Field shelters. Why do we bother!!

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Grumpymoo

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I got to the yard this morning and it was so wet and windy. Last night I had left a big haynet in the field shelter and a couple of piles of hay next to it too.

Guess where they were?! The other end of the field tucked up under a leafless tree. They had eaten most of the hay outside but hadn't even gone into the field shelter!

Then I look over to the other field and my friends two horses were stood tucked up next to the shelter rather than in it.

What's the point eh :)
 
ROFL .... I have just said the same thing to my hubs !!! Same as you, haynets hung in shelter, and horses stood at the top of the field looking wet and miserable lolol !!!
 
Glad to hear I am not alone daisy. I ended up taking their hay for today and putting it under the tree as they obviously prefer it there. I am such a soft touch. I left the haynet tho just in case!

Baubles your horses are clearly cleverer than mine! :)
 
Oh noooo! I am AT THIS MINUTE building a field shelter (well, have just nipped in from nailing up some cladding), which I fully expect to be ignored............or p'raps not. We shall see; at least I can sleep easy when it wet and wind is howling outside. They'll have a choice; up to them.
 
Mine do use theirs. The older one likes snoozing in it in the summer & they like to have hay in there in the winter.
 
You never know Cortez they may love it :) and you're right I rather they have a choice. I feel guilty if they don't have access to a shelter if they do decide they need it.

Good luck with the building!! :)
 
Bud has his stable and a shelter in his field, and on a day like today when he has the option of being in the cosy dry or out in the pouring rain and wind.....where does he opt to be.....yep out in the rain! His choice! Thankfully he is rugged up well so I don't feel too guilty.
 
Some horses just don't like them. We have a mare here that won't go in at all, ever. The others, if they get caught in the rain will not think to make their way to the shelter. They only go in for food or to get out of the sun. They will go in to get out of the rain if they happen to be near it when the rain starts. But horses instincts in bad weather is to turn their tails to the wind and shut down. It is VERY hard to move them if it's tipping it down. They don't think to walk into the wind to get to the field shelter. It goes against their instincts. It is new behaviour that they have to learn.
 
Most years mine have ignored the shelter (infact they've used it more in summer to avoid the heat/ flys) but this year they've barely been out for weeks the rain is so bad !!

Lovely that they have the choice and can make their own minds up
 
Agree with Wagtail, horses instinctively turn their bums to wind and rain, tuck their heads down and move minimally. It doesn't mean that they are sad or depressed or cold, they are just behaving instinctively to conserve heat and energy.

Mine will disregard their shelter in cold, wet, windy weather all winter but will use it prolifically in the summer to have a bit of respite from the flies and/or the midday sun (this THIS year, obviously!!). And I'm happy for them to do this as to me it is nature's way of stopping them from continually stuff-stuff-stuffing grass. None of those fly rugs or masks, I force them to take a break and thus, stop eating!
 
Mine never go near shelter in winter, however bad the weather is.
But they spend hours in there in the summer.
If people keep their horses stabled at the moment to save their land, that makes sense. If you do it for their benefit, forget it, they don't care about rain.
 
ribbons said:
Mine never go near shelter in winter, however bad the weather is.
But they spend hours in there in the summer.
If people keep their horses stabled at the moment to save their land, that makes sense. If you do it for their benefit, forget it, they don't care about rain.
Click to expand...

Here here!

My pony lives out 24/7 with 2 other ponies. They are happy as Larry with shelter (that they dont use) and hay. The other horses on the yard have been in for a couple of days as they dont like the rain... Instead they are stuck in dirty stables (only mucked out once a day) with not much hay but the other liveries say they enjoy their duvet days. I suppose that's why when I got there this morning one was weaving, one was door kicking, one was head shaking, one was winnying very loudly, and the others stood very sedately. It actually upset me, but they arent my animals so its up to the owners to chose their fate. :(
 
Mine spend hours in their shelter during the summer but don't seem to use it in the winter. We have a stable yard with four stables and when the weather is bad I leave the gate open so that they can bring themselves into the stables if they want to. And they always do!! They much prefer the stables to the field shelter and sometimes spend all day in them when the weather is foul, as it is at the moment.
 
We have 3 that live out 24/7 and we relocated our field shelter a few years back. Still, they would generally stand outside it as opposed to in and the boss pony woud stand across the entrance so noone could get in! However, I got my youngster 2 years ago and he loves the field shelter! We have half of it with rubber matting in and will put straw down in there as well.

Well, when we first did this he decided that was good enough to be his 'stable' and it soon became apparent he was having a good old sleep in there flat out on a night! The fact that he does this seems to have encouraged my old (boss) pony to use it more too - he's a bit funny about getting 'trapped' in places hencewhy probably would never get himself penned in it. Now though, they have a haybar and hay rack in there and the young and the old spend a lot of time in there sharing the hay. It has been used a lot in this wet weather recently.
 
My two aged Shetlands love their shelter. I have seen them put their heads down and run into it if it starts pelting down. They also rest in there. I'm pleased to say they use it a lot as it cost a months wages to buy it for them.
 
Haha!


My boy loved his when he shared it with his pal. I came out one morning after house sitting it find him(14hh) wedged in with his 17hh friend! So cute.
 
This is about as close as the ginger one gets :rolleyes: Ironic when shes the thinner coated one
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Quite often find the friesian in there if I leave some hay in there but I dont want that fat lump standing toasty warm munching grrr! :p
 
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