generally she keeps lovely and toasty all on her own!  At the moment she has her lightweight on for the first time, it isn't that cold, but there is a really chilly wind and it is raining.


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## chestnut cob (27 September 2010)

I go by how my horse feels.  ATM he's unrugged, growing quite a coat and is warm enough.  I don't want to rug until I clip, which won't be until mid/late Oct (as I'm on hols before that so would prefer him to stay unrugged until I get back).  He is currently warm enough out without a rug whatever the weather and has plenty of fat reserves to help keep him warm.  Their grazing is pretty good (or at least there is a lot of it) so he has plenty in his belly to keep him warm whilst he's out, and he gets small hay nets through the day while he's in.

Once he is rugged I will go by how he feels.  I am not one of those people who likes their horse to be "toasty warm" - he is quite a hot horse and he hates being too warm.  He will stand in his stable sweating in a 110g stable rug when it's -5C in the barn and he's hunter clipped!  So as long as his ears etc are warm I know he is fine.  If he feels cold and the base of his ears are cold, I will put a heavier rug on or maybe a cotton sheet underneath if I don't want to go from one rug weight to another.  If he feels too hot, I will take a layer off or put a lower weight rug on.

Even when it was -20C last winter, he still only had a 360g TO rug on with a LW stable rug underneath with a hunter clip..


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## Spinal Tap (27 September 2010)

I go by the Met Office forecast.  If in doubt I rug a lighter rather than heavier but my horse isn't nesh at all & tends to carry a bit more condition than is ideal, so if she shivers a bit of lard off that's no bad thing.


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## hannahmurphy (27 September 2010)

I go by my horse. If he's feeling the cold he'll have a rug on . . .


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## Enfys (27 September 2010)

I only have MW rugs. If the mare looks chilly she has that on, if it is quite cold, talking -20's here, then I double up. 

All my horses let me know if they need a blanket, if they want one they'll stand, if they don't they run away.

Although I frequently check the forecasts, I don't go by them, tend to go outside, dive back in, stick another layer on and then go look at the thermometer purely as a matter of interest


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## Brandy (27 September 2010)

I go by the horse and the weather at the time and the forecast - if its going to rain, be watmer later on etc. It is supposed to clear up today but showing no signs as yet.....

He is currently in a 100g turnout full neck, but saying that I will be upping it tonight as even though it wasn;t that cold, he wasn't ever so warm. As a 29 yr old I like him to be toasty!!


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