Competition horses and company when turned out?

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dressage__diva

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This is a topic that people keep chatting to me about and there seems to be so many schools on thought on the subject.

My two older mares go out together every day. OK, they are not GP horses, they are Nov - Med level horses, but when watching Fantastic Elastic on Horse and Country TV recently (via their website) I noticed that Carl was saying his young horses all live in a herd even at 5 years (Tomato was the one in the demo).

My two older ones come in with knocks and bangs occasionally where they have had a battle, but they have been together for a few years now and my neurotic orange whirlwind has settled down to life considerably since she started being turned out daily with my other.

When I bought my new dressage mare (she is risng 4) there was nothing for her to go out with where I stable. I could not put her out with my other two (they don't like change...) so she has been going out on her own every day for a couple of months. She has been pretty good, but just mooches about and doesn't do too much. When it comes to bringing in time, she has been a little on her toes...

Anyway, yesterday the owner of an ex PSG horse (who is a very gorgeous looking older man ) offered to try him out with my young girl. It was love at first site and they played, bounced about and then stood grooming for ages which was lovely to see. When it came to bringing in time, she had her head really low, was very relaxed and just pottered in which is a big contrast to normal.

So my question is, how many of your competition horses go out in company?

How many do they go out with if so?

How important do you think it is?

And is it more something that is important to younger models rather than the older established competition horses?

I am afraid all I can offer you is a dollop of Vicks and a Lemsip if you get this far as that is what I am living on at the moment with the most evil cold...
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Mine go out in pairs as my paddocks are quite small. I had one who was an established loner, I took the opportunity when I moved house to put her with another as everything changed anyway and it's worked out well.

It's very important for young horses to learn manners from others.

I would guess that being a herd animal a horse cannot relax properly unless it has company, although sometimes from nesessity this has to be in an adjacent paddock.
 
Corroy has to go out alone otherwise she kills anything she is with
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Most of the horses on our yard go out individually in small paddocks, but they are next door to each other.
 
Mine are also low level competition horses (Nov-Med).

They go out in 2 pairs of two, which seems to work really well. I had hoped they would all go out together, but one took a serious dislike to the other (spent 48 hours chasing and kicking him non-stop, after which I gave up and separated them again!!!), so now they stay in their two groups.

All four like their pairings a lot (there is a lot of grooming, etc) but luckily no one gets stressed about separating (they hack individually, go to shows on their own and sometimes go away for training on their own).

Personally I find groups of two quite handy as they are easier to control. One of my big pet worries is trying to get one horse out of a herd when everyone esle is misbehaving!
 
my "eventer" is in a nice big herd of about 10 - 15 horses (dependant on whats in at the time!), never had an injury from fighting with anythintg.
 
Oskar (dressage horse) is 100 times better in a herd. He lives with a group of three or four other geldings (two arabs and a retired eventer). He gets into far fewer scraps and injuries since he's been out with that lot than when he used to be on his own. My only criterion is that none of them have back shoes on. I think he's an exceptionally social horse and needs his friends. When he's on his own he gets clingy with me and generally annoying. Not a solution for all horses but I will never put this horse out on his own again unless it is absolutely the last option.
 
Jupi will stay out in a heard for as long as possible.

Bloss kills anything in site so when she is in work she is turned out individually (all the horses in work at the yard are though) however if shes on holiday she goes out in a herd and spends her time galloping around trying to kill them all
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my three all go out together as I find they are a lot more settled. I only have one that I compete though, my mare is retired and the shetland just causes havoc. Before I had the shetland I used to turn my big two out individually but my mare hated it and would continually fence walk. When the pony came along she created such a fuss in the end I had to put her out with others (just with a muzzle on) otherwise she would just escape and go and join them anyway
 
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Retiring Corroy and Bloss wouldn't be a good idea after all then
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It would be a short lived retirement
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PMSL - I think they would have fun attacking each other though
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Thanks for the comments so far...

I like mine going out with something else because it gives them chance to be a horse. But I know it doesn't work for everyone
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It is interesting though to read what others do with theirs
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Mine goes out in a big field with all the other geldings. He is a very sociable horse and has lots of friends that he hangs about with. if there's any trouble at all he runs a mile!
There are about 15 geldings in our field and in over 2 years he's been kicked twice. I'm not precious about him like that I'd rather he was happy and out being a horse!
My friend did say the other day that she's surprised I put him out with the others and not on his own.
 
Mine all go out together and there are four of them normally, at the moment frankie is seperated due to his injury. The two babies (rising 3 and 4) spend hours playing together. I think all horses should be out with at least one other but I understand that its not always possible.
 
my 4 *would*go out together except the two big geldings play fight for hours and trash their rugs/fly masks/boots etc so have to be seperated, thus my 5yo (*only* competing nov, schooling elem/med but destined to be a GP horse) and the shetland go out together, and mums schoolmaster (schooled to GP) and the other pony go out together, so pairs.

my 3 are barefoot and the livery pony is only shod in front so im happy for them to go out together, and in spring when its warm enough to go without rugs but breezy enough to keep the flies off all 4 go in together for a few hours for a good play without the risk of trashing anything if they are all naked!!!
 
We only have 3 horses and they all go out together. Luckily Dolly thinks she is too much of a lady to play stupid boy games so her rugs don't get trashed etc. In the summer though Dolly gets her own special field as she is a fat moose.
 
My comp horse goes out seperately now but can touch & groom over the fencing.
The reason for this is i couldnt risk my 25yo retired boy being out with the comp horse. 25yo does have reduced mobility but still thinks he can play with comp horse, & due to a serious accident i can't risk him playing atm.
So everyone here is now in seperate paddocks right next to each other just safer atm as my Vet bills are huge right now
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I would never ever turn my horses out with another horse that has back shoes on- its just too much of a stupid risk IMO. It only takes one kick.
As there are very few horses about that dont have back shoes on they go out on their own in individual paddocks.

I do have one horse that would settle better in the field if she was in a large herd, but I wont risk her. I did put her out with a shetland pony over the summer but she didnt consider the shetland to be a 'proper horse' -the poor thing was invisable in her eyes, so it made absolutely no difference to getting her to settle down!
 
Mine go out individually now, all with back shoes on.

i want a yard with facilities and these yards don't offer group turnout.

at home they all went out together.
 
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I would never ever turn my horses out with another horse that has back shoes on- its just too much of a stupid risk IMO. It only takes one kick.
As there are very few horses about that dont have back shoes on they go out on their own in individual paddocks.

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Ditto this, it was only yesterday a horse at the yard im on, came in from the field with a broken leg from a kick
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(He was old and semi retired, but still very sad).
My two have a field to themselves, which is split in half with electric fencing and one goes on each side.
 
Both my horses live out together fully shod and have done for 3.5 years.
I occasionally have the hind shoes off Snoop but theyre back on now and will probably stay on.
When I first got Snoopy he was a bit free range with his hind legs so he was seperated from my other two. He stayed in a field next door so he wouldnt feel on his own.
I slowly introduced them over time and they all got on okay although Snoop is a bit of a bully and my oldie just kept out of his way.

Now I dont have a problem with just the two, they both respect each other and Winston just keeps away from Snoopys hind end if theyre having a bit of a session around the field.
 
Mine goes out individually but has fields with horses next to him so he still gets to socialise. He still comes in with loads of bites and scratches on him so who knows what it would be like if he was to be in a field with others!
 
Mine (a county level WHP) goes out with 9 others, there are very rarely and scraps and there is a high turnover at the yard so there are new horses being introduced all the time.
My horse loves going out with others and gets pacey (if thats even a word!) when she's by herself.
 
My one and only comp horse, used to be turned out with my others............until he started to try and kill them
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He's just really naughty, he gallops them around then pins them in a corner and double barrels
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So he is now turned out on his own with occassionally having my sisters NF put in with him.........only for a few hours though
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All my others (hunter, broodmares and youngsters) are out together.
 
My mare was out with a young gelding and another mare, but due to gelding being teased by mares coming into season and reacting by mounting them (consistently spotted over a couple of days) he's been evicted. She also came in with a hefty kick wound on her hind leg the same day the mounting was spotted, although this is her first kick injury in a few years of being turned out in groups.

So she's now just out with the one other mare and the gelding is over the fence line for them with both pining for each other, the floozy that she is! <roll eyes> I can't risk having her back hurt or further kicks due to mounting though.
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I would definitely always want a horse of mine turned out in company, unless for medical reasons or there was absolutely no alternative. They always seem much happier with friends to mooch about with. I feel so bad for the gelding, but he's his own worst enemy, going in with these mares was already the last resort as we hoped they'd teach him manners, rather than flirt with him!
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PS- in my eyes, any horse, no matter what it's job, is valuable to it's owner and I don't really understand the logic when folk give "priority" to high-value, competition horses over those who are "just" happy hackers/RC/low level horses.
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The vets bills are all the same and the upset for the owner/injured horse is just the same.
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I have a herd of 10. Mares and geldings, 20 months to 28yrs. The herd dynamic is good, and only the occasional kick. Lots of biting, but thats mainly because the boys play non-stop.

Yes the rugs suffer, only last night someone came in with a tail flap missing, and last week a hood was removed (??), but found and reattached.

They are all happy to stand in alone too, so not too much seperation probs either (Different at shows though!)
 
I totally agree with you FigJam I think if I had a horse that was worth £500 or £50,000 I would still want them to go out in company after all they are horses! You probably get more from them competition wise if they are truly happy at home
 
My boy is low level comp also (elem) when I first had him as a 3 yr old he was on his own but had horses all round him as this was just how the yard was (everything else was a mare and I wont mix mares and geldings) since leaving this yard he has been out in various differrent combinations from two up to eight horses and has loved it. He has a good hooley round the field each day and is currently out with a rather slow cob so he always wins!!He has had the odd knock but tends to get bitten if anything its his rugs that suffer but he is much happier with the others so I live with it. I am fortunate that where I am now the conbinations he has to mix with are all established and they all know eachother and where they stand in the herd so this helps.
 
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