Horses in or out?

spotty_pony2

spotty_pony2

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What’s everyone doing currently? I’m lucky that as it was mild and we still have plenty of grass I managed to put mine all out 24/7 again on Christmas eve. They have stayed out since except for coming in yesterday whilst I rode. we haven’t seen the sun here since Christmas Day as it’s just thick fog and dropping to about 2 degrees. With the damp weather and it dropping a bit colder do you think they would be better off in at night or fine out?

My old boy is unclipped and rugged up but has arthritis and I know that the cold and damp is probably when it’s worst. he has ad lib hay, two feeds per day, plenty of grass (I kept moving the fence everyday) but I can’t make up my mind whether he’s be better in at night where it’s more sheltered or better walking round whilst it’s like this. (Reading this back I think he is probably fine and actually gets more than a lot of horses but interested to hear others take on it)

They will switch back to their in at night, out in the day routine when it gets wet again anyway it’s just been a very welcome break for them from being in more and for me from mucking out for a few days but I’m happy to do whatever is best for them.
 
Mine is only coming in during the day for a few hours at the moment, since we still have grass in the field. In general I prefer to keep mine out as much as possible, and I’d think it would be better for arthritis to be out and regularly moving, but it depends on how much they like their routine of coming in. If they’re fine out then I wouldn’t worry about the cold - they’ll be warmer out moving around anyway!
 
chrisley said:
Mine is only coming in during the day for a few hours at the moment, since we still have grass in the field. In general I prefer to keep mine out as much as possible, and I’d think it would be better for arthritis to be out and regularly moving, but it depends on how much they like their routine of coming in. If they’re fine out then I wouldn’t worry about the cold - they’ll be warmer out moving around anyway!
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He doesn’t seem bothered about staying out, he dragged me back out yesterday! as long as he has plenty of food he is generally happy. 😊
 
I’d always leave an arthritic horse out as much as possible as they say motion is lotion.
Sadly we have no option on our livery yard so coblet is out 9-4 and in there rest of the time, he has grass and also hay in the field and also ad-lib overnight. Unclipped and in a rain sheet or 50g as generally temps are 3-6 here the past few days. He’s unridden but we do some in hand hacks.
 
We are on a livery yard so no option for 24/7 through the winter. But she’s generally out from 7am until 4pm every day. As the days get longer the length of time she’s out will increase too. We’ll move onto summer fields around April then she’ll be 24-7 again.
 
Ours are out 24/7 with two big ring feeders of hay. They’re in a smaller winter field, it’s pretty muddy but they seem fine and most of the herd are old, stubborn and hate staying in. All rugged appropriately.
 
I have two with arthritis, an elderly shetland and 12yo home bred. The only one that comes in at night is the elderly shetland as she's spoilt rotten and actually prefers being in. If it were up to her she'd stay in all winter (and some years she has as she refused to go out). Her little shetland mate comes in at night too to keep her company and so I can feed the other horse they are out with, who is a huge bully, haylage in the field overnight. My other two, arthritic horse and Fluffles are out in over three acres with extra haylage and he is rugged even though he isn't clipped. He's does so much better out 24/7 and his puffy hocks have gone right down. He's rugged as he has something unknown going on as well and have been losing weight. Fluffles is fully clipped and rugged and also happy as pie out 24/7.

If he's not asking to come in I'd leave him out as long as possible as is definitely better for him 🙂
 
Mine are both in overnight. Once they are coming in for winter I keep to that routine.

If your fields are decently dry and plenty of grass then staying out sounds best. If they are wet, muddy and slippy then a few hours in to dry off would be my preference but it sounds like your fields are pretty good atm.
 
If horses are so arthritic that they are noticeably stiff after a night in the stable then IMHO they should have their pain relief increased.

I have two mildly creaky oldies age 23yo and 18yo who do live out for about 21 hours a day. They have a hay net and a 3 hour snooze in their stables after breakfast.

They did have to stand in for over 24 hours during Storm Darragh as the safest option due to falling trees. To my relief they both walked out of the stables sound as a pound, and both went straight to roll getting down and up very freely.
 
Mine live out, all year. They have stables but I see no point in them standing in when we can have them out. They're on a well drained area of sandy soil right now, which is solid under foot and has complex grazing, as well as hay.

I'd always prefer to manage a chronic condition like arthritis as far as possible before medicating, providing they're comfortable.
 
My 3 are still out 24.7 (PSSM, arthritis in the mix). I find out and mooching better than stabling for hours but I'll increase the rug weight if I feel it's needed.

My solar lights are barely working this evening it's been so long since we've seen the sun
 
Mine are all out. I’m hoping my land will hold up. It’s our first winter here so I’m not sure what it can cope with. It’s clay but rig and furrow in the winter field. The two retirees live out 24/7 but others will come in for periods if the weather deteriorates. I think they’re all happier out as long as they’ve got some hay or grass to occupy them
 
Peglo said:
Mine are both in overnight. Once they are coming in for winter I keep to that routine.

If your fields are decently dry and plenty of grass then staying out sounds best. If they are wet, muddy and slippy then a few hours in to dry off would be my preference but it sounds like your fields are pretty good atm.
Peglo said:
Mine are both in overnight. Once they are coming in for winter I keep to that routine.

If your fields are decently dry and plenty of grass then staying out sounds best. If they are wet, muddy and slippy then a few hours in to dry off would be my preference but it sounds like your fields are pretty good atm.
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This was last week! I’ve only used a quarter of the field since beginning of December as they have been in most nights and the field had been rested since we took hay off it in August as has grown some good grass back. They also have ad-lib hay and I’m moving a post or two twice per day to keep them occupied and standing on the longer grass. They were all more than happy to stay out tonight and once had had their dinners deserted me so think I’m worrying over nothing. feel like I’ve got nothing to do - I’ve got so much more time when they are out!
 

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Tiddlypom said:
If horses are so arthritic that they are noticeably stiff after a night in the stable then IMHO they should have their pain relief increased.

I have two mildly creaky oldies age 23yo and 18yo who do live out for about 21 hours a day. They have a hay net and a 3 hour snooze in their stables after breakfast.

They did have to stand in for over 24 hours during Storm Darragh as the safest option due to falling trees. To my relief they both walked out of the stables sound as a pound, and both went straight to roll getting down and up very freely.
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I agree with this. Mine isn’t actually noticeably stiffer when in at all - he charges out in the morning, it was just little things I noticed that led me down that route.
 
Out, mine live out and tend to stay out unless it’s particularly horrendous, like the storm the other week when they came in for 24 hours.

They’re native and unclipped, one is now in his 20’s but doesn’t drop weight and I’m on a slope which I find keeps them fairly fit joint wise. He also gets a bit of a cough standing in with hay even if it’s soaked. There is plenty of grass, they get a handful of chaff with vits in each morning and have plenty of big hedges to shelter against.

While it’s quite muddy at the bottom (where they’re fed) by the time you get a little way up the hill it’s firm enough that I’m not worried about them standing in water.

I’m also lucky that I have enough space to rotate round 5 of my 6 acres between October and April, and with them being such good doers the summer field lasts April through to September (topped up by a bit of hay when needed).
 
Out 24/7. They have constant access to a dry barn bedded with straw and a heap of hay, but the only time I've seen them bring themselves properly "in" (i.e. not just in anticipation of dinner!) was Storm Darragh when it was so windy you could barely stand up outside. My middle aged cob has an arthritic hock and I'd much rather have him moving all the time. Keeps the weight off too. They have three and a half acres on a hill and there's still plenty of grass to pick at.

The only plus side I can find to all the gale force winds we've been getting is that they keep the land dry!
 
Annoyingly our sand paddock gate has broken so they're in 24/7.
We do have a very secure small yard though so they're at least getting to walk around and groom each other albeit they can't roll or buck/gallop.

Actually, I've been meaning to ask for some advice because it's driving me crazy - I just feel so guilty. I'm a big believer in turnout and one of ours is older and slightly arthritic. Neither are in work so they've been doing a 5 minute in hand walk up and down the lane every day but is there anything else I could be doing to keep them ticking over? (Gate being fixed but need a digger so will be in the new year)
 
ponynutz said:
Annoyingly our sand paddock gate has broken so they're in 24/7.
We do have a very secure small yard though so they're at least getting to walk around and groom each other albeit they can't roll or buck/gallop.

Actually, I've been meaning to ask for some advice because it's driving me crazy - I just feel so guilty. I'm a big believer in turnout and one of ours is older and slightly arthritic. Neither are in work so they've been doing a 5 minute in hand walk up and down the lane every day but is there anything else I could be doing to keep them ticking over? (Gate being fixed but need a digger so will be in the new year)
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does your field gate go onto a road? if not would they respect electric fencing, obviously live with plenty of strands in the meantime? or could you use some heras fencing or something even if just so they could get out for a little bit during the day? 🤔
 
Mine comes in for a few hours then goes back out, this is her preference. I think 99% of horses are better left out, but you do get the occasional that prefer being in
 
Mine are are out 24/7, fields are dry & they have plenty of grass, retired horse isn't rugged the weather is grim fog & mizzle for the last 2 days and pretty chilly as well.
 
If you have grass, and decent footing - out.

We have our ridden ones in, because we are running out of grass and need to preserve what we have left. Youngsters are still out though.
 
Mine are all out 24/7.

When my old boy was here he was out too. He spent a fair bit of time in the shelter when the weather was bad so I put a deep straw bed in there for him. In my head this helped keep his joints a little warmer. I've carried this on after we lost him and I think the boys appreciate it.

We're out of grass so my lot have ad-lib hay. They get a treat ball with pony nuts in twice a day and Reggie gets a small feed in an evening. The fatties are dropping weight nicely and reggie is maintaining his.
 
Mine are usually pampered princes (2 WBs and a TB) but I’m heavily pregnant atm and it’s fairly mild so they’ve been out 24/7 and seem to be fairing well. We’ve only just run out of standing hay so have now swapped over to round bales. I’m fortunate we have the horses at home so have plenty of flexibility, but hoping to keep them out in their current paddock til early spring with hay so we can rest the usual trash paddocks.
 
santas_spotty_pony said:
What’s everyone doing currently? I’m lucky that as it was mild and we still have plenty of grass I managed to put mine all out 24/7 again on Christmas eve. They have stayed out since except for coming in yesterday whilst I rode. we haven’t seen the sun here since Christmas Day as it’s just thick fog and dropping to about 2 degrees. With the damp weather and it dropping a bit colder do you think they would be better off in at night or fine out?

My old boy is unclipped and rugged up but has arthritis and I know that the cold and damp is probably when it’s worst. he has ad lib hay, two feeds per day, plenty of grass (I kept moving the fence everyday) but I can’t make up my mind whether he’s be better in at night where it’s more sheltered or better walking round whilst it’s like this. (Reading this back I think he is probably fine and actually gets more than a lot of horses but interested to hear others take on it)

They will switch back to their in at night, out in the day routine when it gets wet again anyway it’s just been a very welcome break for them from being in more and for me from mucking out for a few days but I’m happy to do whatever is best for them.
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Everything is in as usual.
 
Ours are in at night. This is first winter in a very long time that they’re in, as generally they would stay out 24/7 unless the weather was atrocious. Their field is so so wet though, and the gateway is bloody awful so it’s more for them to be able to come in out of the wet and get a belly full of hay. Interestingly they all seem a lot calmer this winter, and are enjoying coming in
 
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