Horse not turn out?

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Melanie Jones

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I have a horse ( very good one ) on loan and he does not turn out and cannot be lunged! i don't know what to do ... coz he is only going to get fresher and fresher through the winter.... any suggestions ??? :) Thank you X
 
He will not settle and comes in in a white lather. I have had competition horses like this before but i have been able to lunge them! I am going to teach him to lunge so eventually he can be worked like that once a week.

And thank you for your polite comment about 'Riding the thing' ... I am not an idiot and do realise that horses need to be ridden. A fit competition horse being ridden in severe wind and rain is not always the safest thing when it's been in its box the rest of the time.
 
Maybe some time would be well spent reintroducing turnout so that the horse learns its the best part of its day!
Is it the same with or without company? Even a short amount of time for it to stretch its legs will take the edge off.
Do you have access to an arena in which horse can be let loose in to work off some energy? Loose school it?
I dont imagine lunging it once a week will be make much difference.
 
Well, if it cannot be turned out or lunged, the only other options are:
ride the thing
put it on the horse walker
walk it out in hand

The less you ride it, the fresher it will get and the more difficult it will be to ride in ''extreme weather''.
 
Yes we do have a school, which i ride him in on average 5 times a week, then he gets hacked 1 day a week and then 1 day off. If he was my own horse then yes i would turn him out and re introduce, unfortunately it is in my loan agreement not to. But i will speak to the owners in due course about this. It is always hard when they are on loan. But as soon as the owners trust me enough with my decisions then hopefully they will reconsider. Loose schooling wouldn't be an option. He is a showjumper and would definitely jump straight out!

It seems that the majority of you are thinking along the same lines as me but at this precise moment there is not much more i can do. He is taking for grass in hand twice a day .. ridden everyday! better just sit tight i think!! :)
 
Melanie Jones said:
Yes we do have a school, which i ride him in on average 5 times a week, then he gets hacked 1 day a week and then 1 day off. If he was my own horse then yes i would turn him out and re introduce, unfortunately it is in my loan agreement not to. But i will speak to the owners in due course about this. It is always hard when they are on loan. But as soon as the owners trust me enough with my decisions then hopefully they will reconsider. Loose schooling wouldn't be an option. He is a showjumper and would definitely jump straight out!

It seems that the majority of you are thinking along the same lines as me but at this precise moment there is not much more i can do. He is taking for grass in hand twice a day .. ridden everyday! better just sit tight i think!! :)
Click to expand...

Personally I would not give a day off to a horse that stands for 23 hours everyday in his stable - At least hack at a walk. I would also be walking this horse out in hand if need be at least once a day in the morning for a leg stretch and some fresh air and hand grazing for as long as possible.

Can I please ask, when you took on this share horse - And the owner said, no lunging and no turnout... What did you say/do? ... say; Sure that's fine? I mean, didn't you enquire about why your horse wasn't allowed out? or not to be lunged? Did you ask what alternatives you had or even to discuss this further? Did they give reasons? How long have you had him like this?

Thanks,

p.s I am not trying to come across as being rude - tricky sometimes when you write your thoughts down as they can read quite differently to how they had been intended.
 
heidirusso said:
Personally I would not give a day off to a horse that stands for 23 hours everyday in his stable - At least hack at a walk. I would also be walking this horse out in hand if need be at least once a day in the morning for a leg stretch and some fresh air and hand grazing for as long as possible.

Can I please ask, when you took on this share horse - And the owner said, no lunging and no turnout... What did you say/do? ... say; Sure that's fine? I mean, didn't you enquire about why your horse wasn't allowed out? or not to be lunged? Did you ask what alternatives you had or even to discuss this further? Did they give reasons? How long have you had him like this?

Thanks,

p.s I am not trying to come across as being rude - tricky sometimes when you write your thoughts down as they can read quite differently to how they had been intended.
Click to expand...

Ditto this. It just doesn't sound practical. Some horses cope very well with no or very limited turnout - others don't.
 
We had a pony that when it came to the yard hated being turned out. Charged about the field, jumped out and all that. Eventually we found she went out quite happily in a round pen. I think it was the high sides and enclosed space she liked which I know sounds rediculous but I think she felt insecure without walls! We put cloth up to the side of the pen so the walls appeared solid, with windows so she could see out. Not quite the same as proper turn out, but gives them a leg stretch and some fresh air and certianly saves on the mucking out! Hope you find a solution :)
 
If you seriously have issues with this agreement why did you take him on? In the past horse owners were not so obsessed with turn out and happily just rode exercise daily. There certainly were not the arenas around then either!:rolleyes:
 
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