Checking on horses that live out....

Hippona

Hippona

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I'm on DIY livery and normally see to my horses twice daily- before and after work. In summer, horses can live out if the owners wish, its up to the individual. if the grass is good and weather ok i let my horses live out- I bring them if the weathers rubbish or before shows etc - but I always check them every day after work and still go down twice a day on weekends esp if daughter/hubbie are riding too. However, some people on the yard choose to let their horses live out, and only come down on poo-picking day and to change fields. My own opinion is that people should check their horses every day - last year my horse got a kick and had a fractured cannon bone, even though I was checking every day - i know its nice to have a bit of rest this time of year with less mucking out and whatever - but surely its your responsibilty to make sure your horse still has limbs atached and not rely on YO/other liveries to let you know when theres a problem....sorry, turned into a bit of a rant on there....!
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Definitely with you on that one! I have a small yard and it really winds me up when liveries leave their horses out and don't check on them. I had someone go away on holiday last summer and didn't even bother telling me and hadn't arranged for anyone to check on their horse! Grrrrrr.
 
Calli is out 24/7 but we bring her in every night for a brush, check over and feed then chuck her back out.
Mum pops up in the morning and check her before work.
Most people on our yard check on them daily and bring them in bad weather and for shows ect.
 
I'm on DIY and mine is currently living out. I go up everyday after work and twice at the weekend. YO lives/ works at yard so is there all day. She keeps an eye on all of horses during the day. If for any reason I can't go to the yard, it's put in the yard diary for my girlie to be checked. Wouldn't dream of going away on holiday and not letting anyone know!
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Regardless of whether horses are in or out I believe they should be checked twice a day. I can understand once a day if there are other people on the yard that can make sure they've not got caught up in a fence, broke a leg etc but cannnot fathom people who don't go up regularly.

My horse broke his leg in the field last summer and if I hadn't have gone up until the evening he could potentially have been in considerable pain for 24 hours - I couldn't live with the guilt personally. Anyway I find it theraputic to get some early fresh air before going to the office.
 
I always check mine twice a day. Not just to see if they are OK but also to spray on fly repellent. They come and queue at the gate to 'be done' (and to get their peppermint which is their 'hard feed' of the day!!)
 
me too - I would prefer to check and know theyre ok than worry - typical though, the horses that belong to people who don't check them as often always seem to be ok- i know for a fact if I didn't go down one of mine would end up in some freak incident!!!
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I too check mine twice a day, always have and always will
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Do you think anyone will respond to this post, saying that they only go up occassionally to see their horse(s)
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Mine are checked twice a day, given a feed, sprayed etc at the same time - I pay if I don't do it myself.

We have a livery who comes up once a week if that and seems to expect the others to poo pick and check her shetland. I will glance over the fence to make sure it is ok, but will not do more - though would if something was obviously wrong.

Personally if I were the YO I would put £10 a week on her livery for daily checking and poo picking or ask them to leave.

I loathe people who don't come up and check or pay others to do it and expect everyone to do the job for them - different if they have a temporary personal problem - it is the height of selfish and neglectful behaviour.
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I check my main two once a day, my one thats for sale whenever i can be bothered, normally three times a week and have never even seen the other one. The one thats for sale is at someones house so if anything happened they would ring me and id come down and sort it, chances are even if i did come down twice a day, he would still see if anything was wrong before me seeing as they are out his back window!
 
Hudson comes in twice a day for checking/feeding/hoof picking. there are only 2 liveries on our yard so we work it between us if one can't make it, holidays etc, but there is always a member of staff around which we know if we are stuck we can phone for help. On the yard I used to be at it was purely livery, most folk were up there twice a day, but even so one day i found a horse with a leg stuck though a rug strap, so even if you do check frequently things can happen. I think anyone who just leaves a horse and expects everyone else to take the responsibility need to think twice about what they are doing.
 
I also do mine twice a day, and they mainly live out. And not just to look over the fence and check they're still there.

Always go and give them a pat and check them over.

Once Rosie was just standing stock still in the field. Went over to give her the usual pat and found her caught up in the springing electric fence gate wire. She'd got it wrapped round both hind legs and in a twist in her tail. Had to cut most of her tail out to get it off her.

What a horrible thought that I could've been one of those people that only went up once a week!
 
My yearling is on DIY grass livery 24/7 and I only check on him once a day when I feed him in the mornings. I will go up twice at weekends when I ride for someone else though. Were at a very small friendly livery yard so everyone keeps an eye on each others which works out well and there are people up there at different times of the day so they don't go hours without being checked.
 
Don't get me wrong, If I saw a horse with a cut or that looked unwell, I'd let the owner know, we all have each others phone numbers just in case, and the YO also keeps an eye out, so they're not completely abandoned....it just seems like the minute YO says ''ok, horses can live out'', certain people are never seen at the yard and it make me wonder why they bother having horses at all...also I think their horses must wonder whats happening, cos when i'm bringing mine down for a feed/brush/ride etc the horses whose owners dont come down follow us to the gate as if they want attention too..( or that just me being soft?)
 
My old mare was on grass livery and in the summer I went down twice a day to fly spray, sun cream etc, but in the winter she wasn't in work so I went done and fed and groomed her after work. She was however checked in the mornings by a friend and then I checked hers in the evening.

LOL though I agree that not many people would come on and say - "My horse lives out and I don't go to see him very often, buit when I drive past he looks happy!"
 
I'm beginning to think I'm slightly neurotic. Mine live in and I'm there minimum twice a day, 6am- to make sure everyone has 4 legs and is eating breakfast and then in the evening sometime after 7-have they survived turn-out and finished supper. Most days I'm there in the afternoon too. They are constantly supervised by our grooms too.

Does anyone else have sleepless nights worrying? Even if they seem fine at 8pm, sometimes I just get a bad feeling and nip down to the stables in the dead of the night to check. Haha... it sounds completely ridiculous now that I'm writing it.

I could never imagine not checking on my horse for days. I'd need a Valium within the first 24 hours!
 
If owner doesnt check, YO or landowner should be doing it and charging them £ for it. Not only because its the right thing, but because under the new animal welfare regime, even DIY proprietors can get tangled in liability issues if an animal is neglected or harmed.
 
My horse is out 24/7 in the summer and I check him every night, if i can't for whatever reason I text or ring one of the other people that keep their horses there and ask them to check on henry and they always say they will and vise versa if anyone needed me to check theirs!!

We have a lady down at the yard who hasn't checked her horse since they were let out!! Why have a horse if you can't be bothered with it?? I'm considering informing the rspca because she hasn't had their feet done in ages!
 
Mine are currently out 24/7 and I go up twice a day. If I can't do one check, due to work etc, there is another livery owner that checks them for me.
 
Mine are checked twice a day regardless of wether they are in or out, I would not be able to live with myself if anythng happened and i had not checked them even if its a fleeting glance to make sure they have all four legs and no blood anywhere.

I cant understand why people have horses if they cant be bothered to at least check them ONCE aday!!

Now if the hangover kicks in I have a very understanding hubby who will go down and check them for me..bless the hubby
 
My boy gets checked three times a day and even though he's out of work gets brought in everyday for a brush, a check over and a haynet.

There is someone on my yard who hasn't checked their horse in three weeks and he's often out in all weathers with no rug and is a fine type who's used to being rugged.
 
Over the winter I lived a long way from Maiden's field so I checked her and her fieldmates once a day (owner of the other two agreed this was acceptable). I didn't like it much... Maiden is now five minutes' walk from my house so she gets checked minimum twice a day.
I can understand occasionally not checking a horse for 24 hours (I forgot it was my turn to check on the yard the other morning, funnily enough they survived without breakfast!) but any less than that isn't acceptable at all IMO. Even just for the fact that the horse may run out of water (broken trough/ tipped over bucket etc) - any more than a short time without water is going to cause huge problems.
 
I don't check my horses every day. But then I am on a livery yard where we all check on each others horses, so it suits me well and we all look out for each other.
 
Mine gets checked once a day when living out (April -Nov). As I'm on a livery yard, we all cast an eye out on the others in the field, which seems to work well. After all you could visit and 10 minutes after you;ve gone there could be an incident. The YO is very good at dealing with the horses.
 
I have to check my boy twice a day too im neutrotic as well, I could live with myself if he was injured, if I cant make it I get a friend to check him.

Last year I walked into the field and notied that one of the horses was not standing rite so went and checked him, he has to be rushed off for surgery on his stifle, but if I had of been in a hurry I wouldnt have noticed and his owner doesnt always come down twice a day imagine the infection if left for 12-24 hrs.

And the people at my yard with horses with white noses who let them burn as they cant be bothered to put enough sun screen on!!!

Some people shouldnt have horses
 
I go once a day but we all work together and my friend checks my yard when she passes to do her horses as does my sister and our other friend. My eldest daughter rides after school with my one friend too, so although I go once a day my lot are checked upto six times from 4am till nine pm and then the security go round too....
 
i have around 19 ATM out on grass....

and no, they dont all get brought in and checked over every day...

if they look alive, are walking and eating and drinking on a daily basis, then thats fine by me....

if i hd just 1 pony to contend with, then things may be a little different
 
I go once a day, usually in the afternoon. My friend brings my mare in for me in the morning as she's on a diet and then I go afternoon ish and ride then put her out and feed my friends horse and my other horse.
They are mainly grass livery horse on our yard and I can honestly say in 4 years of bein on that yard one of the owners I have only seen actually on the yard ONCE!!! She pays her livery and thats it. Another had hers shod 14 weeks ago and I haven't seen her since. Why bother.
 
I do twice daily check or get someone else to check them for me. But there have been people at that yard who seem to think the horse will look after themselves, summer turnout starts and you dont see them for dust. Last year I saw to Domi in the morning, and then got a call from my friend at 3.30pm to say he was shaking and standing on 3 legs. I drove to the yard nearly hysterical, he had been kicked and fractured a splint bone. Just imagine if I had not arranged for my friend to check and had not gone down till the next morning? Does not bear thinking about.

I dont think anyone here would post that they only saw their horses once or twice a week because if they were not that bothered about them, they would be unlikely to be on H&H....
 
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