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Rugging Your Horse - An Important Consideration


Do You Know How To Rug Your Equine Friend Properly?

The more I think about it, the more I wonder whether incorrect rugging habits are caused through laziness or just plain ignorance.

Most horse owners do genuinely want to do what is best for their horses.  I believe many would be truly upset if they had any idea whatsoever that their rugging practices are most likely harming their horse.  It all revolves around one simple overlooked principle though….  Horses can easily warm themselves up if they get cold.  They CANNOT however cool themselves down if they’re wearing a heavy rug.  This fundamental concept seems to escape a lot of horse owners though.

Horses, like all mammals, cool down by sweating; as the sweat evaporates it cools them down.  The process is called Homeostasis.  If they’re wearing a rug the sweat can’t evaporate ergo they can’t cool down.  One writer puts it like this – when a horse overheats they basically start cooking in their own juices.  This is called heat stress.  Heat stress kills.  Body functions start to malfunction and shut down.

Leaving rugs on so that they adversely affect the health of the horse is animal cruelty, plain and simple.   Again, this is something most horse owners would not even consider when they pile the rugs on or trundle off to work leaving their horse standing in a sunny paddock or yard with heavy rugs on.

And then there is the lazy horse owner….  The type of owner who simply can’t be bothered putting in the extra effort involved in taking rugs on and off.  The type of owner who shouldn’t even start rugging their horses to begin with.  These owners put a rug on their horse as soon as it starts getting a bit chilly, and LEAVE it ON 24/7, rain, hail or shine, until the weather begins warming up again.  That can be 3 or 4 months!

Bottom line - if you can’t be bothered rugging according to daily weather patterns, or you don’t have the time, then don’t bother rugging at all.  Spend the money on feed instead of rugs.  Horses are remarkably efficient at keeping themselves warm but that's a story for another post.
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