Do you turn your horses out in the snow?

[Lotty]

lami can be caused by concussion also it is actually caused by decrease in blood flow to the lamina. This can be made worse by cold weather -- My vet advised against it in the lami prone welshes. also frozen grass apparentl,y condtains something called fructans which again can increase the chances of lami. Having had 3 horses over the years with lami I'm not inclined to risk it.

Blitz

My mare has always gone out in the snow. However, this year she had an attack of laminitis an both my vet and farrier have said this to me.

 

[Daisy2]

Those without shoes spend the whole day out. 2 natives dig holes in the snow to get the grass and the tb mare has plenty of hay in field shelter. Horses with shoes get restricted grazing

Why?.. my mare is shod and was out 24/7 in the snow with no ill effect , my bare foot boy will be shod this week (vets advise) is there something I should be aware of?

 

[Prince33Sp4rkle]

yes, plenty of rugs, plenty of hay and out they go, for half a day at least.

if its actually sleeting, or a combo of snowing and driving wind that makes your face hurt, they stay in though.

mine are barefoot but even when i had shod horses i turned out-yes the snow packs in, but its soon pops out again, so dont see the issue?

 

[spike123]

yes Candyman lived out 24/7 last year in the snow

 

[Holly831]

Interested what breed are your horses - draught? I have a comtois, looks like them, sorry if they are fine TB's with winter coats

LOL, the bigger one (in front) was my gorgeous mare Holly, a 14.3 welsh sec D and the smaller one is her filly foal (Cassie) aged about 7 months in the photo (she is TB x but is lovely and chunky like her mum was) Sadly I lost Holly and her stillborn colt in March this year.

Have been taking photos in the sunshine today and Cassie alread has a fantastic wooly coat!!

 

[Ali2]

I do. But, as no-one else on the yard does he has a play in it then gets fed up being on his own and stands at the gate asking to come in so he's usually only out for about an hour. If he was happy out I'd leave him out longer with hay.

 

[Daisy1905]

Does this answer your question??

My horses love it!!

Great photo

 

[PennyJ]

Yes, mine go out every day whatever the weather. In the snow, they had carrots to hunt down in the field, they were very pleased about that along with the ad lib haylage, no problems whatsoever. They probably came in about an hour earlier than usual but there were no ill effects.

Both are shod, we coated the inside of their hooves in Stockholm Tar, which helped a lot with stopping the stilt thingies from building up. Now that is really messy stuff...

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

PennyJ, am loving both the pony and the 'garden chair' puissance fence in the background )))

 

[Sanolly]

I do, they are natives and they will live!

 

[xRobyn]

I keep him out yes

Put hay out but times out of 10 they're busy digging little holes to get to the grass and not at all bothered whether they have hay or not

 

[rowy]

They are in at night and usually go out for half a day ish just cos i HATE leaving them in. plus i have a 3 year old and 2 year old and would climb up the walls if left in. The tb legs go proper puffy if hse is in all the time and the 3 year old gets depressed.
They get proper rugged up and boots on if its really bad and hay!

2bh last year we got snow which froze to ice and then got more snow on top which was the real bad stuff! That is what causes injuries so may be reluctant to put them out if its like that.
pic:

 

[FanyDuChamp]

QR

I probably would but being a wuss Cappy refuses point blank to stay out in the cold ( anything under 60 degrees) and is quite able to bring his self in , he takes the gate off it hinges. Fany does like to go out, but I do worry about lami.
FDC

 

[sakura]

yes though he did have to stay in for one day last year and that was enough to send him totally stir crazy!

and ohhhh does he love it!!

 

[caitlin95uk]

yes! well with only 5 stables on our yard! most are 24/7 and when it does snow they all stay out as its too dangerous to bring them up and down the yard when its all icy
cassey and layla

dollyenjoying her hay

excuse the likit on dolly's nose
you know what they are like when they get those new mollases likits

 

[pottamus]

Yes he goes out in all weathers for the day come what may. He did fine for the weeks and weeks of snow we had last winter and it was good for his feet when he was recovered from laminitis. I fed him plenty of hay and he just gets on with it.

 

[lisab]

No. Not on your nelly. Last (never-ending) winter, I kept him in, kept him in, seen all the other horses go out without mishap for day after day after day. I've been just the cleaning lady for what seems like forever - muck out and feed before work. Muck out and feed after work. No riding, no fun, just the cleaning lady.

Then I got fed up with it and had a stern word with myself "For God's sake, they're all out and they're fine. Just turn him out." Greased his feet.

And within seconds, he's got balls of ice in his feet and he's done the most hideous thing with his front leg (which I can only describe as a person going over on their ankle) and I am legging it through the snow to fetch him in before he breaks his legs.

So No. No. No. No.

 

[Perrie]

Mine live at home & both (TB & WelshxTB) are out 24/7 no matter what the weather but they do have access to a shelter should they want to use it & are rugged up.
They both prefer to be out.

XxX

 

[spotty_pony]

Mine go out for a little bit just while I muck out, etc but I don't leave them out for long as there is nothing for them to eat and I don't want them to start running around.

 

[Twizzel]

Ours didn't go out in the snow this year as under the snow was sheet ice which made getting to the fields so dangerous.

 

[NicoleS_007]

Nope, to much risk of injury and my horse wasnt fond of the white stuff lol but still wouldnt if i had another horse

 

[minime]

Mine have to go out at least half a day as the snow lasts for about 4 months here. Never had any problems yet. Riding is amazing in the snow, I have studs put on my mares shoes and off we go. She loves it and there is no better thrill than galloping up a hill in the snow.

By reneejewer at 2010-10-04

By reneejewer at 2010-09-17

 

[minime]

I put this photo on FB last year and my sister in law wrote"
OMG ARE YOUR HORSES IN THERE?" hahahaa luckily they weren't.

By reneejewer at 2010-09-17

 

[somethingorother]

Just to ask, those of you who don't turn out in the snow, do you also not turn out in the mud? What about when the ground is baked rock hard in summer? All of these could cause injuries. Then again your horse could get cast in the stable and break a leg...

I just don't get it...

 

[lisab]

Mine have to go out at least half a day as the snow lasts for about 4 months here. Never had any problems yet. Riding is amazing in the snow, I have studs put on my mares shoes and off we go. She loves it and there is no better thrill than galloping up a hill in the snow.

By reneejewer at 2010-10-04

By reneejewer at 2010-09-17

Oh shut up I am SO jealous
And the little one is so cute.

 

[MerrySherryRider]

Mine will be out 24/7 this year. Last 2 winters were spent on livery yards where horses were kept in because of snow. Total nightmare trying to exercise my lot for 3 weeks of being locked in a stable. It was so dangerous, horses were jumping out of the menege when put in for an hour. They'd gallop across the icy carpark trying to get to the fields.Owners were at risk from handling frustrated horses and attempting to walk them in hand. Some were unrideable at this time. Not exactly what you pay livery for...unrideable, dangerous horses, who when eventually turned out again after the thaw, ran round like lunatics.

 

[Toast]

Of course, ours loved it..and yes they fell over but they seem fine for it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E28agyx0AKc

Skip to 1:00 exactly for the funny bit

x

 

[howengold]

Mine go out as usual, even in deep snow, they have loads of hay out and as they are generally all pensioners they don't have a tendency to bomb about at the best of times, my shettie is probably the liveliest.

 

[FanyDuChamp]

Just to ask, those of you who don't turn out in the snow, do you also not turn out in the mud? What about when the ground is baked rock hard in summer? All of these could cause injuries. Then again your horse could get cast in the stable and break a leg...

I just don't get it...

I just suit my turn out to my horse, for me one size does not fit all. He simply does not like being out in the cold or wet so he isn't. What I don't want to see is my horse bringing himself in after taking the gate off its hinges.

He happily lives out all summer but around the end of August starts to ask to come in at night, then from Oct. likes to be stabled.

Fany stays out as long as possible and is happy like that.

So please don't judge people because they do not do what you do. As I said it really is all about suiting your horse not everyone should do the same.

I just don't get why people think it should be ...

 

[Slave2Magic]

I would love to be able to turn out in the snow after last winter but my mare gets really big stilts and ends up where she can't move. She is shod in front and has deep soles. I tried every product under the sun on them but nothing worked.