Do you turn out in your school?

I personally wouldnt, particularly if it is a well constructed, well drained affair with a good surface. They cost thousands to install and are quite easily wrecked with impropper use. and you can guarantee that if she can't walk her horse in hand twice a day / ride or lunge it, she will ot be clearing up after it propperly either. Feeding hay in there would be a big no-no too - it tends to get everywhere, looks messy, unproffessional and blocks drainage. Plus if you allow one person, then others will want the same privellege.

Those of you who can't see a problem with it have obviously never seen £25-£30k do down the pan dueto thoughtless behaviour of others and it is not until your get to ride on a well maintained surface that stays rideable ALL year that you really appreciate it.

Those of you who are allowed to do it have some VERY nice yard owners who obviously feel the need to allow it (in order to preserve their grazing perhaps?)
 
I think your problem OP is that you suggested it in the first place and so livery probably thought you thought it was fine.

All you have to do is clarify, as soon as possible, what you believe the 'rules' should be.

I was mortified when told off in a yard with no visible 'rules' for turning a horse out in the school while I had a sandwich in there. Apparently we weren't allowed to lunge their either (would have been fine if lunge pen wasn't so deep)... but my problem was I didn't know what was expected.

I've also been on two places that turned out/free schooled in an indoor. TBH the horses weren't supervised the whole time in either and neither surface seemed to suffer.

If you allow 'supervised' turn out as you originally suggested what activities are you expecting owner to prevent? Seriously? I'd just list to make it clear... e.g. not chewing fence/digging but rolling fine (or not!). Make it clear and then you'll get off to a good start.

Did think sand could irritate mud fever though?
 
smiggy said:
Want to know if Im being a moaning minny :)
Friend keeps her horse here and he has been in 24/7 for about two weeks with mud fever, the odd walk 5 mins up the drive about twice a week, Not suprisingly he now has filled back legs (he is an older boy).
She literally ties him across the barn while mucking his box out and today I said I didnt mind if she wanted to put him in the school while she mucked out (felt sorry for him tbh!). That was fine.
Tonight we were chatting and she said "Im going to put him out in the school tomorrow and go into town so he will have about an hour and a half out"
Now its a nice school, well maintained, post and rail fencing, private use of my horses and never ever been used as a turnout pen and my instinct is :eek:
but I am a bit of a control freak, I know that, I know some people do turn out in the school .
So an I being unreasonable?
tempted to just tell her I feel uncomfortable about it but that seems mean.
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I wont turn out in the school unless its supervise and normally either
  • limit exercise after box rest
  • loose schooling
 
Sadly most yards in my area, don't have all year turnout in a field, so the horses each get an hour a day in the school.

So I'd be stuffed if turnout in a school wasn't allowed.
 
My pony is on box rest so I'm turning her out in school while mucking out boxes but that's only for about half an hour a day! Would never leave the yard to go somewhere else while she was in there as if she tried to jump out or anything happened no one would be there. Don;t even think thats being over cautious at all, would be shocked if anyone I know would turn their horse out in a school alone and leave the yard. x
 
I do but ever without supervision in that we will be doing yard jobs and watching as we go about .
It's not ideal some horses dig holes that's a real pest and you have to be quick to get in and stop them .
I level it as soon as we finish using it for turn out .
And we skip out and rack up hay straight away I would not allow a horse to be left in case it decided to chew fences dig holes or generally trash it.
 
If it was just turnout to stretch legs & roll i don't see the issue with it providing she left it afterwards as she found it & the horse wasn't a complete maniac kicking the walls and breaking things. I wouldn't be happy with hay being fed in there.
 
Yes, but only because mine isn't an expensive proper school. If I had paid thousands I think I would take far more care of it. It is just a sand ring. As horses are all out anyway the need never really arises.

As it is just half a paddock that has been tilled and raked and is basically just a big sandy pen they really can't do any damage.
 
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Tbh, if it was my school, I would be fine with T/O horses in there whilst mucking out.

T/O horses unsupervised and leaving the yard would not be allowed. The horse could damage the school, roll and get stuck in the fence etc.
 
yes fields flooded at the moment and knee deep mud so we turn out either individually or in pairs in the school whilst doing yard jobs, it keeps them sane being able to have a roll and a quick groom with each other, I left a yard that didn't allow turnout in the school whilst mucking out when the fields were shut for 9 weeks last winter!
 
No, not allowed. Which I think is fair enough tbh. YO paid decent money to have the membrane put down plus a decent surface on top . . . horses hooning about, trampling hay into the surface and rolling on it wouldn't do it any favours.

P
 
Apparently at our yard someone (who's not there now) left their horse in the lovely arena once and it dug and damaged the membrane. :eek: So we're not suppose to leave them unsupervised, but I have seen one or two do so. They may genuinely not know they're not supposed to.

When the weather's really bad and the fields are closed (not a frequent event) I've sometimes "loose schooled" Mollie. Loose schooling is what it's called when they hoon about kicking their heels while you stand in the middle shouting instructions in vain, ain't it? :o;)

She's also had the odd little roll at the end, but she doesn't go mad and isn't shod, it hardly disturbs the surface.
 
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