i've asked this question 3 times before, but it hasn't worked :(Red is booked in for a trace/blanket clip in a couple of days, and i was wondering if i would need to rug her up a little bit more? she is a thoroughbred chestnut (someone told me that chestnuts have thinner skin??) and is in a 100g fill w/ a neck rug atm....the coldest it has been lately would be about 10/11 degrees c....the next rug we have is a 250g fill with neck rug, so it's quite a step up...Um... yeah... would i need to start putting that on, or do you think she will be O.K??
Yes, I always add more rugs once clipped this year my boy had a 360g stable rug with neck and a fleece with neck under it most of the time. But it was going down to -12 some nights, if I'm not sure what weight to put on I usually put the heavier rug on then see how he is in the morning if he's to hot then I put a lighter weight rug on the next, he's pretty good at telling me when he's to hot though.
It's too late to clip now really unless your horse is in a LOT of work, as it will take off the top of her summer coat so she will lose her coat's water-shedding and wind-proof qualities. If she still has quite a lot of her winter coat, I would say it's time to give her a good groom over with a shedding blade and rubber curry and a bath on a dry day if you can. If you really are set on clipping her for whatever reason, stick to taking the least hair off possible and go for putting her fleece or cooler rug under the light one in the day and the warmer rug on at night. You would be surprised by how cold it is at 2am!
to be completley honest it is not the best time to clip a horse , the best time is october-november the reason im saying this is that the clip will have grown back by september as winter hair starts to grow but if you do it october then it should last until may the following year. But anyways to answer your question i would go woth the lighter rug during the day if its warmer and maybe if it is a cold night but the other heavy neckrug on or a simple sweatsheet under the light sheet. what im saying is that the light non neck rug is fine unless it goes below 8 degrees
You will need to provide more warmth, yes. Clipping strips them of their body hair and this is their only natural way to keep warm. So you'll need to provide better covers than you currently are, i suggest moving to the 250g fill and possibly even adding an under rug to that.
