24/7 grazers - anyone else ever feel like they just want a stable?!

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Archie07

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Ok, old pony lived out 24/7, fab grazing with great horses plus dirt cheap!, was very happy. Thinking of getting a new horse in the new year but I can't help thinking I just want a stable!? Am i being mad, anyone else feel like this with horses that live out 24/7?!
Weird post i know! (ps: new horse wouldn't be at the same place as the old one)
 
It is handy to have a stable isn't it?
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Welcome to the forum!
 
Two of mine are out 24/7 and I sometimes feel I'd just like them in a stable, then I go and look at the piles of poo the two that live in have produced and wish that they were out 24/7 as well!
 
As long as pone is kept warm and dry under rug,im sure hes fine! A field shelter wud be ideal as they can go in/out when it suits them. I wonder IF the horses had a choice,wat would they choose??roaming in a field 24/7munching /poohing &being a horse or being in a box with not alot of room, treading&laying in their pooh and running out of hay to nibble on???????
 
Yes definately when it's raining & a 10 force gail i wish i had a stable!! I do worry slightly about security leaving them in the field over night but that really is my only worry. Plus the 24/7 savesd me soo much time and money!
 
My girl has been out 24/7 since June and to be honest i much prefer having a stable. due to my friends horse getting hurt yesterday they have both stayed in and i really enjoyed mucking her out this morning and leaving her with a big hay net!!
 
Exactly, i have read alot (and i know not all people agree) but horses should be kept as naturally as possibly, so being horsey like in a field is probably ideal!
 
Nope.

I have stables, they just stay empty most of the time. My choice, because I am lazy and it suits me fine not to have to dash about doing morning/evening stables. It is 8.45am here, and, shock horror I haven't been to see my horses yet! Well, I can see them, they are all on four legs, eating and moving so that's good enough for me and makes life a damn sight easier.

As for it being best for horses to be kept naturally all the time, it's a huge blanket statement, what is good for one isn't always good for another. You do what suits your horse (and you) best, and actually, unless they are out on hundreds of acres of mixed grazing and terrain what is really so natural about a little square field anyway?

Stables are very useful items, every horse owner should have one, even if it is only to pee in!
 
Yes i totally agree, it doesn't suit all and not all people agree like i previously said, i know some which would much prefer a stable!
I just ment from the point of view that sometimes it would be nice to have one....especially if i need to pee!
 
Mine is out through the day in summer but in through winter just mainly due to the filed being bad in winter due to the bad weather we have had! They get to churned up but he goes out for the odd hour here and there! It suits him fine he is not bothered as long as he has got food! and tbh i prefer thinking of him in a stable nice and dry and warm in his pjs than out in a field all night!.
 
I must say I am feeling the same right now, desperately missing my stable on the livery yard. I have had my boy for 12 years and always stabled at night over winter.

However this year I left the livery yard and my horse has been living out in a field with 2 others and one 20x10 field shelter which they all share for 3 months now. Normally he would have come in at the start of November at nights. Whilst I am rather put out by this new arrangement my horse seems quite happy & it's nice to know if they want to be "out" grazing at 5am (as they do) they can be, often they are back asleep in the shelter at 8am when I go visit!!

We are moving next week to our new field where each horse has it's own shelter (they are not quite finished yet) - 2 shelters 14x12 for the bigger ones and a 8x8 for the shetland. Mine has folding doors so can be used as a stable also. It will be interesting to see how much they use their shelters when they have total freedom of choice.

I was planning on stabling my boy at night as soon as we moved but now am not, I can shut him in to feed, groom and pamper him away from the others in the evenings (which is probably really all I miss about having a stable).
 
My boy lived out 24/7 for 3 years and i have just started bringing him back into a stable at night
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He settled back into it well,he was only in a small field and his buddies were coming in at night!Makes me feel better knowing he aint out when it is freezing and raining,know he tucked up,dry and warm scoffing hay!
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shellonabeach - that sounds like the perfect arrangement, a field shelter with doors, ahh if only i had the money to get myself one of those!! I guess its just the pampering i miss too with him on my own! When you bring in over the winter when do you do that, say November to...?
 
NEVER! My horse has never been happier than staying here with us! When stabled he had 'colic issues', was tripping(probably wasn't getting worked as promised, and NEVER CALLED HOME...

I rug him and my other horse and everyone's happy...And, of course, I am no longer worried when he doesn't call....

rr
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[ QUOTE ]
Yes i totally agree, it doesn't suit all and not all people agree like i previously said, i know some which would much prefer a stable!
I just ment from the point of view that sometimes it would be nice to have one....especially if i need to pee!

[/ QUOTE ]

I understand what you mean.
I can't imagine not having access to a stable/barn/whatever, how inconvenient would that be? There are times when they make life so much easier. For emergencies, vets and farriers, grooming, tacking up, standing in the doorway watching the incessant rain turn your field into a paddling pool, etc, etc......having no stable/barn/shelter of any sort, would be my ultimate nightmare.
 
Yes totally. I was so lucky at the old place as everything was great and there were large empty stables if we needed to use them for feeding/farrier/vet at no extra cost. I just don't think I'll be so lucky to find that again if i go for out 24/7.
 
It's nice to have a stable, even if you don't use it very often! Mine live out most of the time but I do have stables and find them very handy. It gives me somewhere to feed them, or to bring them in to dry out on rainy days before riding, or to dry them off when sweaty after work and obviously somewhere to keep them in if ill or injured.
 
We have stables but ours live out 24/7. I do feel that I spent more time with my horse when he was stabled at night, just faffing around grooming his tail out etc whilst he munched hay, whereas now we just chuck hay to them in the evenings and leave them to it, sometimes I realise that despite going to the field twice a day, I haven't touched any of them! The flip side is that they couldn't care less about living out, and it does make life easier in the long run. If we had more time, and not two businesses to run maybe I would stable at night again - I definitely used to ride more when my horse was clean and dry in the mornings!
 
Nicola_S – Our 14x12 towable shelters cost £800 (not inc delivery) each from a company on ebay and they are really lovely. My Dad has made me the folding panels / stable door as extra. I have put down rubber mats in mine to make a dry floor). Once finished I will try to post some piccies.

When my boy came in it was usually start November and back out full time in May when the ground was dry enough (and YO allowed it!)

One thing which I have thought is that normally during the winter I used to hate taking up any of my boys turnout time – he was out 9am to 4pm – which meant getting up very early to ride at the weekend and doing things like clipping in the evenings. Now I will be able to ride at midday if I please!!
 
Mine live out 24/7 but I do have stables for them. I used to keep the TB stabled when I rode her lots in my keen days
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If I ask her, though, she'd rather be out...so I go with the flow. I stabled my 3yo earlier this year as she had major surgery and wasn't allowed to bounce around in case her intestines came back out (messy!) and she adapted to it well...but the vets wanted me to throw her out full time as soon as possible. And my 2yo has never been in.
I do feed them and hay them twice daily...rug them as needed (I'm a rugaholic)...and handle them a lot though.
My vets seem keen on horses being kept out to avoid gastric ulcers.
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Ours all live out 24/7/365 and are all fit and healthy. and happy. We do have a stable 'just in case' but have never had to use it so far.
 
A stable is very useful. Mine are turned out 24/7 but can go in and out of a stable and a large shelter whenever they like. I certainly couldn't live without my stable! So useful for putting them in due to illness / for a show early next day or just generally to tack up somewhere dry and out of the wind!
 
i would hate to not have a stable, i started keeping my girl out 24/7 again this year as i am at a yard which allows this, but i also have my own stable and couldn't be without, would hate not to have one to use if and when i want it
 
I pay for a stable included in the livery and in the last 6 months merlin has slept in it twice (when he had steroid jabs in hocks)!!!

He hates to be stabled and doesnt settle.... and if the others were to be turned out first he throws a real wobbly.

At the last yard though he seemed to settle really well
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but would still have gone out if he could have chosen.

So out now 24/7 with a rug and as happy as larry!!
 
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