gateway nightmare!!!

My boy fence walks- the moment I appear on the yard until I've been to sort him out! If I can watch unseen from a distance , he can be quite happily grazing, the moment he spots me on the yard he'll fence walk til I've been over to do whatever I'm doing with him, either bringing in, hay-in, feeding, re-rugging or just a pat to say hello . If I go to the yard to receive a hay delivery and don't need to go to see him , he'll walk the fenceline the entire time I'm there!! He's turned out in good grazing , with his equine friends! Drives me bonkers!
 
She did it through summer too she is first in so its not friends being taken away she still has grass in her field and is given hay which she choses to leave so IMO not a hunger issue either, bringing her in earlier unless i employ a freelance groom to do so is not possible as i cant leave work any earlier than i do now and there is no one else around at our yard during the day so that would be my only option
 
flipthelid said:
Those of you that have said you would rather continue to t/o every day rather than every other/3 times a week, please could you give me your reasons? Not wanting to start an argument/cause offense, just genuinely interested in others views and opinions. If my mare is turned out every day at the moment ( disgustingly wet fields, not a great amount of grass but several companions) after a few hours she just traipses up and down the fence in mud OR gallops around like a lunatic until I bring her in. If she goes out every other or every third day, she's pretty settled and will stay out all day. In the summer she will happily be out 24/7 so it's only in this weather. She's plenty warm enough and not at all interested if I put haylage out. She's exactly the same with friends or alone.
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If it works for your mare then you are obviously doing the right thing. I personally prefer to turn out every day for a few hours than every other day for the whole day in winter. The horses are turned out in the sand turnout during the wettest days of the winter. Even with haylage out, I find they are more than ready to come in after three hours. It would be much less work for me to turn out on alternate days, but I feel that 3 hours every day must be better for their joints and circulation than 6 hours every other day. I just am a believer that horses should have the opportunity to be turned out every single day whatever the weather. However, if I had one horse that absolutely hated it, so long as they were being exercised, then I would be prepared to keep them in.
 
such as full livery? i simply cannot afford to be on full livery on what i earn and yards around me which provide assisted DIY are few and far between and not to mention full im afraid
 
Pixxie said:
such as full livery? i simply cannot afford to be on full livery on what i earn and yards around me which provide assisted DIY are few and far between and not to mention full im afraid
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No, I was thinking about assisted DIY. I'd certainly consider it, and put yourself on a waiting list.
 
Is there another livery who could put your horse out a bit later before they go to work (maybe about 7.30 or 8) who would like you to bring in for them when you get back? Mine has churned up a lot of my field when she was settling in it is horrendous, thankfully she has settled down now which is good as she lives out 24/7 (and did at her old home).

Maybe it is because of the daylight change and she expects to be brought in around when it gets dark?
 
Is she out with others her age, what is the group size etc.

I'd probably tuck myself out the way for a day and just watch her and see whats triggering it.

Is she bored, is she chased out of the group, is it when she spots a walker etc, is she grazing out in the field (have a nightmare when horses are winter fed in the field as most simply stop grazing, then weaning them off when grass is nice is quite painful, some will happily gate hang all day and reuse to graze initially)
 
Wagtail, I totally agree, I think a few hours turnout everyday would be much nicer but unfortunately work constraints etc make this pretty impossible without paying someone to bring in/turnout. We have a sand pen to use but it's more flooded than the fields at the moment!! So princess pony is certainly not happy standing in sandy water up to her fetlocks - she's such a diva bless her! The days she's in she gets exercised - either ridden or lunged, goes on the walker and is hand grazed and she seems to be happy and settled. Looking forward to being able to turnout 24/7 again already though, as many have said, it's going to be a looooooong winter!
 
I do hope you manage to resolve your prob.

Hope this doesn't make bad reading for you, but Giant Fuzzy fence runs.....
He's been out 24/7 with me since Feb & still does it if he thinks there is human movement in the yard.
However, if brought in - he then weaves hard if stressed (in his opinion).
In previous yard he had a fully managed routine - out at 8 & in at 3 - still weaved for england & fence ran if bored/stressed/anyone came into sight.
He does it with company or without, so he's on his own with others over the fence as I cannot afford for mine to be caught up in his random sprinting :rolleyes:

To sum up: some will carry on & never get out of it, some can be cracked tho.
I've used zig-zag electric for some, others have had long poles rammed in at random intervals along the fence & one just thrived when on Blue Chip!
I wll add that I ran a (pretty sucessful) re-hab (riding) yard so have had to deal with some of lifes nutters in the horseworld.

Good luck :)
 
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flipthelid said:
Those of you that have said you would rather continue to t/o every day rather than every other/3 times a week, please could you give me your reasons? .
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I think because this mare has not been used to being turned out in the past, it is worth perservering to get her used to the idea and get her in tune with her owner's routine. I don't think it is healthy for a horse to spend 24 hours a day in a stable on a regular basis, and sometimes it is not always possible for owners to provide alternative exercise to make up for lack of turnout, so learning to accept daily turnout is a useful skill for a horse to have!
 
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