I'm in Australia and we have just taken off rugs :) When they were rugged we just put on a simple winter rug because the cottons underneath rubbed at their shoulders. I find that rugging helps a lot with fluffy pons and trying to avoid it and keeps them looking sleek. Be careful with winter rugs as they do get very hot when it warms up, when I took the rug off my mare after an unexpectedly hot day she was sweating like crazy, after that we just left it off. Rugging is not necessary if the horse has not been previously rugged. In the warmer months a simple cotton summer sheet or fly sheet should work well in keeping the flies and other biting insects off (Australia has an insane amount of these, especially where I live lol), just make sure there are no loose wires or pokey things lying around the paddock for the rug to get stuck or caught on. A fly mask is also a necessity in Australia x-x