Getting horses in before it gets dark

I like to get mine in before its dark, so that once they are in, I can poo pick their fields, and let their electric fencing out ready for the morning. ( strip grazing ) They do go out at 6.30am, so I dont feel guilty. :)
 
Ellie is ready to come in about 3ish so it`s safer to fetch her or she will just start being a prat :( and she is at the top of a hill so there is no way l can bring her in late. She has afull haynet and a trough full of oat straw and then friend does late checks and puts a bucket of hay in then, and yo gives her another bucket of hay at 7.30. So she never goes very long without forage :)
 
I don't think Mollie cares how dark it is as long as she's not alone! However the walk to the field is so muddy it's hard to find safe places to put your feet in the dark, so I'd rather bring her in while there's a bit of light left.

I fell flat in the mud bringing her in when it was dark two days ago! :o
 
From about 4, horses are stood t the top of the field wanting to come in rather than down grazing. So long as they have enough forage to much when in, I don't see the problem?
 
Most of our yard is out pretty early and then they come in around 4pm. Some bring in before they do the school run, others pay to have them brought in. Just because our horses come in early doesn't mean they are left from 4pm until 5.30am the next day. Nearly everyone does all the yard duties in the morning before work so they go out any time between 5.30 am and 7am. We have them brought in so that we are not tramping round wrecked fields in the dark looking for horses, they are in and happy, we then groom/ride/do whatever after work and then feed and hay, as most work or have to come down after kids are in bed our horses actually "go to bed" quite late. They are happy, we are happy, the girl that does livery is happy. Can't really see the issue!
 
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If you have to walk (and i mean thru a field (or more than 1 field!) not across some hardstanding,say)whilst leading one or two horses in the dark,I think it's a safety issue. Add in mud,possible rain & wind(more likely now than in spring/summer) and any horses left behind who then go on to prat about,def even more of a safety issue. They are spookier in the dark. It's darker at night now than in summer. And as the YO,I do not want my fields churning up by the bombing around that ensues(even with the quiet,ploddy individuals,let alone the loony WB's!) if its going dark at bring-in! Just saying;)
 
the idea of slip sliding around in the mud with an eager to come in horse is bad already nevermind in the dark! She wants to come in so obviously been out long enough.
 
All of mine come in and go back out again in the dark, if I allowed myself to mind or worry about the dark, I'd never see them!

I don't use a head torch either, hate the things, only fallen down a rabbit hole once in about 15 years :D
 
Guido16. Exactly! Haha. My lad doesn't come in til 6 and its pitch black but normally I'll call him and he'll come to the gate or he's already waiting to come in whinnying his head off til I let him in!
 
When I'm working, mine come in once clocks have changed (or at least out of the big field into a small one) around 5.30pm.
They then go out (on a work day) at 6 - and its dark then too!! :eek::rolleyes:

Otherwise, they currently get moved around 7am on non work days & again around 4.30/5 or when it suits me :)

I poo-pick twice daily on my days off & also trail round with barrow in the bigger paddock on work nights just to where I know there is usually something to collect.

Mine come when they are called when its dark - a shout & a flash of the torch & they are at the gate :D Rope round DF's neck & I grab TF's grazing muzzle to walk them up the yard.
 
I was briefly on a yard that said the horses had to be in before dark - I didn't stay long! There's just no way I'd have mine in at 4pm, he'd be wanting back out by midnight and with his arthritis I'm not sure he'd be able to walk by morning. He may wait at the gate some days for a few hours until I fetch him in at 9pm but that's entirely his choice - he has 20 acres to keep himself occupied in so I feel no guilt. Plus I'm not home from work till after 7pm half the week and there's no way I'd have someone else bring him in.
 
At my old yard it was like that everything would be in by 4 at the latest in winter, earlier on a weekend like 3. Which really annoyed me as I preferred pony to be out as long as possible seen as turnout was limited by weather.

Moved in june and pony was meant to be out 24/7 but he started standing at the gate when it started getting dark so he's coming in most nights as not much grass in field.

Generally do have to bring him in before it's dark as the field is so big if for some reason he's not at the gate its very hard to find him, it also creeps me out walking down there on my own in the dark as it's quite a way from the yard and past a graveyard.
 
On our yard, everything comes in between 3 and 5, purely so as no one gets left out on their own and injures themselves charging about. They all get ad lib hay/hayledge and all have some left in the morning.
The majority are bought in early but get some kind of work in the floodlit school before bed, so are'nt bedded down until 7ish.

It is sometimes a neccessity for them to come in before dark, sometimes preference......the only bit that matters is the horses are healthy,happy and uninjured.

What works for 1 doesnt for another....doesnt make it right or wrong!
 
I'd rather catch in before it's totally dark. All the horses are by the gate as it gets dark and I don't want to be flattened cos I can't see properly! Also, the lane down to the field is very even from the vehicles that have to use it.
 
Mine come in at about 4.30 , just before it's dark . They do so because it's my yard, my horses and I can do exactly as I please . If anyone feels the need to lecture me about leaving them without sufficient amounts of things to eat , they get tea at 6pm same as the family , and hay when they come in , which is then topped up at 8.30 and again at 11pm .

It works for me , and for them .
 
Mitchyden said:
It's very annoying when I go to get mine in at 6.30 and half of them have finished their hay and are banging at the door! As most of them are on shavings beds, they then have nothing to eat for over 12 hours purely because the poor little possums can't stay out in the dark!
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To my mind this has nothing to do with bringing in before dark, but with owners who haven't got a clue how much hay a horse needs for overnight!!
 
My two that come in at night are turned out together so they're never left on their own. They get turned out in the dark and bought in in the dark at the moment, they're quite happy - and if they weren't they'd just have to deal with the dark for a few hours till I'm back from work! my sisters horse is a nightmare to lead in in the dark so he gets bought in earlier on.
 
Mine are more than ready to come in by 3-4pm and normally standing at the gate - my OH is retired, so he goes and gets them in in the afternoons for me. They normally go out about 7am - 7.30am. I think that's adequate turnout time in winter and clearly so do the horses! Nothing to do with the dark but the grass is losing it's goodness and the horses obviously think it's not as good as the haylage in their stables! My TB weaves at the gate if she wants to come in so I would prefer it if I minimised her doing this as well.
 
Mine go out any time between 6am-8am and come in anytime after 4.30 but depends on when I finish work, one day last week they were out by 6.20am and I didn't bring them in until 6.30pm so they had a good 12 hours out although I'd rather have them in earlier as its quite a long walk from field to yard
 
Mine is waiting to come in by 4 so I'd rather bring him in in the dusk than pitch black where I'd struggle to see where to put my feet in the mud, plus id rather him come in than stand in the mud bored for an hour.
 
We have a herd of 12 geldings in a massive field, we get in before dark in wimter because the first horse that doesn't like being turned out in the winter is brought in at 2pm then by 4-4.30 they start being absolute muppets because they want to come in & so we do it to avoid injury..
 
I must admit I only turn my girls out in winter if I know I'll b there to bring then in before its dark. This is because the other liveries bring theirs in and mine start running up and down the fence wanting to come in too!
 
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