Do you get to keep your horses as you wish?

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ellis9905

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Just a pondering really... How many people get to keep there horses totally as they wish, without compromise?

My personal preference it's for horses to be out as large a portion of the day as possible... Whilst I can do this with one pony- the other is prone to lami so has to b carefully monitored ... Also first pony is hardy sort that would choose to stay out in pretty much all weather where 2ndvpiny is a wimp and likes her stable!

So I compromise my ideals to restrict the 2nd pony for her own good.




I personally like straw beds... Again one pony cannot be on straw bed - so we have shavings..

Other horsey friends have to compromise turnout times/ field mates/ feeds/ farriers etc to suit either yard or horse they own....

So what do you compromise...
 
Welll......... my initial response was YES, as I keep Jay at home and am in charge of what he has. He has a snowy white bed, daily winter turnout on an arena with a shelter, summer field.

Then....... Actually we are on clay, I would ideally like free draining land with 3 shelters, each with a net in and a mirror (Jay does love his mirrors). We have a grooming stable, but I would ideally prefer a solarium. I would love better hacking, we do too much on an arena. We have NO hills for hill work.

So, I guess it is about how perfect do you want it?????
 
I rent a section of a lovely yard, and do all the work myself. So I can keep my lot exactly how I like, the only constraints are that of the English weather (bleeding miserable!) and the yard (which is pretty perfect!). For example I have some on shavings and some on straw, some get soaked hay, some get hay on the floor, I can feed as many times a day as I like, turn in and out when I like etc. I love it!
 
In the summer yes but Def not in winter. Horse doesn't get in field in winter but goes into a hardcore to paddock about the size of3 stables with a haynet. His friend is beside him but they are separated by electric fence. They always try to groom <\3. If I had them at home I would have a big barn so never properly stabled and winter to at the very least at weekend's. I wouldn't be foolish enough to compromise my summer to but they would Def be out more than now
 
Another on clay, but that is the only thing I would change, own yard so in bad weather they are on arena and hard standing with big matted field shelter with adlib Haylage in hay bars and auto water trough. Most of time though out 24/7 but always with access to shelter/arena/yard.
 
When i win the Euro lottery i will have stables, with an indoor path to indoor paddocks for snow, ice and bad weather days like today - it will have an roof that opens and closes depending on the weather and will let the grass grow in the summer.... of course these paddocks will only be used on bad days, and they will have prisitne fields to gallop around in when its nice
 
Yes pretty much as we keep them at home have plenty of good draining grazing for the number of horses, so they can have year round turn out. They also all have nice big stables and all are happy bedded on straw and fed on haylage, happy me and happy them! Things were harder when we had a lami cushings horse but since we keep at home we adapted things to do the best for him that he could - sand paddock outside his stable adjoinining and overlooking the others field, his own restricted grazing area in field etc.
 
I'm lucky to keep my boy at a very good full livery yard where they do their utmost to comply with what I want for him. But there are still things I'd change if I could. But the question I'd ask is, are these things we see as "compromises" of what we'd ideally like to do, or are they sensible management of a particular horse's needs?

You may prefer straw when your horse needs shavings, prefer to go barefoot but have to shoe for your horse's good, prefer more turnout but have a laminitic etc etc... Not trying to be controversial ... but keeping horses in this modern world does have to mean striking a complicated balance between what you'd prefer, what your horse actually needs for its welfare, what's doable within the resources you have, what you can afford, where you are, how much time/money you can spend and a host of other factors. We all do our best with what we've got and if you're lucky to be able to do that without compromising on anything, then you're fortunate indeed.

Personally, I'd like my boy out for longer each day in the winter, but have nowhere to move him to which would provide that which also has the same standard facilities as my current yard within a reasonable travelling distance of home. So I compromise on the turnout (he does go out for several hours every day) to be able to get there daily, exercise him properly when I'm there and be happy and confident with the standard of care he receives when I'm not there.
 
Pretty much.The only thing I'd really like is a penned off section under the dutch barn for my two to come in when it is really bad weather or when they need to be kept clean.I can't stable as knobberpony hates being in,but she is fine in a pen.Otherwise I am really lucky and can do what I like.
 
Well I am quite lucky and Nell is able to live out all year round if she/I so wish which is massively important to have as an option as far as I am concerned. However, I would prefer to keep her on my own land (sadly like many others I expect I dont have the money for a place in the country). I would have a varied paddock with natural and man made shelter,also she would live with another horse or two. She talks to the other horses over the fence but I dream of keeping her at home with another horse or two in an 'interesting' paddock, so there is some degree of compromise of course, but being at livery that is expected I suppose, so no, I do not keep her how I would wish
 
Pretty much I would say I do get to keep the horses how I want. I wish that I had more space at the livery yard, though everyone is nice enough, but in terms of in/out I do get to choose, and I think that is the key to happiness, the more autonomy the better really.

I wish we still had the 20 acres on the farm instead of just 5 now, needs a lot more management even with only 3 horses on it as it is very low lying and tends to get boggy quickly. We've had to bring the farm horses off the land and leave them on the yard til it dries out a bit whereas if we still had access to the 20 they could've stayed out. They're not shut in their boxes but still not ideal
 
Well pretty much, they're allowed out 24/7 in summer and must be in before dark in winter. After renting our own place and having them live out year round I much prefer them to have a cosy stable in winter now! Thanks to horrendous rain and weather the field is a bog so they only go out once a week or so if that and again there's no judgement about not putting them out and they're much happier for it-though as soon as it has dried up they'll start going out all day again.
 
I'm lucky enough to have a great arrangement at the mo but I dream of being somewhere warm and dry with a fantastic track system. Rockley farm is my idea of horse heaven!
 
Its as perfect as it can be for a livery yard
Unfortunately on days like today when it is pouring down with rain she stays in which I dont like

When I get my own place I will have a barn to turn out in on days like this
 
Yes, mine are at home with me so I can choose what I want for them. Just wish the rain would stop so my fields would dry out a bit! FED UP WITH RAIN!!!!!
 
Not really. Get me back to England!!! I'm moved to the US 7 months and am finding horse management here very different. I don't want to generalise the whole country but certianly where I am living the cost of keeping a horse is extremely high and standards are low. Land is hard to come by so livery yards have minimal grazing. Our grass ran out in September. Hard feed is feed by the tonne and hay is heavily restricted. Feet aren't picked out, blankets aren't changed, beds are think and sweeping is a forgien concept.

I would say I am at the best barn for 60-80 miles but it's still not how I would choose to keep a horse. More forage, less grain, proper full livery and space would be something I would love. Hacking is very limited and the surefces of arenas are poor. I am very lucky my yard owner does take care of hers and harrows once a week. It could be worse I suppose!!
 
Yes in the main. I'd like her out more in winter but she doesn't like being out when it's cold and wet, fields are muddy and there's not much to eat.

If she's out for longer than a couple of hours she just stands at the gate in the mud.
 
Nearly - I'd like him out 24/7 in summer but the yard is so good (and nowhere remotely decent nearby seems to offer it anyway) that it's worth compromising on. We have herd turnout in great big fields with lots of grass, and good stabling.
 
No, not at the moment as mine are split between two yards, one has concrete and my brood mares and youngsters in barns, would love to spend longer with them. My oldies are closer to home but no concrete and lots of mud.
My hope is for 2014 is that they will all be together and our house will be built.
 
I think the only way I could keep my boy as I want is if I had my own land - at the moment, I do have to compromise and he is currently turned out from about 8am to 3pm (and actually quite happy with this) - the upside is that he can live out 24/7 from March/April to early December.

He's also on full livery which means I depend on others to care for him but I'm pretty happy with the level of care - stables perhaps isn't mucked out to my standard but he has plenty of hay and water and seems very happy.
 
Absolutely, my horse lives out in her own field with her own cosy field shelter. She has a horse right next to her who has the other half of the field and shelter, and they get on very well over the fence.

I get to decide what I do with the field such as resting it, sectioning it off etc., so my horse exactly the amount of grass I want her to have.

It's absolutely ideal, I wouldn't have it any other way. I have my horse living out, which to me is much more preferable, but with the option of standing in the shelter when she wants to.

If she was in a field sharing with other horses I would worry a) about her being kicked b) about her kicking another horse (both of which scenarios have happened to me before). Also there's always the worry of her having far too much or too little grass. Also the poo picking which as I've discovered before, doesn't always get fairly done when sharing with others.

I'm not sure I could keep any other way now as I don't have to compromise with anyone!
 
Mostly as I have mine at home, they live out 24/7 in summer and in winter they go out all day with a shelter and hardcored feeding area and come in to stables at night. I would really like more grazing tho as I only have 2.5 acres and it's not the most lush grass, I feel sorry for them in winter as there is literally no grass to eat at all! Also would love an arena as their work routine is so dependant on weather and ground conditions esp in winter and I can never manage any consistent schooling!!
 
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