Stable rugs- do you or don't you?

Lottie86

Lottie86

Active Member
Aug 6, 2012
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North Aberdeenshire
As the title says do you put stable rugs on your horses when they are in?

All the other horses at Magic's yard that I've seen are all rugged up when they are inside including a lot of them wearing combo rugs to keep their necks warm as well.

Magic is naked as I was of the opinion that if he is in a stable then he's not out in the rain and/or wind therefore his coat would be enough to keep him warm (he was clipped a few weeks ago but it's starting to grow back in now) but I'm now wondering if I should be rugging him when he's in? :unsure:
 
There's a mixture on our yard from a warmblood who's double rugged because he drops weight alarmingly if he isn't kept snug and warm, to a clipped but overweight cob who isn't rugged. My horse (fine skinned Arab) isn't clipped but has a lightweight stable rug as he tends to get tucked up if he's cold, but equally gets very frustrated and rips holes in his rugs with his teeth if he's too warm. OH's horse is clipped and has a light/medium weight small rug which seems to suit him.
 
Magic is ok weight wise although being a Fell Pony if he lost a bit of weight before spring arrives it's not the end of the world as he'll no doubt balloon in the summer (although of course I wouldn't want him to be uncomfortable).

They are big thick stone walled barns with stables in like an American barn with ventilation along the centre of the roof (basically the centre point of the roof is completely open) He seemed fine when I checked him last night and this morning when I got there to turn him out and he didn't feel cold (even clipped areas were warm) or seem uncomfortable.

Perhaps I should get a lightweight stable rug for him then just in case he needs it. Rugging seems like a total minefield :spin:
 
We used to put a rug on Joe as he was a tb and needed it - he loved his Liberace coloured flashy duvet stable rug!lol (the mice have since eaten it to bits but that's another story). It was a gorgeous gold colour with purple edging.........mmmmm. His ears used to splay with happiness upon production of said rug - OH used to be highly entertained dressing him up of an evening..........
Sadly, both girls don't need rugs - stable or otherwise. Poor Storm. She is such a porker despite being rationed constantly - going naked is another weapon in the fight against fat! She HATES rugs anyway - if I so much as drape one around her she bites and hisses at me. Horrid girl at times! Chloe is okay with a rain sheet affair but doesn't need stable rugs - she is more than hairy - I think her beard alone keeps her warm at night!
 
My cob is in at night. He has a neck and chest clip. I pop his lightweight 100g on when it gets to below 0, when its under 5 he has his fleece on.

As eml says i think they can be colder in a stable because there not moving around to keep warm.

Although i may put his heavier one on tomorrow as we are due a colder spell of weather than of late :cold: and his coat is not as thick as it was.
 
We have horses in my barn that wear a lot of rugs at night, one horse was wearing

A thick stable rug
A quilted stable rug with a neck
a duvet
Another thick stable rug

most at my yard wear at least two rugs!!!

The boys varied both are fully clipped at the coldest spell they had on 100g thin stable plus a 100g with a neck.

They have been out since the first of March now so they are in heavy rugs at night in the field as we have no shelter
 
Mine is fully clipped and I always feel if they can't warm up like eml says then I'd at least put a thin one on. The most mine wears is a fleece. He's an overweight cob, but if he's in for a few hours and it's windy then I'll still pop on a fleece as he's right by an entrance and he'd be too cold.
 
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My horse has a blanket clip and has been out all winter naked. He comes in for a few hours a day and at first I did put a LW stable rug on him, but he just got too hot. His stable is indoors and it's well protected for elements.

I am more inclined to rug him when he is inside because he doesn't have the option to run around to keep warm - but he really doesn't need it.
 
Yes agree with others. If you are wanting some weight shifted though I wouldn't put a rug on him in the stable, and turn out in a lighter rug. If happy with his weight I think for a fell then a fleece or a lightweight stable rug would suffice.
 
Joy only gets cold when I bring her in. When she's out she always has grass to eat yet so many horses that come in have an empty haynet by the time they are seen to again. Plus as mentioned they can't go for a run or wander about to keep warm when they are shut in. Plus stables can be drafts places and certainly during the day our barn is colder inside than it is outside.

As anti rug as I am in the main, I'd expect to need to rug indoors, more than I would when they are turned out.
 
boys are both in at the moment on a night, they might get a rainsheet on inday if the weather is going to be really bad, but no they do not get rugged on a night, they are both currently mid shed but still plenty of hair left to keep them warm. the other 3 on the yard had a clip but
have been in the same combo HW turnouts since October - during the day and at night in the stable - they only come off if they are riding which is once or twice a week if that!
 
I use stable rugs, or fleeces or nothing at all depending on what the weather is doing. I take the view that they can't run around to warm up, although they can stuff their faces with hay which should help. They're ladies of mature years and both are part clipped, so I err on the side of caution.
 
Yes ours are rugged when stabled. Theory being if they need a rug when they're outside moving around, they are bound to need one indoors when they're standing around in their box. We don't use stable rugs though - ours wear turnout rugs both in and out of the stable, so that there's no need to keep changing rugs. Most of them have been in the same rug all winter and have just had a fleece or thin rug under their TO when the weather's been particularly cold.
 
joosie said:
Yes ours are rugged when stabled. Theory being if they need a rug when they're outside moving around, they are bound to need one indoors when they're standing around in their box. We don't use stable rugs though - ours wear turnout rugs both in and out of the stable, so that there's no need to keep changing rugs. Most of them have been in the same rug all winter and have just had a fleece or thin rug under their TO when the weather's been particularly cold.
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Same here. Don't do stable rugs. Victory is so messy he is better off in a turnout rug :)
 
I've no problem with leaving turnouts on in principle, I just like them to not be in the same rug 24/7, gives them time to air and dry if necessary.
 
I dont rug my Fell in or out unless it is really raining and then he can have a rain sheet. But I dont clip either, so he has his natural home grown rug on which regulates his tempreture.

I am wary of rugging because the weather is so variable, it starts off freezing but then will get warmer and he cant take his rug off, and he really sweats. His coat will be able to fluff up or lay down according to the conditions.

My feeling is that I would rather give him more hay to keep him warm from the inside, and let the cold weather control the weight, and it stops him from being bored in the stable as he has had to be in so much this year.

BTW he is 16 and in good health, if he was much older or poorly, I would probably rug hm more often.
 
I rug mine as tbs and bib clipped when in work plus one loses condition when grass not good but I like to let them go naked with the sun on their backs and be natural as much as poss too.

When stood in stable if its cold like today brrr I rug as not moving to keep warm.

I always change rugs and take rug off so they can scratch and breathe.
 
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