for those who keep grass kept Horses

LaurenBay

LaurenBay

Well-Known Member
Joined
15 November 2010
Messages
6,037
Location
Essex
Visit site
What can't you live without in the winter for a grass kept Horse?

Just trying to stock up before winter hits, I've only ever stabled so not sure if I have overlooked something?

What do you store your bits and bobs in? I have a little garden box which is lockable, but i won't be able to hang wet rugs in and I certainly don't want to put them in my car to transport home!

So far I have a poo picker, broom, wheelbarrow and garden box for first aid stuff, boots, headcollars etc which I lock. I've fenced off the parts that I wanted (6ft ditch which runs along the whole of the field) but haven't split the field. I will have 3 small Horses on 4.5 acres. I asked my very helpful dad and other half to insulate the auto water drinker pipes to make sure that doesn't freeze. I've asked for some wooden pallets so I can store haylege and I will cover this with tarp, there is space for this outside the field but need farmers permission to put it there. Is it best to just chuck on floor (there is a dry patch under a huge tree) or get/build some sort of hay feeder?
 
A good head torch and some sort of hard standing. Even if it's just pavelock on top of sand. That's if you don't have somewhere out of field, of course! I used to store my haylage outside on a pallet and chuck on the ground (think about some grass mats under the tree). Didn't bother with tarp (depending on the tarp, it will weather very quickly in the frosts and leak anyway!). I'd also get some water containers because at some point your system will freeze, even if insulated. I use old de-ionised water 20L containers.
 
This year is the first time mine will have to come in at night - fields at new yard get too boggy - so I have the opposite problems in trying to think about what mucking out stuff I'll need.

Have you got anywhere at all to hang rugs? Any form of makeshift shelter where they can drip is useful. If not, then just get really good quality ones that won't get soaked through and can go straight back on the horses. If you've got a dry patch under the tree then personally I wouldn't invest in a hay feeder just yet - see how they get on. I built a track around my last paddock so they trashed the outside over winter and the inside was preserved for better weather. I made sure they had access to the big hedge for shelter.

Water last winter was a nightmare because the pipes froze for days. When they melted for a bit I got 2 huge trugs up there (it was a bit of a trek to my paddock) and filled them up before the next freeze. Even though mine are in at night this winter, we're still having extra trugs in the field when it gets cold!
 
Pig oil for legs (I add a 10ml bottle of tea tree oil to a litre of pig oil), and a water spray bottle for various mud related tasks (cleaning feet for the farrier/sluicing the odd wound)
Old rug leg straps for securing feed buckets to the fence posts so they don't blow away, and I can pull them through the fence to dump feed into.
I use a plastic pallet crate as a hay feeder - which saves loads of wastage, and I rake up old hay into a pile (which they often use as a mattress). If the ground is particularly wet - I put a big bale of straw in a dryish bit, which they pull apart, nibble on, and sleep on
 
didn't think of spray bottles of water! I shall get some and old towels.

We have quite a large area of dry ground so i wanted to put the hay there so that they wouldn't be standing in a boggy patch and not tread the hay into the ground.

I have some water containers already. will be a pain filling them though. Luckily can park right outside the gate so wont have far to go! I have grass mats down in the main gateway but may get a few more for around the water and second gateway (2 entrances to field!)
 
Fence off an area around the gate and use it for grooming, tacking up and farrier's visits if you do not have hardstanding. It will stay mud free over the Winter. Personally I buy Mark Todd and Horseware rugs and they stay on. The only time a rug will come off the horse other than for a check up, grooming or riding is for repairs or cleaning.
 
It is definitely worth getting some form of portable hay feeder to a) save the ground and b) reduce wastage. Ours look like big black water troughs and have an easily removable plastic grill to stop the hay flying out in the wind. They are easy to drag around the field and have made a huge difference to the poaching of the ground as there is almost no hay to trample into the mud. Well worth the initial investment, they have genuinely made our lives so much easier.

We also keep a second water trough filled at all times which gives us a few extra days if the pipes freeze.

Otherwise, pig oil or equivalent for their legs and a good stiff dandy brush for the mud!
 
I find as soon as take wet rugs off the horse, they tend to become wet through. However good quality. Fine if don't take off but need to take off to ride etc.

I think you'll need a way of drying rugs. Might need to hang on fence / shove in bin liner and take home?

Head torch, towels, pig oil, sieve and hammer for ice on troughs. I used feeding tyres, and had a hardcore and grass matted hay feeding area and used Hayhutches.

Plus hard core in gateways.
 
Another for good quality rugs that can stay on, they dry much quicker on the horse - I find it a struggle to get them dry hung up indoors without some form of heating (our tack room isn't that fancy), so wouldn't even want to dry hanging them up to dry outside!
 
If your rug really feels damp after being taken off for an hour, a sweat rug between the horse and the turnout rug will enable the horse to stay warm and dry and the outer rug will dry from the horse's body heat. You can then remove the sweat rug at your next visit. I have never tried to dry my horse's outdoor rugs without an electric rug drier which was supplied by the yard owner of a posh livery place once in my lifetime (when I was rich!)
 
Put a slightly deflated plastic ball ( I used a half size pracitise rugby ball) in the water trough. It keeps a space ice free which makes breaking ice easier. My horse learnt to push the ball out of the way so she could drink. Which is fine but I could not teach her to push it back!
 
Pig oil, I also use a very small amount on manes/tails to stop the mud sticking. I dont rug, so that saves the hassle and worry of whether they are warm enough or soaked through.

Round feeder is a life saver - they dont actually eat any more than when I put nets in (ad lib) daily, because there is even less wastage. Make sure it is in a position close by a gate so your whole field doesnt get churned up by the delivery, or even better by a fence where it can be lowered in from the road.
 
A plastic colander for removing thick ice. Good rugs if needed and I never use less than a medium weight. Salt both for feeds and any slippy bits. I am hoping the landlord has used the extra rent we paid to put grass matting of some sort in the walkway. If he hasnt I will get him to put a small gate in the end nearest the road so we can get out onto the lane. Warm clothes for your torso if your core is warm you will be warm. Oh has hand warmers as he gets cold hands while poo picking
 
thanks all, she won't be ridden as fully retired and no Horse is removed from the field or ridden. We do have a hardcore area outside the gate so I can always get her out for farrier visit (I've put tie rings up and bailing twine on the outside for this) I will 100% be looking into a hay feeder. We are planning on haylege. my Horse has a dust allergy and has always had soaked hay up until now. I cannot soak the hay as too difficult to do, so I will switch to haylege.

I have been putting pig oil on her legs already to build up a layer and trying not to brush her legs at all. I will cut her tail much shorter and plait it for the winter too. Just bought a brand new medium weight turnout, I'm hoping she won't need more then this as she won't be clipped. I do have a 300g though just in case.

I have a sieve already as I clean the trough every other day, didn't think of a hammer for the ice though! field has plenty of natural shelter but I was thinking about putting some 6ft fence panels up in an C shape as a wind breaker? has anyone done this? Horse used to be wild until she was 3 and half so she has lived out previously.
 
Much of what has already been said is all great, I would add to that a couple of rechargeable led work lights from B&Q or screwfix. as you can really see what you are doing when the light goes and pop them on the ground or prop them on a fence to give good work light during the winter months.
 
Head torch! A good one with a spare set of batteries to hand.
Hammer and colander for breaking/scooping ice in winter.
Tarpaulin over hay is a massive PITA and I've found you still lose a lot to the weather. At my yard I would love to put down some paving slabs (so often found cheap/free on Facebook groups) fence around the area with windbreaks and have tall posts in each corner to stretch a tarpaulin across as a 'roof'. All temporary but less faff than keeping a tarpaulin on.
I definitely recommend feeding hay from a feeder, substantially less is wasted and put down a separate bit of straw if 'bedding' is needed. Something to stop the hay feeder blowing away is a good idea too!
For rugs, are you able to put a garden shed up at all? (Again often found cheap or free on Facebook groups particularly if you are able to dismantle and collect yourself) then you have somewhere dry? When I kept my horse on a VERY basic grass livery arrangement I had a garden chest box and 2 black feed bins and that was it, we coped, you do :) often the best way to dry a rug unless it is really really sodden is just to leave it on the horse to dry presuming the weather isn't barmy and the horse won't cook until you take it off.
Worth letting manes grow out for extra warmth in winter too if possible.
 
Waterproof gloves.
Luggage bungees for sealing haylage wrappers...cut a small hole and poke the hooks through so you can seal any flap against the weather.
 
Decent rugs,Rambo for mine & have 2 so I've got a spare,I use liners so few spares of those for when I need to wash them. I also use rug bibs as he rubs badly so at least 3-4 of those as I change it every couple of days. Pig oil for legs & I like the anti mud sprays as well. Aromaheel for any little flare ups of mudfever. Lots of feed buckets so I can make feeds in advance & a good selection of haynets,ours come down to a barn for ad lib hay. Decent hard standing,also ours are on a big field so no poo picking until spring! When he was clipped & in work I used to use a fleece neck cover under his rugs when it was really cold. That about does me,love having them out 24/7 all year, winter is much less hassle & my horse is happier & healthier for it.
 
prodigal2 said:
Much of what has already been said is all great, I would add to that a couple of rechargeable led work lights from B&Q or screwfix. as you can really see what you are doing when the light goes and pop them on the ground or prop them on a fence to give good work light during the winter months.
Click to expand...

Love this!!!!! Would 100% need one of these for evening checks. Will also grab a head torch.
 
To be honest I am not sure she will even use a shelter. We are lucky that we have a hedge all the way along one side, a massive oak tree (currently sectioned off, bl**dy Acorns!) and a wooded area for shade/shelter. Never see them use it though to get out of the rain!

A shed would be a good idea to hang rugs in! Not sure they would dry overnight though and I don't want to have to put a damp rug back on her. I'd rather just put the rug back on her to dry I think.

Ok so I need a LED light, Headtorch, Hammer, spray bottles, towels and a large bin for water. SO glad I made this thread!
 
Agree with all the above - we then built a field shelter with an attached tack room and got some playground mats free to make an dry area for feet :D the horses would rather stand in the middle of the field when its raining than in the shelter though....

Rug wise mine live out without unless there is wind + rain in which case the sensitive one gets a rain sheet on. I only buy horseware rambo rugs, best things ever and you do not want 50 £20 rugs to deal with that constantly leak/need drying/washing etc
 
What you need is a brick on a string. Place brick in trough. When frozen, lift out brick by the string, and the ice comes with it. Takes only seconds, and you don't get wet :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top