Big decison - please help!

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lauraanddolly

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Basically I am having severe financial difficultlies right now - I tried to loan out my horse in the summer and because of various factors had no luck finding someone for her.
I currently keep her at a little private yard, but I have a friend with a field and I can take her there to save myself her livery money each month - I would help out with my friends 3 horses in return for livery. However my mare is used to being kept in at night and I am very worried about how she will cope living out at this time of year! If I could of acclimatised her to living out earlier in the year I would be happier with having to have her living out.
She is part new forest unclipped and has plenty of rugs but am I being fair to her asking her to adjust to living out in the middle of winter ?
Unfortuantly the other option is to have her put down, so I would really like to try the living out option, but I am really worried that it is unfair to ask this of her at this time of year.
I have always had horses in at night in winter, so field keep would be a new experience for me. Any advice from people with horses that live out would be very much appreciated.
I'm rambling I know - but if anyone has any advice for me I would be most grateful, this whole situation is really getting me down at the moment and I don't know what to do for the best right now!
Hopefully my financial situation is set to improve in the new year and if I could save the £100 per month on her livery this would enable me to keep her - I'd rather that than have a healthy fit animal put down.
 
its not ideal to introduce them to living out at this time of year but if you give her and extra layer of rugging , plenty of hay and a field with shelter and dry areas she will be fine
 
Why would the only other option be PTS?

Your Horse will be fine! aslong as there is plenty of grass, shelter and company. That is all she will need.
 
Agree Jinglejools, whilst not ideal, she is a native pony and unclipped so rug up, feed lots and keep an eye on her. Adjusting to living out is going to be better than putting to sleep :)
 
I'm sure she will adjust well to being out, just make sure she has plenty of grass/hay and make sure she is warm enough.

I wouldn't even be questioning it if it was either out 24/7 or pts.

Hope your situation improves soon.
 
Let me see, Live out in a field 24/7 in a cosy rug, or death? Hmm...

Sorry, but it's a no brainer. She will be absolutely fine so long as she has company, plenty of hay and preferably some form of shelter (field shelter, trees hedge etc).
 
my lot live out naked, hairy cobs look after themself bit of ay and trees for shelter they r fine.



She will be fine if she was wild she would have to deal with it. I know if that was my horse it woul b goin for the " grow a pair" option and live out rather than death :)
 
Weigh tape her and give it a months trial living out, check your tape weekly for any weight loss, but don't panic if weight drops but she is still covered (get yourself a condition score chart) you can always make 'the big decision' then if she isn't coping but I would think she will be fine :-)
 
She'll be fine, and you'll probably find she'll prefer it to being in, as most of them do seem to be happier out, provided they're sheltered, fed and rugged etc properly.
 
Thanks all, I know its a no brainer really! I live on the isle of wight and many people here are getting rid of their horses and no one seems to want my girl, I tried advertising her on the mainland and all I got was kids asking me to just box her up and send her to them - noone wanted to do the trip to the island to view her, which I can understand as ferry is expensive but I was not willing to just send her off without meeting who she was going to!
Sadly I think her age is putting people off she is 20, but fit, sound and very athletic for her age rode her out yesterday and she was more energetic than the 7yr old we were out with!
The PTS option come from my family - they are pushing me to get rid of her, and god knows i've tried, I have rung riding schools over here and on the mainland to see if they would take her, I've tried everything I can think of to rehome her. My brother is pushing me to have her pts now as I have been unable to rehome her! My family are all not horse people so simply do not understand why I can't just ship her off somewhere and forget about her! I have owned her for 11 years and have only struggled since losing my job in may to be able to keep her. I've cut every corner I can think of to save money - she is unshod now, she is on hay instead of haylage, and luckily my stable comes with rubber matting so I have reduced her bed to a square in the corner to save on bedding! But sadly I am still struggling.
My friends field has plenty of grass but also a lot of mud! So although she has offered to have Dol there I feel very guilty as an extra horse would put more pressure on the already muddy field at totally the wrong time of year! But losing her would be awful so I don't think I have a choice really! I have to try it!

Also the field has plenty of natural shelter and a field shelter so thats not a problem!
 
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She will be fine she is a native breed they cope being out in all weather, you will probably find she loves it, I would turn mine out 24/7 anytime rather than pts and one of mine is an Arab.
 
A few years ago when my mother was seriously ill and I was on my own I had to turn out my previously stabled Arab gelding. In January! I put an extra rug on and made sure he never ran out of hay and had him fed twice a day. He was absolutely fine and as snug as a bug, so really don't worry.
 
Although not ideal time of year I think she'll be fine. I think you'll find she wont even use the field shelter unless she HAS too because of very severe weather. They do cold very well, do horses. ~You are obviously a very caring owner, your horse should be ok.
Best Wishes.
 
Really feel for you, this is the main thing I worry about if I were to loose my job, what would I do with my horses! Give it a go living out and I wish you the best of luck getting sorted in the new year x
 
All of mine live out, rugged and happy....personally I think its a much nicer way for them to live than stabled but thats JMHO ;)
It can be a pain with all the mud etc etc but you can bet your bottom dollar your pony will love it lol :p
 
2 weeks ago I turned out a tb, he went from in 24/7 to out 24/7, he has a good rug, plenty of natural shelter and 2 friends, I just trudged down to take some extra haylage as the weather is foul, pouring with rain, did he want the haylage no, he is perfectly happy, toasty warm and enjoying him freedom.

Your pony will be fine.
 
She'll be fine living out so long as she is warm enough and has plenty to eat. My 19 yr old Arab has started staying out at night this winter for the first time in many years and she has taken to it like a duck to water. We are in the wet and windy Peak District, on the top of a hill, so if she can cope I'm sure your's will be fine!
 
i can speak from experience, my boy has been in for the last 2 months on box rest but after a not so great scan result i had 2 choices;
1) leave him on box rest where he was extremely unhappy, wouldnt eat and was generally down in the dumps and box walking manically so wasnt really doing himself any good
or
2) chuck him in a field for the winter

i went for option 2 and hes been there for 2 weeks so far and he loves it! he has his smiley happpy cheeky face back and still comes over for cuddles, he currently has 15 acres between 5 of them and a huge pond to play in :D which he adores!!! he is in 2 medium weight turnout rugs (as his heavy weight hasnt arrived yet!!) i was worried he would be cold as i live in the fens so we dont really have wind breakers or a field shelter plus he has been in a rug all summer preety much but he is nice and warm and cosy with plenty of grass to eat!


ohhhh and hes a complete woose of a TB!!

your horse will be fine!!!!! it is a horse afterall! :D
 
I had to put my two out in January one year - both fully clipped!!!!! And then it snowed! And snowed!! And snowed!! They had on every rug I owned just about and were quite cosy and happy! I really think it was only me that suffered! I have no doubt that your pony will be fine. Another thing to do is apply some barrier cream or paraffin to her legs if the field is wet to give her a bit of protection.
 
I was forced to move my tb in the middle of jan a few years back. Went from a lifetime of being stabled at night to living out 24/7 in minus -6 :eek: through the day.
He lost a lot of weight despite feeding and ad lib haylage, howver, was the happiest I had ever seen him. Now he holds his weight v well.

They are horses at the end of the day. With plenty of rugs you will be fine
 
This is the first winter I have had two of mine out 24/7, previously everyone's been in at night. They are both Spanish and are out with no rugs, happy as larry. Yours will be fine; probably better off, actually.
 
Another who can speak from experience here, my girl was initially an absolute nightmare to stable, so half way thought winter and fully clipped I chucked her out with two HW rugs in the field, she was tb x and very fine.... Had no worries with her :). At your mares age, being able to keep the joints moving should be a good thing. Fingers crossed your situation picks up soon op
 
If the options are 24/7 turnout of pts then I would at least try the living out first. My dutch warmblood lives out 24/7 365 days of the year because she doesn't tolerate being stabled so your part native bred should be fine. I think we sometimes underestimate how well they can adapt to new situations, my Belgian warmblood was kept outside all summer for the first time this year and I could believe his transformation from an unpredictable stresshead to a sensible, happy, safe horse in a couple of weeks. You horse may do far better with this lifestyle than you will imagine and as long as she is well rugged up and has plenty to eat I really think you should at least give it a shot.
 
Not really a big decision is it. Why would you pts!

My 15yr old with dental problems, stabled at night and most of the day, fully clipped and used to being over rugged tb mare was returned to me after 6 years on loan with a weeks notice between Christmas and New Year, during the worst winter in living memory in Scotland. I had no stable, no field shelter and no option but to put her out in the field with a new decent rug. Adlib hay and fed her plenty twice a day and she never even lost weight!
 
Such a difficult situation when you have an older horse and then you hit problems - I got the same from my family, my mare was loss of use...I still have her now but I was put under pressure many times by my hubbys family and then I kept her during the time I had to stay off work to look after my daughter....made for interesting family rows! .....I am not saying this for any other reason than to say that you can get through this! everything happens for a reaon...most horses are better outdoors...we all struggle in the winter because we are used to our houses being 20+ all the time....the horses are used to the cold...even when stabled (in fact they are often colder) they are used to much colder weather than we are. Rain is the worst bit...but a decent combo would help with that and they are healthier left out.
 
lauraanddolly said:
Basically I am having severe financial difficultlies right now - I tried to loan out my horse in the summer and because of various factors had no luck finding someone for her.
I currently keep her at a little private yard, but I have a friend with a field and I can take her there to save myself her livery money each month - I would help out with my friends 3 horses in return for livery. However my mare is used to being kept in at night and I am very worried about how she will cope living out at this time of year! If I could of acclimatised her to living out earlier in the year I would be happier with having to have her living out.
She is part new forest unclipped and has plenty of rugs but am I being fair to her asking her to adjust to living out in the middle of winter ?
Unfortuantly the other option is to have her put down, so I would really like to try the living out option, but I am really worried that it is unfair to ask this of her at this time of year.
I have always had horses in at night in winter, so field keep would be a new experience for me. Any advice from people with horses that live out would be very much appreciated.
I'm rambling I know - but if anyone has any advice for me I would be most grateful, this whole situation is really getting me down at the moment and I don't know what to do for the best right now!
Hopefully my financial situation is set to improve in the new year and if I could save the £100 per month on her livery this would enable me to keep her - I'd rather that than have a healthy fit animal put down.
Click to expand...

Through circumstances beyond her control a friend had to put her 17 year old Arab endurance horse on grass livery. Despite the doom spreaders the horse thrived and bloomed - although he looked like a teddy bear in winter!
 
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