Does anyone not have winter turnout?

I've been on a yard that didn't offer winter t/o and my boy didn't like it one bit, he always needed a leg stretch more so for medical reasons.
I personally would not go to a yard where they do not have winter t/o, I believe they need time to unwind leg stretch even if it's a couple of hours a day its far better than nothing.

The yard I am on at mo is restricted all yr round, summer they are out weekdays 7.15am to 6.30... that gets reduced towards the end of summer to 4.30pm.
weekends it's 9am t/o and b/i as the same...^^^

Winter before clocks went back was 7.15 to 4pm.. then 3.45 and now its 2pm during the week
weekends its 9am to 3.45pm.
They are all in individual paddocks.
 
Sidney said:
I run a small livery yard, and although am 'precious' over my grazing, find it is a false economy not to turn out in the winter. Every horse goes out, whatever the weather, even if just for a few hours each day.

If the horses are denied turn out, when they do eventually go out they are more likely to trash the ground with over exuberance, which can also be dangerous for horses and owners alike.

In this country the rain, wind, ice and snow are all part and parcel of winter horse ownership. I have a quad with a harrow and roller and can easily recover my paddocks in the spring.
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Agree with this.

Im another who is lucky enough to decide when my horses go out as ive just rented a small yard for my guys with great facilities.
They are out about 8 and in about 4.
Ive been on a yard with restricted turnout, it definitely didnt work for me or my guys so i moved.
 
I've done it once where I was told I'd have a half day turn out but this turned out to be just 1.5 - 2 hours out and my mare turned into a nutter. We lasted three months and had to leave. I know now for certain she would not cope on no turn out at all. I 've just left a yard where there were no restrictions (but also little grazing) and am at a yard where they said they might need to restrict if weather gets really bad or fields boggy. The most they would restrict it to is 8 - 12 and 12 - 4 so not too bad. At the minute they have tons of grass and the fields seem to be coping well with any rain we've had so fingers crossed they'll be no restrictions for a while. My horses only stand at the gate when all the grub has gone! :)
 
Sidney said:
I run a small livery yard, and although am 'precious' over my grazing, find it is a false economy not to turn out in the winter. Every horse goes out, whatever the weather, even if just for a few hours each day.

If the horses are denied turn out, when they do eventually go out they are more likely to trash the ground with over exuberance, which can also be dangerous for horses and owners alike.

In this country the rain, wind, ice and snow are all part and parcel of winter horse ownership. I have a quad with a harrow and roller and can easily recover my paddocks in the spring.
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I completely agree with you, i own a small yard too and have ours out as much as is possible with weather and daylight conditions. It can be a hard juggle esp with owners opinions but i have to do what i think is fair for the horses as well as ourselves and even a few hours a day makes a difference to all of us.
 
As a livery yard owner I prefer to let all my liveries do what they want re turnout all year around. I like my own horses to be out all summer 24/7 and then in at about 3ish in the winter as we live on a hill in Scotland and it gets pretty wild here. I therefore treat the liveries horses as I would my own and give them the choice. Some of their horses are still out 24/7 now and some are in at night. There has only been one very very wet year when I asked that they were all brought in at night but they could still go out as early in the morning as they liked and stay out as long as needed. As the YO I don't think I could cope with watching everyone trying to ride very fresh horses, if they were stabled 24/7 - too scary :) Joking apart, personally I think it is so much healthier for the horses to have turnout, both mentally and physically. It is amazing how well fields mend with attention and a good rest in the spring. But then our ground is quite well draining which helps and the place is always kept slightly understocked so that field rotation is always possible.
 
Blimey! Restricting T/O already? Its only November and its been mild. Dread to think how those of you that are restricted are gonna cope when the weather really turns! We have our own paddock for our 2 which we poo pick etc and the YM doesnt dictate what we can do as far as T/O is concerned. I wouldnt go to a yard that did so.
 
wow!! im sooo suprised at this thread!! i have never been on a yard with winter turnout!! maybe its different areas of the country.
where i am at the minute we have woodchip turnout paddoks which my mare gets a run round in everyday which she is completly happy with. shes totally used to coming in in the winter and like some1 else said she was getting fed up with being out in the field a few weeks ago, she was just stood at the gate waiting to come in everyday. and shes very happy to be tucked up in her stable now. i dont consider it cruel if your horse is happy? my mare is far happier in her stable in winter than in the field. and she gets out for a leg stretch everyday. she gets turned out in paddock to let off steam and my sharers ride her 3 nights a week. im lucky thats shes not silly 1 bit and you can get on and ride her in winter and shes exactly the same as any other time.
 
saddlesore said:
I honestly believe it to be cruel. I also cannot understand why horses would get 'bored' being out :confused: Are these horses on individual t/o? I also think that's cruel and gives them no opportunity to just be a horse..
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Unfortunately, not all horses have read the manual. I turn my horse out, with a friend, and she will still want to come in after 1-1.5hrs in January. She will get sore legs- not really mud fever, but wet and pink, and she will jump fences and gates.

Horses get used to things, and sometimes that means a horse decides it doesn't like being outside in a howling gale, in mud, even with a friend or two, compared to its nice warm stable with good quality ad lib hay. If that's the way a horse is used to, are you seriously telling me you don't understand why a horse would get bored?


In general (and this isn't just at you saddlesore, or anybody else singularly), I do believe horses should have some times out in the field at least every other day. I do believe it is good/better for them. I also believe blanket statements of cruelty/fairness or lack there of are generalised, misinformed, and a little bit ignorant I'm afraid.
 
I agree that institutionalised (for lack of a better word) horses may well appear bored, as horses are very much creatures of habit. However, if they have company, are rugged appropriately and have access to forage then I would find it amazing that any horse would be desperate to leave its natural environment after only an hour or so to stand in a 12' by 12' box for another 20 or so hours.

And I really don't mean to sound rude - not aimed specifically at you - but I wonder (with perhaps the odd exception) how many horses with owners/yo who cannot bring them in after an hour don't adjust to a more natural way of life. Those on individual, and perhaps paired, t/o aside.
 
vixiem said:
wow!! im sooo suprised at this thread!! i have never been on a yard with winter turnout!! maybe its different areas of the country.
where i am at the minute we have woodchip turnout paddoks which my mare gets a run round in everyday which she is completly happy with. shes totally used to coming in in the winter and like some1 else said she was getting fed up with being out in the field a few weeks ago, she was just stood at the gate waiting to come in everyday. and shes very happy to be tucked up in her stable now. i dont consider it cruel if your horse is happy? my mare is far happier in her stable in winter than in the field. and she gets out for a leg stretch everyday. she gets turned out in paddock to let off steam and my sharers ride her 3 nights a week. im lucky thats shes not silly 1 bit and you can get on and ride her in winter and shes exactly the same as any other time.
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I'm really surprised at your post because I've never been on a yard with restricted turnout in the winter and don't know of any round here which would make you keep your horse in day after day to keep the fields nice. As previous posters have said, the fields get more churned up when horses have been kept in too long and they get over excited when they are eventually allowed out.
When horses stand at the gate and wait to come in it's usually because they're in a routine and expect it, or that there is nothing to eat in the field.
I would never take my horse to a yard where he couldn't have turnout.
 
I bought my horse last year and he was on restricted turnout. I stayed for 3 months and spent the last month of that trying to find a suitable yard to move him to.

I moved him to a DIY yard and he loves it there. He was out 24/7 from April until last last weekend and now just in at nights.

Our yard does not have a school and I wish it did but turnout was top of my list. My boy was not happy standing in his stable for hours on end.
 
Our YO is pretty good, she doesn't restrict turnout but if I'm honest the grass management is poor and we are over stocked...couple that with approx 50% of our fields being low lying flood plain.

I choose to keep mine in during the week (4 days), I do this for various reasons. He is doing well in his work, he is not a nutter to hack or ride, he doesn't exhibit any bad behaviour so I am quite happy with things.

Everyone has different situations and it's not my horse so I wouldn't judge how they decide to keep them.
 
saddlesore said:
I agree that institutionalised (for lack of a better word) horses may well appear bored, as horses are very much creatures of habit. However, if they have company, are rugged appropriately and have access to forage then I would find it amazing that any horse would be desperate to leave its natural environment after only an hour or so to stand in a 12' by 12' box for another 20 or so hours.

And I really don't mean to sound rude - not aimed specifically at you - but I wonder (with perhaps the odd exception) how many horses with owners/yo who cannot bring them in after an hour don't adjust to a more natural way of life. Those on individual, and perhaps paired, t/o aside.
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This particular mare was stressing me out so much bring herself in, that I moved her out with the 'herd' of five that lived out- babies and nannies. She had plenty of rugs, a field shelter- that none ever used- plenty of grass and hayledge twice a day........and I resolutely put her back in the field each time she jumped out for 9 days as I lived on site. Until on the 10th, she jumped out and slid on the concrete, taking the skin off her left hind. And I decided enough.

I know this is unusual, but it just goes to prove that sweeping generalisations are dangerous.

Oh, and my current jumping mare spent last winter left out until i got home. And I thought she'd gotten used to it, only to be told that the YO was regularly putting her back into fields after appearing outside her stable at lunchtime.
 
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