do you check your horse twice a day

Moomin1 said:
Oh seriously, get a grip.

I don't understand how this concept of someone taking responsibility for their own horses is so difficult to grasp on this thread....
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But you don't seem to see beyond your own circumstances.
Some of us have an equally valid system of ensuring all horses on our yard are well and healthy. It also means that for novice owners, they have the benefit of another set of eyes.
 
MerrySherryRider said:
But you don't seem to see beyond your own circumstances.
Some of us have an equally valid system of ensuring all horses on our yard are well and healthy. It also means that for novice owners, they have the benefit of another set of eyes.
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But she does. She's said so many many times that horses on livery, where they are checked frequently by anyone and everyone, is perfectly fine :smile3:
 
flirtygerty said:
I have checked my horses even when I could hardly stand due to breathing problems, even my doctor told me off for going to the surgery, I should have called her out apparently, my horses, my responsibil;ity.
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And you never have to visit a sick family member or go to a wedding ? If you are available twice a day for your horses, that's great, but in times of crisis, my family comes first and I have to be an irresponsible horse owner and get the YO look after them.
 
MerrySherryRider said:
And you never have to visit a sick family member or go to a wedding ? If you are available twice a day for your horses, that's great, but in times of crisis, my family comes first and I have to be an irresponsible horse owner and get the YO look after them.
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Exactly, they are not left to their own devices and someone you trust is looking out for them
 
If I am away my grooms care for my horses .
My parents stay in my house .
If i am away a while my friend pops in and best friend a vet will look in too .
I prefer to to see them myself but clearly you have to have a life and sometimes that takes you away .
It does not need to be the owner who sees the horse .
 
Moomin1 said:
You can't be for real now. How do you not grasp what I have said so so many times?! Other people seem to!
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SF says you think its fine for anyone and everyone to check someone's horses. I was under the impression that you think it should be either the owner or a named person.

I'm just glad I'm on my lovely yard with such a great group of horse owners after reading some of the responses on here.
 
Pudster said:
That's great.. 2 free grooms..
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Free?.. Believe me a full time groom would be cheaper than my daughter
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So every single yard I have ever been at the YO has fed and turned my horses out in the morning then I have gone up in the evening and mucked out/ ridden/groomed/ fussed/ prepared haynets/done feed for the next day. I have had school then college then uni then work meaning I can't go up in the mornings. Have me and every other livery at every yard I have ever been at been neglectful as we have gone up once a day?
 
We have had our horses at home for the last twenty years and are therefore checked many times a day. Prior to that they were at a DIY yard with a YO on site who did checks early morning and late night, we still went at least twice each day. The first horse we had was kept on a farm, our parents bought him for us, Dad checked him in the morning, farmers family kept an eye out and sis and I checked in the evening. To have an animal not checked by anyone for 24 hours is irresponsible, in my opinion. If you take on an animal, then you accept the responsibility. If either of us is ill or away, then the other takes the whole responsibility, we never both go away for longer than a day, but if we did then we would pay for someone to check several times in the day.
 
My point about feral ponies is related to Defra because I don't think people should be given the idea that they are at risk of being prosecuted by Defra if they are not checking their grass kept horses twice a day. I doubt Defra would be interested in prosecuting anyone if their horse did die of an injury and had only been checked once a day if the horse was in good condition and had shelter, food, water. The costs of prosecuting someone are so high that even people who are neglecting their horses in such a way that their health is obviously suffering on a day to day basis rather than an accident in the field don't get prosecuted when they should do.

Moomin then implied that how often horses should be checked would depend on what is reasonable in the circumstances so it would not be expected that semi feral horses would be checked physically twice a day as there are so many of them and as they are not used to be physically handled it would not be practical, which I do understand. But it does go against that view that all horses should be checked twice a day regardless of people's circumstances and that they are at risk of prosecution if they do not do so.

In an ideal world horses would get a full inspection every couple of hours but we don't live in an ideal world and I expect the majority of horses that are checked once a day are in good condition and healthy especially as they are probably kept on yards where there are other people going down to the field who may not be giving the horses a full body inspection but who would notice if something serious was wrong which is very different from being in a field with no other liveries in the middle of no-where.

Even stabled horses who are seen to twice a day may not be actually given a full body inspection as if someone is in a hurry to turnout in the morning before work and it is dark they may not notice if the horse has got injured overnight in the stable or is looking unwell, same goes for catching in in the evening, if it is dark and the injury is not obvious something could also get missed by yard staff or an owner.
 
flojo said:
Free?.. Believe me a full time groom would be cheaper than my daughter
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LOL... Hence I don't have or want children..! My boy is all I need and by this thred.. *it not not enough in summer..! hahaha) Oh well guess he will just have to deal with it...!

But, just to add.. When I did work as a groom (many years ago..) I was taught to read the horses body language, you get to know each and every personality of every horse..(I had over 60 in my charge that I did veterinary checks for each and every morning. This check could not be dont on a 2 or even 6 hourly basis) it was complested every morning.

So although I was on the yard from 7am to 7pm after that there were still 12 hours (ok, 7-8 hours after last checks) that horses could still get into trouble. No amount of checking is going to stop this. Horses get out of field, stables. etc.. and Colic at 11pm after a night on the town.. but we are always there. That it good owners of our beloved best friends.. So please don't think that because some of us don't go up 3-4-5 times a day in the summer when they are out 24/7 don't love our horses anymore than those that can..
We are are all part of this forum for the love that those 4 legged (sometimes 2 legs..?!) beasts..
And I don't think anyone of us here would willingly do wrong by our horses..
Sorry that was soooo long.. but felt that I needed to make up.. x
(excuse spelling and grammer, even I can't be bothered to proof read that one..!!)
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Ben and Tilly the other horse I care for are checked twice a day, however, I pay for am check, feed and turnout/bring in by YO as it costs me less than it would in petrol. I go up in the evening, muck out/ride/feed and check, but someone has always got an eye on them as YO lives on site.
 
Pudster said:
Ooohh, okay lovey... no need to shout. Just seemed that you were of the thinking that anyone that didn't check their own horses twice a day was to be dammed.. thats all. :)
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At no point has Moomin said that actually. Her only point has been to advocate having a horse checked twice a day. If that means at one end of the day by YO owner, or fellow livery, so be it. The point is a hands on physical check would be deemed a bare minimum requirement that horse owners should be seeking. A sentiment I wholly agree with.
 
windand rain said:
You see personally I feel my ponies are far less likely to be injured or ill while living out I could never condone and would never keep a horse or pony that had to spend more than 8 hours in a stable on any one day never mind for months on end I may only visit mine once a day for several hours in that day but they are happy, settled , well fed and content I have been keeping horses for over 40 years and only once had one with colic that was last week when the numpty pony ate a lump of tail hair he was fine after about an hour but he went down while we were there and he wasnt left until he was contentedly grazing He was checked by me several times that day to make sure he did not relapse.
I have seen many livery horses severely injured and die painfully of colic when they were stabled so I guess it is not such a safe place after all. Horses and ponies can and do get colic and recover in the hours the owner is in bed sadly some dont but they are the ones that it is unlikely would have recovered if you had been there. Cuts are the same if a horse is cut and bleeding the injury will either resolve or bleed out in a very short space of time either scenario is unaffected by the owner being there an hour or 8 or 16 after the event it is highly unlikely that if they are going to injure themseves they will do so while you are watching that is about as rare as a lottery win
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Whilst I understand your sentiment and your argument, most horses stabled in the winter in particular do spend more than 8 hrs a day stabled and without incident. My old mare, far preferred life outdoors, yet coped well enough with stabling, although knowing her preference, I ensured she was stabled for as little time overnight as possible during winter only, Ben on the other hand, is a different kettle of fish entirely. On his summer schedule, he is bought in around 7 am and turned out between 3 pm and 5 pm every day, in the winter, he is bought in at 5 pm and goes right through until 7 am in his stable, I can just imagine his face if you tried to reduce that... He would be incredibly peeved! He comes in, stuffs his face, lies down and sleeps, stuffs his face some more, has a poo and maybe a drink, then back to sleep. He ambles out to the field in the morning like a lamb after breakfast, and will happily graze unless I happen to turn up in the late morning, at which point he comes cantering to the gate (even if he has only just been out for an hr or so). He is also really bleeding miffed if he is in the field in the afternoon (standing by the gate as he does all afternoon from about 2.30 onwards) and I happen to go to my car after mucking his stable out, thinking I'm going to leave him out all night - he looks at me and whinnies, just to remind me he's still outside.

The point I'm trying to make is, just because it's more natural to horses to be out all the time, doesn't mean it's what they all favour most. I have absolutely no problem with a horse living out 24/7 if that suits the horse (and although ebony did spend time stabled there were many years when she didn't) but for Ben, I simply wouldn't be able to be happy turning him out like that, because I know he really does love his time stabled.
 
My horses live out 24/7 all year around as is mostly the NZ way. It's a 30 km round trip, so they get checked once a day. And yes, accidents can happen, but given it's a big paddock and they are pretty smart horses, they seem to manage to stay out of trouble.

I can only think of one in the last 15 years, and that was when the property owner let them out and my youngster ended up with a nasty gash, however she survived. I tend to go for low maintenance horses though, the thought of having horses that needed checking several times a day is a luxury I just can't afford, owing to how I do need to earn a living.

PS: PO is elderly and does cows not horses and he would struggle to tell you how many should be there, so no, he doesn't check them.
 
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Last Friday I checked my horse in the morning. Went into the field, made a fuss of him & he was fine. When I got there after work he wasn't. If I hadn't gone again until the morning he would have died in agony in the field instead of being pts with me comforting him.
That is what Moomin is trying to get across.
 
That is my point hairycob, I may glance at the others in my field but I may not notice that they don't want to move thinking they are just asleep and as I haven't been asked to check them it isn't my place.

My own horse as a minimum gets moved and all legs checked twice a day.
 
When I was a teenager myself, my mum and my younger sister kept our ponies at a riding school. It was sold and the new owner was awful. The ponies were turned out in a big field about 200 yards out of the drive and up the road, there was no lessons in the week so they went from being checked by the previous yard owner every day to not being checked for a week at a time when they were dragged in for a lesson. My mum and my sister (who was around 12) went over one day, I forget why, to find one of the poor little ponies colicing in the deep mud by the gate, he was dripping with sweat and had mud in his eyes, ears and nose. God knows how long the poor thing had been thrashing around for. They rang the new yo who just said "well get him up and bring him back then"
The poor thing could have been lying there dying by himself for days. It still haunts me now.
 
Twice a day regardless - having just been leaving after my 2nd check 2 years ago and hear galloping hooves and turn round to see one of my livery's horses gallop headlong into the other and break its shoulder I will never ever not go at least twice. I still see that over and over in my head, the sound of the shoulder breaking was like a cannon shot.
 
Bear9 said:
So every single yard I have ever been at the YO has fed and turned my horses out in the morning then I have gone up in the evening and mucked out/ ridden/groomed/ fussed/ prepared haynets/done feed for the next day. I have had school then college then uni then work meaning I can't go up in the mornings. Have me and every other livery at every yard I have ever been at been neglectful as we have gone up once a day?
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You seem not to have read all the earlier posts, as this has been covered before.

No one has suggested that the owner has to check their horse(s) twice daily in person. Any competent and responsible designated person could do the checks whether they are yard staff/fellow livery/granny/friend/whatever.

The main thrust of the thread is what happens when horses are out 24/7, so 'could' cope without extra feed or water being supplied to them in that time.
 
Ooh, missed the fun. Am with moomin. Mine are at home and we work-physical checks 3 x daily without fail. Atm they are out 24/7 in grazing 2 miles away to give mine a rest-they are still properly checked 3 x a day. I check for pulses, heat in legs, signs of illness as am paranoid about grass sickness.
 
Another one who is shocked any responsible owner would not bother to check on their own horses at least twice a day.

Ours are at home so it is admittedly easier, but I would check them wherever they are - your horse is your responsibility. When I was younger a livery's horse got itself caught on it's feed bucket handle (hate people leaving buckets with handles in fields and hate people turning out in poly headcollars!!) it caused some serious damage to it's face and lost an eyeball - owner tried to prosecute my mum (YO) for negligence but didn't get anywhere because actually, if you own a horse you have to take reasonable steps to make sure it is not hanging upside down in a tree somewhere.
 
Holidays_are_coming said:
That is my point hairycob, I may glance at the others in my field but I may not notice that they don't want to move thinking they are just asleep and as I haven't been asked to check them it isn't my place.

My own horse as a minimum gets moved and all legs checked twice a day.
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Why isn't it your place ? Would you walk past a horse in your field and not be satisfied that it was well and behaving normally ?
If I thought that my YO and fellow liveries only looked out for their own, two checks a day still wouldn't be enough. It'd be a real worry.

Perhaps this attitude is common on some yards.
 
dogatemysalad said:
Why isn't it your place ? Would you walk past a horse in your field and not be satisfied that it was well and behaving normally ?
If I thought that my YO and fellow liveries only looked out for their own, two checks a day still wouldn't be enough. It'd be a real worry.

Perhaps this attitude is common on some yards.
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And there lies the exact point! Without making a proper arrangement for someone to check thoroughly, you cannot guarantee that joe bloggs who has the horse two stables up is going to check your horse properly. They may be in a hurry one day, and purely rush to check their own without going around all the others which they haven't been asked to check anyway.
 
I didn't only because in my 24/7 turn out livery I got a morning feed and check and also an evening feed and check included.

If I hadn't had that though I would have checked morning and night.
 
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