Following on from the livery thread...some thoughts

chaps89 said:
I agree in general, however I did chuckle a bit at this, as I'm the opposite, I like mine to live out for my convenience.
I can get up twice a day but morning might be any time between 6am and 9.30am and evening might be any time from 4.30pm to 8pm.
That works great when they're out, but when part stabled it doesn't work at all! So my life is a lot more complicated when I have her stabled and it's alot more convenient to have her out.
(Unfortunately for me I also have a metabolic horse so not one that can live out. D'oh!)
Click to expand...

Haha, yes that is true! I was thinking more of the convenience of having a clean, dry horse to ride. But yes, them living out is more to my convenience from the not having to get up as early point of view! It was much more complicated and restrictive when the 6yo was stabled and out for a few hours a day in a pen.
 
chaps89 said:
I agree in general, however I did chuckle a bit at this, as I'm the opposite, I like mine to live out for my convenience.
I can get up twice a day but morning might be any time between 6am and 9.30am and evening might be any time from 4.30pm to 8pm.
That works great when they're out, but when part stabled it doesn't work at all! So my life is a lot more complicated when I have her stabled and it's alot more convenient to have her out.
(Unfortunately for me I also have a metabolic horse so not one that can live
Click to expand...

Yeah, I never understood why people cite convenience either- it takes me 5 mins to grab the horse in from the field and flick the mud off any bits the rug doesn't cover. Then 2 mins to chuck her back out in the field.
That's significantly more convenient than having to be there at set times at either end of the day, to muck out, do waters, bed down, feed hay etc.
She also then doesn't need lots of walking to warm up/ cool down at the start and end of a session as she hasn't been stood still for hours and will go out and carry on wandering around.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SEL
In an ideal world I would love to be able to give mine 24/7 turnout all year round and offer it, sadly our land is low lying clay, I have put drainage through it and it works to a certain degree, so have had to come up with a compromise, as soon as the fields are dry enough horses can go out 24/7 when it starts to get properly muddy they come off the fields (unless snows)this is normally late November however this year was mid November. We have large 16 x 16 being the smallest stable and 20 x 20 being the largest all very airy, we have a winter turnout out pen that is 30 x 20 with a field shelter and an indoor 20 x 20 turnout pen, horses can be out as much or as little as owners/horses want all night all day. Then as soon as fields are dry enough they are back out 24/7 which thanks to the drying winds the last few days they went out yesterday 24/7 if people want. We do have a horsewalker, solarium, hot shower large school too but it is a large work in progress still and not posh. This provides fantastic grazing all through summer and good grazing the minute they can go back out on fields. Means the fields are safe with no knee high ruts for horses to trip in, saves them skidding about in wet fields (they have been known to be worse than Streatham Ice Rink when hard underneath still) and pulling tendons, muscles etc. This winter we have been lucky where a lot of local yards have had to stop turnout for a few weeks due to flooded fields with no additional provision in place, we have carried on as normal. With winters getting wetter and wetter in this area turnout pens are becoming more and more the answer to livery yards.

The sad thing is i have a 10 acre fields that i can rent next door that is slightly higher than mine and slopes into a dyke so drain rather well but the farm will not rent it for horses to graze as they trash it.
 
Pippity said:
I'm in the early stages of planning my move to Ireland, and I'm dreading the hunt for a livery yard. I'm pretty flexible on where I live (requirements: in easy commuting distance of an airport with direct flights to
office; I can afford to live there) but I need a yard that offers good turnout and, crucially, good livery services. I've got no idea where to even start looking!
Click to expand...



Hi PM me if you decide you want to look near Shannon airport I live 10 minutes away ?
 
Mine get stabled if they have to be on vet’s orders. That is it. Minor lameness = a week or two off in the field, getting too cold = more rugs. That’s it really! But mine were nearly all bought when young and this is all most of them have known.

Happiness though, is good friends. My oldest mare has issues and spent nearly two years stabled to keep her alive. We took down part of the wall between her and her mate so they could groom over it, they went into the turnout pen when she was well enough, and her friend literally kept her sane. Life has been normal for 8 years or so now, but when she lost that best friend last year, she pined badly and nearly gave up completely, despite having her other herd companions (including one she has known for 9 years and is friends with) still present. Last summer we bought a young, similar pony (size/breed) to do the job the older one had done. Now I have a happy horse again who eats. They are not even good friends, but just having the new one in the field reminds us all of a younger version of the one we lost. That seems to be enough for my old girl.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top