Duvet days

[SatansLittleHelper]

Mine lives out 24/7 so she can want a "duvet day" as much as she likes lol
We have a very large field shelter and even then the horses would sooner be out despite horrible weather. The shelter is mainly used in the summer when they want peace from bitey bugs to be honest.

 

[KAZJAZ]

never, she really isn't fussed about rain at all, a decent rug and she's happy as larry.

the only time I've ever kept mine in is on days were there is no option, i.e. its been raining or we've had snow which is thawing and then froze and its impossible to get to the fields as the yard is like an ice rink, on these occasions I'm lucky to be stabled near the arena and I can make a track out of straw to at least let her in there to stretch off a bit.

 

[Bright_Spark]

Mine are now on part livery and although I would previously have put them out everyday, they may have to stay in occasionally depending on weather and on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day. I will make sure they get exercised on those days with a mixture of riding, lunging, in hand and horse walker.

As long as they have hay and company, they are happy to stay in though.

 

[DD]

No duvet days here. they always go out in the paddock for at least part of the day

 

[poiuytrewq]

Its a nice surprise to see most peoples horses do get out every day, I did'nt really expect that to be the case

 

[Bertolie]

My horses very often have a duvet day or days. I am on DIY livery and if they go out in morning (usually around 9am) then they have to stay out until I finish work at 6pm. They usually have had enough by lunchtime and stand by the gate waiting to come in. They do have very large stables though with masses of room to move around, and can groom and interact with each other. They are perfectly happy staying in.....I can leave the stable door open and they wouldn't come out. We also have 3 all weather schools so can exercise as necessary.

 

[Cortez]

Ours go out in the paddocks nearly every day, but if the weather's crap they stay off the land. They do get out to do some form of work at least twice a day if they're in 'though. As long as horses have sufficient feed and exercise they don't seem to mind much one way or the other.

 

[Mule]

Mine live out. They have stables for shelter but they only use them when the sun is shining. Mine seem to like the rain and wind. Strange animals

 

[Annagain]

There were a couple of days last winter (when we had 76 consecutive days of rain) when I took a late lunch and got them in early, mainly as their field had turned into a swamp so they had very little grass (YO won't let us put hay out). I'd then go back after work and turn them out for another hour while I mucked out etc. They've never been in for more than about 14 hours unless it's for medical reasons.

 

[wingedhorse]

Its a nice surprise to see most peoples horses do get out every day, I did'nt really expect that to be the case

IMO it isn’t the case typically but few will post that they leave their horses in stable, and don’t exercise / turnout!

Given the high number of posters on other threads who do not have / are not allowed winter turnout. There are a fair number of horses that are largely stabled full time over winter.

Reality means not all of these horses are exercised / got out of stables both ends or even one end of the day.

Mucking out both ends of the day, for someone with a full time job, and a life, means sometimes only the bare minimum will get done IMO.

I am lucky to have unrestricted turnout!

 

[AdorableAlice]

Nope, she'd rather be out in a blizzard, thunderstorm, knee deep in mud looking miserable then be in for a "duvet day".

I tried to keep her in for the farrier yesterday, in the two hours I had left her she went absolutely beserk (Between 8:30 and 10:30). Sweated up, pacing, rearing, kicking the door, her bed was black. It looked like a muck heap in there, in 2 hours! Pleanty of food, her field mate was also in to keep her company and she could see her. I had to take an early lunch to turn her out for fear of damaging herself or the stable, even her face was sweaty, white foam under her rug, it was ridiculas.

Deplorable behaviour but at nearly 16 I doubt she's going to change. She is fine coming in for the night but once morning comes she *has* to go out.

ETA: There is hay in the field in a round feeder so never hungry, and ad lib hay in her stable, still wants to be out!

This is exactly what I meant in my initial comment. Had the horse been taught as a youngster that spending time alone both in the field and in the stable is a normal thing to be asked to do you would not have a 16 year old horse in the state she was in yesterday. They only know what we teach them.

Duvet day is perhaps a wrong way to describe what is being discussed. Every horse we deal with should be able to stand peacefully in the stable or field for a few hours alone. Today I took the pair of 5 year old's off the yard at 9am to a dressage show, they returned at 3pm. The 3 year old that lives with them spent the day alone in a large open fronted barn without any bother, why - because I taught him from a yearling to come into the stables and stand alone. Surely it is kinder to teach them before they have to face the odd day inside when circumstances out of our control happen, than to allow them to be shocked and stressed when forced to stay inside or alone.

Anything we can do to make their lives easier makes our lives easier.

 

[HufflyPuffly]

This is exactly what I meant in my initial comment. Had the horse been taught as a youngster that spending time alone both in the field and in the stable is a normal thing to be asked to do you would not have a 16 year old horse in the state she was in yesterday. They only know what we teach them.

Duvet day is perhaps a wrong way to describe what is being discussed. Every horse we deal with should be able to stand peacefully in the stable or field for a few hours alone. Today I took the pair of 5 year old's off the yard at 9am to a dressage show, they returned at 3pm. The 3 year old that lives with them spent the day alone in a large open fronted barn without any bother, why - because I taught him from a yearling to come into the stables and stand alone. Surely it is kinder to teach them before they have to face the odd day inside when circumstances out of our control happen, than to allow them to be shocked and stressed when forced to stay inside or alone.

Anything we can do to make their lives easier makes our lives easier.

I'm not sure anyone would disagree with you, but most wont have bought their horse as a youngster so either have to fix the behaviour or manage it. My youngster I bought at two will come and be in or out alone, my 23 year old I bought at 12 cannot ever be alone in the field or stable!

It is a nightmare for the oldie but at her age I don't think we could really change it now, nor wish to put her through the trauma (it really is a trauma for her) so we manage as best we can, future horses will be trained :lol:!

No duvet days here really, the odd time but always get them out to do something, Topaz is unmanageable if she doesn't have regular turnout, no-one should have to deal with a turnout deprived Topaz !

 

[humblepie]

Not complete duvet days but may have just a horse walker or an in hand if everything is frozen or too wet. Try to get them out to do something if possible.

 

[DD265]

Yes if it's too dangerous to get to the field - usually ice related. In which case no, no alternative exercise. There have been cases in the past where it's been so windy that YO hasn't turned out at all; risk of trampolines etc blowing across the fields from various properties! In those instances I'd usually try to walk my boy out in hand but he's retired anyway so that's the only exercise he gets away from the field.

 

[AdorableAlice]

I'm not sure anyone would disagree with you, but most wont have bought their horse as a youngster so either have to fix the behaviour or manage it. My youngster I bought at two will come and be in or out alone, my 23 year old I bought at 12 cannot ever be alone in the field or stable!

It is a nightmare for the oldie but at her age I don't think we could really change it now, nor wish to put her through the trauma (it really is a trauma for her) so we manage as best we can, future horses will be trained :lol:!

No duvet days here really, the odd time but always get them out to do something, Topaz is unmanageable if she doesn't have regular turnout, no-one should have to deal with a turnout deprived Topaz !

I am not criticising at all, I have had ones that were problems. Just wish people did take the trouble to teach horses properly.

 

[Annagain]

I'm not sure anyone would disagree with you, but most wont have bought their horse as a youngster so either have to fix the behaviour or manage it. My youngster I bought at two will come and be in or out alone, my 23 year old I bought at 12 cannot ever be alone in the field or stable!

It is a nightmare for the oldie but at her age I don't think we could really change it now, nor wish to put her through the trauma (it really is a trauma for her) so we manage as best we can, future horses will be trained :lol:!

No duvet days here really, the odd time but always get them out to do something, Topaz is unmanageable if she doesn't have regular turnout, no-one should have to deal with a turnout deprived Topaz !

Totally agree - when you haven't had them since babies, sometimes you have to make the best of what you've got. Archie has stayed in for more than 14hours twice in his life. The first time he'd had minor surgery so was heavily sedated for most of it so didn't really know he'd been in longer than normal. The 2nd time was a misunderstanding- M was on box rest, I thought M's owner was turning A out when she saw to M in the morning and she thought I was going up. My normal, slightly grumpy but perfectly manageable horse had turned into a monster. He actually attacked me (bit me HARD on the boob) - not when I turned him out but when I went to get him back in an hour later. There was no way he was coming back in so soon even though it was a time when he'd normally be at the gate waiting. That was about 8 years ago and the only time he's been in a stable for more than overnight since then was at camp this year when the promise of a turnout pen didn't materialise. He was in and out quite frequently being ridden and was thoroughly exhausted by the end of day 1 which helped so, luckily, he was a complete gent. I think he's finally grown up this year - at the age of 20!

ETA - He's perfectly happy to come in and to stay in alone, he just can't cope with long periods in. He's always ready to go out in the morning. Luckily I've never had to force the issue and not sure I would now for a 20 yr old horse with other problems.

 

[exracehorse]

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.

agree. Mine have duvet days if it's chucking it with rain all day or night. Otherwise live out 24/7.

 

[rachk89]

My horse has at the previous yard, because it was on top of a mountain. In winter, the snow could get really deep (couple of feet) or the yard would be very icy and the trip to the fields was too dangerous, there was easily a chance of them falling over or worse. Raining, no he goes out. He doesnt like it and would rather stay in, for a few weekends now I've had to drag him out of his stable as he doesn't want to leave. He has had to spend 3 weeks in his stable or a small pen before and he coped really well shockingly, so I know he would be fine with it if I had no option. He only becomes a bit agitated if we keep him in over night during summer before a show. At night he's fine, by morning he knows its nice and wants out to explore so he can be a bit of a problem then if we're taking him straight to the show, but he gets over it.

 

[Ponio_lover]

It must be very difficult when your working .
Do you work full time ? How do you manage to ride enough ?

Yes and not only do I work full time but I'm all over the country. Most weeks I don't get to the yard for 3 or 4 days out of 7. The honest truth is I don't ride enough but I make sure that when the fields are shut that she either goes out in a turn out pen, gets lunged or when I'm there is ridden by me. I never leave her in 24hrs. Costs me a fortune but that's the situation I'm in.

 

[Lammy]

Yep, if the weather is very wet then they will be in for the day, an odd day here or there isn't going to hurt them and we'd rather save the fields then have them turn to mush because 6 rambunctious boys are hurtling around in the wet. Never mind the higher chance of an injury. One horse is fully clipped anyway and the fields aren't sheltered in the least. The TB will refuse to go out if it's particularly heavy rain.

They'll all be exercised and will go on the walker or be let loose in the indoor arena in pairs. The odd day here and there is really not a problem for them as long as they're getting out of their stable.

 

[little_critter]

I know the ideal is to give as much turnout as possible but unfortunately my mare didn't get that memo. She won't stay out in bad weather, will trash the field and go through the electric fencing.
I get the impression she would rather be in, so on miserable days she stays in.

 

[impresario08]

the only time ours are in is if there is a shoot going past

 

[Christmas Crumpet]

Mine might stay in the open yard on a very frosty day or if its torrential with rain and likely to be for the forseeable otherwise out every day. He is happy as larry out in the field so I try and keep him out as much as possible.

 

[Ouch05]

All done to keep my fields usable. I have two small fields for 2 16h horses not enough but land is expensive here all the yards are the same. If I trash my fields thats it I then have to pay more to hay them while they recover. So yes they have to odd day. They have no hard standing and no shelter very exposed.

So on bad wet and I mean it has to have been raining heavy all night and forecast for the rest of the day they will stay in but we have an indoor school so they will be exercised that night.

Not all places give you the option I know one yard that had lovely big fields but the winter before last the horse where in for two months because the YO was protecting them!!!

 

[smja]

Until recently, he lived out 24/7, and had done for many years. He has decided that stables are wonderful!

This is exactly like mine! I was so worried that he wouldn't adjust to being stabled...he's adjusted a bit too well, and prefers not to go out when the ground is really wet

 

[CrazyMare]

Mine go out most days, but very wet days/the day after very wet days they are likely to stay in. The reason is twofold, one, they are more likely to jostle each other around at the gate and hurt themselves, and two, they will trash the field which costs me more in the long run.

When they stay in they are either worked or go on the walker, or if I'm off work, they may well get both!

 

[Notimetoride]

On occasion, yes. Tbh when the weather is appalling, after 10 mins out she's asking to come back in. I've had horses on periods of 4 and 5 months complete box rest. So staying in for 36 hours is nothing by comparison. I have to go to work all day so she would be out for nearly 12 hours, in torrential rain and mud so yes on occasion she stays in. Seems perfectly happy with it and if I asked her what she wants to do, I'm sure she would ask to stay in the dry with a big haynet 😊

 

[Akarno]

Love the replies to this. I also turn out every day, no matter what the weather (unless hurricane'esque!) even if it's for only a short time. Physically, psychologically I feel it's better to go out for even just a short while rather than stand in 24/7. I've seen my warmblood reverse up a hill to keep her face out of a battering rain storm. Whilst I wouldn't leave her out 24/7 in that weather or without some kind of shelter I don't think the odd blast of elements will do her any harm. Particularly when she's a pampered stable princess during the long dark winter nights.

I never felt great at a yard that would keep them in all day in weather I didn't feel was that awful, though I get a previous posters point about protecting the ground where it's necessary.

 

[Kat]

Absolutely not. It would stress her out no end! One of my priorities for her care is regular daily turnout, I would never go to a yard that stopped you turning out in bad weather. The only times she stays in other for veterinary reasons are if the snow and ice are so bad it is unsafe or if the hunt are coming through (twice a year and everything stays in for the day). If she stays in I make sure she gets plenty of exercise.