Do you bring your horses in during bad weather?

Yes Robin comes in if bad weather. Zero shelter in field so comes in the odd bad night in summer then in at night in winter. In tonight and don’t I even THINK about putting him out. And further to that, I may go now!
 

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AandK said:
No, mine are both out 24/7 rugged accordingly and have lots of natural shelter. They are both happy to graze in the worst of the weather we get here and will go to the top to shelter behind the bank of trees if they want a break from the wind.
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The same here - out 24/7 all year round regardless of weather. They all seem happy enough - the odd time one has to come in for some reason they are not at all happy. I guess you could say they like living as naturally as possible and I like keeping them that way.
 
Only one of my horses has any sense! Little Dragon is bone dry in the shelter. The big dollops are standing outside getting soaked through and wet feet. The Beast's rug combination has stood up to it but MrTs no fill has failed. Just switched him to his 100g. He'd probably be fine without but if he did get grumpy he'd take it out on the girls so want to keep him sweet.
 
We have zero shelter in the field so my lot are in tonight, came in about 1pm and when I went back up at 7 they looked up form hay then carried on munching so in they are, will be back out again 24/7 tomorrow hopefully
 
Ours come in at night during winter, yard rules. However we brought them in today to dry and get them off the field for a bit. They were happy to come in. The wee guy got thatched then a fleece over the top.

Kept them in tonight for a sleep on dry ground, they will go out tomorrow with fresh rugs and stay out as if the weather stays like the this the farmer will start winter day turnout.
 
I turned mine out for two hours this evening while it was just drizzling but the forecast was so bad for tonight they came back in and I’m so glad I did. It is absolutely lashing down and while they are rugged the field will be a swamp by now. They both seemed quite happy to come back in to a big pile of hay and snuggly deep beds.
 
They’re in. No great surprise, it’s horrid out there.

I brought them in at 5 hoping that a couple of hours standing in would refresh them before turning back out after feed time at 7, but it was so wild that I relented and changed them into dry stable rugs for the night.

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Mine come in when needed and stay out if it’s mild or the field isn’t too muddy. Sometimes they just have the run of the yard but the oldie likes her stable so I push her door to. She’s so funny because If I’m late she’ll let herself out but never does overnight.
 
Mine have been in at night since Wednesday as the overnight rain has been pretty relentless and day it’s not been much better. They’ve not a lot of shelter and not much grass in their current paddock. They’re it’s in no fill rugs with necks at the moment. Necks come off in the stable.

They may go back out again at night if we get a period of more settled weather but really the ground suffers too much once it get saturated and I need it to last all winter.
 
Lindylouanne said:
I’m in a complete quandary today with the weather. Horses fully clipped yesterday and out last night as usual but in 100 & 200 gm Rhinos respectively. Even with the rain the water was just beading off them this morning so no issues with them getting wet but they felt a bit chilly around the armpits. DP is still in a muzzle due to EMS and I am worried if I stable them tonight he will colic because he will stuff himself silly. At the moment I’m thinking go up to 200 and 300 and put necks on them and leaving DP’s muzzle off. I was planning on removing it in the next week or so anyway.

I’m probably over thinking it so if somebody could slap me to bring me to my senses I would appreciate it because I’m having difficulty making any decisions today.
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I feel your pain, mine are muzzled one with Cushing’s, one fat Shetland!!! I think they are better out as you are right they will stuff themselves
 
They’re staying out 24/7 in this rain, in rain sheets, checked under yesterday evening and they were both bone dry after 2 days of rain.

They start to come in at night beginning of November to give the fields a rest and one hates being in a stable so they have to go out in the day no matter what really. Everything here is at least double fenced And they’re at home So fences down in the wind isn’t such a worry
 
Ours were out without rugs. Felt awful listening to the torrential rain in the night and didn't sleep well. Mine was shuddering with cold this morning but after a small feed and some hay totally fine. Good shelter under the hedge too. Her previous owner never rugged her and she wasn't rugged last winter. She came through that fine so hopefully will this year though I think I ought to invest in a light rug for her for my peace of mind.
 
Madam is out 24/7 until its dark enough in the evenings to convince her that she isn't missing out on anything in the fields ? This is usually the end of October which coincides with clipping so it works well for us.

I'm finding atm that a no neck Shires 50g with a 0g on top is a good combination when it's wet - keeping her just warm enough & the 2 layers are better protection - big test is today as we are promised a deluge and high winds ?
 
we just leave the doors open so mine have the option to go into the stables or be out in the paddock and they are all after wandering back into the stables out of the rain.
 
We have to, as demonstrated by the patronising call I received from the YO this morning because I dared to turn my horses out for 2 hours while I mucked out.
Yes I know it’s wet
No I’m not leaving them out
Yes I know to manage my grazing (despite the fact you don’t allocate sufficient grazing, forcing us to go cap in hand to ask for some more please ma’am)

Im not the only livery fed up with the way our YO speaks to us.

Oh, and ref change of routine, they are absolutely fine with it.
 
I did on Friday night but they were out last night. When I went to drag them all in on Friday evening, they ran to the gate but this morning they were not interested, so I put them back out after feeding. I think they just need a break from the weather.
 
Mine can access stables and the hard-standing in front of them and prefer to stand under cover if it's wet and nasty. They also go out but one is always ready for back to the stables and the other won't stay out alone. The TB can't make its mind up so, for the sake of my fields (and his legs) gets brought in as soon as it starts flying about. Wimps, the lot of them.
 
Shilasdair said:
I'm now going to abandon my two to go feral again.
One of them will be deeply unimpressed with this, as she was enjoying slobbing around in a deep shavings bed. If I never post again, look for my body in the muckheap, with hoofprints on my back.
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They can swap with mine who were turned out on a small field of rested grass due to their flooded paddock and had an almighty meltdown when they had to come in at 4. I did think yet another day of torrential rain would make them want their comfy beds but apparently grass rules ??
 
My normal routine for the working boys is out at night and in for a few hours during the day. Sometimes they stay out 24/7 if none are being ridden. The retired pony is out 24/7. I only change this in very extreme weather conditions, so they've still be out at nights in the current wet weather. We have lots of natural shelter with high holly hedges and adjoining woodland. I don't like them being out at nights if very high winds are forecast because I worry about trees falling and damaging the fencing. If it gets really wet in the middle of winter they might stay in at nights to save the fields as I don't have as much grazing as I would like. In really extreme times like the Beast from the East, they might have a few days where they don't go out in the field but get turnout in the arena. I find they are quite happy with changes to their routine as long as they are fed at approximately the same times and get ad lib forage.
 
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Mine lives out 24/7. She is a proper Section D, as in she has built up her winter reserves a bit too well over summer! She is not rugged (I did try a rainsheet overnight last night, but the rain had seeped in quite a bit and I worry about rubbing, so she's nude again). That said, she has natural shelter from a hedge line that covers most weather directions, Husband has built a very sturdy wind break for the one random direction that is not covered by hedge. She's happier out than in, tries climbing out the stable if she's decided she's been in there long enough!
 
PC Steele said:
I feel your pain, mine are muzzled one with Cushing’s, one fat Shetland!!! I think they are better out as you are right they will stuff themselves
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I did keep them in last night as the rain was torrential and all was well this morning. They were happy to go out this morning though and having ridden them this afternoon they have gone back out tonight minus necks as they were just too warm.
 
Robin is back out tonight and seemed to be quite happy with that idea. The forecast has improved so hoping it isn’t quite in at night time just yet.
 
I dragged mine into the dry yesterday morning thinking they might be grateful. Cue two stress heads who obviously thought it was a prelude to an awful fate. Sigh... The oldie has lived out for years and for all I know the pony may never have been stabled. Plenty of hay outside and they are happy.
 
I brought mine in this morning, super keen to be coming in for breakfast, and kept him in for the day after riding to let his feet dry & give him a proper groom. Took him back out around 6.30pm and he was trotting alongside to the field, as keen to go out as he was to come in this morning!
I like to leave him out as much as I can so he keeps moving, but if the rain kicks in properly he will start coming in at night.
 
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