Competition horses and company when turned out?

I've tried a massive variation of turn out options, for various boring reasons!

He's been out on his own, out in a pair, out in a small herd and is currently *BIG SHOCKER* out with 18 others - mix of mares and geldings. Never had a scrape, knock or cut and he loves it!

Saying that he is generally in offensive and will only piss about if there is no grass.
 
never out together once they are broken and have shoes on.
they used to, when i was a kid, then had one kicked and a £5k vet bill put a stop to that!
their average worth was about 4-5k then

now they are 10-50k in value so not a chance.
the under 3 year olds live out in herds though, but they are shoeless and we've never had any trouble with them.
 
So my question is, how many of your competition horses go out in company?
yep, in a group of 2 or 3 depending on the fattest horses weight.... (all mine with no back shoes on)

How many do they go out with if so?2-3

How important do you think it is? i think its important they interact with other horses. some horses will find it more bareable than others.

And is it more something that is important to younger models rather than the older established competition horses? id say youngsters are often ones less secure and more playful who would miss another horse to pester.....


if i was at a big livery yard, i wouldnt want mine going out with other peoples horses. not because i am a snob or anything, just its so much easier to deal with a group of your own with poo picking, worming etc etc. plus if they get injured its only one of yours to blame and treat!
 
Ideally I like 'herds' of 3 or 4. I find 2 together can get clingy and it's a pain when you want to hack just one.
All the horses in work have shoes on.
The critical thin to my mind is managing the herd dynamic. I've 2 mares at the moment that I wouldn't turn out together, they are far too infatuated with each other & fur would fly. Previously I had a greedy gelding that I wouldn't turn out with the dominant mare.
I think you have to understand who is dominant and create the herds to avoid trouble. I like to mix up the heights and the ages to get it just right, so that everyone has a buddy, someone to play with or groom and everyone understands who is in charge & doesn't question it.
Whenever I've known horses getting badly kicked it's always one horse which is doing the kicking. I've known of dominant, nasty geldings and mares break legs and cause havoc & I wouldn't have a horse like that out with any others.
 
I always keep mine together. In the past its worked out well as I've always had 2 or 3 competition horses and my 2 old retired ponies - because the 2 ponies require limited grazing, they are together and then the others are together. It does depend on the horses and their grazing requirements but if they're similar then I'd definately keep them out together. Hate seeing horses out on their own, doesn't matter their age IMO.

At the moment, I'm down to one comp. horse and the 2 ponies which isn't ideal because the horse needs grass (slim TB type) but the ponies are laminitic types. To remedy it, the horse is out in the big field during the day (beside the ponies in their smaller field) and then I put him in with the ponies overnight purely so he can have a play with them.
 
It is good hearing everyone's opinions and what they do with their horses...

My two mares are both fully shod but have been together for quite some time now so are pretty settled (I hope!) They are currently turned out in a round pen together as we have no winter grazing and I have moved around enough yards trying to find it... At least they are getting out every day together for some 'me' time
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My new girl is taking a while to settle with her older man in that she nearly ran the groom over today when he tried bringing the gelding in and leaving her out (she had a good old bomb around the field once she had escaped from the pen
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) but hopefully she will soon get into a routine. I think she is making him young again too... I can now see why he was such a successful PSG horse, boy can he move! They make a lovely couple!
 
Glad you've found a friend for Bolli!
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He sounds lovely.

The one problem I've had with my horse's regime is that he has never learned to cope with being left alone in the field, even if there are other horses around him. Luckily the retired eventer he's out with never (or very, very rarely) leaves the field. But I always used to fret about him being left alone, because he would literally go nuts, go through fencing, and generally cause havoc.....
 
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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 agree. All 3 of mine go out together in winter when tank pony has no shoes on. In summer when he gets shoes on he is in the fatty paddock on his own anyway, as he is a big fat obnoxious git.
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The other 2 go out together. DA is never shut in & will often take himself up the field alone if the weather is nice.
 
Mine have individual turnout. I have an aged pony to keep my eventer company, however they need to be separated by a strip of electric fencing as the eventer (a mare), is very mean to her pony friend and I fear for his life at times! However they happily graze side by side and have a run around 'together' - but are safe from injuring each other.
 
Gin goes out on her own. She gets too clingy and difficult to catch if out with another horse. At the moment shes in foal so its just not worth turning her out with something else.

I have to say, I am looking forward to the foal being born so she can have a pal. Theres nothing on the yard to turn her out with but she always has something next to her.
 
i wouldnt really class mine as ''competition horses'' as such... but they compete regularly at bsja, currently only at BN but hope to get up to NC.

mine get turned out every night with between 3 and 6 other horses (geldings...we dont mix mares and geldings at our yard), but the others are big hunters. mine dont get into any scraps really...obviously the occasional (every 6 months or so) kick, cut, bite etc but definitley nothing serious...never any lameness really *touch wood*

i think turnout in herds is an important part of equine behaviour, and i personally dont like to see horses turned out on their own in perfect paddocks wrapped in bubble wrap...lol xx
 
I keep my horse at home and I have a 12hh companion pony to keep him company. I can't turn them out together becuase my horse kicks badly so I put them in adjacent paddocks so they can get the benefits of socialising and grooming without battering each other.
 
I don't take a 'stupid risk' as you put it by turning my shod compo horses out together
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Horses need the company of others and this includes the opportunity to properly interact & groom each other and not just watching each other over a fence.
There is always a risk of injury whatever we do with them but I put my horses instinct, welfare and needs above the so called risk if you don't mind
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Mine can't go out on her own - she just jumps out. Hence she has been stabled since October because her field buddy has had her legs operated on. We'll be sedating to turn them back out! I hate keeping her in 24/7 but we don't have a choice and it's her own silly fault. She actually doesn't mind but I know she's happier when she is turned out.

I think turning out alone is unnatural - horses are herd animals. Having said which, if a horse is happy alone then fine, but I'd rather run the risk of the odd minor injury, which is all I've ever had turning out in company than make my horse unhappy by enforcing unnatural behaviour. I think you can get just as many severe injuries from horses being upset turned out alone as through squabbling when turned out together. Having said which, you do need to look at the herd dynamic and make sure you get the right combination of horses out together. Which is why mine has been in for months....
 
I cannot stand single turn out. IMO it's unnattural and unneccessary and there would be very few situations in which I would consider it, and even then only temporarily. It's one of my real bee-in bonnet things, and I'd have to agree to disagree with those people who are on the opposite end of the spectrum.
 
My advanced horse is turned out in a field with my 6yo. Every day they bounce around kick boxing at each other fly bucking and generally just harrassing each other. My Advanced horse, older and slighter, comes off worse, his rug is ripped to shreads (whilst the 6yo's is intact) so i decided to split them up... Every morning i would turn them out separately and every afternoon they'd be back in together, not just the 6yo jumping in to annoy the advanced horse but the other way too, sometimes they apparanly just hop the fence together for fun. I;ve concluded that although the Advaanced horse gets "bullied" by the youngster he likes the company and probably the fun side of a good game of tag... Blinking horses!
 
Mine isn't really a competition horse but hopefully once he's grown up a bit he will be. He spent 3 months on one yard, 10wks on another, 4 weeks on another and then so far 6wks where he is at the moment as he moves about to and from uni with me. Some places he goes out on his own simply because he's not there long enough to integrate into a herd. Other places he goes out on his own or with one other and tbh it makes little difference to him. In the last month he's been out with 3 different horses and each time he briefly says hello and then wanders off to graze. He's also very happy to be left on his own in the field hours after all the others have been brought in and I often find him grazing with deer for company.

Where I am at the moment my horse and my friend's horse are the only 2 that go out together, all the others have individual turnout. This is disastrous to the point that the majority don't turn out at all and a couple turnout once or twice a week for a few hours as they just pelt about like loonies screaming to go back in
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. They stand in all day in stables where they are unable to see the horse next to them and bars instead of a top door. What's worse is the owners are all equine degree students so you would expect them to understand that horses have social needs.

My horses at home are arranged according to their waistlines so sometimes a particularly fat or skinny one ends up on its own for a bit but they never seem to mind. My sister's pony competes regularly (up to BE novice) and he lives out on his own but with 30 horses in the fields around him. Unfortunately he gets too attached to field mates and it makes it impossible to compete him as he spends the whole time screaming. He's perfectly chilled on his own and it has solved his seperation anxiety, although when he retires from competing he'll go back out with the others.
 
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