Do I winter them out?

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bumblelion

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Hi, I'm considering wintering out my tb and idxwb. My id is arthritic and has been quite stiff lately, especially when brought in for farrier etc and my tb is showing signs of arthritis, was an exracer. I have about 4 acres at the moment, split into 3 paddocks. I normally put them in the acre and a half for winter (in at night) and rest the other two for spring. The other two paddocks are joined onto each other, have to go through one to get to other so I norm open them both up and use as one! (hope this makes sense!!). Basically I'm unsure what to do! They will both be well rugged and get plenty of feed and haylage so I'm not concerned about this side of things! It's mainly the mud! I have two gateways for their normal winter paddock so can alternate but they still get very wet and boggy! I don't like the idea of them using all the fields as I do worry about them all getting trashed. The drainage isn't great at all but don't own the land so don't really want to spend out! They have plenty of natural shelter also.

How do you all cope who have horses out 24/7? Do you bring in to pick out feet, change rugs? What do you do if the field gets really poached and rutted? I have stables for them so they can come in, I'm just worried they'll really stiffen up and would be healthier out? Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated!!!
 
I should add, my tb is a real stress head and thrives on routine. Therefore if I make the decision to winter them out, I'll probably have to stick with it! He's not the type to settle if I bring him in on the occasional night although my id
 
My three winter out on about 4 acres (native types though), one has DJD in the hocks and I believe they're all better out. We buy in big bale haylage, and feed it in a ring feeder - that way we get no waste as they can't lay or wee on it! It will make you life so much easier, go for it.
 
It's a difficult one. I think that really as your land is quite wet, it might not work. Do you have any hard standing so that they can have a hay feeder out of the mud?
 
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