How much turnout do you all get over winter?

[AUB]

I'm on full livery. Horses are turned out 5.30, brought in around 4, all day every day in all sorts of weather. If it's really pouring, they'll be brought in around 3 and in summer they'll be out until around 5.

 

[ycbm]

out 24/7 on sand over clay we get lying water but not mud as such. Personally I wouldnt own a horse if it didnt get at least 8 hours out a day especially if not in hard work. Horses in hard daily work might get away with half days

Well that would be most if the horse owning population in livery unable to keep horses. My experience is that horses in genuine hard work are happy to be stabled full time, and that most horses seem very content in light work on half days if they have a steady routine.

My set up is different because they are stabled only to eat and be tacked up, but they never go out before ten because I'm too lazy to get out of bed before nine, they go out at about twelve if they are ridden and come in about six.

When they were stabled, I had a horse who couldn't be caught unless he was in before dark, so his turnout was short in midwinter and he never seemed any different to when it was longer.

I think it's much more of an issue for most horses that they are turned out in these postage stamps that pass as paddocks these days than half days.


OP I would choose the livery with the reliable routine.

 

[ycbm]

Until recently I was on a yard run by a BHS approved/respected person who keeps her liveries stabled 24/7 from October to May. Apparently this is 'reasonable' and common practice these days. What?

That's always been common practice on clay soil.

I was at a stables near Bath in the eighties and that was standard and most yards in the general area were the same. It's extremely difficult to offer winter turnout to liveries if you are on clay soil in the west of the UK where it rains more. It ends up welly deep in mud.

Most of the deliveries were ridden round the block for 40 minutes three weekdays if they were lucky, left in full time two days and ridden at weekends by the owners. There were few lit arenas at livery stables in those days.



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[tiga71]

I am at DIY and we are lucky to do what we like re turnout. We are now on our winter field which only gets muddy in the gateway.
Ours have more or less the same routine all year; out all night and in for a bit in the day, depending on weather, flies, what we are doing riding wise. They actually spend more time in during the day in the summer due to the flies and being good doers. In the winter they usually come in about 8 or 9 and are back out by 2. If awful weather they will stay in all day.
Works well for mine. My old boy hasn't had a night in for 3 years and is doing really well.

 

[windand rain]

Well that would be most if the horse owning population in livery unable to keep horses. My experience is that horses in genuine hard work are happy to be stabled full time, and that most horses seem very content in light work on half days if they have a steady routine.
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Then perhaps they shouldnt own them then. I did agree that horses in genuine hard work were an exception but everyone to their own. It is clear from the Animal welfare laws that too many are broken with no recourse

 

[meleeka]

It’s very difficult to use a horse in winter and get it eight hours turnout .
I like to hack out when the light is at its best , I aim to get my horse to a trainer at least once a week When you have horses hunting the next day they need bathing ( well ours do because they are grey ) and you don’t want to be bathing them a night .
And of course on a hunting day they often return in the dark .
Our land is shallow top soil and then red clay you need to ration it’s use for the winter field if the winter field is last till the end of March .
My horses are busy in winter and once they are hunting they rest a lot in their stables as they are tired so half day turnout works just fine .

I don’t think it matters if it’s actual turnout or not, provided they get out of their stables. If yours are in full work, the stable is a place for them to rest, rather than a confinement. You are also allowing them down time to just be horses so it’s sounds about right.

Mine are mostly retired. Only one comes in at night (around 7pm) when the fields are wet. Another has the run of the yard and his stable and the two little ones are free to go wherever they choose. That’s usually wherever food is! If it’s raining heavily they all normally choose to stay in the stables eating hay all day but it’s rare they don’t have the choice.

 

[Goldenstar]

Then perhaps they shouldnt own them then. I did agree that horses in genuine hard work were an exception but everyone to their own. It is clear from the Animal welfare laws that too many are broken with no recourse

Which laws are being broken with no recourse ?

 

[windand rain]

Freedom to act like a horse, have companionship of their own kind,

 

[Goldenstar]

That’s not law .

 

[AFB]

All day TO and they can get away with the odd night out but YO not keen.

 

[windand rain]

Yes animal welfare act

 

[flying_high]

Well that would be most if the horse owning population in livery unable to keep horses. My experience is that horses in genuine hard work are happy to be stabled full time, and that most horses seem very content in light work on half days if they have a steady routine.

My set up is different because they are stabled only to eat and be tacked up, but they never go out before ten because I'm too lazy to get out of bed before nine, they go out at about twelve if they are ridden and come in about six.

When they were stabled, I had a horse who couldn't be caught unless he was in before dark, so his turnout was short in midwinter and he never seemed any different to when it was longer.

I think it's much more of an issue for most horses that they are turned out in these postage stamps that pass as paddocks these days than half days.

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Agree with this

My livery yard is 10-15 minutes from work, and 20-30 minutes from home depending on traffic.

We have indoor (lit), outdoor (not lit), private off road hacking

Amazing open hacking with little road work.

Turnout is in small same sex groups, approx. 6 horses in 6 acre fields, that drain well, and maintain grass cover all year.

Horses have same fields all year round, and go out 8 hours in summer, 4 hours in winter.

They don’t go out in very bad weather, but never stay in 2 days in a row, and rarely stay in more than once a week in winter.

If do stay in yard hand walk or put on walker.

Whilst I’d love more turnout, I value the land management to have good grass cover and little mud all year round, and that my horse has time out with friends in a field of varying terrain, big enough to gallop in all year round.

It suits a working horse, and the logistics mean I can get my horse out of his stable twice a day if needed, as I can pass before and after work, time weekend riding around his turnout etc. I don’t muck out or turnout (part livery) so I have the time capacity to groom / massage / hand walk / do in hand work / do ground work / school / hack / poles / long reining / clicker training etc to keep horse active and stimulated.

I have a had all day, all year turnout on the last three yards, but all reached a winter point where it was hard for me and horses to walk through the 18 inch mud at the front 1/3 to half of the fields by January. And some fields poached completely.

I also currently have a horse that doesn’t suit a DIY routine, whereas past horses lived out and where happy as pairs.

 

[milliepops]

i kept my second pony on a yard where there was no turnout from October to April, as half of the grazing was rented and not available in the winter months. They were out 24/7 during the summer.
Most on the yard were hunters so they were ridden hard twice a week all day, and on hacking exercise on other days.
Mine was a little TB pony type and I rode most days but it was tricky after school as I needed a lift to the yard.
The horses were all settled and relaxed, I think they key is routine, company and good forage.

It's not what I would choose but it's not impossible to do a reasonable job and ultimately the horses will let you know if they are suited to keeping them that way or not.

i wish mine were on a yard with long days of turnout in the winter but I have found that they settle to their mornings out and come in happy to eat their hay, so I'm satisfied that they aren't suffering with it.

 

[ycbm]

Yes animal welfare act

You won't get a successful prosecution under that act for stabled horses, they've been stabled for millenia, it is now normal horse behaviour. You might as well try prosecuting people for only ever walking their dog on a lead.

I'd be very careful about your glasshouse glass. Showing a horse under a year old is exactly a natural thing for them to be doing either.


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[Petalpoos]

Out 24/7, but kept in a wood chip 1/2 acre area at night in the winter. They have access 24/7 to field shelters with bedding and hay, which they primarily use when it's too hot and flyie or when it's chucking it down. Oh, or if there's some nice food in there!

 

[Tarragon]

My ponies are out all year round but I know I am very lucky to have over 10 acres of well draining turf so I am not worried about mud.
I have previously kept the ponies in livery yards with limited turn out. One yard had a big all-weather play pen you could use for a few hours every day and the ponies would have hay nets to munch on. It was big enough for a bit of play and allowed the ponies space to roll, mooch around and socialise. The other yard had turn out, but the fields were too small and by the time winter was in full swing, the track to the fields was a quagmire, there was no grass and they weren't big enough or safe enough to let excitable horses out in. I also feel sorry for horses I see standing around a single round bale of haylage in a field full of mud that are out 24/7.
If I was an active rider and the ponies were ridden daily and it was a busy yard with things going on, then I do not consider the all weather turnout to be a bad option, and in my opinion, preferable to turnout 24/7 in fields that are either too small, or too muddy or both.

 

[Goldenstar]

Freedom to act like a horse, have companionship of their own kind,

Yes animal welfare act

I don’t you find that is in the animal welfare act .

 

[wiglet]

I'm on full livery. The horses are stabled at night all year round.
In summer they go out at 8am and come in around 5.30pm. In winter they go out at 8am and come in around 3.30-4pm, basically they're all in before it gets dark. We're on sandy soil so no mud and they go out whatever the weather. If it's raining all day they will be brought in early.

 

[Moogleberry]

We have the option to still be out 24/7 as long as there are at least two horses staying out for company, the YO will let us know when he wants them in at night to give the grass a rest ...I’ve started to bring in overnight now as fields are pretty wet and bleak and my boy started looking over the gate for me to arrive in the evening 😂 turn out around 7am bring in around 4.30

 

[windand rain]

The five freedoms animal welfare bill

 

[JGC]

Some at our yard stay out 24/7 over winter (I am on the waiting list for this) and the others will come in at night around 15 November, back out 24/7 end of Feb/March. Once they're in at night, they are turned out from about 8 til 5 every day. Except end of December/January, when the sun rises later, they don't go out til midday on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, as the YO has another job on those mornings and doesn't like to put them out in the pitch black. They're fine as long as the others are on the same routine. If the forecast is really nice on those days, one of the liveries might volunteer to turnout. But no keeping in unless there's going to be a big storm, so very very rare.

 

[annunziata]

So I have my own yard and we struggle in the winter as we are on clay so we extended the yard and made a track so they can go up and down. They are not techincally turned out but at least they are out of their stables and iternacting

 

[Tiddlypom]

I don’t you find that is in the animal welfare act .

It isn’t. Daily turnout, while preferable, is not mandatory.

https://assets.publishing.service.g...orses-welfare-codes-of-practice-april2018.pdf
The Animal Welfare Act 2006 (“the Act”) requires you to ensure that any horse, pony, donkey or mule for which you are responsible, whether on a permanent or
a temporary basis:
• has a suitable environment to live in;
• has a healthy diet (including fresh clean water)
• is able to behave normally;
• has appropriate company; and
• is protected from pain, suffering, injury and disease.

 

[Blazingsaddles]

24/7 if desired. Wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

[oldie48]

Although I am on clay, the winter turnout is 7 acres with a stoned gateway and there are 2 in it. I could leave them out 24/7 but Fatty would explode and Rose likes her stable and will stand at the gate as soon as she has had enough turnout. They get turned out at a time convenient to me, mostly I ride in the morning but sometimes I have a lesson later in the day so they get turned out first thing and then come in after lunch. I've had horses that would happily stay out 24/7 but I've had as many that tbh like to come in to a haynet and a feed. I'm happy to adapt my routine as much as possible to suit the but equally I also expect them to adapt to me too. I think Rose would cope well with no turnout in the winter, it's not a problem when I go away for training although I do hand graze if I can. Perhaps I've been lucky but all of our horses have been very adaptable and not easily stressed by a change in their routine.

 

[Surbie]

In theory I could have him out 24/7, but my horse is a heavyweight and his feet have shown they just won't stand up to the wet. He's out 7am-4pm every day and on the weekends if it dries up a bit he might start staying out overnight. I'm on a full livery yard which turns out all day every day and isn't overstocked. We're on clay with proper roads out to the fields - I do realise I am lucky!

 

[BBP]

Summer out 24/7. Currently 6am til 6pm in the field as a group then overnight on hard standing and arena. Once the fields get too wet we will keep them mostly on the hard standing/arena/yard I imagine, but they are still free to wander/interact/play. Very lucky to finally have our own place.

 

[tankgirl1]

Just heading into ours 3rd winter on this yard, I think they have had one or maybe 2 days with no turnout, and that was when the snow was drifting to over waist height. Out 24/7 in summer, and a good 10-12 hours out daily in winter

 

[Kat]

We get daily turnout approx 8.30am - 3pm as a minimum in winter (some are still out overnight now). Turnout is never restricted due to the fields being wet. It is banned twice a year when the hunt pass through. When the snow is down it can make access to the fields risky so that is at our own risk if we want to turnout but the staff won't do it until they deem it safe.

The fact that turnout isn't restricted is one of the best things about the place, I couldn't be somewhere that didn't allow daily turnout.

The fields get muddy round the gates but they soon recover.

 

[Mule]

I bought one that had lived on a yard like this for 2 years. She was sold very very cheap to me the last week in October. She was terrified of stables and had panic attacks if asked to go into one.

The poor beastie would lead into one but then turned round and legged it out again, she would be dripping with sweat on the yard after just the one try. She lived loose on the yard until the barn system was up and running.

Poor thing, that's sad