Good doers living out 24/7

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starry94

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Does it work for you? I'm trying to decide what to do with my horse this summer. Last year he was out at night & in during the day over summer but this year the horse he is out with will be out 24/7.
One of the reasons i'm considering it is because i feel that when he came in last year he would eat his hay (soaked & double netted) quickly & then have nothing to eat for a long time, therefore he would end up gorging when i put him back out.
have you found if you left yours out 24/7 they don't gorge?
thanks!
 
Mine are out 24/7 with adlib hay. Two are good doers, two are in hard work, one of the two in hard work needs extra food. They don't gorge on hay, they eat when they want and graze the virtually non existent grass as well.
 
Mine lives out with a muzzle on during the day then that comes off at night :) She is also full clipped and wears either a fly rug or rain sheet depending on the weather. I found the clipping helped her last year with both comps and weight :)

Shes out now and is on two soaked haynets and a feed perday and looks good, fit not fat :) Hunter clipped wearing a rug.
 
Mine good doer will be moving shortly to a yard that offers 24/7 turn out pretty much all year round (with the exception of a couple of months in the winter if the weather is really bad.

He'll be in a sectioned of area of field - possibly with a couple of other horses, during the day he'll come into one of the large loose barns and have access to adlib hay.

I've never managed him like this before - not sure if I'll also have to muzzle when he's turned out - will just have to see how it goes.
 
For the last couple of years my good doer has been turned out muzzled at 11.30am and brought in around 5 ish pm to the stable. I weigh & soak her hay, she has 15lbs of soaked hay in 3 elim-a-net's (5lb in each).

This is the only way I can manage her with her putting on weight. I always turn her out muzzled, this way it limits her intake and she gets exercise.
 
My good doer lives out 24/7 with 24/7 accesss to covered barns. But in the summer I do bring her in off the grass for about 5-6 hours per day, as she is a stout cob. I'm afraid she has no hay while she's in. The horses are either grazed strip-grazing wise, or some years we divide our 4.75 acres into 4 paddocks and move the three horses around.

You don't way ikf your good doer is laminitis-prone? Mine had it once only, but that was in the middle of the terrible 2010 winter and was caused, according to the get, by frozen grass and over rich haylage (she is allergic to hay).

Hope this is ome help.
 
Mine is out 24/7 year round unless we get extreme weather and field is frozen solid or underwater, then she comes in at night, but it's only been a handful of days this winter.

I use different methods to keep her out, I either make a small paddock and strip graze it, put plenty of sheep on which keeps the grass down, use a track system, which works well, or put a muzzle on if the grass is long (my least favourite method and I find they nearly always rub and wouldn't leave it on 24 hrs.)

I also feed supplementary hay or haylage all year, which keeps her gut healthy and tumy filled with fibre instead of sugary grass.

I find constant but restricted access easier to manage.
 
We strip graze them, of there looking really bad then muzzle on during day and off at night too.
They live out 24/7 and only lunged due to circumstances preventing riden work.
 
Mine is on a small bare paddock atm,feel he is a bit underweight if anything,we haven't had him long. Aiming to make sure he doesn't get fat,exercised most days especially as days get longer/weather gets better. We have got a stable he can use if need be and electric fencing,may also get a muzzle but will see how it goes. Not had our own pony b4 so its a bit of a worry coming in to spring as he is a native/cobby type.
 
Rose Folly said:
You don't way ikf your good doer is laminitis-prone? Mine had it once only, but that was in the middle of the terrible 2010 winter and was caused, according to the get, by frozen grass and over rich haylage (she is allergic to hay).

Hope this is ome help.
Click to expand...

he's never had lami as far as i know but has been borderline before i had him & when we moved yards his weight shot up suddenly when it came to spring. probably didn't help the field he was on had not been used in over a year. we split the field in 2 & there is less grass in it this year than there was last year.

will strip graze (we did last year but obviously wasn't careful enough) and will look into buying a muzzle just in case.
 
My good doer lives out 24/7, however this will be my first spring with him, so I am slightly nervous.

He will be on restricted grazing, probably strip grazed or track system, and exercised 6 days a week.
 
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