Allowing turnout for previously stabled 24/7 horse

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TheRedMare

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A bit of an urgent thing has come up last minute. My new horse is arriving this week and the owner has noted last minute that she needs turn out increasing gradually. She says "just put her out for an hour or two to begin with". I understand this is due to colic, but I work full time.

I've worked out a way to take my lunch breaks so I can turn out and bring in while gradually increasing turn out, so I've managed that bit! What I'm wondering is if my schedule seems reasonable. I thought to start at one hour and increase every day by thirty minutes, assuming she is not showing any signs of upset or colic and is comfortable and happy. Is this generally an okay schedule?

Notes:
- Feed to stay the same, bought exactly the same brands and will feed same quantities
- Haylage changing to hay, but will have some haylage from old yard to start with and mix in with hay then
- Plenty of water available
- Previously stabled full time and turned out once or twice a week for a couple of hours at a time in the fields, let loose in school/arena in lieu of field for last 2-4 weeks I believe
- Told that she's "more dopey" and chilled with turn out - fresh if stabled for several days on the trot (who wouldn't be? :))
- In work, hacking and schooling - will be in light work here considering the dark evenings (will walk in hand after work until better light) and ridden at weekend
- Have bought a gut balancer that was recommended on other H&H threads to hopefully help

With this, does my turn out plan seem okay? My last horse was able to go out immediately so I didn't have this issue, but the ground is good and mud free with a section of hard standing also available.

Thank you in advance for the help and hope I haven't written half an essay here!
 
if she was out for a couple of hours and only turned out once or twice a week i would have thought that was more likely to cause colic .its difficult to comment as i dont know the horse and the previous owners do but, if it was me i would turn out for a couple of hours each day for a week and then if all ok increase by an hour the following week then you can turn out before work and bring in each day at lunch time , then she is nice and dry so you can ride etc after work....if the weather is ok you could then turn out all day at the weekends and see how it goes. you havent said if she will have a companion in the field with her. you may find its more unsettling for her to come in and leave the other horse/horses so the other option is to put her out all day immediately as stress can cause colic. good luck and let us know how you get on..
 
It is a tricky one and I feel that there is no real right answer as it is going to depend on the horse. She will have her own taped off section of field and be able to interact with her two companions over the fence while she settles in. I'm conscious of the stress of being stabled alone while the others are out, even if they are able to come to the top of the field and be seen from the stable.

The only other thing I could think of is section off her bit of hard standing for turn out (which has a small amount of nibbled all the way down grass) and allow her this so she can munch her hay and mosey about, still able to see the other horses.
 
Obviously I don't know this horse at all but I would expect this time of the year to be the best for introducing a horse to grass without ill-effects. the horse that I know which gets colic from grazing does so when put into a new field in Spring/Summer. His owners have found that it is better to let some of their other horses graze the fresh grass down and let him and his companion follow them onto the grass.
 
Luckily, the two companions were on this grass previously, so it has mostly been grazed. I can very easily fence off the patch of recently ungrazed (still short but longer than the nibbled down grass) that has just been opened up, as this will not have been grazed in a while, if this will be more dangerous.

Thank you for the help :)
 
Congratulations on your new horse!

I think your schedule sounds fantastic, especially for this time of year. I like that by increasing by half an hour a day you can monitor for loose droppings.

You may find that as she has been in all the time she does not mind as much as you would think about being in on her own. I would give it a try before making makeshift turnout areas. After all, on your schedule she will be out for a fair period after just a week. After 2 weeks she will have 8 hours out. Temp fencing could be a danger, so I would just go with your original plan as long as she settles.
 
Previous owner says no history of colic on grass and increasing by 30 mins would be perfect, yay!

She arrives tomorrow so I'll see how she settled! Thank you!
 
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