Do all horses like 24/7/365 turnout ?

I think its less about the horse and more about the environment. No horse in its right mind wants to stay out in a sparse, mini paddock with limited shelter and a hungry belly.

Give them an established group of companions, well draining and hedge/tree lined large fields and a supply of round bales of hay and every horse I've come across has not only thrived on it, but has become a more sane animal.
TB's to hairy yaks. All the same, they're just horses.

My food orientated horse is happy to live where ever his hay net is but he would prefer to bring his own hay and feed to the field rather than stay in a stable for longer than needed.
 
Horses like what they are used to. Mine don't really like being in, but they would get used to that if it was their routine. Just like one that stands at the gate after a few hours would get used to not coming in, and cease standing at the gate...
 
My welsh x truly loves his stable. In the summer when they were put at night and in in the day he would just stop and refuse to move coming out of his stable and walk slowly to the field.
Now, if he doesn't come in at 3.30 he starts to mess around.

My thoroughbred loves being out. She could be out 24/7 all year round if she wasn't do thin skinned and got cold so easily and start shivering.

My 3 year old connie x isn't fussed either way.
 
Mines in a big field with 5 mares who are her best buds. If she doesnt go out she will freak out and be a nightmare almost dangerous. But now its winter after about 4 hours shes stood at the gate to come in.
In summer she will stay out but prefers to come in about 6 or 7ish.
 
Mines a cob x and he tells you when he wants to come in :) The only pony/horse I've known to tell you what they want. At the min it's still quite warm, ok raining a little but warm. King will come to the gate have his "feed" in his stable then he stands looking out at his field not eating anything..... did I say he's a cob :D

I know when he wants to stay in as he will eat his hay like he's never fed, if he doesn't touch his hay he wants turning out. Love it that he lets me know.

Oh and when I have got it wrong and kept him in you know about it in the morning when mucking out, the whole bed has to come out :) Normaly he's very, very clean poo on one side in a pile wee in the midle then the other side is where he lays. Love the little scruff pony :D
 
My oldie prefers being out and gets grumpy if in his stable too long but when the weather is wet and windy he will neigh to come in if he's had enough.

He's rugged and has lots of natural shelter from close trees and massive hedges and is never cold and has four acres to himself so plenty of grazing, also never been kept in long periods unless injured (few and far between) but he does like his stable now and again ;)
 
Depends what the turnout is tbh. My pony is kept in a 40 acre field on a hill with 30/40 friends all together. They all form their own mini herds and seem to love it, plus it keeps them fit! If she was kept in a little paddock on her own with no stimulation, then she'd probably prefer to be in a stable...
 
Toffee_monster said:
What do you think is best for horses? Do all horses like being out at grazing ? Does anyone have a horse who seems to want to be in his stable at night even thoughhe has perfectly good turnout etc ?


My horse was, at my old yard, coming in at night as he wasnt happy in the woodchip corral, but needed to lose weight so thats how i managed it.

Fast forward to the new place. We have no mud, flat fields, he has friendly company and a good covering of (poor) grass, which suits us fine as he is on a diet, and a nightly haynet option. He is never waiting at the gate to come in but when ive fed him his token feed i have to drag him back out, and if the stable door is open he will put himself inside ???

You would think a native x cob would live slumming it out in the field lol
Does anyone else have the same problem ?
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As someone who keeps mine out 24/7 all year and use to run a yard like this (with emergency stabling only) I'd say mostly yes.

I've had several who have been funny initially (usually ex racers used to a routine) for latest one he coped better when everything was random, stick too much to a routine riding/feeding and he'd start stressing again. After about a week loved being out. It was simply that they are used to being stabled each night. They soon got into the new routine of living out.

I've only ever met one who lived out all year and loved it until cold weather hit. He was a native who we'd rug up to the hilt and was then happy, but couldn't have 'left to it' as most are. He loathed rain and would be brought in if very wet. Plenty of shelter outside but he'd tuck up and shiver in the middle of the field the second it looked like rain.
 
horserider said:
I think its less about the horse and more about the environment. No horse in its right mind wants to stay out in a sparse, mini paddock with limited shelter and a hungry belly.

Give them an established group of companions, well draining and hedge/tree lined large fields and a supply of round bales of hay and every horse I've come across has not only thrived on it, but has become a more sane animal.
TB's to hairy yaks. All the same, they're just horses.

My food orientated horse is happy to live where ever his hay net is but he would prefer to bring his own hay and feed to the field rather than stay in a stable for longer than needed.
Click to expand...

Absolutely agree
 
depends on their upbringing and the wuality of the field they are going to live in

today though i think mine would quite like to be in - god awful weather - saying that when she has had the choice of a field shelter before she has always chosen to stay out :rolleyes:
 
This is such an individual thing depending on the horse. My TB really doesn't like being out more than 3 hours - she'll fence walk and get utterly stressed AND the field is fab and she's with my other horse. He would happily stay out a bit longer, although he gets too fat so he too is in after three hours. When I say in, they are then in a hardcore area (40 x 20 ) that leads onto the barn in which they live, so not in as such. The TB is then delighted as she can choose inside barn or out in the yard!!
 
I believe it's all down to the horse's upbringing. If s/he has been used to being stabled in earlier life - or always being brought in when the weather's bad, then that's what will seen "normal" to them, and as horses are creatures of routine, they'll carry on trying to do what's "normal" for them.

Mine are the opposite, they've all lived outside 24/7/365 since foals, and they're completely accustomed to that. Yes, I can tell that sometimes they're a bit miserable when the wind is up and is pouring with rain, but I know that if I were to stable them away from the elements, they would be even more miserable (I know, I've tried stabling them a few times, when I rented a place that had stables. I ended up not using the stables at all as the horses ultimately preferred being outside).

I really do think boils down to what each horse has become accustomed to.
 
I believe horses should be able to move and socialize (live in a herd) but of course this isn't always practical in domestication... stallions, horses moving yards, shoes, fears of injury etc. etc.
We use fields which have fences (lol) and many have little or no shelter, become bogs in wet weather, over grazed or don't have shelter from wind/rain in every direction etc. etc. Horses generally cannot go where they wish to seek shelter of their choice if they were not fenced in.
Horses generally learn routines and learn and even find comfort in those routines especially when they include a feed element.

I don't think we can say horses 'like' this or that myself in this context. At best I think they can show us enthusiasm but we must remember that enthusiasm is based on the choices/routines they have learned there are in their world at that yard and previous life experiences. So for eg. If a feed is given in the stable when brought in or they are brought in out of severe wind and rain, their mates are brought in etc. they will show enthusiasm generally for going into a stable and the stable becomes a nice place in that world...

My personal compromise has been to have a large varied yard I can section off if needed with barns they can go in and out of as they wish. I have often wondered how this would work at a livery and seeing how horses settle at Rockley Farm has been very enlightening for me and I think livery management should be rethought but I believe I may be in a (growing) minority.

Just my waffle on this. :cool:
 
I have one who goes mental in, one who will stand and weave at the field gate after an hour out, two who are happy either way. They are as individual as we are. I have had paddocks with access to stables and was surprised at how much they liked coming in to lie down, get out of the weather/flies, whatever. 24/7 TO is as much our imposition as stabling; I'd like to let them have a choice, but our present set up doesn't lend itself.
 
Not mine . . . he relaxes far more in his stable than he does in his field. There could be any number of reasons for that . . . he's bottom of his herd so is constantly "moved on" by the other two, we're on a working farm on the edge of Forestry Commission land so there's always lots going on (harvesting, ploughing, the hunt, tree felling, deer, etc.), he's a bit of a stresshead . . . he certainly enjoys going out, but he is always more than happy to come in and have a snooze in his stable.

P
 
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