How important is turnout to you??

It is my top priority when looking for a yard.

It is a little harder/more expensive/further afield to find a yard with turnout and facilities but I won't consider a yard without GOOD year-round turnout.
 
after food & water then turnout/company/shelter are my priorities. With turnout your horse is less likely to get filled legs, copd, arthritic problems - the list goes on.

If you are in doubt - go and shut yourself in your horses stable for a few hours - remember you are alot smaller than he is - then imagine him in there permanently - apart from his couple of hours of turnout (similar to the prison system haha)

Your horse, your decision but they are herd animals designed to roam and graze constantly !
 
Turnout is top on my list as well, my horses live out 24/7. We do have two stables and they come in at night during the worst winter weeks - two weeks last winter.
 
I moved from a yard with nice facilities but limited turnout in winter/wet to a much more basic yard with 24/7 365 herd turnout. Molly doesn't live out all the time as I have to limit grass in Spring etc but I love the freedom of having the option, in the 3 years I have been there she has never had to stay in 24/7 (apart from box rest) whatever the weather or state of the fields. It is bliss!
 
Turnout is important to me, we have 24/7 turnout in summer which is great and can turn out in winter during the day - however this is sometimes limited due to bad weather and the fields can quickly get churned up so the horses only go out for short periods of time because of this personally I'd like more turnout in winter.
 
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Very , very important. Forget stable facilities, grazing and freedom to play is so important to me and my boy. He used to be on a livery yard out in the day and in at night. He is now (thankfully) out 24/7 and he is calmer and happier for it. Love it and wouldn't want to go back to having him in a stable every night :)
 
Turnout is important to me, but not the deal-braker!

I have kept horses in both situations, i.e 24/7 turnout all year (only coming in when the snow was too deep), to almost permanent turn out (with just a grass holiday a couple of times a year) - and everything in between! All these worked for the horse I had at the time.

My current mare is quite chilled out if she is in or out and we are lucky to have a decent turnout pen where they can play and have a hooley if they want one. I also ensure I work her whenever she is in so she has had a proper leg stretch. At the moment, she is in for ten days as her field has been sprayed for buttercups and so the next time she can go out is Sunday. I have been working her consistently, making sure she gets a good hour in the turnout pen whilst I muck out and do my jobs, and I also take her out in hand to have a munch on grass for half an hour. She has stayed sane and sensible and her usual self...

However, i think it depends on your horse - and your own committments. I don't have kids for example, so my time afterwork can be dedicated to my horse (poor husband! lol). Plus, if she was a flighty sort, I might want to turn her out every day just so I could ride :)

At the end of the day, each to their own, as long as your horse is happy and well looked after - and you know your own horse - I think that turnout is not the be-all-and-end-all!
 
Very important, and im lucky enough to choose my own regime, as others have said it needs to be consistant, i couldnt go back to places where youre lied to and told, yep all year turnout, no problem, then on one yard i was on this turned into, cant get out if its raining, after being in for 10 days i left, others lasted 21 days, but some stayed because of the indoor school, i suppose its prioritising whats good for you, in my case it was the sanity of my horses
 
Our horses get out every day of the year for at least three hours. In the summer it is 24/7. I would not worry unduly about lack of grass and the size of the area, but it would worry me that if that is all he has, it will soon become a soggy bog and totally unsuitable for turnout. In the worst of the winter ours go out in a sand turnout about the size of a standard menage. It is poo picked three times a day to keep the surface in tip top condition and I much prefer it to turning out in muddy fields.
 
As most others have said, turnout is the number one priority for me. Have been on yards with individual turnout/limited turnout but since moving to a yard with small herds and all year round turnout my horse is a different animal. I wouldn't change that ever again!
 
My horses go out and in as they please and they choose to spend over half the day in the field wouldnt go to a yard with out turn out so glad im no longer on a livery yard
 
What I don't get is when people say their horse is quite happy without much turnout, it waits at the gate etc. When mine spent 12months on box rest, with the last few months turned out in a tiny paddock, with a fence high enough to prevent her jumping out that also stopped her grooming over the fence, she didn't appear unhappy at all. She also was ridden in walk, handgrazed & walked out plenty. And when she was first turned out in company in a nice big field, after a blast round & a roll she wanted to come in. I took this to mean she had adjusted to the unnatural routine I had forced on her & forgotten how to be a horse, rather than thinking it was a sign she preferred box rest. With a bit of time to build up though she did adjust back to her old self. So I doubt any horse really prefers being in for the majority of the time, just that nobodys ever given them chance to act like a horse.
 
Turnout is most important.

At current yard, mine live out 24/7. Their paddocks are not huge, but they still have enough grazing and room for a hooley- which they do quite a lot!
 
Hugely, although I have a very amenable horse, it still features as one of my highest priorities when looking at livery.
Luckilly I keep my horses at home, so they get 24/7 turnout, I appreciate at livery it's very hard to offer this with space etc but I'd rather compromise on other features, rather than turnout, personally.
 
My main priority, I share a small yard with another owner and ours are out 2/47 (if we wanted them to be) YO doesnt visit very much although lives on site and we know we're very lucky. We have about 20 acres between 4 horses. 1/3 of the field is closed from spring til winter and is reopened so they can stay out that bit later ... I work away from home so if I dont manage to ride as much as Id like at least they're out :D
 
Turnout is so important to me, however it is the least important to my yard. I have constant sleepless nights over the situation and there is just nothing I can do, I am backed into a corner because other than the turnout the yard is perfect for us as I have a youngster and need the support. I have to like it, or leave basically! 365 days a year he only gets 4 - 5 hours in the field per day unless I turn him back out once they have brought him in. He doesn't seem bothered as he is laid back, but that's not the point. It's madness and I pay a fortune to keep him there :mad:
 
I rent a 3 acre field and whilst I could have my boy turned out 24/7 all year round I have him in during the night over winter and when the weather is really bad. In the Summer I have him out night and in during the day but he has a 20 x 12 stable. I lunge him for 15-20 minutes then hack after work

I choose to have him in as it saves the ground and ensures that the field is not over grazed as he is on it all year round. Also in the stable he can get away from the flies and he likes to have a snooze.
 
I would never keep my horse on a yard with no turnout. It's an absolute deal breaker for me & as others have said 1st on my list of priorities.
I was on a yard that was a bit rough & ready to look at but the YO maintained brilliant turnout all year round. A girl moved there with a horse. In the summer she turned out whilst she mucked out & in the winter he didn't go out at all, only when ridden. When asked why she wouldn't turn him out she said he was worth too much money, he was a competition horse & liked being in.
YO had a massive go at her telling her that what she was doing was cruel & no horse was worth so much money that you should deny it it's basic rights. She also suggested that it was unfair that she was taking the livery space of someone who would appreciate the turn out (place had a wait list)
This girl left after that.
Funniest thing was I recently competed against her on her 'competition horse that likes to be in & is worth so much money' I beat her :) not bad considering my horse is out 24/7 & was a freebie ;)
 
Same as nearly everyone else, one of my top priorities! My horses now live out all year round with just natural shelter.

The only thing I miss about a stable is tacking up in there, as I hate wrestling with the exercise sheet in the rain and wind :p

Once I know what land I am using, will set up a couple of stables for emergency but the rest will be field shelters. The hedges and tree's work perfectly fine for now though :)
 
Turn out very important
Mine all now stay out nearly all year 24/7
If its important you look for it on a yard.
I am v fussy as I only ride on decent menage surfaces too!!! Which is often hard to find in combination
 
I always thought my horses were pretty happy with limited turnout, they were always waiting to come in and reluctant to go out when the weather was awful. I've kept them on some lovely yards but this year I finally got my own place and they have been living out 24/7 with access to field shelters. The change is amazing and I am feeling so guilty for all the years they had restricted grazing. Living out has helped my good doer lose weight and my older TB is less stiff and they both look so well. Surprisingly they both have more energy and the less enthusiastic of the two is now very responsive and forward. Even if a horse seems content with limited turnout they thrive and do so much better living out.
 
My horse lives out 24/7. This is my choice, there's no reason why she can't be stabled, and she has been in the past, during the winter.

The last time she was stabled overnight (apart from when she had to stay at the vets 2 yrs ago) was about 4 years ago, for a couple of weeks in a really bad winter.

I wouldn't even consider a yard without 24/7 turnout.
 
Turnout is essential and I put it too of the list.

Good level field, with secure fencing (no barb wire) and company either next door or in same field.

Option of 24/7 and every day in winter is imperative as my boy has arthritis so he cannot afford to miss a day being out.

I'm on a fab yard where he gets 24/7 turnout with a quiet mare and we can alter fields if ones looking abit worn. He also has access to his stable if needed.

I think any horse with turnout is a happy horse.

One thing I hate is seeing them in all the time (unless it's for medical reasons). Even top comp horses need to be out to relax... One thing a like about Carl Hester is that he turns his horses out and as he said, all the stress/ energy goes.
 
Wouldn't keep a horse at a yard with no turn out or even restricted turnout. Ours can go out 24/7 if the owners wish. Think its cruel to keep any animal behind bars all day every day.
 
i just moved from a yard where my young horse practically lived out all winter (with a big rug on) and was living out fine and now can only go out during the day, turn out is limited in winter but tbh she very happy to be in her stable when its lashing freezing rain and no grass to eat, i used to have to drag her back out over winter. i like them to go out everyday but each horse is different and they are creatures of habit and i have met some "compitition" horse that dont actually want to go out, they not usd to it, one uesd to simply jump his way back in from the field to his stable, also had a retired police horse come to my yard from london, been there 20 yrs, and it took him a while to like being turned out, had to do it very gradually, start by putting him nearest the yard for short spell and increasing it and the distance he was from the yard gradually, he didnt roll or anything, would just pace at the gate to come in, and was nervous about being in a field. he got used to it mind and is now some mud demon and some nice quiet friends. if your horse isnt used to large turn out with groups of horses he prob be fine tbh. my mare happily adjusted to coming in everynight, no trouble, all the other horses do and its now her routine. play it by ear maybe, if your horse goes there and is happy and as you can exercise everyday too then dont worry about that its only 1/6th of an acre. see what your horse thinks :)
 
One of the most important things to me - I need at least 6-8 hours in winter and full days ideally 24/7 in summer. Horses are designed to graze and I think its so unnatural for a horse to be stabled all the time. One of my horses was born and bred on a showing yard and never knew proper turnout until he came to me - its taken about 5 years to get him to accept being out for around 8 hours and he now enjoys it as opposed to running up and down like a loon. I think its so sad that so many horses' attitudes to turn out are ruined by prolonged stabling at showing or competition yards. My 2yo lives out 24/7 - I cant deal with another turnout-sensitive horse and its ideal for him, particularly given his age. I would never be at a yard with no or minimal turnout, not for all the facilities in the world.
 
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