Can "indoor" horses adapt to 24/7 turnout?

[Mellymoo1]

Just need some advice on a potential new yard.

My horse is currently in at night and out from 8 til 6, and is very much an indoor horse. I have to drag him down to the field in the mornings and is always desperate to come in in the evenings.

I'm not that happy at my current yard for a few reasons, and have found somewhere closer to home with 40 acres of good grazing, much cheaper and I wouldnt have to poo pick, do the water in fields etc. However, the main downside is that the YO doesnt believe in stabling horses and as a result, all the horses on the yard live out 24/7. She does have a couple of stables in case a horse is ill etc.

I'm wondering if anyone has gone from stabling their horse to having it living out full time? My horse is a bit of a nancy, but has been known to have a touch of COPD in the past so could benefit from living out.

What are your opinions?

Thanks in advance!

 

[wodger_woo]

Well I've dealt with a lot of ex-racers who when in training spend 23 hours a day in their stables. We always turn them out and in the summer they live out 24/7. If he is with a group of horses who all live out he will soon adapt.

 

[JAK]

I think he would adapt pretty quickly - there are very few horses that really dislike being out - I can recall only two such animals tbh that really hated it!

Our lot seem quite keen to come in too of an evening but I think it is more to do with the lure of the Snak-a-Balls, carrots & slab of hay that are waiting for them, rather than wanting to actually be inside! LOL
Take those things away & I suspect they wouldn't be very keen to come in at all!

Are you planning to start leaving him out for longer & longer now or wait 'til you actually move?

 

[Mellymoo1]

Thanks for the replies..

JAK - You are so right about them coming in to have food/hay. My boy is very food orientated so teatime is the highlight of his day! I havent made the decision on whether to move yet so if I do it'll be a gradual process of leaving him out for longer. I think maybe its more me with the problem with him living out - I hate the thought of him being out all night when the weather is horrendous. I know horses can cope with it, but I'll be lying awake all night worrying!

Having said that, the thought of no mucking out, no more buying shavings, poo picking and lugging water buckets about is very appealing! The YO even feeds in the mornings, so I could even have lie ins again!! And I'd be saving £100 a month on livery fees....

 

[ajb]

All mine at the yard live out 24/7 and have done since I moved and started the yard 3 years ago-without exception they all love it-even one that "had" to be in-several are calmer than they have ever been and its only food that brings them in to the yard in the winter and once they have eaten that they are keen to get out again!!!..in the winter mine have ad lib hay all day and night and this seems to keep them happy in the fields when grazing is sparce..24/7 out is a more natural way and you will soon see that your horse will become happier-muscle tone will improve as hes moving around all the time and your life will generally be easier!!-mind you we poo pick but its not really a chore as no mucking out !!!..the only downside I would see is the no poo picking but presumably they rotate the pastures????

 

[mistymoo]

I know a horse that lived in at night all year round, kicked the field gate down if left outside etc etc... due to a circumstance change he HAD to stay out and now is no where near the gate, is a proper fat cob and very very chilled. Sounds like a good move to me! good luck!

 

[Mellymoo1]

Hi ajb

All the poo picking is done by the YO, and cos they have 40 acres and 8 horses, the pasture gets rotated. I currently have my horse in a small paddock and have to poo pick.

My yard workload will be much less if I move, which will leave me more time to ride...

 

[riotgirl]

I think that the thing to remember is that most horses seem to like some sort of routine. He might be a bit concerned at first, but when he realises that 24/7 turnout is his new routine then he should be ok. My girl is like this. In the winter she comes in about 6pm, and in the summer about 10/11pm. It always takes her a couple of weeks 'transition' time to get used to it. She stands at the gate and neighs but eventually she is quite happy.

 

[henryhorn]

Every one of our retired livery horses came from a stabled environment, and without exception all have adapted. Watch out for weight loss as they have to learn to eat for longer periods, it takes a while for them to stop expecting a feed over their door several times a day..
Your horse will be fine, more relaxed and so long as he comes in during foul weather or has a thick high neck rug he will not worry about the bad weather.

 

[ajb]

sounds like a good yard to move to-probably the reason that hes reluctant at the mo is small paddock and not much fun to run around etc..one of my liveries came to me with a very much stable/indoor horse and he went a bit wild at first!-adapting to being out 24/7 was just very alien to him but within a month he was settled and now hates being stabled for any length of time-the plus is that hes super happy and relaxed now...you will get more time to do horsey stuff with him so suggest you get packing his bags !!

 

[OWLIE185]

Things to think about:

re the fields Poo Picked each day? - if not then fields will become infested with worms.

What about the worming regime of the horses. They should be kept in when being wormed to stop the fields being contaminated with the worms which are expelled during the worming.

(Remember worms do not observe the boundaries created by fencing! so they will spread from one field to an adjacent one).

If your horse hates being out then he will continue to hate being out.

With there being more horses in a field is yours more likely to get kicked?

 

[Mellymoo1]

Thanks everyone - I am feeling more positive about it now that I have some advice from you lovely helpful people!!

Owlie - I understand that the fields are poo picked very regularly and the YO is apparently uber organised, so I would imagine her worming programme is pretty regimented!
If I do move there, I will have to have my boys back shoes taken off to reduce the injury factor.

 

[ajb]

Not sure that "having to keep in" has to be part of the worming programme-depends on how the YO works the system..on my yard I worm and run a worm count system-I time the worming so that horses are wormed and then 24 hours later they normally move fields-however my fields are poo picked twice a day and all counts to date have been clear... it sounds like a nice small yard which for your TB will also be nice-if your back shoes are coming off make sure his field mate/s are as well-also I put a lightweight turnout on when I mix them for a few days-saves bites being quite such a problem when "settling in"..hope the move goes well

 

[freckles22uk]

My horse had always lived 1/2 and 1/2, since I had her as a foal, (shes 8 now) but since moving to Spain, she now lives out 24/7 all year round, winters here are COLD, we are up a mountain and it got to -10'c last winter, and at the moment its in the high 30's,
Shes quite happy, infact seems happier being out and is much more chilled out, she lives out with 3 other mares, 1 foal, and is due to foal herself right now,

Jenny

 

[JaneSteventon]

Hello I got my 5 yo warmblood gelding at the end of last September and he had been stabled all summer. I wanted him and my mare to live out 24/7 but did not expect he would be able to cope and was prepared to stable him as soon as he started to lose condition or got miserable. He also has four white socks and he had practiclly no fur only pink skin so was also constantly checking him for mud fever. However he lived out all winter and absolutly thrived. Had access to stables on the field up until December and never went in once. He also never got mud fever at all despite constant rain in Oct and March. Very aggressive rearer when he came as well but after living out with my mare he now has the most fantastic laid back loving temprament.

 

[Parkranger]

I've owned cobs, saddlebreds, arabs and TB's in the past and they've all thrived through living outside. They always had access to a large field shelter though and only came inside it if was really, really cold!