Help please-creating a shut in area for night time.

[a kind of magic]

We rent fields for our horses rather than having them on livery. We moved to a different set up this spring, we previously had a 12 acre field for 6, it flooded sometimes in winter but the grass was very rich and fast growing so it recovered well each year. We have less acreage now, 8 acres, but the land isn't as wet, and the grazing not as rich, which I find better for our horses.

3 acres have now been harrowed and will be rested for the winter and we have 3 on 2.5 acres and the other 3 on the other 2.5 acres. What I would like to do is create a shut in area for night time, that we can hardcore and put ground mats down to save the ground a little bit, as an alternative to bringing them in at night to a stable. What I would like to know, is are we better off creating individual shut ins for each horse, or making a bigger area for all of them and incorporating one of their field shelters? Each little herd get on well.

 

[a kind of magic]

Thought it might be worth adding, one herd is two QH mares (both 15hh) and one of their foals, the other herd is a 16hh cob gelding, 15hh paint stallion and a 13hh pony.

 

[stencilface]

I would incorporate a field shelter, or their preferred spot for windy/wet conditions - ours always prefer a thick hedge to their field shelter in the winter

 

[a kind of magic]

What sort of size shut in should we build if they are all going to be together? Obviously want to allow for the odd falling out!

 

[Herts05]

You could try a crew yard approach. Then on top of the hard core you could go for deep litter straw which you top up every other day then remove at the end of the Winter, but you will need a tractor.
Go for a windbreak type shelter with two/three sides and a roof and that should do it.

 

[mystiandsunny]

We've found that leccy fencing sections (largeish) and keeping moving them once eaten down, leaving the horses out on it all the time but supplemented with daily well-spread small piles of hay keeps the ground good and prevents fighting. When they only go out for part of the day they tend to charge around a bit too much.

If I was making a pen for 3 horses, it would be largeish - taking up more land than a pen each would, to make sure those fights don't happen. When I've seen horses in barns at night, they're about 20mx40m and house six horses or thereabouts.

 

[a kind of magic]

The boys especially are far too lazy to run around! It's their field primarily that I would like to create a corral in as it's on clay soil whereas the girls are on sandy soil. The boys have also been on their field since July (it was VERY VERY long!) whereas the girls have only just moved to the new field.

Looking up the crew yard idea, the shelter they have where I was thinking of putting the shut in is a wind break type one with a roof, but it's set back in the hedge so it's protected from one side and back too.

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

One word of warning, once you start putting areas of hardcore down the council may regard it as groundworks which require planning permission. So if you do need to do it, check this out first, or if going for an 'under the radar approach' ), try and blend it in/put it somewhere unobtrusive.

 

[Herts05]

Akindofmagic, if you PM me your email address I can email you some pics of the crew yard set up so that you can see what I was referring to

 

[flirtygerty]

We have had two yards where the horses chose to go indoors or stay out, going by the poo they chose to all go in one stable 12x12 3 horses 1 youngster, 3 stables to choose from, it was obvious some were lying down, as long as the hay was away from the stables, a round feeder in the grass stable yard we had no problems.
We are now down to 2 horses with free access to stables/hay/fields, again they chose to stand together in the same box, although I feed seperately due to my horses jealousy, all our horses have chosen to be out in the wettest/coldest of weather, it's only when there is a cold wind with rain they come in

 

[AmyMay]

Personally I'd stable. It doesn't sound as if you have enough land to do the set up you wish - without removing a significant amount of land.

 

[a kind of magic]

I would love to stable but unfortunately there are none, and we are not allowed to erect any, even mobile ones. The only livery yards nearby have a strict 'in at night' policy all year round and I prefer mine to be out as much as possible. We have their summer grazing resting and also have another field available in spring (10 acres, summer only let, available as and when we need it) should our current ones need more extensive resting so really we can afford to sacrifice a fairly large portion of their winter grazing. I am just trying to make the best of what we have.