Horses melt in the rain !!!!! quick bring them in !!

Ours live out 24/7 whatever the weather...and are currently unrugged :o
I didnt get their rainsheets on quick enough before it started up....however none of the seem to care :rolleyes:
 
Ours were sheltering under a load of trees when I checked on them at 8pm. A couple were laid down, another two were grooming and the other two were just dozing.

Looked quite cozy.

All unrugged, only one is a native the rest are tb, arab x or andalusian.

I still protest that the elements are the best thing for the animals skin.
 
Ours are in but then again are in at nights anyway...yard rules. Not sure OP what the issue is, your horses were left out while the YO and others got theirs in, isn't that up to them what they do with their horses?
It wasn't as if they brought yours in and made them stand in an empty stable just because of the rain?

These threads that pop up normally at the beginning of summer/winter grate on me...each to their own regarding what you do with your horse in whatever weather.

No horses won't melt in the rain but there might be many reasons to bring in, put rugs on or leave out with just a passing glance as you drive by, that's the owners choice not yours.
Some people are so self righteous that they leave their horses out 24/7...stables are for wimps!! Whilst others are in shock that you leave a horse out in the rain unrugged!!

Come on folks, there is no right or wrong. Your not a better owner just because you do something a different way to someone else. As long as your horse is happy and healthy then your doing something right.

Lets keep the OMG she stabled her horse because is spitting and the cruel cow because she's left them out with only three rugs on threads down to a minimum this year!!

Rant over ;)
 
^ really awful rain scald/sunburn/mud fever not withstanding?

Thank god we are on a much more live and let live yard. Nothing is out at night yet due to the fields, but mine was out yesterday rugged in the hail, YOs were in, some were naked out- I think, I don't pay much attention, if they aren't in my care!
 
I brought mine in for the night as my fields are still a little fragile after the last 12 months of dreadful weather. No they won't melt in the rain but some of us need to take care of our grazing too so it's a problem.:( The New Forest chose to come in out of the rain as he can come & go freely unless I shut the gate. He voted with his feet to be in & didn't notice I shut the gate !
 
I really dont care what others do as long as they dont interfer with mine. this winter mine have been brought in mega early because people thought it was "cold" .they got told trust me :)
 
It's not that I care what others do with their horses, it just suprised me.

I brought my girl in to change her rug, give her a quick brush etc and was suprised to find the other 2 mares in our field were both in. I left my friends horse on her own as I can see her from the yard so could check she didn't get upset, plus she had 3 friends in the next field.

Owner of 2 of the horses in next field then asked me who was bringing friends horse in. I said no one cause my girl was going back out.

By the time I left my girl and friends horse happily grazing the surrounding fields were deserted. To the extent I had to check our board to make sure I hadn't missed a sign saying we had to bring in. I honestly couldn't work it out until eventually I put it down to having heavy rain forecast.
 
Why does it matter what others do?

Because one of the horses left out stress's badly , and having had medical issue's which required surgery , doesn't need to be left galloping round her field all night, mine was out next to her but she panic's if the other's are in , would of been nice to of just had a quick text from Yo saying that the other's were coming in , she knows the horse trashes fields then moans about it , i don't care what everyone else does with there horses nowt to do with me , but when we all need to work together being a small yard communication is needed to avoid a situation where an animal is put at risk .
 
I don't think "melting" would be such a problem, but shivering is.
You'd have a fit at my elderly Arab who is currently back to wearing his heavyweight winter necked rug during the day, and is back in again at night.

I'd rather not have to call the vet (again) when he's got colicky because he's got cold.

God knows what the wind speed here was at 10 p.m. last night but I thought the windows were coming in.......:eek:
 
The subject of weather, rugs on/off or stabled/out will rumble on forever and I guess it's each owners choice and no one else's business unless a real welfare issue.

I do think however that livery yards with many owners doing their own thing is never good for the horses.
Constantly chopping and changing their routine and companions is bound to create issues for them.

There are often threads here about behavioural issues, the cause is looked for in feed, teeth, back etc. which is sensible to check. But often the horse is just stressed with its topsy turvey lifestyle.

If owners on livery have no care how their actions affect other owners, you'd think as horse lovers (?) they would care how it
affects the horses.

I'm so lucky to have only my horses here do decisions are made to have little or no adverse effects on all the horses well being. Changes made thoughtfully and carefully.
Free for all, do as you like yards must be a nightmare for the horses. No wonder so many exhibit signs of stress diagnosed by groups of owners as brain tumours bad teeth or just bad temperament.
Bit of communication would solve the problem. But the "I'm all right jack, pull up the ladder" attitude of some owners on livery and sod the horses as a whole, seems to be growing.

The days of a well run livery yard with strict rules for the benefit of the horses not the owners are long behind us.
 
I would agree normally, but at breakfast at 6.30 this morning all of ours that are out were all shivering - two were rugged. They all had either rugs changed or rugs put on (modern rugs are breathable so I don't worry about putting rugs on wet horses, they seem to appreciate it!) apart from the 4yo who decided he didn't want one and wouldn't let me near him.

My mum is going down now to give them some lovely haylage in the field as I didn't have time before work today (its a 500m walk or so to get to them). Sometimes when its going to be rainy and windy for a long period horses just need a bit of help, epsecially when they have been tricked by the weather :rolleyes: I wouldn't mind but our field has hills and a boundary woodland to get shelter from, so if they're suffering (one a welsh x ) I've no doubt others are.
 
To be honest last night was hellish in my part of the world, torrential rain just hammered down most of the afternoon and night and it's absolutely freezing, night temperature was due to drop to nearly zero again. So mine came in.
I can understand why some owners will still bring their horses in, it's still very chilly for the time of year and their coats have changed to summer even if the weather hasn't.
I'm very lucky though to have my own place and do my own thing according to the weather, I remember the days of being at livery and these sort of situations were a pain.
 
These posts drive me up the wall!!!

Every horse is different - we had 2 out in mw/s last night, 2 in lw/s and 1 naked ie according to their needs. I have bought

And yes horses don't melt in the rain, but unless you have the luxury of unlimited, well draining grazing, the fields do suffer eventually. I would rather preserve my fields so that when conditions are good the horses benefit from good grazing, not a churned up weed infested bog.
 
I went to the yard this morning to find my pony looking incredibly miserable. He has a LW (75g filling) rug on with a neck cover, plenty of grass and they have natural shelter in the field. He's a native type but was still pretty fed up. The fields are holding up fairly well despite the fact we've had constant rain since last week, and torrential for 2 days.

I did speak to YO this morning about whether to bring him in (ie, are you bringing yours in as I might bring mine in overnight for a few days). She said she's leaving out for now as the fields all drain v well and there is plenty of grass cover. So I've put hay out for mine and figure that if a wussy WB can manage living out then my Connie X cob can! ;)
 
Let everyone do what's best for their own horse its vile here today turely vile the two who are out have come in and will stay until it stops lashing down personally I don't like looking at them when they are miserable and shivering so I bring them in .
 
My cobs where out last night un-rugged :eek: went down this morning to rug up and they where surprisingly dry, just wet on the tops of their backs, they where not shivering and they where sheltering under the trees :p i rugged them up with their lws anyway but the big cob didnt want to know, she ran off when she seen me coming :rolleyes: managed to catch her with a carrot and sling her rug on. The rain is in for the week apparently :(
 
My two horses were the only ones on the yard left out last night, all the others were in. It doesn't bother me what the others do with their horses as we have individual turnout and my two are kept together so always have company. They aren't bothered if the others are in or out. Some of the other owners bring in to save their grazing, others because they cant possibly leave their horses out in the rain - their horse, their call!

Daughter checked them at 6pm and they were fine, both have lightweight rugs on and were happily grazing. The have hedges for shelter but choose not to use them. Checked again at 6.30am and quite happy.....and still grazing. It will take more than a bit of rain and wind to make those two want to come in :rolleyes:
 
Horses melt in the rain (said scornfully) so you are happy yours was left out (with company) as they have been in so much over the winter

But had YO texted you then you would have had time to buy shavings to bring your horse in

So you are unhappy they didnt text you so you could organise your stable for a horse that you were glad was left out anyway

I'm not sure the YO could win whatever they had done to be honest!
 
Unrugged last night, put some extra hay in field for them. This morning they were dry but very happy to have feeds. Quick ride this morning to warm up, and they were more than happy to go back out to the hay :)
 
maybe my original post did'nt explain my actual reason for being annoyed very well. Simple, a horse was left out that panic's when the other's are in , not bothered what everyone else does, i'm happy to bring in leave out whatever, but finding out at 8.30 pm last night [ no time to buy shavings ] that she had been left out when a simple text could of let us know, owner has young baby so could'nt get to the yard so i help with her horse ,
 
Yes but she's a funny mare likes all 'the herd ' out , one is'nt enough :)

Well, with the greatest respect, that's your problem - not anyone elses.

As for horses melting in the rain. Mine certainly wouldn't have been left out last night (not that it's anyone's business really if someone decides to bring their horses in out of any type of weather).

Let's hope your yard owner doesn't see your rather uncharitable post, and decide you're more trouble than your worth :rolleyes:
 
so as far as I see it there still was no problem horse not left out alone, others decided to bring theirs in with their own reasons for doing so.
 
Just to clarify- two horses were left out, one was OP's horse and the other was a horse not owned by OP which gets upset when the herd is split up? OP was not told beforehand and was concerned in case the other horse then upset her horse? have I got that right OP?

Quite reasonable to express frustration that nobody had let her know as in those circumstances she would have obviously preferred that her horse came in too.
 
I personally think the issue is that to make everything simple a text sent early in the afternoon to say they were all coming in would have helped a sick horse by preventing it from getting upset
Text in the main take a minute and are usually free so what would have been the harm in doing it.
Yes the stables should or could all be bedded down whether used or not so in this instance but a simple free text would have saved a lot of agro
 
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