Advice on turning a horse out over-night?

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Showjumper17

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Hiya :) I own a little TB gelding, and most of the time he's lovely and sensible (then theres that 10% of the time I think all TB have when he goes crazy). He gets very attached to his stable/field mates. He was stabled at night all winter, and is out in the day. Recently we've gone on to summer grazing, which means most of the other horses are turned out at night too, which is upseting my horse as he's in at night. There are other horses in too, but the two on either side of him are out.
Right now when I bring him in, he ignores his dinner and hay, and stands at his door shaking his head at me (to show he's pretty pissed off!). In the morning he's eaten most of his tea, not much hay and not eaten his bed (which he always does lol). He also ignores his breakfast and gets all stressy until I turn him out. He's also a right pain leading out as he's prancing and bucking all the way. It's totally unlike him, he's usually great.
This has only gone on just under a week of course. I had planned to keep him in at night for a few more weeks, and once it was warmer, let him stay out and see how he goes. The reason i'm not keen on turning him out is last year he ate all his grass pretty fast, and then refuses to eat hay I put out, instead prefering to scrabble for bits of grass! I did get to move him to another field, but he stressed their away from his friends (although there were other horses there). He ended up losing some condition and it was a total nightmare trying to keep him happy until everyone else came back in!
This year we have the same small field, so the grass will probably run out in a few weeks, and i'll have the same situation. I don't want him to lose weight again, especially as he's not a big horse to start with, but if he wont eat in his stable he's probably going to anyway! Arghhh!
I'm thinking just rug him up at night for now and deal with the lack of grass situation when it happens?
What would you do in this situation? Thanks!
 
Rug up warmly at night and chuck him out. Up the hard feed if you have to and worry about the grass later. No point getting yourself and him in a tizzy. ;)
 
Could you electric fence off part of the field so that you can ration the grazing? You could use a track system to give him more room to move. This is how I work my lot over the summer, to make them use the whole field and allow some of it to rest.
 
I was in this situation until last week! The lady across the road from me put hers out and mine could hear them, even though can't see them. The TB especially became upset and very stressed so I chucked them out last week! Was worried as gets chilly at night but just rugged him up and they're fine!

I put haylage out at night as theyve got no grass and my other 4 acres were sprayed 10 days ago for ragwort so hopefully in next few days can put them in there!

M advice would be to put yours out, well rugged up, they'll be fine and much happier.
 
Sounds like my TB. She hates being in at night unless the weather is really crappy. She is rugged up and is out 24/7 with my old pony.
She is so much happier! Shes put a fair bit of weight on and is working so much better now just because there is no stress in her daily routine (unless we have a disagreement about which way to go whilst out hacking!)
 
I agree with the others. It is not surprising really if his friends from both sides are out and as far as he is concerned he is left alone. He feels abandoned. Put a rug on at night and leave him out.
 
lol - I shouldn't laugh at this, but when ever my girl shakes her head at me over the stable door I always think it's like someone clicking thier fingers at me and shouting "oh you woman !!" Would I do what that person told me to, maybe not - do I do it for my horse YES !

He might need to settle into a new routine but if he's alone both sides it's not really fair. You can always feed hay in the field if the grass runs out - you'd be feeding it to him if he was in afterall !
 
Thanks for the help, he is currently all rugged up and hopefully a happy boy!
Ladylina83- I know, they look so demanding! And yep i'd pretty much do anything for him haha. The hay issue is more that he refuses to eat it when its in the field, I gave him a fair bit last year and he seemed to think it was some sort of bed- weird!
 
I woukd just turf him out. If he doesn't want to eat the hay you put out then so be it - if he's hungry enough he'll eat it! He'll probably lose more condition stressing about not being out. All our 5 are chucked out 24/7 now. There isn't much grass and we are giving them hay but they will go on another field in a week or so. I think def put yours out
 
Showjumper17 said:
The hay issue is more that he refuses to eat it when its in the field, I gave him a fair bit last year and he seemed to think it was some sort of bed- weird!
Click to expand...

Ah yes I know this ne too - the foals do it lots

I sing away in a manger to them ....... (toddles off aware I'm sounding bonkers !!)
 
My TB is very similar. He wont settle in at night unless all others are in - he needs that routine. If he needs that bit extra how about bucket feeding some readi grass or unmolassed chaff which he might find yummier than hay, but to be honest the less stressy he is the more weight he is likely to hold.
Mine has gone out onto crap grazing as his field mate is a fatty, and I worried there wouldnt be enough grass for him but he is obviously full enough to not be bothered about a hard feed as he just tips it up and ignores it!
 
It doesn't sound like he's eating much being kept in and he's probably stressing weight off too! Chuck him out.

I agree with the others, perhaps split his paddock in two so you can rest one half and graze the other... that way you should have a fairly constant bit of grass even if it is small.

Offer him hay when you bring him in to ride - tie him with a haynet to munch through and up his bucket feed (if he starts eating it again of course ;) )
 
My TB is similar will stress if he cant see his field mates, will stress if in a stable by himself. He likes his routine. He went out last week 24/7 after being stabled at night during the winter. He adapted to the routine in just under 24 hours, he is well rugged at night. He too will loose condition and weight when grass supply goes down. Monitor his weight, keep feeding hard feed. I spoke to my feed company nutritionalist last year, who suggested that I supplement his feed with a grass replacer for when the grass does go down. I know how hard it is to keep the weight on, but with time and patience you will find the right for you and your tb.
 
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