do your horses have a routine?

diggerbez

diggerbez

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following on from the christmas day post- do any of your horses NOT have a routine? mine don't at all...never have had either. so for example i get there at 5.30am most weekday mornings to feed and turnout but on the odd day i have a lie in so my friend feeds at 7 and then YO turnsout at 11ish. somedays YO brings in about 2pm and then others they come in at 6pm ish. on the weekends it can be different again. they are normally fed before 9am but turnout depends on riding and comps. so christmas day- they'll be fed and turned out when i get there and then finished off at 5ish. i think some people find this total lack of routine shocking BUT my horses aren't bothered by it. i feed ad lib haylage so they ALWAYS have food and have auto water drinkers so have water. they are never stressed, they don't hang around at the field gate...maybe LACK of routine can be a good thing? they certainly don't bother about staying away at shows when routine can be VERY different for some horses....
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My pony has a routine, but it slightly changes at the weekend. My friend turns him out at 7, and then brings him in at 4. I then go up at 7pm and feed and hay him. At the weekends I go up in the morning about 10, and bring in about 2
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mine don't have routine as such, they live out 24/7 and can be fed any time from 7.30am-10.30. had horses all my life and mum most of hers. have always done our horses like this and they have always been absolutely fine.
 
My 2 don't have a routine really, they are always turned out by 10am but if they older one is being ridden then he'll wait around on the yard and go out when I've finished riding. I work 3 days a week so on those days they don't come in till I finish work, which is normally around 7pm. However when I'm not at work they are all tucked up in bed for the night by 6pm. My horses are quite layed back really, the youngster dosen't like to be kept in to late in the morning but other than that they don't care aslong as there fed and warm
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Haha same here - mine is on part livery but cause i go up everyday is turned out at different times/put on horsewalker etc and doesnt care less - in fact he loves his stable in anything other than sunshine - he usually has a hooley round the field then waits by the gate in anyother weather! Only thing that stays the same is breakfast and dinner cause its done by the staff on the yard
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mine gets turned out prety much the same time every morning by my YO as she is down there at about 5:30. i was strugglng to get out of bed and wasnt getting down till 8ish and he was trashing his stable as he was upset everyone else had gone out so she puts him out for me now, i just leave everything ready, and he comes in between 4 and 6 on a weekday depending what time iv finished work and abit earlier on the weekend. he doesnt mind staying out till late but doesnt like being left in to long and makes his bed into a big mush!
 
Well, yes, ish, they get hay topped up in the morning, and then again and a grain feed sometime in the afternoon/evening.

There are no set times for anything and it is bliss. they don't fret and I don't get harrassed and think "Oh God, I HAVE to get back for the horses" (ummmm, no, I don't
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been there, done that, not doing it again)
 
OP, I am with you on this.

I have never had a routine.... If Im working 200 miles away (which I have to do two days a week) she can be turned out around 5-5.30am.... if im not it can be 8ish... at weekends it can sometimes be 11ish.. (but she has been thrown her brekkie, fresh water and a net).

I think that by not sticking to a routine, it has enabled her to ADAPT to changes... so when we stay away at shows, she is usually one of the more chilled ones.. she doesnt anticipate anything...

An old yard I was at there was an old livery who had been there ages and the yard had a strict routine... this pony would (apparently) colic if left out longer than usual in the field... or if he had to stay in beyond 8am, or was late to be fed?
 
Agree completely. Our lot have never had a proper routine. They're out 24/7 most of the time and will see us anytime between 7 and 10 in the morning and (in winter) between 3.30 and 5 at night. In summer we often don't feed til 8ish and they've been ridden after 9 on nice evenings! Doesn't bother them at all and I think they're much more relaxed as a result. We don't have to stress about rushing home from places to see to them and they're not bothered if we're an hour later than usual with their teas!
 
So agree with this...very strict timetables/routines are IMO very bad for horses. Mine also have adlib hay so are never hungry as such, and I have also known yards where the horses are kept as though it's a regiment and they are nearly always stressy and hyper if left a little too long/late
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Yes mine do have a routine each day, not strict as such. But do try and do the feeds roughly same time each day, that way I don't have horses going bonkers. But like kids horses need a routine a such as that way they have a comfort zone just like kids dogs and me
 
Last time I broke my routine of sorts on OH instistens My old cob went down with colic bad time. 1/2 hour each way they don't mind, but they do have a clock in their brains and the sound of my car.
 
I keep mine at home so they don't have a routine either. 2 of them are yearlings and have a pony. They go out at any time from 6am to 10am and come in anytime from 4pm to 9pm. They don't seem bothered at all really as long as they have breakfast/dinner at some point and they always have ad lib haylage so are never without. I always give them a lot more to make sure they are never without. It works well and it means i still get to have a life too!
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I wish we didn't have such a strict routine. At this time of year the majority of the horses are in before dark - say around 3.30 - 4pm. If ours is one of the last he'll be pacing up and down (in Sept he once stressed so much he was dripping and standing at the gate snorting). Once we've opened the gate he'll try to drag me (or daughter) to his stable. He's 17.2 Irish Draft X and I'm only 5' 3" so can be quite hairy. I'm loathe to use a Chiffney or similar as I was advised prevention is better than cure, i.e. avoid the situation and bring him in earlier rather than use something harsh on him as he's only 5. So routine isn't always the best way.
 
Yes mine has a routine, despite being an adlib forage girl
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8.30 - 9.00 in the morning all year, then 3.30 - 4.00 over winter, gradually moving the time out with daylight hours.
 
Mine are out at night over winter, they go out at 7pm (9pm if I have a lesson after work) and come in at 9am during the week and 10am at the weekends.

In they go out in between 9am and 10am and come in around 7pm, however they are sometimes brought in at lunch time to ride at the weekends.
 
Mine has a routine to fit in with my working day, although on my days off I do occasionally lie in for an hour or two, not often though. This means she goes from being the first one out to the last one left in but it doesn't bother her.

When she used to live out she didn't have a routine - she knew she'd be brought in, fed groomed and ridden at some point during the day but could be anywhere between 8am and 8pm in the summer!!
 
George is on part livery and has a routine, but it isn't strict. He gets his feed at 5.30/6am and in the summer he is turned out after eating until about 4-ish, then in and tea. In the winter he goes out about 10.30-3 ish. In the week I am up in the evenings to ride, at weekends during the day. He seems to thrilve on the routine, but certainly doesn't get stressy or make a fuss if things change a bit. But when we were at a yard with no routine, he got himself in a terrible pickle.
 
No! I wouldn't think that many horse owners stick to one either unless you hack out on the same route every day at the same time or schooled doing the same exercise at the same time each day.
A horse has to accept that days can be varied - it would be if they lived a totally natural lifestyle after all.
I try to make sure that my horse is fed between 6.30am and 8.00am then between 4.30pm and 6.00pm, but otherwise he knows that the day could hold anything from a day in the field to a day out in the trailer!
 
Fed and out at 6 ish, sometime this is later, say up to 8am depending on weather (and cows! - my uncle puts her out as shes at the farm and he does her after the cows) In around 5 but sometimes a bit earlier or later depending on work. Pony gets fed in evening after doing the horse. Some sort of routine is easier for me, and them but its not a hugely strict routine.
 
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Yes, my horse has a routine. I'm pretty obsessive about it actually, and feel that the horses are happier for it.

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i am exactly the same, mine are happy with it, the tbx gets v v stressy if things change
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and i find that i cope alot better with routine, i turn into a stressy aswell
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Mine live out 24/7 so they see me at all times as they are at home too. I try to feed between 3pm and 4pm, as it's easier as they wait around the yard otherwise I have to shout for them in the cold and my old boy is deaf so it is interesting in the 10acre field.
My TB is a bit of a 'if other horses are getting it so must I' type, I just think that is his temperament but he really is quite chilled most of the time this is just his OCD showing through.
 
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Last time I broke my routine of sorts on OH instistens My old cob went down with colic bad time. 1/2 hour each way they don't mind, but they do have a clock in their brains and the sound of my car.

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but maybe if he had never had a routine this wouldn't have happened? thats just what i'm trying to say....lots of horses in race training have stomach ulcers and most race yards i know have very strict routines...i think a strict routine is fine but when you can't stick to that routine for whatever reason thats when (IMHO) problems happen....
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diggerbez - so your horses get fed, then turned out, then come in, and get adlib haylag?
and probably worked regularily?
sounds like a good routine to me!
If they were stood in one day, left out another, THEN id say you had no routine!!

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he he i take your point
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i turned up at 9am to feed this morning (new puppy was far too entertaining
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) and got a dirty look- but my horses weren't stressed, they were happily minching their hay- all because i have no set routine in terms of time....
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I guess what diggerbez is trying to say is that timings etc can change. By nature of having them in at night there has to be a routine of sorts - you can't fetch in before you turn out for example, so if like ours they are in at night at some point they will be fetched in, fed and watered and left with hay overnight.....then fed and turned out again in the morning. I generally do stuff in the same order but times can vary a lot. Once they come in for winter (usually late oct) they go out in the morning any time between 6am and 9am. Altho if I ride both (usually weekends) I generally get there about 7am to feed, muck both out then ride one then the other so those days the one not being ridden waits in stable til I turn them out together. Or if only ride one, the other goes straight out after breafast and the one I am riding waits in.
Equally at the other end of the day they come in any time between 4pm and 8pm, and sometimes one gets ridden, sometimes both, sometimes neither!
I am a bit strict about NEVER feeding them the minute they get into stables, at very least I will sort out rug changes, brush off and pick out feet first, as I don't want the food obsessed youngster dragging me into his stable looking for a bucket!!
In the summer I sometimes ride in the mornings, sometimes evenings, and generally just feed when I ride as usually ride one or other each day. We make sure someone goes up tothe field am and pm tho (6 horses up there) so they are all checked.
Mine never stress when away from home at overnight shows or if I am running late etc. Older boy has a tantrum if everyone else is turned out but thats just cos he wants to be out, nothing to do with routine, and all he does is shout at everyone!
Interestingly re greygates, our youngster in his previous home did go out one day, then stand in the next, and sometimes in for a few days, then in summer travelled to alternative gazing and lived out etc (due to limited grazing and being picked on by prev owners other two that were colts when he was a gelding), and he is the most laid back 3 year old I have ever known....was on box rest in the autumn after being kicked and couldn't give two hoots when all the others got turned out. So I actually think having never established a routine with him was a blessing in disguise - he was much better behaved (as a 16.2hh 3 year old!) after 10 days box rest than my 14.2hh 13 year old was after1 day in because of the snow last week and no hay in the fields!!
 
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