27/10/2026
Horses and Waterproofing.
These past few days of storms, torrential rain and gales have really reminded me just what a marvel of evolution and adaptation the horse is. Their natural long and slightly greasy coats offer more waterproofing and insulation that you might think.
At the sanctuary we only rug if the horse is poorly, can't chew enough fibre, is physically compromised or can't move enough to warm up. Every animal we care for has access to shelter and they all have rugs just in case.
Left to their own devices however the horses' body really is a masterpiece of design and engineering as one would expect after over 54 million years of evolution!
Showing remarkable adaptation across the world horses thrive in environments as diverse as the frozen wastes of Iceland and Mongolia to the searing hot Arabian deserts to the rain soaked mountains of Wales and Scotland.
Arabs can comfortably tolerate temperature ranges from freezing desert nights to plus 40°C in one day.
Horses have a much wider thermoneutral range than humans; a healthy horse can maintain their core temperature with minimal energy expenditure when the temperature is between 5°C and 25° C.
Our native ponies are no exception they have evolved and adapted superbly to our temperate wet Island. if left to grow naturally, with minimal bathing so the natural oils can develop, their coats are quite waterproof.
We have found it can take well over a year to build up natural oils in a horse's coat from a horse that's been bathed a lot and rugged to a horse able to thermoregulate naturally and be rug free. None of our horses are ever bathed with detergent so have beautiful oily coats as nature intended.
Now our Arabs by their nature don't grow as long a coat as the natives and they can get wet skin in the very worst of freezing prolonged rain so often accept the offer of a waterproof rug for extra protection.
The photos below were taken this morning of Rupert after a very wet and windy night on the hill. You can see even the direction of gair growth aids in shedding the water off more efficiently.
The first photo shows his long coat the surface of which is wet and cold to the touch. Oh no you might say, poor boy is wet and cold. However part the hair and you will see and feel the warm dry skin and dense thick dry hair next to the skin. This marvel of evolution has his own built in, insulated waterproof coat.
