Duvet days

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Peter7917

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Do your horses have days, perhaps if it's very wet, where they stay in and don't get turned out?

Do you think they enjoy it? Do you make sure to exercise them if you are going to leave them in?
 
No never, even in the worst weather they go out for a short time, the longer the turn out the better I find, especially the older loony one, he get grumpy if he has to stay in, even an hour out will chill him!
 
No, never. At worst last winter the electric board came and dug a trench across my gate so I physically couldn't turn out so they had free time on the yard or in a little all weather turnout.
They would hate to be cooped up all day although I know some horses wouldn't mind at all!
 
No duvet days for ours either, no matter what the weather they go out- they have a hardstanding, hay ,natural shelter in the field. Even in the very worst wet winter last year we turned out everyday. I think it's essential for their phisical and mental wellbeing.
 
Yes sometimes I will leave in if very wet. The whole yard will stay in so the horses don't seem to care. I don't exercise those days. Very very occasionally will be 2 days in but anymore than that they will go out even if just while I muck out.
 
Mine would go stir crazy if they stayed in 24/7! My big lad chooses what he wants to do. I open his stable door and if he goes down to the big field he stays out all day, if he takes himself to the mini paddock out the back he can go in and out as he pleases. I usually find him in any stable but his own when I get home! He is spoilt lol!
 
I have kept mine in when the wet has got especially bad

My logic is that by keeping them in for the odd day at this time of year and preserving the land from being poached now I can ensure that they get almost certain daily turnout on decent fields that arent ankle breakingly deep in mud for the rest of the winter
 
Always give mine some outdoor time whatever.
Either ridden excercise or in hand excercise even if just a walk out in hand.
If can't or don't want to excercise then he has field time or time in winter turnout paddock if weather dictates.
Hate the idea of horses standing in all the time. That said, if it is impossible to ecxercise/turnout safely, then you may have to leave in. In this case would provide stimulating stable toys and do a few carrot stretches. You just have to do your best at this time of year.
 
When we had floods earlier in the year everything was in for about 20 hours - the track to the field was a lake. Mid afternoon my mare got so tetchy I led her to the gateway in that kind of "well - do you want to go through that then?" Turns out she did. So I then had to wade after her to remove headcollar and leadrope - she went through at such speed I'd have been surfing if I'd hung into her.
 
I will present a different view. Every horse should be taught to accept confinement of some type, because one day when it is injured and has to stay in, it will have been trained to cope.
 
No never ever .
If the weather is impossible they will be exercised and not turned out but never stood in without work unless injured.
They have missed turnout only once this year ( apart from hunting days ) it was torrential rain the roads were flooded so could ride out ,the barn flooded later in the day .I did not turnout but walked and walked round the biggest field riding and leading.
 
I'm adamant that the stabled horses must go out every day. I have a little stallion in at the moment, and he has other ideas! Turned him out, after 10 days box rest, and he had a buck and a roll, then created merry hell, until I had to go and get him in. He marched back to his stable, and is very happily tucked up back where he wants to be!
Until recently, he lived out 24/7, and had done for many years. He has decided that stables are wonderful!
 
AdorableAlice said:
I will present a different view. Every horse should be taught to accept confinement of some type, because one day when it is injured and has to stay in, it will have been trained to cope.
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I do teach my horses to accept confinement I make this a priority.I just don't teach it when their fit and in work .
I believe owners who don't do this are failing in their reasonsilbity to their horse. IMO every owner needs a plan to cope with injury , you should not pts a horse because you have not taught a horse to be stabled .
Outcome should be the driving the desision when faced with a injured horse needing box rest not the fact it won't stay in the stable .
 
Sometimes but against my wishes! Only if yard imposed.
I would always do my utmost to get them exercised well if I know they have to stay in.
At the moment it is virtually once a week due to the flipping blinking hunt, grrrrr
 
So what do you do in long term freezing cold weather? I still remember with horror the winter of 2010 where it froze solid here for nearly 4 weeks, with night time temperatures down to -18 and a maximum daytime temperature of -5.

I chucked the youngsters out with a bale of haylage, but the rest of them couldn't go out because the frozen ruts would have been too dangerous. They mostly stayed in but I made a track across the yard to the horsewalker by spreading muck over the ice.

Despite the length of time they were mostly incarcerated, they were incredibly well behaved going along the path to the walker.

It's nearly always raining where I live, so they go out in it every day, unless it is also blowing a gale in which case they come in at lunch time. They are Irish after all.
 
In the depths of winter our turnout is sometimes "closed" for a day or two per week, to preserve the fields. All the horses cope pretty well with it, if they're not on ridden exercise they will either get walked out in hand or go on the walker. My boy hates being out in the rain anyway, so although my preference would be daily turnout, I'm pretty sure he'd rather stay in when it's pouring.
 
We are on clay. There are times last winter when it is just too revolting to turn out and mine never cared if he stayed in his box. However, he was never left in with no exercise. At the very least he would have gone on the walker, walked both ways while I was mucking out, but I have had it drummed into me that you never leave a reasonably fit horse stuck in his box for 24 hours with no exercise.
 
Rowreach said:
So what do you do in long term freezing cold weather? I still remember with horror the winter of 2010 where it froze solid here for nearly 4 weeks, with night time temperatures down to -18 and a maximum daytime temperature of -5.

I chucked the youngsters out with a bale of haylage, but the rest of them couldn't go out because the frozen ruts would have been too dangerous. They mostly stayed in but I made a track across the yard to the horsewalker by spreading muck over the ice.

Despite the length of time they were mostly incarcerated, they were incredibly well behaved going along the path to the walker.

It's nearly always raining where I live, so they go out in it every day, unless it is also blowing a gale in which case they come in at lunch time. They are Irish after all.
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I remember that winter it's etched on my memory we turned ours out everyday the snow was so deep you could just see the tops of the fence posts .
They went out we mucked out cleared snow cleared more snow then they came in .
They behaved very well and yes it was a risk but it would have been more of a risk keeping them in for weeks and then having to turn them out .
 
Mine quite often tries to have a duvet day! She either doesn't show her face or digs her feet in at the door! Sadly for her she goes out ever day for at least 6 hours. She would be happy to stand in all day with hay, she coped with 9 months box rest after all.
 
yes, sometimes and generally in the sort of weather you'd be barking to exercise in i.e. very windy and wet/sleet. We regularly get 80mph + winds where I am and they are always accompanied by something nasty lol. So if kept in at mine they get some turnout on a small hardstanding area if possible but its not big although it is sheltered a bit. If at the farm the two of them are in an old byre which is about 60ft x 20 ft. If its just frozen/snowy etc they stay out.
 
I try not to leave them in. Today for example they got turned out at 6am as usual but had to come in at 8 as the hedges in their field were being cut. If forecast is bad they will go out for the morning and I will bring in at lunch, they still get 6.5 hours out if I do that. But try and turn out all day every day.
 
The land were I am is terrible bog land so in very wet weather the fields are unusable. But when I can't turn out, the horses go on the walker while being mucked out, turned out for an hour in the arena in pairs to run around and play and then get lunged or ridden too.
 
My cob used to have the occasional duvet day in summer when the flies were bad and he chose to stay in. He decided my back garden was a perfectly acceptable mini-turnout area
 
No matter the weather I like my lad to go out for as long as possible. He has natural shelter, he's always keen to go out, even if it's just for 2-3 hours.
 
I keep mine in, if the weather is extreme. Gales and rain or a fair amount of snow would be the two examples when I kept them in last winter.

We live in a pretty exposed area and they will just hang around at the gate, self harming!

They would always get some sort of exercise though.
 
I was brought up to believe you should never anthropomorphize but my Anglo (when he was stabled) definatly had days when the weather was crap where he's point blank refused to come out of his stable but he gets creaky when he's in so I'm mean and kicked him back out 24/7, we do have a field shelter though so they still have the choice
 
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