Do you turn your precious competition horses out with others?

Hornby

Hornby

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OK so all horses are precious but we are not in the NL here
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Do you turn your horses out with others or do you think they are less likely to come to harm on their own? How about over night? (Just watching my two hoon about last night as they had missed one day of grass due to rain
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and now will not get any for a few days as still raining). I don't have a lot of grass till the hay is cut and I hate to see it trashed and I dread that they will hurt themselves too but they do seem to wind each other up especially the older mare who is supposed to be the companion
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Mine live out and go out with allsorts! I wouldnt put Moon out with a kicker or nasty horse but she gets on well with mares and geldings so she'll happily be in the field with most things.
If they live out they have less tendancy to gallop around as it's not such a fun game anymore!!
 
I wouldn't turn mine out in a huge group, she only goes out with one other now but saying that might be going out with a few others soon but I know the other mares well and its a HUGE field so there should be no reason for any aggression.
 
Yes - he goes out with the 2 hunters otherwise he gallops up and down the fence.
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IF HE WAS sensible on his own I would prob section him off as he is accident prone....
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My two mares go out with each other, and Troy joins them when he is there
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I like mine having company, the ability to interact with other horses etc
 
Mine are in during the day and out overnight. Z goes out with my 2 other horses and as Z is top of the pack, I don't mind too much
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My horse is out with about 6 others! and has never come to any harm *touch wood*
Although she is not a serious competition horse, we do newcomers
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Mine goes out with two ponies with no shoes - he is the most accident proneoblivious horse I have ever known!!!
My old horse went out with about 15 other horses - he understood about self preservation and never got hurt
 
Blitz goes out solo for obvious reasons but he enjoys comapny and is turned out with horses opposite him. He is more settled when surrounded by others and seems to enjoy their company.

Diva usually goes out on her own but she does sometimes go out with Finn - she bosses him around and he is scared of her (so their new nicknames are Mark and Emma
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Ours generally go out in pairs or individually - while livery horses go out according to owner's requests.
 
Our 5 have 3 acres each with a field shelter. Out 24/7. I allow them the odd "play date" but wouldnt allow them out together unsupervised. I have lost 2 horses due to broken legs in the field ( 1992, 2006) and although none of mine are kickers (older cob is a bit of a bully who hassles other horses), it makes me happier that they can groom over the fence but noone gets the cr*p kicked out of them. They still hoon around together, up and down the fence line! My vet and Chiro reckon they see so much damage done in the field, its not worth the risk. I also do a lot of showing and you cannot show a horse covered in bites/blemishes.
 
No, mine doesn't. He postures and postures and postures but won't back it up so gets the cr*p beaten out of im by everything, even had to be separated from his dam because she beat him up. The only horse I have ever put him out with is Lec's Rodney who is possibly even more wussy than him!

That said, if I had more than one of my own, then they would go out together, but with other livery horses? No chance!!

He is also likely to gallop at you ears back and teeth bared in the field, so couldn't be out with anything whose owner wasn't prepared to stand their ground - if you stand there he stops and goes 'oh, didn't mean it', if you don't he will 'chase' you, though he's never actually done anything, it would intimidate people.
 
I dont mind either way. He is out on his own with others in an ajoining paddock for company at the moment. I would like him to have a pony to play with, but we are short of a babysitter at the moment, but he will be turned out with others again in the future
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Mine go out together 24/7. They're fine with each other, the odd nip but nothing serious. Being out all the time, they hardly ever hoon about. I might feel differently if they were very expensive but this suits them fine.
 
All mine live out and always have done, even through blizzards! I always keep mine in small groups (of 2-3 normally) and if they have to be on their own (due to differing grass-needs) then I make sure they have time with another horse at night or during the day at least. I currently have 4 horses, the 2 competition horses are with each other and the other 2 retired ponies are together. I dont care how precious my horses are - IMO they're THAT precious that they get to live out with others which I think is best for any horse! Touch wood - Ive not had any problems except for the odd little mishap like my main competition horse jumping over a 5 bar METAL gate and cutting himself a little! IMO he'd do more damage to himself if he was cooped up in a stable though, he'd go nuts!
 
Both of ours live out ,at the moment out at night ,in during the day but Penfold goes in one field with a pony and Rafi in the other with another pony. Wouldn't like them out in big herds
 
No, my comp horse has a field to himself with company he can touch & groom others over the fence.
I have to keep him seperate from my retired TB especially otherwise i would have mega vet bills, there loony's together. They play up & down the fencing as it is, together there would be carnage.
My comp horse didnt have any social skills & liked to kick if anything got to close, when i bought him he didnt even know how to graze. He at least has some social skils & never kicks now but still like to bite others.
 
yup, with whatever is on the yard, there can be several tens of thousands of pounds worth of horseflesh galloping around the field like looneys, but that's good for them.
 
Mine dosent do staying out at night; unless I leave his stable door open and he can come in or out as he pleases:p

He dosent go out with others unless in seperate pens as otherwise he likes to play with the other horses, and,well, let's just say that he makes a bit of a mess
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But he is much happier in his own field on his own!
 
mine have fields next to each other and can touch over the fence but that is about it. If I had nice/sane/calm horses then I would consider it but I have two that both kick and I have one that is permenantly broken as it is.
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Plus my mare is a wind up merchant for other horses.
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I know alot of you don't want broken horses and large vet bills, but it must be prettyl lonely for the horse to be in a field by themselves even if they can touch over the fence.

maybe i'm over sensitive?
 
After having lost my horse of a lifetime due to her being kicked twice in the stifle whilst being turned out with 1 other mare at a livery yard I can safely say that I would never turn horses out together ever again
 
Ours either go out just the two of them together over winter in the small fields, or with whatever else is available when they're allowed to have the big field -4 of them at the mo, but there is SO much grass we're looking to add another.
Turn either out alone and you're going to have a problem! To be honest ours both look after themselves pretty well, so I tend not to worry about other horses in their field.

Seems to me (on our yard anyway) that it's those on limited or solo turnout that come to harm in the fields more often than not. Probably because they're on solo turnout BECAUSE they're the accident prone ones I suppose.
 
Mine is currently out with a group of ponies 24/7 and loving it! I prefer him to be out with others and he is less likely to stress and gallop around when in company. I prefer the other horses to be without hind shoes if at all possible.
 
TBH I also think its very lonely and totally unatural for a horse to be out on its own. I can understand why people dont do it as they dont want their horse injured - but at the same time its not right at all for the horses mental health. They are herd animals.
 
I dunno - if they can groom over the fence then they are pretty happy I think. They do all kinds of things which go against the herd instinct once they are competition animals.

Plus if you look at a herd of horses, they generally aren't all right next to each other, they are spread out in a group, so if they are in paddocks adjacent to other horses then this is a reasonable simulation, surely?
 
I have 9 turned out together, ranging in age from an 11 month (soon to be ex-colt) to 27yr old mare. They are a herd, they know whats what and who can and can't be hassled.

I dont have any probs with them. One was kicked and suffered a fractured leg as a 2 yr old, but she is still out there with the others. I am however, very careful when introducing someone new.

I personally dont like them hanging over fences to get to each other, as I worry that if they squeal and strike out, they will get their legs caught in the fencing.
 
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