does 24/7 turnout exist anymore at yards?!

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Sophstar

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In my area, apparently not except for the yard I'm currently at and desperate to leave. I want my ponies to live out 24/7 come rain come shine and with 1 arthritic who stiffens up within an hour and one pony who will attempt to climb out of a stable they have to live out. Why o WHY is this so hard to find?!
 
They do seem hard to find I am on a yard with 24/7 turnout 365 days of the year! my horses came in at night (from my choice) on the 1st Dec and went back out 3weeks ago!! Makes for much happier horses and so much cheaper!
 
Our yard is near Hook - though the winter fields can get pretty bare, but we hay so it's not a real problem.

We are however full with a waiting list, not surprisingly. :)
 
We have it here:) the YO lets us manage our horses and paddocks as we see fit - in the 11 years I have been here he has never once asked us to bring them in because of rain/mud/snow. This winter they started coming in around the begining of December are were back out again around the beginning of Feb :)

There are some who liveout year round:) Our yard is a bit of an anomaly round here which why there is always a waiting list and everyone stays for years:o
 
Sophstar said:
In my area, apparently not except for the yard I'm currently at and desperate to leave. I want my ponies to live out 24/7 come rain come shine and with 1 arthritic who stiffens up within an hour and one pony who will attempt to climb out of a stable they have to live out. Why o WHY is this so hard to find?!
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Can you not rent a field on your own or with someone else? Or do you need someone else to see to the horses sometimes?
 
flowerlady said:
Can you not rent a field on your own or with someone else? Or do you need someone else to see to the horses sometimes?
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My friend and I are hunting for a small yard or field to rent for ourselves but it's like finding a needle in a hay stack...despite being surrounded by gorgeous fields, people round here have money and horses themselves!:rolleyes: We have our own mini herd of 4 to move and it's not easy! I check them twice a day and my friend checks them midday so no other help needed:)
 
We have it near us, but I think its less common now because the cost of land means its much cheaper from a yo's Pov if horses stay in. Eg 10 acres might only do 6 or 8 out 24/7 but putting horses out a few hours a day on a rota you could have easily 3x that. I'm not saying its greed (with the odd exception) just the most practical way to make a living.
 
At home, in my field, Apache is turned out 24/7. If no local yards seem to offer 24/7 turnout, why dont you consider going further afield? Where I live, horses are only really bought in to do work during the day.. so if they are not doing work, or being used they are turned out... Theres not much else to suggest really unless you want to buy and manage your own land or move to somewhere else... :/
AbbeyandApache
 
Im in the Basildon area and we have yards that have 24/7 in the summer but not many in the winter! Would never go to a yard that didnt have all year turn out though! x
 
I don't think it's as common as it was. I'm looking for livery for one small pony (others are elsewhere and settled so no need to move), but for this one who needs 24 / 7 turnout for health reasons.

I'm happy to compromise and have him in at night from say nov - march, as long as he can get out every day (even if it's just in a school for a few hours) as long as there's somewhere to exercise him.

Most places round here don't even have daily turnout in winter, and for a child's pony that has health problems that's just not going to happen. His mental and physical well being comes first.
 
AbbeyandApache1 said:
At home, in my field, Apache is turned out 24/7. If no local yards seem to offer 24/7 turnout, why dont you consider going further afield? Where I live, horses are only really bought in to do work during the day.. so if they are not doing work, or being used they are turned out... Theres not much else to suggest really unless you want to buy and manage your own land or move to somewhere else... :/
AbbeyandApache
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Believe me if i had the money I would have bought the 15 acres of land up for sale on my doorstep...unfortunately i don't have the £55k going spare:rolleyes: I can't have my boys too far away as I do them twice a day sometimes three as both on medication twice daily and don't want to spend my days just travelling miles back and forth:)
 
we have 24/7 turnout all year. Farmer leave us too it and its cheap as chips but we don't have a school. Not a huge prob for me as i hire one just up the lane when i need too but i'd rather just hack than mine be stuck in all winter like a lot


Eta. tell a lie we have to bring in for the 1-2 mornings a year that the hunt meets at the farm but they can go back out as soon as their gone (and you usually get given brekky too :D )
 
Agree they are hard to come by. Ours has it in lancs, all year round luckily. Try local farmers, they might have fields to rent.
 
Ah yes if that's an auction estimate I would definitely expect that to double.

Back to the 24/7 turn out. I agree with whoever posted before about being able to maximise profits.
Running livery yards is so expensive that YO's often have to find ways to make as much money as possible.
I know of a yard where the winter turn out is about 1/2 acre per 2 horses :-O the horses have to come in at night so the YO's can get away with this. They also always have a waiting list because they offer winter turn out.
In the summer the horses are allowed out 24/7 so they get 1 acre per horse.
Doing it this way means they can comfortably have 40 liveries with plenty of summer grazing. If they were to offer 24/7 turnout in the winter they would need bigger fields & to allow sufficient resting etc would mean they would have to reduce numbers down to about 25.
Just looking at the money it makes more sense how they do it now.
 
We have all year turn out at our yard, you have the choice of being just grass livery or you can have a stable and obviously pay more. So mine can be out or in as I see fit. The fields are quite bare but this is perfect for our good doer.
 
i know how you feel, all the liverys ive been to have only allowed 24/7 turnout in summer even though i have a dalesXcob and she prefers to be out
 
South Wales... 24/7 turnout all year... By choice all the liveries wintered in at night... A combination of the grass levels and the turnout being a really rugged area...

It seems to be a bit more of an "up to you" approach on farm liveries but a friend of mine closer to Cardiff has no choice but to winter in at night for set periods of the year and reduced day time turnout... I know of one or two 'up market' yards that have restricted turnout permanently... Mine would climb the walls and so would I with all the mucking out...
 
Sophstar said:
Believe me if i had the money I would have bought the 15 acres of land up for sale on my doorstep...unfortunately i don't have the £55k going spare:rolleyes: I can't have my boys too far away as I do them twice a day sometimes three as both on medication twice daily and don't want to spend my days just travelling miles back and forth:)
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Can I be cheeky and ask which company is running the auction? I have a friend in Fleet who may be interested.
 
TBH I don't know of any yards around my area that actually have restricted turnout! I certainly have never had to and by choice just bring in overnight in the winter.
Think your best bet would be to rent some private grazing, doesn't sound like you need to be on a livery yard?
Put ads up everywhere - local classified ads in your local paper, tack shops, local village stores, Preloved, Freeads, Adtrader etc. You'll find something :-)
 
I am on grass livery and there are a few other places locally that offer it. However it tends to be for fatty pony types as the land can support more of them than they can bigger non good doer sorts.

The problem is the cost of land is so high it is not very profitable unless you can keep quite a few horses or ponies on it. Recently land in next to our yard was being sold for 22k per acre and YO just could not afford to buy it.
 
I'm at a DIY yard where the horses can be turned out 24/7 if that's what the owner wants. The yard is based in the South East :)
 
pssssttt look in ash green normandy area if you are willing to look that far, also bagshot lea. loads of places around, im at one! :) just got to look also look at hartly whitney too :) if your willing to travel that far anyway :)
 
another thumbs up from South Wales here, my livery also encourages 24/7 turnout, can be stabled if needed but plenty of acres, grass and haylage around for all horses and my TB does resonably well if rugged up, although he does get stabled if its particularly cold! :)
 
I'm in the Hook area, and have 24/7 grazing. Mind you, we don't actually have any stabling!

I don't think my TB would cope with restricted turnout as she really hates to be stabled.
 
We are also very lucky and can if we want leave the horses out all year if we wanted too. Stables are included in the deal, but it is up to the owner if they want their horse in or out nobody minds what you do.
 
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