Do you keep horse in night before competition?

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Spangles

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Just wondering what everyone does ?
Our horse can get very tired staying out all night - roughly 4pm-8am.
Much as I like him to have as much t/o as possible, we’ve got SH’ing & XC coming up and I don’t want him to be knackered before he starts.
I guess it’s an individual thing, but in general is it wise to keep them in as generally they will rest more.
 
No we dont have stables and provided they can be kept dry they keep cleaner outside they live out so are used to it so doesnt affect how tired they are as it is the norm
 
If I have an early start then yes I do, mine live out all year anyway but I have covered horse yards for this purpose.
If I not needing to leave till say 9am I will leave out having washed the day before, will just bring in early, rewash legs and plait mane if necessary.
 
Yes, because mine can be difficult to catch and I don't want to risk being delayed on the day of the show. In summer I agree they stay cleaner out (I have a mainly white coloured) but in winter they don't.
 
No, I need have except for early starts.

I don't think it's normal for a horse to be tired from being out overnight. Is he being bullied?
 
I do sometimes but never because they are tired from being out, it is usually for my convenience so I have them clean and dry in the morning if leaving fairly early or the weather is not good.

If he gets tired when out he is either not fit enough generally or not relaxed when out either because he is alone/ bullied or is the dominant horse so not able to rest normally, you need to address the reason if possible so he can be in a routine that works for him as well as you so you can enjoy days out competing.
 
Yes I do keep in the night before if leaving in the morning, but for cleanliness and my own convenience, not because my horse gets tired.
 
I try not to interfere with their normal routine, so would only do so if the weather forecast was awful. If I need to keep them clean then I put turnout boots on and a rug, I always plait immediately before leaving etc so doesn't really make any difference if it's an early start, it just makes it slightly earlier ;)

agree with the others, why is he tired after a night out? is there something that needs changing so he can rest in the field?
 
for very early morning starts (leaving the yard before 5am) I will bring in overnight, but anything else and he has a bath the morning of and goes straight on the lorry from there, he can dry on the way to the show!
 
I turn out during the day for part of the year and when it's warmer I turn out over night and yes, my horses generally come in in the morning, have something to eat and then get down for a kip. Bisto was definitely a little less enthusiastic to ride (in a good way) when out at night so I saw that as a plus but with Rose I may bring in overnight in the summer if we are competing early. I think it's different when horses are out 24/7 and also perhaps when they are out in a pair rather than a herd.
 
mine are in during the day and out at night, so if we have an early start then they have to be kept in the night before , otherwise they will deliberately roll in mud/pull a shoe off/eat like they haven't eaten for years.
 
In winter he's in overnight anyway. He's used to being turned out at 6am so we try to keep to that as he's older now so I like him to have a leg stretch. Even if I bath and plait the night before he'll wear a hood and go out for an hour and I'll wash his legs off when he comes in. If we need to leave before 8am there's no point turning out so he'll go in the school for a quick play while i muck out. In the summer I'll keep him in if we have to leave early, especially if they're in the bottom fields as it can take 20 minutes to find him and get him in when they're there. Even though he's grey, he's pretty good at not getting too muddy and is more likely to get dirty in the stable.
 
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