Some questions about rugs 'n stuff

[raggydoll]

I'm really racking up the posts now arent i!!!

Been reading through the past posts about rugs and getting very confused so thought id ask my questions here.

1. I have no problem riding in wet weather and Bimble seems to have no problem being out in it so rain isnt going to be a good enough excuse to get out of work! However as she is out all the time she obviously gets wet in the rain and i dont have a stable or anywhere to dry her off before tacking up so was thinking about getting just a rain sheet to keep ker dry in very heavy rain or before riding. Cant seem to find many tho. Would i be better of getting a light weight t/o?? How do other grass livery folk cope??

2. I want her to be out 24/7 in winter if at all possible. As she is a hairy haffie i dont see that being a problem. Now what do i do about rugs?? The field is mostly surrounded by VERY tall trees so is well sheltered and there are pleanty of trees she can get under and out of the weather if she needs to. I have read that some people dont bother with rugs. Would a light weight t/o as above be enough and then i can layer up if needed? I dont want her to get dependant on rugs if she could cope without so want to be sure before i start using them.

3. What about after riding in cold/wet weather. With no place to dry off before turning out what do you do?

Thanks everyone :)

p.s. oh yeah and she has some weight to loose ;)

[raggydoll]

bump :)

[Esther.D]

My take on this (bearing in mind I am no expert having just asked for advice on this subject myself):

1. Lightweight rainsheets ARE available but you have to hunt about a bit, Rupert has a Rhino pony wug with no filling at all, so it is just a rain sheet literally. Definitely a boon when trying to ride in the winter!

2. The downside to using a rainsheet or very lightweight turnout is that it flattens the fluff which limits their capability to keep warm by fluffing up their hair. However with sheltered fields and tough native types who are very warm by nature people tend not to find this a problem as they are warm enough. When up on the very exposed moors Rupert has a heavyweight Rambo but there is very little shelter up there, down in the valley at livery I am intending to see how he goes with just his rainsheet unless really vile. Doesn't seem to have softened him up at all - he still copes in the autumn gales etc on the moors (isn't rugged until Christmas holidays usually).

3. Invest in a exercise sheet to keep the worst of the weather off if vile. Also make sure t/o rug is breathable so if it goes on when she is damp she will be able to dry off ok rather than staying damp inside.

Oh and she should do ok totally unrugged but they are handy for keeping her dry to ride - up to you really. I have managed before by just towelling dry the saddle area before riding and then ensuring they were nice and cool again before putting back in the field and just not ridden them until really sweaty in the winter when out 24/7 unrugged.

[raggydoll]

Thanks esther thats pretty much what i was thinking :)

[Gay]

The majority of ponies (they belonged to RDA) at my previous livery stables were kept out all winter unrugged. We were able to ride them whatever the weather but they were expect to be back in the field by miday in the depths of winter so they had time to adjust to the temperature before night fell. They had no field shelters just hawthorn hedges round the fields & had no additional feed bar hay except after being ridden. The ponies all did very well on this regime and only the very old ponies had turn out rugs & extra feed. :)

[dcp]

Hi if you were to buy a t/o rug for winter I would buy 2 to be safe. I'm having porblems with my rugs as they are all soaked through and I don't have extra. You can buy rain sheets and exercise rugs from robinsons. It must be hard having no real stable to tack up but at least you have the trees to shelter your horse.

[Esther.D]

2 is not a bad idea, but to be honest ours have been rugged 24/7 over the winter for the last three years on the moors and they only have one lightweight and one heavyweight rug each and we have had no problems - because the rugs are breathable and are on overnight (as they are not stabled and therefore not being changed for stable rugs) they dry out on the horse so we have never had any problems and despite not being reproofed yet (they will be done before this winter) they have never leaked - very impressed with them, they were well worth their money...they have never slipped either :)