I don't know what to do! Rugging up and this bloody weather!

[MrFibble]

Last night it was minus 3 here.

When I turned out this morning it was just about 2 degrees and there was frost everywhere.

At midday, when I had to put the horses back in their boxes it was 12 degrees and by 15 hrs it was 14 degrees!

How am I supposed to be able to rug to cope with a temperature range of 17 degrees! This is nuts. What should I do? I can't always get to the yard in the evening to rug up and I don't want the girls standing there sweating in their boxes in the afternoon. Any advice?

Horses were so much easier to deal with pre children when I could come and go as I pleased! Ah well.

I guess it depends on how old they are ,what breed and if they are clipped etc . The shetland we have is never rugged ,the 29yr old is when its wet and the 16 yr old is lightly rugged (except when he wriggles out of it ) ,to keep him dry and relatively clean . No horse in the wild wears rugs do they ?

True, no horse in the wild wears rugs but one of my girls is a TB and the other one is a Belgian sports horse who is pushing 23. I've not clipped so they are both pretty hairy. I'd love to let them be "au naturelle" but that results in hours of grooming before I can ride and lots of cooling down time and sweat rugs. Ho hum.

What about lightweight rugs if they are not clipped ? they can cope with the cold ,its wet and cold thats not so good , we have a lightweight on the 16 yr old and he is fine with that ,although we are thinking of clipping his belly as he sweats when exercising .

I've just got the light rugs on them as I can't get them turned out every day as my field is a complete SWAMP due to all the rain.

All I have now by way of turn out is a small all-weather paddock that is shared with everyone else on the yard.

I hate this weather. My poor girls are spending way too much time in their boxes... Ho hum... Best take them out for a hack.

I am seriously considering clipping their bellies to cut down on the sweating. What clippers would you recommend?