Happiness is a horse out 24/7???

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pottamus

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I recently turned my horse out 24/7 and have been surprised at how it seems to suit him. He is normally in at night to keep an eye on his weight and things being a native...but he is well worked so not normally a problem. He has access to a field stable all the time that he does use. But even my husband has commented on how he is even more friendly and chilled out than normal!
So the thought occurs to me to keep this throughout the year as we have the grazing and a permanent field stable. Would love to hear from anyone that does this currently and any positives/negatives.
Also, how do their feet cope being in wet conditions in the winter all the time?
 
Oh yes summer, bring it on - happy horses and chilled owners! Mine have been in a routine for the last 4 years, out at night and in from about 8am - 4pm ish. They have always seemed to thrive on being out more. It suits me too as they have a feed, hay net and a like down before being worked.

Their feet are very good, coats shining, mentally at ease and seem to be very happy bunnies.

If you have the land and it works for you, do it.
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ps. Much less mucking out too which is such a bonus
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I must say that Amy was out 24/7 for the whole of the summer last year for the first time in her life. She's a native, and so like you have always had to be very careful about how much grass she can actually have access to.

However, she spent 6 weeks at stud last year, and came home very slim - so no problem at all with her spending all the time in the field.

She was so relaxed, and obviously very happy. However, that was definately a one off. If we get a live foal this year then she can be out as much as she and the weather dictates. However, no foal means back to restrictions again. She is just too much of a good doer to risk it.
 
My horses have always been permanently out 24/7. Up until recently, I had a 17hh IDxTB & I've still got an ancient 1/2 TB mare.

I catch them in overnight if it's raining as I hate to think of them having nowhere dry to go (even though they've got a field shelter). TBH my field only gets wet by the gate as we're on sand, so we never get knee deep mud, & before we got our own place, they were on chalk, which was much the same.

My old mare is 34 & gets v cross if she's brought in, even if the weather's atrocious.

Just get yourself some good rugs & you'll be fine.
 
Murphy has just started going back out 24/7 and its bliss. Even though I havent put a rug on him today and it looks like rain - eeek. It makes life easier and I only have to go down once a day as the YO keeps an eye on them in the day-time!!
 
This Winter has been the best winter I have ever had in 20 + years of keeping horses. I never once thought "Oh gawd, I hate winter, go away"!

I have a decent sized field shelter with a round bale feeder in side it. I kept it full of haylage. I mucked it out daily. I always have a round bale of Straw in the corner and I can keep the shelter as fluffy as I want.

The shelter in on a huge hard standing area.

My field only became muddy towards the end of the winter. When we had that last load of never ending rain.

In the summer they will use the shelter to get away from the sun and flies.

I know my horses were so much healthier and happier this winter. They have come out of winter looking good.

My ridden boy is barely ever tense anymore or neither am I. LOL
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The other thing I love about the Shelter is they are able to stand and socialise like they would out in the field. They can give each other a scratch etc. It is very sweet.
 
I've always had mine out 24/7 from Spring to Autumn, and for the last couple of years (since I had the grazing) my mare has been out through winter too. She's a cribber and because she does it considerably less when out compared to when she's in, then she is way easier to keep the weight on. I can literally feed half the hard feed when she's out 24/7 compared to being stabled at night
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(always on ab lib forage) And I agree, it certainly makes her a happier person (no mean feat for such a moody mare
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) Re. their feet, so long as your field is well enough drained, then it shouldn't be a problem.
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Mine all live out 24/7 all yaer round with no problems. They are all barefoot and the only probs I have with their feet is in the summer (when the ground is hard), when they get a bit cracked and split due to us being on a valley with very little flat land.
 
Mine all live out all year too. My old mare Minski who is 26 hates being stabled and gets very stressed, she also has arthritis and COPD. They have 6ft hedge for shelter when the weather is bad and she is rugged in the worse of the weather. My 4yr old was rugged as she was clipped, but they all coped problems. Its rare they are sheltering buy the hedge.

They get no hay and a handfull of feed and they put didn't drop any weight at all.

The field is on the side of a hill so they have plenty of dry land even when the bottom end floods. The hill the live on in not far from Newcaslte, so we have typical wet and very windy weather and they do great.
 
If he's a native I don't see any problem being out all year round. Ours are with no rugs or anything - we leave all the gates open round the farm and they have the run of 270 acres and we leave the barn open if they want to come in, which they only did once when it was snowing. And then they only came in for a couple of hours to fill up on hay and get dry and then they were off again. so left to their own devices a horse will always prefer to be out. Try it and see.
 
I've tried all sorts of combinations over the years, and far prefer horses living out 24/7, though I appreciate that it's not always possible - it depends on the horses requirements.

Interestingly, for me anyway, Snowy (the TB I'm trying to get weight on) is fairing far better living out than he was in a stable.
He got terribly stressed when kept in, box walking and cribbing, and I do wonder if this contributed in some way to him losing weight...
 
Mine live out in a large field with natural shelter, in a mixed herd, both of them are natives, both wear rugs when the weathers bad, both come in to be worked, fed etc and to keep them out of the flies and watch their weight in summer.
When I got Lady (very neurotic rescue pony) she was clipped from September, heavily rugged, fed lots of hard feed and wasn't turned out if it was raining etc, these days she's unclipped, only wears rugs when needed, lives out mostly and fed on a forage based diet and she so much happier and better behaved.... Theres a lot to be said for keeping horses as naturally as possible in my opinion
 
i dont normally stable mine but i have had to this year they changed alot but have been out 24/7 for 2 weeks now and their characters are flooding back they are alot happier
 
well, When I went to view the kids pony he'd never been stabled. Had always lived the life of riley lol.
We got him home and being mid Jan he had to be in at night, and could only go out on good days, as the ground was quite bad. He seemed to be okay being in, didnt stress or anything, and had plenty to keep him occupied, and lots of walks etc.

I have just turned him out 24/7, and the difference in him is amazing. He has no field shelter, but a big hedge at the bottom of the field, out of the wind, and trees, and I rug him if need be. But he is sooo chilled now. He is again the pony we viewed!
I would say the difference is only slight, but enough for me to be happy that the winter has gone, and swear that if I can I will have him out 24/7/365.
He's a native fattie, and i just muzzle him in the day. I feed him black sunflower seeds, happy hoof and daily vits and mins, and his hooves are amazing. So good the farrier rarely has to trim them, only checkup.
 
our pony would live out 24/7 if she could, she doesnt care for being in the stable much! she will be out all the time around the beginning of may, i think i will need to restrict her grazing this summer though as last year she was looking rather barrel like!
 
my horse is out 24/7 all yr round - he's a welsh cob, but not a very hardy one. i clip him and rug him and he's fine. he hates being stabled and weaves and box walks so it's much better for him to be out. His feet are much better in winter than summer where the mud keeps them moist and he's never had mud fever. he gets plenty of sugar beet and other fibre feeds to keep him warm and loves it.
 
My natives live out nearly all the time, as did my IDxTB.

Interestingly my Welsh Cob who used to get seriously thin in winter, I found didn't get so thin if she was left out 24/7 than if brought in at night! Though she never seems that bothered being in or out.

Our ground is seriously boggy - in fact a swamp.
For the first time ever, my shettie got the beginnings of mud fever this year, so they both came in at night for 6 weeks. But that mud is due to them living out full time on 1/2 acre.

I'm careful with the Shettie in the summer and he has his own summer paddocks. He's never had Laminitis, and I hope he never will as I'm very strict about his grazing and he gets a fair bit of exercise.

So apart from that, they're absolutely fine out. I find they never use the field shelter in the winter, only in summer to keep out of the flies. So in the wind and rain they stand with their bums to the wind, but I have no sympathy if they won't use a warm and hay-filled shelter!

I reckon just about anything can live out full time as long as it's fed and rugged properly. it's just the type of land/soil you have that can cause the probs.
 
Of course every horse should be turned out. And Im quite surprised that so many people seem to ASK about leaving a horse out 24/7 (surely it always be done if possible, without doubt?!).

All the horses I have ever owned have lived out 24/7. This includes natives, TB's, WB, Arab and Anglo Arabs etc. My current TB x is clipped over the winter but again, he lives out very happily with a very cosy full neck rug on (or 2).

I have 2 shelters for mine which 2 of them especially do use in the winter (although TBH, they use them more in the summer!). Ive never had any problems keeping any of mine out, 1 dropped weight every winter but she stressed in the stable too so that wouldnt have helped anyway. Only 1 of my horses has ever showed the slightest sign of mud fever.

As long as they have access to decent shelters, feed, rugs (if needed) and loads of hay then they'll be happy as ever!
 
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