Do you turn out bring in by headcollar or just open doors?

I do this with my oldie's, just open the door and walk beside them to the field with no headcollar/leadrope. Though I do have a livery who started doing this because he saw me do it which is a problem as he is elderly and wouldnt know what to do if something went wrong and probably hurt himself in the process. So I only do the no headcollar leadrope thing when he isnt there.

The trekking yard I managed in Ireland done this, with only me and one other staff member and about 20 Irish cobs it was the easiest way to bring them in and put them out. If they went into the wrong stable it wasnt a problem as they all pretty much got the same feed etc, only on occasion would one go into the same stable as the other but rarely did any arguments break out. You just went in, grabbed one by the mane and led them to an empty stable! lol
 
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I used to do it with my old boy and his field mate - but there was only me and the other horse's owner on there - and I looked after the other one the majority of the time as she worked away. They would take themselves to their stables.

I certainly wouldn't do it or accept it on a livery yard. There was a woman who was on ours briefly the other year, and she let all 3 of hers gallop down the field, through a tiny garden gate, into the small yard, out of the other garden gate, around the corner into the other part of the concrete yard. This basically meant they were galloping flat out up to the yard, straight past two other people's stables (directly next to the doors), on concrete, and into a place were people park their cars.

Needless to say I had a few stern comments to make! Absolutely lethal, not just to other people, but dangerous and distressing to the other horses in the stables, and not to mention the damage to the yard and possibly vehicles.:mad:

If I'm getting mine and Cobrastyle's in, I will lead together, then rope over Cobrastyle's pony's neck - and let him take himself from the door into the stable, then take mine in before returning to take headcollar off the other. That's as far as it goes.
 
One person usually turns out and brings in three - the field is only yards from the stable....but we make sure we alternate on a regualar basis the horse that comes in on his own, so they do not get used to barging / being a free spirit. At weekends when there are more of us, they are all caught and led in. I hate one being loose, as it is always a recipe for disaster, but needs must - but i think we mitigate the risk as much as we can - if one decides to go feral, it only has a small space it can do it in, but they can still theoretically be hung up on gates, kick someone. beat up a young bullock, attack a goose etc (the latter I don't mind, as the Gander is evil!!)
 
Gingerwitch said:
Just been chatting with one of my horsey mates, about bringing in - she goes to one yard that just opens the gate and lets the horses onto the yard.

Turn out is the same - doors opened and they find there own way to the field as well.

Anyone elses yard do this ?
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I do this too as I'm on my own with no help.
It's safer for me to do it this way as leaving some youngsters back in the field while I faff with taking two in means they could be through or over the fence to get to them as they're such a tightly knit herd. I used to do it in pairs (properly :rolleyes:) but had one come over the railway embankment and get hooked up in a hedge which caused mayhem and gave me heart failure (it was a very expensive racing yearling!) so ever since they have been herded in and out. They only have a railed track to go down, they can't escape anywhere else other than into the field or onto the yard on the way back. It's easy for me to grab one, put it in the box and so on until they're all back in boxes. The good thing about this is they're always good to walk behind and drive on for long reining, it's nothing new to them as they do it from foals. :)
 
see even with the largest group (prob 20 in the ponies field) there was never any galloping/cantering in or out, at most a good stiff trot but in a strict hierarchical order and in the 4/5 years I was there never saw one slip (couple of hundred yards of essentially farmyard to go through.

The most problems we had were the couple who worked out they could get at the barley bin behind the tractor that milled it if someone forgot to shut the gate :eek:.

I just suppose I grew up with it so it was normal, but then we had ponies sharing stables at times too perfectly happily!
 
We sometimes let our boy put himself to bed but only if he's the only one coming in, he generally goes straight to his stable but sometimes takes a little detour to see what else is happening but then you just have to hold his mane & he walks with you to his stable. We are on a private yard with 5 horses so there's never that much going on anyway.

A yard near here does it with 30 horses!! I was looking after a fiends horse while she was on holiday & I've never seen anything like it, complete chaos, all going in each others stables, fighting, charging about, it was so dangerous, especially when it's a riding school with kids about (although she sits the small ones on a wall while the big ones do the gate which is deemed the safe way to do it). I was completely amazed by the whole experience!
 
I will lead the horses that are ridden out to the fields but the youngsters and brood mares go out and come in loose. They stand in the yard and go into their respective stables in the barns when I open the door.
I do it this way purely to save time. If I want to catch them and lead them in I can but why wallow through the mud when they will walk in quietly?
 
hollieeb said:
if you do I would watch this.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hy0daAUplwE

soo dangerous
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I'm sorry Hollieeb but that lady looks a bit of a Wally .. No heed to body language or enclosed space or stopping them coming back which was a certain with delay and wind up beforehand (was that feed buckets at first) This is an extreme example. Those who do let them go free no doubt view risk in context of the horse, their experience and yard set up as I do.

Glad she was ok though
 
I put a rope round their necks to go out in the morning but at night I just open the gate and they both walk across the yard and go into their beds. The very odd time someone goes walkabout but they just go down the lane, realise they have gone the wrong way and turn and come back. They cant get out down the lane so they are quite safe :)
 
That whole you tube clip was a disaster, all the stuff lying around where the horses were going.
I let my two take themselves to the field and back , it is about 20 m to the fields from their stables, the yard is totally enclosed and they are very sensible about it, mare always goes in or out first, then the pony. Safer than leading them into the field and struggling to release a headcollar off an excited TB. It is my own private yard though, and they do not gallop in or out, that would be dangerous.
 
ester said:
see even with the largest group (prob 20 in the ponies field) there was never any galloping/cantering in or out, at most a good stiff trot but in a strict hierarchical order and in the 4/5 years I was there never saw one slip (couple of hundred yards of essentially farmyard to go through.
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^^^ This ^^^

It was the same at the Irish yard, there was a specific hierarchy when the horses came in, they where an established herd and most where related.

Shivvy said:
I'm sorry Hollieeb but that lady looks a bit of a Wally .. No heed to body language or enclosed space or stopping them coming back which was a certain with delay and wind up beforehand (was that feed buckets at first) This is an extreme example. Those who do let them go free no doubt view risk in context of the horse, their experience and yard set up as I do.

Glad she was ok though
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^^^ and this ^^^

Some horsey folk obviously shouldnt be doing it, you need to be able to view the risk, the experience and knowledge of the situation and a whole lot of other factors that can change on a daily basis. I know ive sometimes made a slight error of judgement in the past but I knew how to deal with the situation as fast and as safely possible.
 
Why do people's horses want to gallop in and out of the yard? Like Maesfen, I work alone and all mine walk in and out loose, I usually lead one and the others follow along, with me opening the required doors as I go. I bring them in the same way although I leave the stable doors closed (I have their feeds in and would be afraid what would happen if two went in to the same box where there was a feed and I had to go in to separate them) and open them for each horse in turn and its amazing how quick they learn where they live and go to their doors. Each horse regardless of age could be led in or out on its own or in front of the group. The groups range from a couple to ten or twelve depending on age and are broodies, weanlings, yearlings etc, but the yard does not have dangerous stuff left lying around and they are all used to walking on concrete. Again as Maesfen says, I've seen more people been knocked about at gates trying to get individual horses into or out of a field full of horses. I do it with both Tbs and sport horses. I would also say that there is very little excitement, if one decides to go the wrong way no one runs after it shouting or screaming in panic, they cant go anywhere they road gates are chained and I wait for them to come or go and catch them if they've found someone more interesting to talk to!
 
Mine walk in and out loose. There is only 2 of them though and its only a few feet from the gate to the stable so no corners to turn and they always only walk in and out.
As others have said, it depends on the set up.
 
My horses stable is mobile and in his field. I turn up at the gate and he wanders straight into his stable to wait for his tea! In the morning I just open his stable door and he wanders out into his field. Simples...!
 
Like Maesfen & TBB & others, I've worked alone & mine have often brought themselves in when invited to, in the worst of the winter. New ones having a rope round neck to learn the ropes (excuse pun!).
Again, my winter routine means they are in paddocks adjacent to the yard so no 'milage' to build up any speed & they come in slowly anyway.

Turnout in morning, I pop rope round newest horse & let TF follow. Despite muzzle which is popped on, TF will always be an opportunist & will try to get into a stable to 'check' buckets before heading off out :D

Otherwise, for the rest of the year they are further up the fields so always come down in headcollars :)
 
The riding school ponies were called - and allowed therough the gate a couple at a time until all in. They all knew where to go as they were always fed when they came in.

New ones were led a few times to their spot and soon cottoned on.

Turning out was all the gates opened and each pony released from its yard or tie up.

Was a great way to bring in and turn out a large number of horses and poonies - 36 of them in all.
 
I think that's it Tnavas during the week there were only 2/3 people and at least the same number of ponies (it fluctuated) it would be time to come in before they all got out ;).

I also agree that the vid is not a fair representation, horse was wound up and you do actually shut the gate behind them so they can't come back into a confined space like a barn of stables :rolleyes:
 
marydoll said:
This is an accident waiting to happen, i hope whoever does it is well insured
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As with cptrayes - 25year+ the owner of the school has brought horses and ponies in this way and NEVER had an accident.

In the morning the ponies are let through the gate a couple at a time, kids/helpers ahve instructions not to be out in the middle of the yard as some can get up a bit of steam on their way in.

Never an accident ever.

Letting them off they generally mooch off but again as they realise that everyone is on th eway out they can get a bit rowdy, but they are on their way to grass so generally head straight off to the paddock.

ester - thats what the boss said - don't have the time in the day to bring in 36 hoses and ponies, get them groomed and tacked up with just one or two people. It would take forever.
 
My yard is open so the horses can come and go as they want. Morning and evening when they are fed they come down and put themselves into the stables. My little forest mare will wait by the fence for her meals. They all know which stable to go into.

If I need a certain horse I will bring them in using a head collar or a rope around their neck.
 
In all honesty imo its so dependent on the situation, there's no right or wrong. Letting horses gallop like loons down long tracks, where there's places they can divert to, or canter across concrete yards, is entirely different to some of the situations described here, of horses calmly walking from one place to another. Our yards a farm, so whilst they wouldn't be able to get to a road, the horses could easily divert & cause chaos. Particularly as there's a very tempting patch of open front lawn, not far from the gate but the opposite direction to the stables. And loads of lovely corners to investigate round. Just not comparable to the situations described here of horses going loose. I once bought a horse who had spent from 4-6 scaring his nervous owner. He turned himself out because she was scared. He would race madly between field & stable, & it wasn't a short distance either. He was downright dangerous. But that's because of the situation, & how/why it was done, its not representative of all horses allowed to go loose.
 
This a very aptly timed thread...we have always turned our horses out and brought them in loose (we live on a farm and stables are half way up the yard). We have never had a problem with this, but this autumn when the two mares started coming in at night, my dad and brother couldn't get them out of the field. So it was decided that the old girl would have a headcollar on during the day to lead her out (my girl would then follow), and catch her by the gate at night and lead her up (again my girl would follow).

I find out on Sunday evening when I get home from work that the new tactic the stupid pair (old man and brother) are employing is to open the field gate and let the horses loose up the yard, despite the older mare having a headcollar on for the purposes of catching. On TWO occasions the two horses have bombed past the stables and headed down our lane towards the main road, and my brother has had to go through the field on the quad to cut them off and turn them back. Both times he says they were pacing flat out and weren't off for a nose for food, they were heading for the road.

There is so much wrong with all of this that I hit the roof. If they plan to let them up loose to the yard, SHUT THE YARD GATE. It's not a big job. But the whole point of them putting the bleeding headcollar on is to catch the older mare so that they can get them in without incident. MEN!
 
Headcollar always. Our field gate is only 50 feet from the stable block but we have youngsters on our yard and a welfare horse who ran wild for 4 years so its an important part of their handling training - I dont think letting them wander to and from the field would be beneficial to them although I know people who do it with their own horses
 
My old boy used to come down off the hill i would open the gate and he would trot up the drive, past scary milking parlour and cows, into the yard and straight into his stable for his tea with no intervention from me. Current boy has to have headcollar as he would simply p off to the best looking grass and then i would never catch him!!!!
 
My old boy and his field mate we used to open doors and they knew which field to go to.
However my New boy i always put headcollar on although tend to throw rope over when closing gate. We are on quiet yard and only one horse bought in at a time if i let him loose.
However we are lucky our winter field opens onto a small slang type strip down to yard with gate before yard so if all coming in tend to open that and they then wander down to yard munching- wouldn't have done this at old yard but only 3 horses in my field.
 
Yes, we've always done this - open the bottom gate and most of the time let mine out and they walk at my side all the way up to the barn :D

It's all enclosed though and the bottom gate just opens into another field that the barn is in - I also share the yard with a friend so not loads of other people to consider :D
 
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