the ART OF RUGGING

suitable With a better understanding of how your horse stays warm and which rugs are available, you can confidently choose the most rug to put on all year round

WITH THE COLDER months just around the corner, you may be thinking about using rugs again. With so many different rugs available on the market, it can be difficult deciding which ones need to be part of your horse’s wardrobe.

The first thing to consider is that just like us they are all individuals, and what’s suitable for one isn’t necessarily suitable for another. You know your horse better than anyone so try not to be influenced by what others are doing and go with what is best for you and your horse. Understanding how your horse stays warm will also help you decide what rugs are needed.

Temperature control

“Your horse has his own in-built cooling and heating system called thermoregulation,” says anatomy expert Gillian Higgins. “This keeps his body temperature within a certain range.”

Sensitive nerves and receptors in the skin, abdomen, skeletal muscles and parts of the spinal cord send messages relating to body temperature to the hypothalamus, the thermoregulatory centre within your horse’s brain.

Horses keep warm by:

■ Insulation — your horse will use fat to generate energy and warmth.

■ Vasoconstriction — this is when the capillaries under the skin contract, reducing heat loss.

■ Shivering — this rapid contraction of his muscles produces heat.

“Your horse’s hair also plays a key role in temperature regulation,” says Gillian. “He adapts to the colder weather during winter by growing a longer thicker coat.”

If you remove that coat by clipping it off, you will need to replace that lost layer with a rug. You may also notice that when your horse is cold his hair stands upright. This is to trap an insulating layer of air to warm him up.