Horses living out- how often are yours checked?

LadyGascoyne

LadyGascoyne

Still Fig-uring it out...
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If you have horses living out in a private setting and not a livery yard or a shared DIY situation, how do you manage how often they are seen? Or how would you handle things, in that situation?

What would you include in your checks? For instance, how often would you do their feet, remove flymasks to check eyes etc.

Are yours visible from the road, or neighbouring properties? Would it impact on your management routine if they weren't visible at all?

If you have them on restricted grazing due to weight concerns or injury, do you increase the frequency of checks?
 
Mine are checked twice a day. One is in a fat paddock. There are no neighbours and they are not visible from any roads in summer. In winter I can see them from the upstairs windows and our lane. If they require box rest or any intensive medical treatment they are put in the covered yard or loose box which are 20 metres from the front door.

Feet are picked about every other day if not ridden and the big one only wears a nose net on sunny days to prevent sunburn so that's easily checked.
 
Mine live out on private ground, the main field has a public footpath around two sides so I have a sign on the gate with my mobile on it saying if you think there is a problem with these horses please call.....

I’ve never had a call yet

The other field has v good hedging so it’s occupants aren’t visible unless you go in.

I’ve always been fortunate enough to be able to do them morning and night, and after having had a livery’s horse break it’s shoulder in a freak accident whilst I was on the field I can’t imagine doing less.
Mine are on a track system in summer and strip grazed over what grows in the middle in winter. Accidents can and do happen but unless you live on site and never go out you can’t guarantee peace of mind!
 
Mine are on grass livery, so they are checked twice a day by YO, and three times a day if I go up as well (usually 3-4 times a week). I never pick out their feet - I'd generally only look at them if one of them looks uncomfortable or unsound in some way (hasn't happened yet in about 4 years). They obviously have the farrier every 6-8 weeks though (unshod so trim only). Fly masks I take off the Arab every time I'm there and the YO checks it is well clear of her eyes (though won't necessarily take it off unless she spots a problem). Ideally she would have it off overnight, but we get a lot of flies and she got a nasty conjunctivitis infection last year that took months to shift, so I am a bit paranoid! The other horse is really hard to catch, but I do corral him to check his fly mask 1-2 times a week. YO gives him a treat daily so has a quick look to make sure it is clear of his eyes. They are on restricted grazing - I give them more grass 2-3 times a week depending on weather/ how quickly the grass is growing.

I used to rent a field and only went up once a day. However, their field was overlooked by the field owner's house (an old farmer) and he and his wife were both retired and used to look out at them a lot during the day. So they could easily spot if their was a problem. If the house hadn't been there, I would have gone up a second time per day where possible.
 
Mine is on diy livery at a private yard with 2 other diy'ers and the owner living on site. I go morning and evening as a minimum and check fences, water, his legs and, at this time of year, feel for a pulse and wiggle his neck! He also gets his fly hood changed twice a day, his hooves greased to stop them getting too dry and a brush over to check for any scrapes. All three of us have each others numbers and tend to be there at different times so cast an eye over everything and the owners will call if they suspect a problem. I am a worrier though and know how easily things can go wrong!
 
I rent my 4 acres. My field is at the end of 3, plus there are 2 across from me. In winter I go up twice a day, in the summer just the once. There is a circuit around all the fields, and anyone who is riding will ride the circuit and look in on everyone’s horses before heading out in the woods. We are all in a WhatsApp group, and will message if we see anything amiss. Most of us also have dogs, and if not riding, will walk our dogs around the circuit to check them all.
 
Although mine is on a DIY yard so seen by YO & other liveries I still check him twice a day myself. One check he'll be brought in checked, groomed & often ridden, the other he isn't but I'll still check feet & run my hands over him. In the winter he's in at nigt so a slightly different routine, but still seen properly twice day.
 
Mine are on my land a mile from my house. They are checked twice a day and I have neighbours who can see them.

I usually pick out feet daily and apply fly repellent etc. Mine have a track in the summer months so They have hay twice a day and a small bucket feed once. Rugs are changed depending on the weather but sometimes twice a day.

I suppose they are kept as if they were on a yard but they just don’t come in at night.
 
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Ours are regularly grazing away from home, I check them once a day, the land owners (farmer) have my number and will call if any problem, also know lots of thè dog walkers know me and would get in touch
 
Mine is out on a DIY yard with 2 other horses in the field and the field is overlooked by the owners house. I go up once a day in the summer and pick out feet every day. We all look over each other’s horses when we are up, so they are effectively getting checked 3 times a day just not by the individual
 
Rented field, visible from the road and many surrounding properties. They are checked properly once a day, but OH also drives past the field during the day while he's working and one set of neighbours in particular are very keen on the horses so often pop up to see them. They would call if there was a problem between visits :)

Most common issue is Millie escaping (into the bit closed off for hay yesterday :rolleyes3: ) but she can't go anywhere so not really an issue!
 
At home now so all the bloomin' time, but when at livery I would visit twice a day. One visit would be hands on, pick feet, brush so I handled them, etc etc, and the other may be just check and say hello due to being dressed in non horse clothes.

If they were in rugs then it would be hands on twice a day to remove/change rugs as IMO you can't check then with rugs on!
 
Mine are checked once a day by me or the other Horse owner who shares the field. The farmer lives next to the field so sees them daily and there are also neighbors who pass by regular and they will call if there was a problem.

My checks in winter are as follows:

I put 2 large haylage piles out, check feet/legs and face daily. Every couple of days rugs come off so I can see the weight or any other issues. Check fencing and water feeder. Poo pick on weekends only

Summer:

Fly spray and sudocrem, Oil hooves, check whole body, check fence and water, poo pick daily.
 
twice daily-actually they are in at night atm but even in winter its twice daily for a proper check (they arent rugged in winter and have enough water/grass) unless weather means I can't get there. no other horses, farmer keeps half an eye on them when he goes up there. when at home again they are generally in overnight or during the day but there's noone about when we are at work.
 
Mine is checked properly by me once a day, and I check the polo ponies she's with at the same time. The horses in the field next door are checked twice and so they would keep an eye, there are a few houses overlooking who will call the farmer if needed and he will drive past as well so well checked.

I bought mine and all of the polo ponies fly masks last year and they all removed them daily so I gave up. My horses feet are done when my ridden horse is done (if I can catch her).
 
Mine are kept in this situation and are checked twice a day. They get hooves done once a day and fly spray twice a day. The ridden one gets ridden once a day.


They are not visible from the road. A bridleway runs to their fields so it is just those who use that who might notice anything amiss.
 
I keep my horses at home but there is a five minute walk between neighbouring paddocks to get to my land and stables. Horses arent really visible from the road. I walk the dog down to them in the morning and give them a mint, forage from the hedge row on my driveway and add any fly masks/ rugs as and when needed but its usually a very brief visit. In the evenings they are worked so both are brought onto the yard to be 'seen' so feet, groom, ridden work etc. On occasion if I have time and feeling that way inclined I usually walk down with the dog when i go home at lunch (to let the dog out) and see them again but rarely go up to them. I share my driveway with a neighbour and we look out for each others horses should there be any visible signs of lameness/ broken fencing ect.
 
I have mine at home now but before that I rented land.

I visited twice a day every day (maybe three times a day if there was snow on the ground).

The field was on a public bridleway which was used by all the local dog walkers and riders and houses running up one side although their view was limited when the trees were in full leaf. I did make sure all the residents had my phone number just in case and also gave my number to a couple of dog walkers.

There was another field next door and we would all keep an eye on each others horses.

Now I have them at home I check them several times a day and have even been known to stick my head out of the Velux window at bed time just to make sure they are still ok!! ;)
 
Twice a day without fail. Watered, poo picked and fly sprayed in the morning, watered, poo picked and given a tiny token feed at night and usually exercised. Mine and his fieldmate currently use two fields - more grass at night, less during the day - so are also moved at both ends of the day.

YO works full-time three days a week but is at home the other days so can see them then. She also has cameras which show some of the fields so will have a quick look while she's at work. If one of them has any sort of on-going issue, we will usually arrange an extra visit between us just to check. YO's parents also live on site and, although not horsy, would recognise a major issue if they saw it.
 
Daily by me, but in a field with 6 others so there are people regularly in and out of the field who would flag up if anything was wrong.
 
Most days, but there are days when they're not. They're overlooked, and right by a public footpath, so there's always someone looking at them. The local jungle drums work very well, and I have had calls in the past when one has got out, when the air ambulance had to land in the field, and of course occasionally when one is lying down sunbathing!

Most interestingly, we were also called out when someone else's pony escaped... it seems I'm the default 'pony' hotline! :D
 
Mine are at home and checked three times a day - AM, lunch, eve - as a minimum. Lunch check might be by OH if I’m out working so that’ll just be a water check and visual ‘are they alive?’ ;)

I’d want eyes on any of mine twice a day as anything can happen with horses.
 
My field is overlooked by friends and farmer drives past multiple times a day too so only go down opposite mornings and evening which works out about every 36 hours.
 
DIY yard, because my horse tends to come in for some period every day to manage his grass intake he and his field mates probably get checked 3 times day between me and the girl I share a field with. That's including doing stuff like rugs (for hers) feet, feeding etc. If my boy was out 24/7 we'd probably do 1 end of the day each so they'd still get checked twice
 
I get paranoid and check twice a day every days for years- they normally live out all spring and summer. come into a barn a bit over the winter. however, there are horses next door whose owner I know would call if there was a problem- I have done the same with hers. although I currently need to do twice a day proper checks- as pony on steroids twice a day for liver and mare has developed sweet itch and needs her rug checking and adjusting. but previous summers I have done one thorough check- adjusting rugs, applying creams.... usually in the morning with a handful of chaff, and then the afternoon would be a quick glance, and if at the far end of the field I would sometimes just see they were stills standing! they are on a track and I do check the battery regularly! but if they escaped onto the load of grass after a left that would be sods law!

ultimately, although ideally I think morning and afternoon is the good option, at the same time, accidents can happen 10 minutes after you leave the yard. the landlord does come and go and phoned me once when my horses had broken a fence and escaped into a neighbouring field (thankfully, as the field they got into was not secure and has a mini lake in it!) and other people live in houses near the field, but would not necessarily spot something. or the opposite- once got a gardener who works out of barns near the horses worried that a horse was lying down! they were having a nap but he thought they were dead!!!
 
I have my own place but it is a ten minute drive from my house. I check twice a day while they are out full-time. I put fly sheets, veils, sun block on in the morning, feed and poo pick. In the evening I top up water, groom, exercise and feed.i just know if I decided to give it a swerve one evening something awful would have happened.
 
TheresaW said:
I rent my 4 acres. My field is at the end of 3, plus there are 2 across from me. In winter I go up twice a day, in the summer just the once. There is a circuit around all the fields, and anyone who is riding will ride the circuit and look in on everyone’s horses before heading out in the woods. We are all in a WhatsApp group, and will message if we see anything amiss. Most of us also have dogs, and if not riding, will walk our dogs around the circuit to check them all.
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I love our set-up ... I always have a look at everyone's else's and make sure they are OK
 
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