Horses who live out during the summer...

jenbleep

jenbleep

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...when do you start to bring them in at night?

Charisma is on rather poor grazing at the minute at her owners place. Her owner is not really happy to give her hay (I say her but I mean them, she shares with two ponies one prone to being fat and the other quite normal!) but I have ordered some haylage to give to C when she comes in.

She is not looking too lean at the moment but I am having to cease riding until the saddler comes next week as her saddle has been sitting quite low. :( She is being lunged about 4 times a week for 25 mins at a time.

Anyway, I'd like to keep her fit all year round and while she does have 'mini-breaks' she won't have a long time off. I am tempted to start bringing her in to 1) Get some haylage into her at night and 2) to give the fields a rest! But her owner has said "really? It would make the Winter so much longer!" But I'll be the one doing it!

I just think it might give her more energy as she can be a lazy madam at the best of times, plus points 1 and 2 above. Really I'm just thinking out loud!

I know that most livery yards don't give you the option to live out during the summer anyway, so we are lucky in that sense....

Oh and FYI she will be used for hunting once or twice a month, and indoor sj and dressage maybe once a month. Ridden twice and lunged twice a week when the clocks go back! :(
 
Could you not pull her out twice a day to hard feed her till the end of the month?

I am resisting bringing in big fuzzy - also needs to be fitter - but also thinner :o and tho I know being in will do the world of good, I really dont want to make more work till end Oct if I can help it.
It was a 'short' winter last yr with the dry weather in Feb onwards & mine were out in March for the summer. Tho I have got the bedding/hay etc, I have a few days out planned before clock changing & its easier for those doing the fuzzies if they are still out till then.

TFF also mind-wrestling.....
 
jenbleep said:
...when do you start to bring them in at night?


:(
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Can't you put haylage out for Charisma in the field? Or won't your yard owner allow you to?

I am ruled by the other horses who are out next to my horse in the field and what they want to do. If they want to keep their horses out till as late as possible I have to do the same otherwise if i was the only one to swap round i wouldn't be able to turn out as there was nothing to turn out with.:(

Last year my horse never came in until mid October and for the first time in seven years grew a coat that actually needing clipping as a result.:eek: He is a WB in the siggy but has such a fine coat that there is just nothing to clip even in the depths of winter!:D I was a little worried to be honest but it worked out fine and I'd do it again if circumstances allowed.

To be honest he looked so nice in his clip that I wouldn't mind leaving him out until mid October again or as late as I possibly could get away with but its up to my friend and her horse (the two are neighbours and she kindly B/I or T/O for me) as to when she wants to come in so I don't mind really and respect what she wants.
 
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Ours live out 24/7 year round, although they do have free access to come and go in and out of their stables as they want to. They never do though unless it is throwing it down. Lived out quite happily through all the snow and ice with no problems.

Could you bring Charisma in for a few hours each day to fill up on haylage and then put her out again after a decent feed and with appropriate rugs so she isn't burning calories keeping warm?
 
Mine don't normally come in at nights until the beginning of November, but it does depend on the weather. If it gets really wet and boggy before then they will come in earlier. However, I am able to feed them plenty of hay and haylage in the field and if I wasn't able to do that and weight loss was being caused, then I wouldn't hesitate to bring them in to ensure they can eat plenty of forage.
 
Ours have been out this summer. We normally don't bring them in until October, but they've had to leave the summer field as it was getting too wet and go into the autumn field. The autumn field doesn't have any shelter, and with the non-stop rain this week, has also started to get wet underfoot. So we've had to bring them in at night this week (the autumn field doesn't have much shelter either, so its not been very nice for them in this driving rain and wind). Two of ours get mud rash - one gets it the minute he even looks at a puddle, so the thought was, if he starts coming in at night and his legs dry out, we may keep it at bay longer. I'm gutted - can't believe that they're in a week after August, but we are ruled by Mr Mudrash! If the weather does dry up again, and the field, we may put them back out, but I doubt it, as I don't like doing the hokey-cokey with them!

(NB. We have tried every way of treating/preventing mudrash known, and horse is in otherwise great condition - vet says he is just one of those wimpy gingas that are prone..)
 
Our lot come in about the first week of November. The grazing is awful in winter so I get mine in as soon as I can (3.30) and he gets a huge hay net. I don't think there's any harm if the horse is not a poor doer. He goes out to move and socialise.
 
My two will be coming in from the end of this month to mid oct, depending on the weather. By that point they're desperate to come in. They're loitering around the gateway a lot at the moment, it's far too early though just yet!!!!
 
I've been thinking about bringing my boy in soon. I gave him his first clip of the season today and its getting chilly at night where I am but will try to leave it a while longer. He'll definitely be in by mid Oct though.
 
Ours will be coming in the first weekend of oct - it would usually be a few weeks later but not much grass this year. Atm they are having one small hard feed a day.

If you want to feed her can you not give her a net of haylage at the yard after her lunging sessions?
 
I've just started bringing mine in at night as there isn't much grass and we can't feed in the field at our yard - he is hungry when he comes in.
 
My mare lives out year round. She has access to a run in and unlimited good quality hay. I do blanket her for the winter, since it gets pretty snowy and cold here in Canada. She is a trakehner and does quite well living out.

When I used to keep horses at my dads farm. I would pull the horses off the larger pasture around the start of October to let the root system recover before the snow sets in around November. Then they would go back out end of May.
 
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