how much turnout do yours have?

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Was talking to a girl last week about our ponies & had mentioned something about turnout, to which she screwed her face up & replied that the ponies she competes don't get turned out other than on their day off when they get 1 hour. Is this the norm? Am I turning out ours too much? Would appreciate opinions please!!

Ours is 14hh & is rode 6 days a week (45-60 mins 4/5days a week, then usually once occasionally twice a week either all day at pc, unaffil dressage or BS or trailblazers jumping (between 90cm-1.10m). Competing at a high ish level (ie qualifys for just about every national final but doesn't do much when gets there!!) Turned out every other day for 6 hrs, stabled the rest of the time (tends to get fat & lazy if turned out any longer!!)

Coffee & fruit cake on offer for your opinions!!! xx
 
12 hours a day during spring/summer/autumn. A little bit shorter in winter.

She's worked around 2 to 5 times a week (normally 5 times) :)
 
are you for real? how could you possibly think that 6 hrs turnout every other day is too much??

in my honest opinion that is too little! but then all my horses live out 24/7 other than the odd night in through the winter when its realy realy bad weather.

i'm surprised the other girl can stay on any of her ponies... mine would go beserk if they were in bar one hour a week! :eek:
 
Turned out at 6pm every night and come in at 8am :)
In the winter I aim to have them out as much as possible during the day but it depends on the condition of the fields.
 
I honestly nearly fell off my chair when she said an hour a week while looking at me like I was some kind of freak!! I have soo much good grass that my boy is looking a bit porky & is on a diet hence the every other day turnout although am in the process of getting him used to being muzzled (not going well so far!!) He seems to stuff his face then can't be bothered if he's out too much, but I always feel so cruel when I leave him in with his soggy hay!!
Glad to hear she was the minority though xx
 
Mine goes out at 6AM and comes in about 7PM every day. She stays out most nights now though, unless chucking it down with rain. She's worked 5 days a week, my friend has a competetion Horse though and he has the same Turnout as my mare.
 
Min 8 hours every day and also walker plus worked every dayl. We have fields with varying degrees of grass right down to a bare harrowed area where they can be out, hoon, roll and get hay but not stuff themselves. This is generally only used for racers the day or two before racing. Ours are all in hard work and very happy
 
From april to november mine are out 24/7 and 2 of mine are ridden every day. my tb is worked every day (lunging or lunge lining) :)

from december to march they come in at 9pm and out at 5 am. I would have them out 24/7/365 if my yard allowed it :)
 
Thank you - someone else had actually said he should be in more (for competing reasons not medical) but I really can't see why! never had a day lame or had lami, although as have said is slightly chubby but not a lard a**e!! xx
 
I would love mine to be out 24/7 but don't have the land at the moment - so they are generally out all the time in summer and in winter they are out when the weather allows - If its too wet they ruin the bit of good grass we have!. They both live on fresh air generally so are quite happy!
 
Horses are out 24/7, we now have stables for our horses to go into if needed.
we are building on little paddocks to our stables so horses can have small area for tacking up/ grooming.
My friend only ever lets her horses out for six hours in the summer and four in winter.
 
Mine are out overnight, and come in during the day to get away from the flies. In October, I'll switch them round. My comp horse has individual t/o (to avoid any kick injuries) but he's next to the others, and he's very happy, and performs well :)

Unless you need to restrict grazing for fatties or your horse is nursing an injury then more turnout for any horse is better than less turnout. It's better mentally, and physically. It isn't natural for a horse to stand still in a stable for 23 hours a day, and their tendons and ligaments will never be as strong as a horse in exactly the same work who is turned out.

I can see why some of the highly valuable competition horses are not allowed out, due to the massive financial implications if they tweaked a ligament by acting the fool, being a horse, in a field. Also, they are often fed a very controlled diet, to get the maximum performance out of the horse - but we are talking about horses at the top of their game. I feel a little sorry for those, and they'd probably be less likely to injure themselves if they had more t/o in the first place.
 
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Mine is out 24/7 all year round. I'm lucky enough to be on a yard with plenty of good grazing. If your horse is only out for 6 hours a day that means they are standing in a confined space for 18 hours! I used to have a horse that was a bit of a porker. I kept her in during the day and she was really miserable. I got her a grazing muzzle and she was much happier being out in the company of her friends. Good luck with the grazing muzzle, most of them get used to it after a while, just keep poking grass through the hole in the bottom and they'll soon get the hang of it!
 
My plan is to get him out more in the muzzle, at the minute he just stands & rubs it on the fence! Not really sure how to get him used to it if he's not going to try & graze with it on!! This is the first pony I've ever had stabled & I'm not a fan!!
 
When i was a kid all the horses and ponies at the DIY yard were out all day 6 to 6 and stabled every night, winter and summer. It was just the way it was!
When i lived overseas all of the horses were stabled 24/7 becuase there was no turn out.
Now i have my own fields the TB is out 24/7 April to Nov and stabled at night in the winter to save my paddocks and help keep the weight on.

But can i just say that they all appeared to be happy and content even the one who was never turned out (he was riden every day and on the walker twice a day, and rolling box once a day).
 
mine are out 24/7 all year round, if my big girl is stabled she turns into grumpy mare from hell, i even knocked 2 stables into 1 to give her room as she's 17hh but she still hates it, i used to think that as she's mostly TB that she couldn't possibly live out all winter, madam thinks otherwise and has proved that she can cope very well and is much happier;) Oh and as she's now allowed to grow a woolly winter coat she only has a rug on when it's very wet:eek:
 
Ours live out 24/7 year round with access to plenty of natural shelter and their stables to come and go as they please.
 
our yard likes the horses to come in for a minimum of 4 hours during the day to give them a bit of a break off the grass - for ours that live out at night, obvs the stabled ones just come in at 6pm and go out in the morning. but the grass liveries are out 24/7 - 365 days a year.
 
24/7 april - november, december - march out all day, get brought in at night! If its pouring down then shes happy to stay in munching on haynet! :)
 
Just moved to a yard where have the option of 24/7 turnout which have done for last week yet horse seems to like coming in and is really tired with being out. Probably too soft and have let him stay in last 2 nights. Have to play it by ear really as sometimes has to come in at nights so doent put weight on.
 
In an ideal world mine would be out 24/7 and only spend a night in the stables when away competing or the night before a competition!
However I'm at a livery yard where this is unfortunately not possible so from about April-October turnout is 24/7, for a brief period in late October/early November it becomes turnout in days only and then from November-March we're alternate turnout between mares and geldings in the day only. From March-April there's another brief turnout in days only before we go to 24/7 again. The times vary with the weather, because of all the snow the horses didn't start alternate turnout until late December last year but the year before that we began early October!!
 
Mine are out 24/7 through summer. We started turning out 24/7 at the beginning of April this year and hopefully they will stay out til beginning or mid November - weather permitting. Through winter, I turn out during the day unless the weather is absolutely sheet ice and on days when it's really wet and the fields are like bogs, I at least turn them out while I am mucking them out in the mornings. Ideally I would like mine out 24/7 all year round, but nowhere near me allows this.
 
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