29/10/2021
An interesting read.
Friday fact….obesity is a huge welfare issue here in the U.K. and there are are many contributing factors!
Over feeding, lack of exercise and over rugging are considered to be the main causes. If you have a good doer or native type, then please, before you reach for your rugs, think whether they need them or not!
As I mentioned in last weeks post, the colder autumn and winter months are fantastic for helping weight loss if you allow your horse or pony to use some of their energy to keep warm; although U.K. temperatures are far from cold at the moment!!! I am not saying never use a rug and I am not saying that they should shiver their weight off either...that would be a welfare issue and that is definitely something I would NEVER advocate.
I am however, saying that we generally over rug; we rug according to how cold we feel, not how they feel, and that a huge amount of our horses and ponies do not need the weight of rugs we put on them. I frequently see native types or good doing types with 300g-400g rugs on and this is definitely not a needed for an animal that is very well equipped to deal with the worst of the U.K. weather!
Horses are very good at keeping warm without rugs, the fermentation that occurs in the hind gut when they are eating forage, provides them with their very own central heating system! In addition, they can fluff up their coats better when they are not wearing a rug; this traps air inside the coat, trapping in heat. They are very well equipped to keep themselves warm!
They are not however, as good at cooling themselves down. So when they are tucking into their hay or haylage, which is warming them from inside, then we put heavy weight rugs on them...how warm do you think some of them feel? Do you think that this is more of a welfare issue? If your horse is too warm under his or her rugs and unable to cool down, surely that is much crueler than a horse with no rugs (or very light rugs) with forage to eat who is regulating his or her temperature very well on their own? Most are very good at keeping warm if they have access to forage and shelter.
As part of weight loss programmes, I often recommend not using rugs or just using rain sheets or light weight rugs in inclement weather...the response this gets from many others on the yards is astounding!!
Not rugging or lightly rugging an overweight, good doing or native type horse or pony is not cruel in any way shape or form! Have you seen the harsh environments some of these types live in? Look at Shetlands and Highland ponies...their natural environments are extremely harsh and they survive perfectly well in them!
Then we take them, put them in nice cosy stables, rug them up, feed them huge bucket feeds and energy rich forages. This is why we have an obesity issue!! They are stood overly warm, not moving around much, with a plentiful supply of food...we are turning them into couch potatoes!!!!!
I am not saying rugs should never be used, but I am saying lots do not need the weights of rugs we put on them. Most do perfectly well with just a rain sheet or lightweight rug on.
There are however many that do need to be rugged; finer skinned, the young, the elderly, those underweight, ill equines, those with muscular issues etc. They need to be kept warm, so they should be kept warm!
As I said in last weeks post; if you have a native or good doing type, you will make life much easier for you and your horse if you let them gradually lose their summer weight over the winter months. They will not lose weight if they are over rugged.
*Please read this post before commenting, I am not saying rugs are the spawn of Satan and that they should all be burned in some rug hating ritual!!! I am just saying that we should think about whether our horses really need rugs or if they need the weight of rugs we put on them!*
