How do you sleep at night?

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goldenchestnut

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Hi, lurked on the forum for a while but i need your thoughts. We have recently moved to a house with our own land. Our horses and ponies have always been on livery and lived in at night during the winter. Here they are to live out 24/7 with a large field shelter to share. I am really struggling with them being out at night and in the bad weather. How do you cope with the feeling that you are a bad owner even though you tell yourself "they're horses they'll be ok". My friend says she draws the curtains and does't look but i am really stuggleing. What do you feel and do. Just reasure me please that we've done the right thing and they will be ok.
 
Mine lives out 24/7 with a field shelter. She hasn't melted yet :P

They will be fine. If they know where their shelter is, they can use it as they please. And so long as there is plenty to eat, they wont get cold.

Once you have settled in a bit, I'm sure you will sleep better too.
 
Firstly Welcome :)

and secondly your horses will be fine. You're very luck to be able to keep them at home and if anything your horses will probably enjoy the new freedom they have. So stop worrying and enjoy the new freedom you will have too from keeping them at home :p
 
I have the opposite problem. Ours have to come in around 3.30pm and spend the evening and night in a 12X12 stable and I feel so guilty. They're very obliging but they thrived when they were on grass livery with their friends even through the freezing snowy winters.
As long as they have shelter and forage, even the finest built horses are fine.
 
As someone who is claustrophobic I think mine are lucky to live out 24/7 lol. Not saying stables are cruel before I get jumped on but I hate the thought of being shut in so I like them out. If they have natural shelter etc they really will be fine. Mine have a field shelter too this year and so far they have barely looked at it lol xx
 
I turned out an injured horse last dec to a big 20 acre field he had always been kept in apart from the summer months, i felt absolutly awful! I couldnt just nip outside (my horses are kept at home but this 20acre field was 20 minutes away!) and check on him he was underweight when he went out there so i rugged him to the hilt and when we had the bad snow in jan i drove up at 6.30 in the morning stood in a dark field calling his name... Just to check he was warm enough!! He was!! He came home in june fatter than he had ever been unfortunatly due to his injury i lost him in july but he was happy as larry in that big field even in the worst weather and he had no field shelter!!

Short of it your guys will be fine and probably love you for it :) enjoy having them at home!! :)
 
Watch them, every time you pass a window - get a massive torch and spy on them at night. You'll see them happily grazing/ sleeping/ itching each other all the time, they'll get out of the habit of coming in after just a few days, then you'll see how happy they are (and how even in thee worst weather they will ignore your lovely field shelter!)
Let them show you how great it is out 24/7
 
We always stabled ours overnight and out all day until a few years back when I had a very elderly Arab mare who was starting to struggle to walk out in the mornings as she had stiffened up over night. The vet recommended that we left her out 24/7 with access to her stable if she wanted to go in. She never went into her stable again regardless of the weather she always stayed out. She has been gone a while now, died happy in her field on a lovely late summer evening at the age of 35. So just goes to show that they do prefer to be allowed to stay out. since then I have never stabled overnight unless there is a health issue.
 
Goldenchestnut, you should relax, lol. Your horses will be far healthier and happier outside with a shelter than in a stable, think of it as being released from their cages.
 
Mine have lived out 24/7 for 20 plus years with shelter of either a wind break, Heston bales or a open barn. They have never suffered from coughs, field injuries, laminitis or have any stable vices. Horses live naturally in open spaces, they do not huddle in caves standing in their own poo and wee standing for hours in the same place not able scratch, rub or bite each other. Tell me what's good about being good or normal for a horse being in a 12x12 stable?
 
ridefast said:
I don't get that feeling. They are horses, they evolved outside, they are happy outside, they don't melt.
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Me neither. It's more what we are used to than the horses that's a problem for us.
I couldn't cope if mine had to be stabled at night. :D

I'm sure you will soon see they are ok and start to chill and really enjoy having them at home. :)
 
They will love it. I am constantly being told mine should come in and I look at them out of the window - you can't beat it - and in bad weather they just find the most sheltered bit and carry on as usual. They lie in the sun when it is sunny and hunker down if its yuck.
They had to come in for 2 hours this morning while I put their winter hay racks out and sorted the paddock and they were disgusted and desperate to go back out afterwards.
 
Mine are at home and last winter was the first time after living here for 27 years that we made the decision to let the ponies winter out. They love it. They also love seeing us working round their field, coming to the gate and having a chat with us and generally chilling!

They grew warm snuggly winter coats that were shinny and glossy all winter, and used the shelter provided if the weather became too extreme.

So I am now a convert, why did I have all those years rushing home from work, diving outside before work, when they would have been just as happy outside.
 
I am sure that your horses will love it. As they are being kept at home you can check on them whenever you like just to make sure they are OK.
 
I must be the worst owner in the world then, I don't even think about my poor pony-wonies out in the rain where they might melt or get cold. They are horses, get over yourself, they are designed to be out. Far better out than in.
 
you would only feel bad if your horses looked poor, mine lived out last winter, no field shelter, but plenty of natural shelter, she was rugged up and fed well, and in spring she came second in a best condition class,
 
im opposite, I have to start bring mine in next weekend for the first time in 12 yrs ive brought them in for the odd hour and they hate coming in, kicking the door, pacing around and making me feel really mean! im going to have a horrible night this time next week where im so worried about them
 
Easy peasy she's so much happier out!! I was never in the position to have her out all winter until last year and it was wonderful! She was happy, I was happy, and it was the easiest, least stressful winter we've had in twelve years! I only had her in when the weather was awful, as we don't have a field shelter, trees or hedges, and the field is very exposed. But honestly, it's fab!
 
Just google all the negatives mental and physical issues horses get being stabled, that should make you realise you're doing totally the right thing! They are horses, they are DESIGNED to be outside! Simple!
 
Mine lived out 24/7 for first time last September. I was worried. Was forever going to check on him. Was he too cold/too warm/miserable etc. I can honestly say he's the happiest he's ever been. He never uses the field shelter. He didn't once wait by the gate to come in. This winter I'm not worried at all.
 
After 38 years of keeping horses out in the day and stabled at night in Winter .We moved 4 years ago from 7 acres of heavy clay soil to 15 acres of free draining sandy soil. I have kept the horses out 24/7 since the move ( suitably rugged) The horses have never been happier the old T/B (26 now) has a new lease on life not stiff at all .He looks marvellous .All the horses love the freedom to come and go as they please.
We have a massive American barn and the horses come in every morning for a feed and checked over and in the winter have about 3 to 4 hours in with a hay net .They then go out there is a massive open barn adjoining 75 ft. long and 30 ft. deep which is bedded down with a deep straw bed and has hay put out am and pm in winter it accesses a huge well drained area around it and has access directly onto whichever field they are using.
If they want to come in for shelter they can. I sleep much better than when they were cooped up in stables wondering if they had run out of hay!!!
My old mare had 3 years extra life as she had been crippled with arthritis when stabled over night with 24/7 access out she even came sound enough for the odd walk out hacking.
My old T/b gelding looks like he has many more years in him under this regime.
For me it is the ideal way to keep horses they are never waiting to come in but if I call them will mooch over in the mornings to come in but there is no intensity in it they are chilled and happy and there is less pressure on me.
 
Ours have almost always lived out, I bought my first pony 30 yrs ago and they ARE quite happy living out. Its only because they come in to a feed that people say the hang around the gate. So long as they have a constant supply of hay, and you break the ice on the water two or three times a day they will be fine. Ours also have a mineral lick, and a small feed.
When our old horse was young, it was the vet who said they would be happier and healthier living out, as they were in at night in winter at that time. It was true, the horses stopped coughing, the runny noses also stopped. They have been out ever since.
Relax, its normal for a horse to live out, sleep well!
 
My horse had been on part livery for several years, living in at night all year round and with limited day time turnout in bad weather. We bought our own property,with land and a field shelter but no stables, the winter before last. I had intended to wait until summer before trying my horses out 24/7 but as the yard manager insisted on tying one of my horses up when stabled to stop her box walking I ended up having to bring them home in Feb in deep snow. I rugged them well and put them in the shelter the first two nights but on the third night I couldn't catch them so they stayed out. My TB was 20 and quite stiff and not 100% sound and neither of them had had a chance to grow winter coats so I was worried sick about her living out. Last year was awful weather and I did worry about them in the rain but they coped fine and i only rugged the TB in very cold weather or if it rained for days on end. This year she is now completely sound, no sign of any stiffness and is a happy 22yr old who isn't rugged yet.

We built a yard this summer and I have just left the stable doors open so they can use the stables if they want. They have their hay in and spend some time each day/night inside but I'm still surprised when I look out in what I consider to be horrible weather and they are out grazing whilst there are piles of hay inside.

I honestly believe it's the best thing I have done for my horses in the 15+ years I've had them both. It was harder on me than them the first year and last year's wet weather made me feel so bad as TB feet aren't usually the best in those conditions but she has her shoes off and her feet look the best they have ever been. It does make me giggle when people say their pampered horses could never live out as two years ago mine were both rugged to the hilt, pumped full of supplements and good feed and had all manner of fancy shoeing. Their school work, suppleness, enthusiasm and forwardness has improved since living out so stick with it as I'm sure you will be pleased in the end.
 
Thank you all for the replies and encouragement. I have enjoyed reading them all ( even the one that said "get over yourself " ). I know you are all so right and it's things i keep telling myself anyway.But the regime is so different that it's taking time and proving hard to adjust. They used the field shelter as soon as it was put up so it was a relief to know they had some where to go if they wanted it. I expect in time i will look back to now and feel really stupid for stressing about it.
 
If its any help I read the 'get over yourself' comment & thought it was incredibly rude & uncalled for!

I haven't posted because I bring in at night through winter. It works best for me.
Last year I had to leave my gang out 24/7 longer than I wanted...they didn't melt & 2 of them thrived but 1 has a tendency to drop weight & wasn't particularly happy so they had to come in at night :(
 
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