horses in London & turnout

[Deltofe2493]

hey

have previously posted re trying to find a yard in Essex / East London. Have found one but only offers 3 hours of turnout in winter, 24 hours in summer.

is this healthy? mine is a thoroughbred so i do like her to stretch her legs and burn off her energy. she has about 8 hours now. what does everyone else do / how do you manage?

Also - i have been so stressed out about moving again because my yard is so good and the difficulty of finding a yard I almost felt like giving up on horses altogether and moving back to London and restarting my life. I then went for a ride and thought how I'd be crazy to give it all up. Does anyone else have these types of fluctuations with their mood?

 

[Barton Bounty]

@Pinkvboots put a post up the other day for a space? Am I right

 

[clinkerbuilt]

I then went for a ride and thought how I'd be crazy to give it all up. Does anyone else have these types of fluctuations with their mood?

Yes, all the time. Don't give up.

 

[Fieldlife]

I’d not live or work in London for ideal arrangements for keeping horses.

Few manage to find good livery with 45 minutes of travel with good care, facilities, all day all year turnout and good hacking.

 

[quiteniceforacob]

We’re in Essex and have had daily turnout all winter except for a couple of days in the snow. Go out all day every day. No spaces I’m afraid, but I travel from east London so they’re around, just hard to find!

 

[PeterNatt]

I had 24/7 turnout in N.W. London with 250 acres of off road riding. So not impossible.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

@Pinkvboots put a post up the other day for a space? Am I right ☺

I did but I don't think they have a school I will check and get back

 

[Ossy2]

I think there are plenty of people throughout the UK that would love guaranteed winter turnout even though it’s just 3hrs. I’m not in London but in winter we get about half a day in winter so out about half 8 /9 and back in again about 1pm and it works fine.

 

[Bernster]

I did look that way a bit and the turnout NE did seem very limited (Epping common area) even though some of the hacking can be good. Have you tried a bit further out? This may be my perception but I feel like you’d have more luck slightly further west but saying that yards are closing all over the SE so it’s getting ever harder. I’m currently in Rickmansworth and we have about 6 hours a day over winter. I’d like more but that’s not bad in the circs.

 

[Fieldlife]

I had 24/7 turnout in N.W. London with 250 acres of off road riding. So not impossible.

And does this place still exist? Lots don’t anyone. It’s not easy to find places now. Not impossible but not easy.

 

[PeterNatt]

Yes! Mote End Farm London NW7 4HH

Mote End Farm and Livery Stable - Mote End Farm and Livery Stables

We are a quiet, friendly and professional yard, on a private estate of 250 acres of beautiful rolling countryside for you and your horse to enjoy riding.

www.moteendfarm.co.uk

 

[Goldenstar]

Three hours is doable as long as the horse does not have arthritis and you work him most days .
I kept mine on three to four hours for years but they worked everyday and hunted so they got lots of movement .

 

[MagicMelon]

Sorry but no I dont believe 3 hours is at all fair for turnout. Poor horse must be bored to death the rest of the time. I personally would put at least full day turnout top of my priority list if I was looking for a livery yard.

 

[lannerch]

Yes perfectly healthy , I have been on yards where the only winter turnout was an hour in the arena , and horse walker. All horses were happy and relaxed.
How much turnout do you think the horses at the royal mews get . Not saying it’s ideal but I would prefer limited turnout than unlimited turnout in deep clay based mud which imo is just asking for mud-fever and tendon injuries .

 

[criso]

I moved my horse out of London to get better turnout and hacking. It's not just restricted time, it's that on deep clay, it can be a mudpit with no grass and and injuries were common.

Also bear in mind that when you view yards, they tell you the best case scenario so 3 hours could be up to 3 hours but sometimes not at all.

 

[ponynutz]

Ours used to have 0 turnout over winter other than being chucked in the school while we mucked out.

I didn't like it but with regular exercise it never seemed to do any damage.

 

[BronsonNutter]

In Essex there are quite a few yards that will offer more turnout - not sure if you are looking for DIY, part or full, and how far you'd be happy to travel? Someone on here might be able to help recommend some yards.

I'd personally take shorter every day turnout rather than what some yards offer of longer periods, but every other day. At least the horses have a routine.

 

[Bernster]

Yes! Mote End Farm London NW7 4HH

Mote End Farm and Livery Stable - Mote End Farm and Livery Stables

We are a quiet, friendly and professional yard, on a private estate of 250 acres of beautiful rolling countryside for you and your horse to enjoy riding.

www.moteendfarm.co.uk

Surprised they are still advertising as I’m 99% sure they are closing too. Think they might have a small number of retirees left but no active liveries. Another one bites the dust. Will ask my ins this week if they’ve changed plans but that was the last I heard.

 

[Polos Mum]

I moved from Reading to Lincolnshire because 3 hours of turnout for my horse in winter (every other day) sent him totally loopy.

My commute (to More London / London Bridge tube stop) only increased by 15 minutes - and I got a seat (which never happened from Reading).

Changed my life - but that's a longer story.

Perhaps try your mare on 3 hours turn out a day where you are and see how she react before moving. Some might be able to cope but others not.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

My horses would be a handful to ride with just 3 hours turnout a day

 

[rara007]

If your horse is in ‘proper’ work and you can maintain that through winter I’m sure you could keep them well on that set up.

 

[Surbie]

The options aren't a straight choice between either limited turnout or deep clay-based mud. I know there are yards with muddy fields but it's not a given.

I'm on the other side of London to the OP and have mine on a fairly well-drained hilly field, on clay. Winter t/o generally around 10 hours - out every day.

I wouldn't choose limited turnout for my horse, he doesn't suit it.

 

[criso]

Surprised they are still advertising as I’m 99% sure they are closing too. Think they might have a small number of retirees left but no active liveries. Another one bites the dust. Will ask my ins this week if they’ve changed plans but that was the last I heard.

Pretty sure they closed the main yard but there was a diy block which was completely diy, no services at all, maybe that stayed open. Some friends of mine were there but gone before the rest closed.

However they were quite prone to not turning out at the first sign of rain which is why a lot of the fields looked immaculate. And while they had their own fields you could ride in, hacking was very limited beyond that

 

[criso]

The options aren't a straight choice between either limited turnout or deep clay-based mud. I know there are yards with muddy fields but it's not a given.

Actually i was thinking both. If a yard is limiting their turmout, it's usually because there really isn't enough land so even the 3 hours a day puts pressure and creates mud.

 

[Abacus]

I have found on yards with limited turnout that if all the horses are in the same routine they don’t seem as bothered. (And this is often a problem on DIY yards - people doing different things at different times). Which doesn’t mean that 3 hours per day is enough mentally or physically; generally I think it isn’t. Horses are meant to move.

 

[SO1]

I expect what they are doing is using all the turnout to provide 24/4 turnout during spring and summer and there is nothing rested for winter season where there is less grass growth.

My concern might be the colic risk from going suddenly from 24/7 turnout to 3 hours and vise versa due to change of management and eating more hay and grass during the changes.

The yard that I was on and will be on once I get a new pony is within commuting distance to London and in order to get winter turnout has to rest a lot of fields. This means that all year we have 7 hours a day turnout on good grazing.

It is very hard to find 24/7 turnout near London. There are a few grass livery places I know of NW London but most of them only accept ponies and small cobs as not enough grass to sustain a TB.

 

[sbloom]

I'll just mention Eastminster School of Riding if that's helpful at all, very good turnout iirc.

 

[clinkerbuilt]

I'll just mention Eastminster School of Riding if that's helpful at all, very good turnout iirc.

do they offer livery?

 

[sbloom]

do they offer livery?

Absolutely.

 

[Fieldlife]

I have found on yards with limited turnout that if all the horses are in the same routine they don’t seem as bothered. (And this is often a problem on DIY yards - people doing different things at different times). Which doesn’t mean that 3 hours per day is enough mentally or physically; generally I think it isn’t. Horses are meant to move.

I always seem to own the horses that make it crystal clear 3-4 hours of turnout is not enough for them. Despite a number of my horses coming from very little or no turnout before I owned them. within a fortnight of living with me, they seem to all decide field time is of huge significance to them. I know horses that are happy in, and dont like being out exist, and I see ones in herds that want in after 2-3 hours (when rest of herd is happy grazing) but I've not owned one.