Anyone do winter with no stables?

slumdog

slumdog

Well-Known Member
Joined
7 April 2012
Messages
911
Location
Midlands
Visit site
I'm at a lovely yard at the moment, it's just me there, I have 3 fields, a big field shelter and a school to ride in. It's owned by a couple who had it for their daughter, daughter has since grown up and moved away and the stables have been turned into mr YO's workshops and storage for his business. It's perfect apart from I don't have stables so I don't really want to leave just for that reason if I can help it. I have my name down for stables at the same livery yard as my mum, but as with all good livery yards, nobody leaves! So I'm facing doing winter (or at least part of it) where I am now with no stables.

Does anyone else not have stabling? How do people manage? I'm a bit worried about mud fever, I thought about asking if I could put hard standing around the field shelter (out of my own pocket of course) they'll be coming out of the field every day when I ride but it's not the same as them being in at night. They're also all tbs so are slightly more high maintenance than a native breed. I'm happy to feed, hay and rug as much as I need but please reassure me that they won't all melt if it gets cold lol!
 
My horse lives out 24/7 without a stable and is fine, even in the heavy snow we had a few years ago. She has a field shelter which she actually only really uses when it is very hot to get away from the flies. We have an area of hardstanding for feeding /tacking up/farrier and I ride her every day. We do haylage morning and night in the winter and interestingly she used to drop off more when stabled in winter than she does being out 24/7 now. Fortunately she has never suffered from mud fever and we are on chalk soil so it doesn't turn into a bog but its easily do-able and so much nicer for them to be moving around rather than so many horses that are cooped up 23/7 throughout the winter. Keep them well rugged at night and feed good quality hay/haylage and they will be fine.
 
Yep me, but mine wouldn't want to be stabled anyway. He's got a field shelter and lots of high hedging.

The easiest option if you had only one horse would be to get a gate or slip rails put on field shelter but I'm guessing you have more than one.
 
Yup.
Ours were perfectly fine.

We tried the slip rails thing, but it didn't work. Spent ages putting them up, then pony just demolished them in minutes.
 
Yeah, I've got a couple of stables available for emergencies etc but all mine live out all the time. No mud fever, nobody has melted so far, just happy horses. Lolling about the tbs being high maintenance, so glad I've not got one like that. My tb is lower maintenance than my neighbours ponies and the best doer in my field, literally. But she was a pampered neurotic princess when I got her and since then she's lived out and got hardier and saner each year ( and fatter coming out of winter each year!).
My horses like living out. Not all horses do. I like mine to live out and I'd have to move a horse on, that didn't cope with living out, as we wouldn't be happy together :)
They've got rugs on where appropriate, they get fed and hayed (a lot), and they are thriving. No melted horses so far ;)
 
That's for the replies, yes I have 3, all wimpy tbs which seemed like a great idea at the time haha! I have the stable yard to tie them up outside so I can tack up etc where it's dry which is easier, I just don't have use of the stables. I've never had to deal with mud fever but they have always been in at night so hopefully it won't be something I have to deal with, I think there's some good barrier creams on the market so I might research those just incase. It's true what you said about keeping them moving, one of mine is 21 so it might do him good being out all the time. Hopefully it will be mild like last year and not -7! I don't think we even got a frost last year lol! I'm a bit if a worrier so I feel better about it now!
 
Can you not turn out in the school to give them a break from the mud if your worried?
Ours are out 24/7, although they do have stables open all the time and a bit of hardstanding, but most of the time they were in the mud. Never had an issue with mud fever, I just don't touch the legs unless they are dry and I can flick the dried mud off with a brush, and I never hose them down.. She hasn't much feather either.
 
They cope better with dry/cold weather even if it's very cold. As long as they have plenty of forage.

It's the wind and rain that gets them. Although my boy with no rug on prob still won't think to use field shelter ;-)
 
Just to add mine have got lots of space and masses of natural shelter. I feel sorry for those horses up to the elbows in liquid slurry with not a pick to eat. It does get muddy around the ring feeders but they can get away from that.
 
YOs have assured me it only gets muddy around the field shelter, the field is on a slight slope and drains well so hopefully will be ok. They have 3 separate fields so I can either rotate the grazing or open it all up so hopefully that will help with the mud :)
 
Mine are all out 24/7/365. Only the old pony is rugged. The rest take their chances. Shelter is natural hedges and an adjacent embankment which shelters from the prevailing wind.

The field is big and very rough, with lots of weeds, brambles and shrubbery for them to have a go at, and a river to play in. Since they're not expecting feed from us, they're moving around grazing and socialising constantly, with very low stress, which makes them terrific doers. They eat nettles, brambles, river weed - you name it! Obviously we intervene with hay and hayledge when necessary, but in a good year they only need extra when there's snow on the ground, and look very surprised when it arrives!
As a herd of 11, they also benefit from grouping together for shelter, but that's the exception in only the foulest of weather - they'll usually prefer to keep on moving and eating.

It does make looking presentable almost impossible in the winter. Don't bother grooming after riding, since they'll roll in a mud the moment you put them back.
 
My previous loan was out 24/7 after moving from livery and he seemed to be alot happier.
We did have 2 stables (no stable doors tho so i say shelter!) altho it got muddy that was the only downfall, he had alot of natural shelter aswell.

but remember they wouldn't have a stable in the 'wild' :)
 
I think you will be surprised at how well they do out over winter, as long as they have enough forage and shelter from the wind and rain.
If you are worried about mud fever, buy some pig oil and sulphur and slather it on all their legs before it gets too muddy. top up regularly and the mud won't stick at all. also good to comb through tails and they will be mud free as well!
Can imagine it will be nice for you not having to muck out three stables every day too!
 
Feed minerals and micronised linseed to combat mud fever. I agree with not hosing/brushing [wet] legs, if you do hose/wash, you need to dry thorougly, I and I would then also bandage to dry them for even half an hour, don't use hibitane as this kills off all the good skin bacteria, if you need to shampoo use Nilzan [chemists], use chemicals sparingly and wash off.
 
Last edited:
samlovesprilly said:
I think you will be surprised at how well they do out over winter, as long as they have enough forage and shelter from the wind and rain.
If you are worried about mud fever, buy some pig oil and sulphur and slather it on all their legs before it gets too muddy. top up regularly and the mud won't stick at all. also good to comb through tails and they will be mud free as well!
Can imagine it will be nice for you not having to muck out three stables every day too!
Click to expand...

Ooh thanks, I'll try that! I'm planning on competing one of them in BD through the winter so anything to stop the mud sticking is a bonus lol! We had our own yard last year and had 6 in from October, 4 of mine and I had 2 of our landlords on full livery! By December I could have happily never seen another horse again lol!
 
Pretty much everything lives out in NZ 24/7, including TBs. Like everyone else has said, lots of hay and rugs if needed.

Just because there is mud, dosn't automatically mean they will get mud fever. I have mud for Africa during the winter and have only had to cope with a very little bit of MF - and I have been here 16 or 17 years. The only times I have had to deal with it is if there has been something else going on as well and they are a bit down.
 
We've been through 3 winters with no stables and no field shelter,with no problems whatsoever.However,my daughter's newest pony has to come in at night in the winter,so have acquired a stable for her. Knobberpony will not be stabled and will hurt herself in her panic to get out,so we are putting up a field shelter for her this year.I have a feeling it will turn out to be a £££ scratching post for her,but I can but try.
 
Although we have stables they are only used for tacking up, farrier etc and have earth floors too. The horses have lived out for years now, in the past we've given them ad lib Haylage in a round feeder but last year we put the Haylage in the corner of our small barn which they have free access to. This worked very well... I mucked the barn out most days, the boys had a chance for their feet to dry a bit and they could,get away from the weather, sometimes they were completely dry in awful weather, showing that they'd stood in for hours!
 
Our horses come in at night only in the winter due to the fact that we have a barn with stables so we may as well use it and the horses know their routine of coming in to the warmth, feed, hay, bed etc and if they get left out late, they run around and pace etc. This doesn't mean that if we didn't have stables for them that they wouldn't survive, they just like their routine and choose it over staying out because the option is there. If we didn't have stables we would 100% let them live out all winter because that is what they were built to do. It is completely natural for them and having a warm stable is just a luxury! Don't worry! Since tb's are a fine breed etc you may want to rug them but I strongly advise you to rug at night only due to the fact that you have a shelter to get them out of the rain which could chill them after a while and that rugs can be so restrictive. They can't groom each other, roll or air their fur. Because temps drop so much at night in the winter, you might want to consider rugs but I would let them be rug free to enjoy themselves during the day and warm at night. A shelter will look after them in the day and a rug +shelter at night. You could consider an area of hard standing and also sponging fetlock area and applying a thick layer of Vaseline for protection of mud fever. Has always worked for me. Good luck and feel proud that you are giving your horses a very natural life! :) Put haynets in shelter and give some feed if possible too which I'm sure you are already going to do. Definitely don't move yards over this. They will love it!
 
I used to and it was so much easier :p

It's the constant mucking out and HAVING to be up the yard at certain times that wears me out in winter.
 
We don't have stables - just 20 acres of hillside, gorse, small woods, streams, watermeadows... My horse has lived out all year round since he came to me 8 years ago, he's not a native but you could be forgiven for thinking he was when you see him in his winter woolies! He is mostly unrugged, and at his absolute happiest frolicing around in the snow in about -10 :D He was still looking happy and perky with a covering of unmelted snow on his bum when we had the really bad winter 4 years ago and we got a -17! Like all of them, he is less happy when it's windy and rainy at the same time - for days like that, he wears a rainsheet. He is an Irish Sports Horse (TBx something), and the pals who have lived out with him over the last few years have included two TBs, some cobs, a Standardbred, and currently two Warmbloods. Some of them wear rugs, some don't. They have no built shelter, but have plenty of shelter from the lee of the land, and the belts of trees and gorse. Being clever plains-dwellers, they don't go *under* the trees in stormy weather, so I don't have to worry about anybody getting flattened by falling branches! They just go down the hill to get more shelter, and stand together under a bank.

I ride most days through winter - horse stays pretty clean, although he can sometimes be a bit damp.

We keep mud rash at bay by feeding minerals (zinc being the most important thing not present in grazing or hay in big enough quantities) and added vitamin E to make up for deficiencies in winter grass and hay - and we oil legs. Pig oil without added sulphur tends to cause less issues with skin reactions than pig oil with sulphur and it works well.

The main thing you need is an area where you can get the horse out of the mud to clean hooves and treat to make sure you keep thrush at bay - we have an area at the gate with road planings flattened out.

Of the horses who've lived in this group, all have been much better off (no stiffness or wheezing) living out than living in - it really suits horses who are prone to COPD, horses with arthritis and other skeletal issues who are better constantly moving around, and horses who are prone to ulcers/stressy when stabled with limited forage. Keeps them all calm, happy and fit.
 
Just take a trip to Newmarket and have a drive around the town, you will find paddocks full of TB mares without rugs all year! They just grow their coats and get their extra feed, hay and carrots.
 
Mine are out 24/7 I rug if the weather going to be off otherwise they are naked, much better for them, have adlib hay to keep them warm. Once your diet is balanced you don't need to worry about mud fever, rain scald etc if you do get it look at the diet.
 
Fly was tb and wintered out all of last year in a 10 acre field with Molly. All she had on was a medium weight new zealand rug, no neck. She was roughed off so not clipped but if she had been, she'd have had a neck on and been in a heavy weight rug.

She was absolutely fine, even with all the mud and even considering the field only had natural shelter.

I really wouldn't worry too much. Just make sure there is somewhere dry for them to stand out of the mud (for me that was a bank of old hay that I built up so really basic) and that they always have access to hay and water. I never risked them running out of hay as that's what kept them warm :)
 
They won't melt no. It would be handy to have a bit of hardstanding round their hay though. I have stables, but I don't bring them in - I just leave the doors open and they can come and go as they please so they're basically used as field shelters. What's most useful is the hardcore area outside the stables as they do like standing about on that when its wet (and I have a very wet field). Yours will be fine though, as long as they are rugged and fed well they'll cope perfectly well I'm sure. I've never brought any of mine in regularly and they've been breeds like WB's, Luso x (from Portugal), Anglo Arabs etc. and we live in NE Scotland so its colder up here ;)
 
Mine live out in the winter and prefer it.

Get a hayhutch, they're an absolute god send. Get your hay in early, and get lots of it! Hard standing for checking over/tacking up is essential. We have a field shelter but mine don't ever use it. Have spare rugs ready for when it's really wet. Mud in gateways and around hay is inevitable, I section my paddocks up further (atm I have 8 paddocks over about 3 acres, in the winter this goes up to 10 and I use a track type system to help rest areas). Just be clever about it and don't worry too much, spring does always arrive, eventually!
 
I lost my TB mare in February but she lived out all year round and hated to be in. She was 26 when she died. We get very, very cold winters here that are very, very long. (Think snow on the ground for 6 months and -25 kind of cold and long). I had a Rambo duo for her which made rug changes a snap and she had 24 access to around bale which I think did more to keep her warm TBH. I also never clipped her. It can be done and I think it's better for the oldies as it keeps them moving and mentally alert. It does turn you into a weather obsessive though :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top