horses with field shelters - do they choose them?

My two tbs won't leave the shelter, even with a full box of hay in the paddock they just look at me like I'm mad or something, while baby coblet just hoovers what's left of the grass and doesn't give a monkeys
 
Thanks for all these replies - really interesting as there is a whole range of responses - just when I was noticing that people were saying horses didn't always choose to use shelters in the rain, but mainly for flies/sun, along came several people saying their horses have not been out of their shelters in the recently naff weather! It's difficult not to be anthropomorphic and want to always keep my boy in at night out of the weather, but I'm trying to get an equine perspective on it all from those of you who are offering all the choices in your fields!
 
Mine have an enormous stone barn divided into 2 big stables but slip rails left open so they can help themselves.

Bedded down with a big straw bed all year round and ad-lib hay in there all winter. Will go in there to eat hard feed when the buckets come out but then bugger off into the field to graze in the rain :confused:

They do stand in there a lot when it's hot though and as mine stresses if shut in a box, is the best option for her I think and I like to think she is in the dry at night if it's really horrible.
 
When I lived in Cyprus we used to have our horses turned out in large sand paddocks with a shelter in there to protect them from the heat.

Did hey use it Nope!

They much preferred to be outside in 100 degree heat lying flat out in the sand in the full sun boiling their brains.

In Holland my W/B would stand at the gate looking totally dejected ignoring the field shelter filled with straw behind him????
 
We have 4 black Shires: 2 broodmares and their rising 3 year old gelding sons. The 2 girls live together, as do the 2 boys. That is, the girls are separated from the boys. We have 12' x 24' shelters in 2 fields, and a 10' x 16' mobile shelter in another field. Years ago, before we had these horses, we had our Clyde gelding living with our Shire mare (they are now deceased). We erected our first field shelter, static and 12' x 24'. They wouldn't enter it for months. Thinking that perhaps they were unwilling to enter a big, black box, I had two 3' square "windows" cut into 2 sides of the shelter at horse head height. Bingo. They used the shelter all the time, although its greatest use was in summer. When we had the mobile shelters designed and made, they each have a window on a short wall and a long wall, again, at horse head height. The present horses, being black, are very happy using these shelters in summer. When the weather becomes much cooler, I have sheets of perspex which are screwed into the openings. The horses are not bothered by the colder temperatures or the rain. As a result, the only things that encourage them to use the shelters are haynets. For the worst of the weather, our horses are overwintered in a massive pole barn divided into 3 sections, being able to be opened each section to the other. In an ideal world, I wish our land were set up so that they could walk in and out of the pole barn into the fields at their leisure.
 
honetpot said:
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.
Click to expand...

Ooh I like the sound off this ....

I have a shelter which two of mine refused to use for months, they still prefer to stand outside under the over hang. But the mare I bought last summer absolutely loves it, which is just as well cos she turned out to be a BOGOF and that's where she'll be foaling :p They have no other wind break or shelter at all though not even a hedge .... that's on my list of things to do next year :rolleyes:
 
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