horses with field shelters - do they choose them?

jojo5

jojo5

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As title really - if your horse has a field shelter always accessible to him/her, do they choose to use it in this weather? Although I don't have an actual shelter, I am lucky to have my boy in a field with a hedge forming two corners at the 'bottom' of the field which I thought would be great shelter - do I ever find him standing there in bad weather? No! So I just wondered what horses with home comforts available do?
 
My mum's ponies have been using theirs, but IME most don't. My old mare astounded everyone at my work when she went there for a holiday, by marching straight into the shelter in her field when turned out. No-one had seen a horse use it before, but Maiden loved it and stood in there for hours! She was a bit odd, though ;)
 
Mine gets fed in his and has a haylage net in it so during the winter when the grass was poor he would stay in it to eat but when it was raining unless he was eating he would still stand out in the rain! Think he will use it more during the summer if the flies get bad but generally given the choice they seem to prefer to be outside regardless how horrible the weather is!! Stupid beasts
 
My TB will stick his head in there in really bad weather, but only if its really really bad, but my little pony will go and stand in there all day out of the rain lol. :D
 
Ours seem to stand in front of it using it as a windblock. They use it more to get away from heat and flies in summer.

I came up from London on a big RAC truck last week in all that rain, and saw loads of horses stood in their shelters from my view over the hedges!
 
Mine refuses to come out of his at times :o
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this is him on a drizzly day before all this rain, so much for a hardy native :rolleyes:. Should point out theres a bigger door on the other end but he can look out over the field through this one so this is normally how I find him.
 
In between grazing, my horse stands sheltering against hers most days, she only actually goes in if the rain becomes torrential or it hails. In the summer she spends loads of time in there, hiding from flies.

My old mare used to escort my younger gelding into the shelter then stand at the entrance to stop him coming out and eating all her grass :D
 
My mare used to spend loads of time in hers...she is stable now, I prefered it when she had a choice.

I had a 'Protech' shelter, she felt safe in the tunnel! she preferred it to a standard shelter which I never saw her in!
 
These replies are really interesting! There's probably some research in there somewhere......I'll volunteer (lots of days with a camera and a flask observing all sorts of horses in all weathers....
 
No he has choice of two and prefers bum to hedge or bum to rain/wind depending on direction! The colder the happier and I do put a hay net in it in winter to make me feel better that he steps foot in the hemcore shavings/himalayan salt lick etc . But I do wonder why I bothered!!
When he had his friend use it he would stand guard at the entrance outside.
Currently out in this rain and seems nice and happy all drenched. I am not suprised he is full of arthritis but hey ho happy outside(think you get the idea).
 
Ned would like to, he's always the first one in there, but his field mates often don't allow it ¬¬

My friends horses refuse to go in unless she's in there with them :P haha!
 
My delicate 21yr old TB never goes in the field shelter no matter what the weather is, ID will use it for shade in hot weather but never in the rain but little welshie hides out there whenever it rains! The one I expected to use it least uses it most and vice versa.
I'm at home most of the time so it's really interesting to see where they go in different conditions and for different activities.
 
LynH - so if it's really torrential driving rain, are they just standing with their bums to the wind?
 
Depends on the wimpyness of said horse. I have had field shelters (on 2 continents) in the most extreme weather with horses stood outside looking in, and have had other horses which would RUN for the shelter at the slightest drop 'o rain. They mostly seem to use them to get away from flies.
 
I used to look after a 36yr old veteran who had 4 shelters (no joke!) he had one in every part of the field and I never saw him in any of them unless he was fed in one! :p
 
For most horses they are a waste of money. In this heavy rain mine have access to a barn but prefer to stand with their bum to the hedge.
I used to have them a livery in a large open field, no hedges so we made a windbreak for them out of this.http://www.galebreaker.com/siteenglish/products_uk/farmflex_uk.html
It filters the wind and comes in different widths, £13 and meter length, hung on 6ft posts knocked into the ground in a T shape so the have shelter from all directions. Really tough material and we took it with us when we left. Also excellant for poultice boot covers.
 
Mine never leaves his!!! I take him from his stable in the morning, pop him into the field and he goes straight into the shelter and will stand there snoozing for the majority of the day, until its time to go back to his stable! :rolleyes:
Shelter 2 is "shared" by the other two boys - clever one will go inside if its hot / chucking it down, not-so-clever one will stand outside it looking miserable, occasionally chasing clever one out of the shelter to make him stand outside in the wet with him...
 
My horses have all loved the field shelter in my very small house paddock. When theres two of them, the dominant horse is usually in it and the other one only gets a part of their body in it, or when the dominant horse is otherwise engaged! This is despite high hedges on two sides and a high stone wall on the other. They seem to use it more in the daytime in summer but in winter, if I'm out early in the mornings, they seem to go into it at nights.
 
We have a 'T ' shape of overhanging trees of various heights. They use it in torrential rain or hail but mainly for shade in summer. Funny thing was we did have a very decrepit field shelter & in 30+ yrs of it being there farmer said they've all always gone for the trees & ignored the shelter. Tree fell on it in jan & we've had it fenced off till it was dry enough to remove. None of them have noticed afaik.
 
In torrential driving rain they just turn their bums to the wind and wait it out whilst little pony legs it to the field shelter. They sleep bums to the west which is normally the way the wind blows. They only changed this on Sunday when we had alot of standing water and they found the driest patches.
I only moved them home in Feb from stabled at night livery and they love being out. I was worried about changing them over at that time of year but even with this wet weather they are thriving and look really well.
 
The donkey (being far more intelligent than his field mate, Piggy Pony) heads straight for the shelter when it rains, hence no need for faffing with rugs on him. PP will just stand fatly in the rain and get wet!
That said, the donkey must have invoked some sort of curiosity as find then both in it now fairly often!

The warmbloods will be more likely to just huddle together but they've only just had a shelter go up so will prob mooch around it whilst it has novelty value for a few days.
 
Mine love their big shelter, when the weather is bad they squash in like sardines. I have seen them running to it when the rain starts but I think they appriciate it more to get out of the sun and away from the flies.
 
Dafthoss, is that bark in front of your field shelter? I was thinking about getting some myself for the same purpose but don't have any recommendations about it.
 
Windwood said:
Dafthoss, is that bark in front of your field shelter? I was thinking about getting some myself for the same purpose but don't have any recommendations about it.
Click to expand...

Yes it is :) its near the gate and was a bit poached from before the yellow pony lived there. So the gate has very large gravel almost hard core in and then further in theres bark which goes to the entrance to the shleter and past the little door shown. Its held up really well and isnt muddy at all.
 
My lad (bearing in mind he is of Russian Origin) hot foots it into his shelter if its really windy, snowing or raining

Yesterday, he refused to leave it (apart from galloping to meet me and galloping back into the shelter), so I had to give him huge nets of haylege to keep him going all day and overnight :rolleyes: (and also fed him his hard feed in there)

The horses previously in Dizzys field, refused to go anywhere near the shelter but it was the first place Dizzy went to investigate when we moved him there. He also puts himself to bed at around 8pm each night when the horses in the field next door are put in their stables :D
 
Mine use theirs a huge amount in the summer to keep out of the flies and sun. They also use them when the rain is particularly heavy. My old pony and forest bred pony use it the most. The forest bred pony refuses to leave the shelter even for food in heavy rain - she knows I will take the food to her!

My next door neighbour frequently tells me they spend all their time in their shelters. Except in the summer they don't when I am actually there.

Knowing they have 24/7 access to decent shelter makes me fret less about them too as I know they have shelter when they want it.
 
Mine will only use mine for 2 things:

1. To get out of the heat/flies in the height of summer
2. If I lob hay/food in them (and then only stay in long enough to eat & then scarper)

Otherwise they ignore the shelters even in the coldest/wettest weather :rolleyes:

So, I'd say yes, they are invaluable to them in v hot weather as they use them for protection from insects & for shade rather than under trees
 
We have 4 out together - with 2 stables that have the doors tied open and a double field shelter in the other field.

Mine use theirs quite a lot - they seem to take it in turns to go in at night or when its cold. They are using it a bit less now that the grass is coming through.

In awful weather I split them into pairs and put 2 each in each field with hay in the stables / shelters. They all go in then - usually my horse and pony stand in the same stable!
 
Mine use it a lot and sometimes i wonder if they have ventured out as all i see are 2 noses poking out esp whilst weve had all this rain...
 
Mine are never out of theirs in this weather! We got it in dec, they watched it being erected and as soon as we took the fence down they both trotted in and have never looked back! On a normal night, there's about 4-5 poos in there and 2 flattened patches of straw where they sleep, but with this rain they are in there all the time. On one hand I'm v pleased about this, on the other it is worse than mucking out a normal stable! I only wish I'd got one years ago, stops all those nights of worry!
 
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