Effects Over Rugging Horses

Rugs and stabling prevent sunlight from reaching the skin which is necessary for the generation of vitamin d.
Effects over rugging horses. Over rugging can also affect the appetite causing a horse to eat less as well as the body s ability to control its metabolism. 1 rubbing especially if causing horse to sweat. Horses are known to develop colic or colic like symptoms when their body temperature is too low high and if for any reason they are unable to normalise it for example being over or under rugged. Excessive overheating can cause horses to show signs of colic as well as increasing their chances of developing laminitis a life threatening issue in itself.
Conversely horses with short coats and little body fat on borderline energy intake will lose weight in colder weather. While preliminary this study shows that to some degree over rugging occurred as mean temperatures for all horses were over the tnz upper boundary. This means that horses wearing heavier rugs had significantly higher recorded temperatures than those that wore lighter rugs. We are called out to horses displaying signs of colic but actually.
Risks of rugging or over rugging. What happens when my horse becomes too hot. Over rugging issues actually go beyond the simplicity of the horse getting warmer. Therefore if you over rug your horse it will lose weight.
So some horses will lose weight when they are too hot all the time. Post exercise rugging needs to be carefully considered and wisdom would suggest that a wicking type of rug is used until the horse has cooled down to its normal level before it s usual night rugs day rugs turnout rugs are put on. Sweating causes the skin to become hyper hydrated the effect you get when you stay in the bath too long and more prone to damage and infection. If the horse is too heavily rugged then less energy is lost and will be deposited as fat leading to weight gain.
Ms fordham said over rugging can have serious consequences. Sweating causes the skin to become hyper hydrated the effect you get when you stay in the bath too long and more prone to damage and infection. The owner may think the horse is losing weight because it is feeling the cold and so they put another rug on making the situation worse. Which goes some way to explaining why some people complain that no matter how many rugs they put on their horse to keep it warm it still.