taking coat on/off horse?

2012paddy2012

first winter approaching , an Irish sports horse , young lad puts rain sheet
on when he thinks its going to be cold , not when he thinks its not.

someone told him , he would be better off either leave it on horse when he not using it , or don't bother until he decides to have it on full time ....otherwise the horse will get sick , cold/flu etc.

My young lad wants to let the hair on the horse grow , that's his reason for confusion. Problem is different people are giving different advice and confusing him.

Please advise what is the best course to take.

thks Paddy

monflat

2012paddy2012 wrote: »

first winter approaching , an Irish sports horse , young lad puts rain sheet
on when he thinks its going to be cold , not when he thinks its not.

someone told him , he would be better off either leave it on horse when he not using it , or don't bother until he decides to have it on full time ....otherwise the horse will get sick u, cold/flu etc.

My young lad wants to let the hair on the horse grow , that's his reason for confusion. Problem is different people are giving different advice and confusing him.

Please advise what is the best course to take.

thks Paddy

If it's on leave it on
If it's off leave it off. Yes he could get cold it has happened.

If he wants hair to grow leave off rug horse will grow hair to keep warm.

However if he is goin to clip horse soon leave off rug to grow hair otherwise he may have to get horse clipped up to 3 times during season

Once he prepares horse for clipping intensive groom etc he could leave rug on night r two before to prepare coat.

However make sure he has a suitable rug for the type of clip the horse gets.

2012paddy2012

monflat wrote: »

If it's on leave it on
If it's off leave it off. Yes he could get cold it has happened.

If he wants hair to grow leave off rug horse will grow hair to keep warm.

However if he is goin to clip horse soon leave off rug to grow hair otherwise he may have to get horse clipped up to 3 times during season

Once he prepares horse for clipping intensive groom etc he could leave rug on night r two before to prepare coat.

However make sure he has a suitable rug for the type of clip the horse gets.

Thks. Is there any need to clip at all?
All I want is to care for the horse and look after him in the most efficient way so he will be ok for next year. Its all new.so your advice is really appreciated thks

Ave Sodalis

It also depends on the horse. Some horses don't get sick very often, some get sick at the slightest sign of a breeze. Some horses need to be rugged every winter, some have never been rugged. It really just depends on the hardiness of the pony.
With regard clipping, if you're going to continue to work the winter, it's best to clip. The idea is to reduce sweating in the cold weather. A horse with a big heavy coat isn't going to appreciate a sweat rug and leaving a horse sweaty is not a good idea. If he's only going to be worked once or twice a week for half an hour to an hour of light work, I wouldn't bother clipping.

elusiveguy

2012paddy2012 wrote: »

Thks. Is there any need to clip at all?

When he's ridden, if he sweats, check where he sweats, this will dictate what clip you need.

monflat

If you do heavy work and the horse sweats up a lot.
You could be waiting hours for horse to dry off.


However you need not go with a full clip as there are so many horses with full clips that do not need them.

Google types of clip.

There are full clip hunter clip, chaser clip.
High trace clip low trace clip.
Belly clip.

Depending on your work load the clip suits.

However if you get a hunter \full clip
You may need a very heavy ( more expensive rug)

paddi22

what breed of horse is it? Is it hardy? does it have much weight on?

fits

monflat wrote: »

However if he is goin to clip horse soon leave off rug to grow hair otherwise he may have to get horse clipped up to 3 times during season
.

I don't understand this bit. Wouldn't you leave rug on so the hair doesn't grow as fast and you dont have to clip so early?


I give full clip and hog. Horse lives out full time in good rugs and plenty of forage (no feed) and he has been healthy out. He's a hardy Irish draught cross. Dealing with sweaty horses in cold weather is no fun at all, and to be avoided if horse is worked hard with any regularity.

monflat

fits wrote: »

I don't understand this bit. Wouldn't you leave rug on so the hair doesn't grow as fast and you dont have to clip so early?


I give full clip and hog. Horse lives out full time in good rugs and plenty of forage (no feed) and he has been healthy out. He's a hardy Irish draught cross. Dealing with sweaty horses in cold weather is no fun at all, and to be avoided if horse is worked hard with any regularity.

I said that because op says in original post that his son wants the horse to grow hair.

fits

Still don't get why that means horse needs to be clipped three times otherwise. Maybe I'm missing the logic?

monflat

fits wrote: »

Still don't get why that means horse needs to be clipped three times otherwise. Maybe I'm missing the logic?

Ok sorry I wrote the reply in a rush with a toddler and a newborn baby hanging out of me I was not thinkin


When I get a minute il re read and re post

may06

Clip according to horse workload. Rug the horse according to prevailing weather/temp conditions and horse condition. It's not rocket science, its basic common sense horse management. Know your horse or get to know him - is he a good doer, does he lose/gain weight easily for example? What way is he managed - ie is he in or out 24-7 or out during day, in at night, or vice versa?
People can far too excited when it comes to rugging and clipping. Avoid over-rugging, which generally is the biggest mistake a lot of people make. If your horses's coat has become too heavy to cope with the workload that's expected off then clip and decide what clip will suit best. The more hair you take off him, the likelihood is the heavier the type of rug you will need on him - again this depends on the horse himself as an individual. Bear also in mind, once you clip - the hair actually does start to grow back straight away, in most horses, not all. It would not be unusual to be clipping every 4-5 weeks on some horses, whereas other horses, depending on their coat type, could get longer between clips.
If you're not clipping the horse, and you sense he's either cold or suffering from the elements of the weather/climate, then a rainsheet or medium outdoor rug would be a good start if horse is spending time outdoors during the day. If out 24-7, again play it by ear, see how the horse is managing. Most horses are hardy enough and will manage rugless all winter, ensure though they have enough adequate shelter, either by housing/hedgerows/trees. However, there can be the other extreme of rugless horses becoming susceptible to rain scald so be conscious of that and a rainsheet will do the job in that instance in helping to avoid rain scald.

conorh91

2012paddy2012 wrote: »

someone told him , he would be better off either leave it on horse when he not using it , or don't bother until he decides to have it on full time ....otherwise the horse will get sick , cold/flu etc.

Go back to whoever said that, and inform them that exposure to cold weather does not cause horses to develop colds. Nor does alternating between rugging-on and off as the weather changes.

Myths about colds and cold weather, or when to wear a jacket, are old-wives' tales about humans, and they are equally wrongly applied to horses.

May06 above has given really excellent advice. Nothing to add to that.

convert

conorh91 wrote: »

Go back to whoever said that, and inform them that exposure to cold weather does not cause horses to develop colds. Nor does alternating between rugging-on and off as the weather changes.

Myths about colds and cold weather, or when to wear a jacket, are old-wives' tales about humans, and they are equally wrongly applied to horses.

May06 above has given really excellent advice. Nothing to add to that.

I interpreted it completely differently, in that I thought paddy was saying that they were advised to either leave the rug on or to leave it off, and not be chopping and changing.

monflat

convert wrote: »

I interpreted it completely differently, in that I thought paddy was saying that they were advised to either leave the rug on or to leave it off, and not be chopping and changing.

That's the way I picked it up too

conorh91

convert wrote: »

I interpreted it completely differently, in that I thought paddy was saying that they were advised to either leave the rug on or to leave it off, and not be chopping and changing.

Yes, and that was why I mentioned alternating.

The point being, if temperature itself does not cause colds, then how can the alternation of temperatures cause colds? Well, it cannot.