To rug or not to rug - advice on winter horse rugs

For a great selection of rugs,
check out the Tic Tac Equestrian store

Horse rugs form an essential part of proper modern horse care, and a lot of thought needs to go into deciding when and on what occasions to use different types of rugs. However, this doesn't need to be confusing and does not take long to get into a useful routine. 

To help you with this area of horse care, we've compiled a series of helpful tips, highlighting notable differences between all common rug types and when or when not to use them: 

Turnout Rugs

A horse turnout rug is generally used throughout all seasons (with the exception of the middle of summer) to keep the horse warm and dry out in the pasture. Of course, horses are naturally built to withstand winter weather by growing thick coats and as a result, they have the ability to stay warm in the winter without the use of turnout rug, if they aren't clipped. However, many horse owners tend to use rugs anyway.

Winter Turnout rugs

Throughout the winter, you will likley need a turnout rug that is much thicker; one which is both windproof and waterproof to keep your horse warm in all conditions. For a full selection of winter rugs, feel free to visit the Tic Tac store.

Spring/Summer rugs

On milder days, your choice of horse rug will need to be less thick, as there is less need for maintaining a horse's body heat. Many rugs that fall into this category are generally just meant to keep off summer showers and breezes although some of these, which have extra layers underneath, can still be used in the winter.

Stable blankets are also an essential piece of horse equipment to ensure comfort, care and protection throughout the winter months and as the name suggests, they are designed primarily to be used in the stable to keep the horse warm. Stable horse rugs are generally not waterproof, however, these can be used underneath a turnout rug to increase warmth.

As for other types of horse rugs, fly sheets help to keep off flies in the summer which can cause irritation or even lead to potentially serious diseases in horses. Whereas Show Rugs are used to protect a horse’s coat before a horse show to ensure that you don’t have to do any extra grooming.