horses living out 24/7

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boo09

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My horses/ponies as of last year all live out, we have a range of breeds sizes and ages. they had a large field shelters!

when you tell people they live out the look at you completely sideways like i am cruel!

They are all fed a well balanced diet and have as much hay as they can eat, fresh water and have numerous rugs on.


last spring my mare that has gastric ulcers came out of winter looking great! The year before i couldnt keep weight on her. nothing changed apart from being turnout!

I see this as the way forward but peoples reactions make me feel awful!
 
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Mine all live out and are happier healthier ponies for it.... My little lady gets colic if shes in more then 2 days as she stresses so much.

So no not cruel at all.
 
Mine will be living out this winter for the first time. I will admit to feeling a bit cruel :o but shes always been pampered and is a wuss :rolleyes: She has a nice shelter to go in plus the money saved makes me feel a lot less guilty!! :D I think most horses prefer living out once they get used to it :)
 
Ours all live out 24/7 and have got purpose built shelters and 7 acres to roam on - they positively thrive , my ISH is still in a lite rug ( with neck at night or in heavy rain) , and is always warm as toast - despite having a blanket clip. I seriously couldn't go back to shutting a horse in a box for hours on end , it just doesn't seem natural to me - don't get me wrong , we have got stables and if box rest was needed , that's what they would have , but if i think if horses could choose for themselves , they'd opt for out , with ad-lib forage of course.
 
ours are out for as long as possible too - we bring them in over the worst weather only for Tom's benefit as he gets cold and grumpy and stroppy. Ron couldn't give two hoots if he's in or out!

if it works for you and your horses keep it up - don't change just 'cos some people don't like it!
 
Only yesterday i was wishing i could keep my horses at home and have them living out (and they're softy show horses!) as they actually prefer it as long as they have decent shelter when needed.
 
What you need to say is "THEY'RE LIVING LIKE HORSES!"

The horse I share is out 24/7 and she's fine. Even the TB we had (no longer with us :() was fine through a really cold winter. You just have to make sure you manage them appropriately.

When it was proper snowy last year everyone at work kept saying "don't your horse's mind being out in the cold" "it's a bit cruel" "why aren't they in a stable". I told them that they had a field shelter there so if they stand in it it's no different to them being in a stable. But this way they can choose whether they want to be in or out!

Think some people get a bit sensitive and it's the whole anthropomorphism (sp?) thing where they think THEY wouldn't want to live outside. Thing is, the other day it was pouring with rain, got to the field and horse was soaked. If she was THAT bothered by rain she wouldn't sttod inside!
 
It's my first winter too and mine's out 24/7 and will be as long as he's got company. He's only in a rainsheet over night and has been naked most days when the sun is shining. Even on days I think he'll be cold, he's toasty and I get there at 6am. Because I work in central London he's only getting ridden 3 or 4 times a week in the winter, so I feel much happier that he's bimbling/bombing around the field rather than being stuck indoors all night. Those at our yard that are in, are coming in at 4.30pm and personally I wouldn't want him in for 14 hours. It has to be personal choice though and I'm sure it doesn't suit all horses or owners.
 
mine were out last winter on 4 of the 9 acres we had with no man made shelter, just big thick hedges,one bit of feild is 20m wide & 40m long (looks like a walkway not part of feild) they were fine & unrugged right up untill the snow fell (when the L/W's went on) lost no weight & one even had to put on restricted feeds again (fat cow she is!!)

hurts us much more than them.
 
Mine are out too,a warmblood and a KnabxAppy.......and they don't wear rugs:eek: and we live high up on Exmoor:eek:......fortunately there are very few people living here so I don't tend to suffer the lectures on how cruel I am!
They do have good shelter and ad lib forage and are happy,healthy and tend to come into spring looking fab,but then get rather too fat through summer!
 
Mine all live out, unrugged and my ClydieXWelsh even had a bib clip and is NAKED!!! :eek:

(mind you.... that last bit is subject to change if he starts to drop weight!)
 
Elbie said:
What you need to say is "THEY'RE LIVING LIKE HORSES!"
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Ours have to come in overnight during the winter months, but we've hung on until the end of this month. YO says they all have to come in by next weekend.
I'd prefer him to live out, but he does seem to quite enjoy the winter snuggly bedtime routine!
They nomally go out 24/7 at the end of March. Last year me and my friend (our horses are fieldmates) turned out at the end of Feb, much to one livery's mum's horror..
She shuddered and looked mortified as I left him out that first night "won't he get cold???" she asked.
My reply? "He's a horse!"
 
My TB broodmare is out 24/7 - in fact she was out for much of last winter without even a rug on, except in the extreme cold and snow. She tends to take her rug off when she doesn't feel she needs it, and stresses like billy-o in the stable, so much better out!
 
I am glad so many people feel the same. half of ours are clipped and still compete through out the winter. The only problem we face is getting them clean for shows it makes the morning very stressful as they been out rolling all night!!

I feel that horses being trickle feeders should be kept that way! even the poxy show pony and the big warmblood!
 
My ponies live out year round, my riding horse is currently at livery, therefore has to abide by livery rules... but if she was at home with us, she'd live out. 25 acres and plenty of shelter and obviously plenty of grass. It's what nature intended isn't it :)
 
Mine, Shetland and ex-racer. are going to be living out 24/7 for the first time this year if it stays dry and fields dont turn to mud.

They always have access to a stable with a wood pellet bed and good quality ad-lib hay although they are still not interested in it!. The TB is always rugged to stay toastie warm. I have only seen them use the stable as shelter in the summer to hide from the flies!

The reason they are staying out is because i feel totally cruel bringing them in!!!! They would much rather be out in any weatherthan stuck in a stable. :)
 
Luckily, I've never had anyone look funny at me for keeping the horses out 24/7 for as long as we can.

My mare, pony and friend's mare are all out and will stay out unless some extenuating circumstance forces us to bring them in. They do have acres of room and plenty of grazing though so it is easy to leave them out. The 2 mares are tbs and unclipped, the pony has a blanket clip. We rug the girls accordingly and put a rain sheet on the pony at night, he also has a muzzle on during the day. The girls also get 2 very simple high fibre feeds a day and we do put hay out for them if it's going to be really cold. When it's raining I must admit I think my mare is happy to come in but otherwise she is definitely a TB of the free range variety

At Basil's (also a TB) yard there just isn't enough grazing for him to live out all winter (fine in Summer) and he is probably one horse who would be quite unhappy about it, he enjoys coming in at night, and actually i think he's probably one of only a couple horses I know who would cope fine in a "stabled all winter" situation, but as it is he gets chucked out every morn whether he likes it or not :D
 
Just to add that if and when our horses are in (including Basil) we do provide ad-lib hay or haylage, enough so they have a bit left in the morning. I don't like to see horses standing with no hay in a stable for ages
 
All our horses live out 24/7, unrugged and only with natural shelter (trees/hedges). We purchased a very expensive field shelter 15 years ago and they destroyed it within a week! We have 4 fields, about 20 acres that they graze with our flock of Jacob sheep and we have done this for the past 25 years with no problems!
 
As of last year my boy lives out 24/7 too.

NO coughing from being cooped up in a stable.
NO dusty lungs.
NO 'allergies' come spring/warm weather.
NO itchiness from said made up 'allergies'.

He's constantly moving, can graze when he wants, can play with his friends and does not rely on a routine. He doesn't pine for food or ever want to come in. There's no dragging myself out of bed just to muck out/throw him out. The time we spend together is more quality now, more grooming & cuddles! And it works great for me as I'm often away for a couple of days as is easier for someone to check he is alive than to get someone to see to him twice a day + shovel a load of pooh for me :)
 
boo09 said:
I see this as the way forward but peoples reactions make me feel awful!
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Don't. It is none of their business what you do. Sod 'em. ;)

Your horses, your choice, don't feel that you should have to justify anything you do.

As long as they aren't suffering in any way (standing in mud is my pet hate) then what other people think is completely and utterly irrelevant:D

Let them enjoy their extra expense, their clockwatching, mucking out and rushing back to the yard to turn out, bring in etc, etc.

Just smile politely and do your own sweet thing :)
 
HATE clock watching, I'm doing it now, about to go down early before home-time!! Roll on moving the horse back home (eventually) and back onto 24/7 turnout!!
 
Just tell those people "horses were designed to live outdoors, AND they were designed to eat grass". This may come as a shock to some people!
 
Horses legs get stiff if kept in for too long - and my old horse's legs fill up, they are 100% more healthy living out. It is so unnatural to keep them in a tiny room for too long!!

I suppose there is an issue of shelter, as long as they can get out of the wind from all directions, then they have a lot more control over their temperature than in a stable and that too is a whole lot healthier imo.
 
I think it depends on the circumstances, my two boys are still out 24/7 my HW cob is out naked and couldnt care less on the other hand my welsh D youngster is miserable, he is rugged and fed every night but when i go to put him back out after his dinner he planks at the gate and doesnt want to go back out!! wee git that he is lol he is moving field tommorow to a better field so hopefully that cheers him up a bit for a couple of weeks till i start bringing him in at night, he thrives on the routine of coming in every night. However my cob will live out al winter, and the youngster is turned out at 5am every morning and brought in at 6pm every night regardless of the weather. Im def not one for locking them up because there is a bit of snow or ice. Better stuck out in the field than stuck in the stable for weeks on end. I do appreciate however that not everybody has the option to turn there horses out 24/7. my sister has to bring all her lot in every night as the field just would not be able to sustain having horses on it 24/7 and would turn to mush.
 
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