How much turnout per day would you be happy with?

Bertolie

Bertolie

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As title, what would be the minimum amount of turnout you would be happy with in the depth of winter? On my current yard it is left entirely up to the liveries what they do regarding turnout...individual paddocks and if you trash yours over winter that's tough luck! Looking to move yards and wondered what other people get in the way of winter turnout.
 
Rather depends on the quality of your grazing in general. My paddock looked very sad coming into the spring but recovered fast because the ground is a little too well maintained for good doers :lol: I'm overwhelmed with grass now and would have loads for winter if we weren't moving paddocks. So for me, trashing the paddock is less of a problem.

Yard rules are if it's been peeing down for days on end then we don't turn out until there's a dry day, and they also don't go out in snow (have to walk up a road to the field so too slippy). Other than that, mine are out from about 7am to 4pm all winter. We aren't allowed to hay in the field so I wouldn't want them out for longer tbh in the worst of it.

ETA.This routine works for us because mine are worked every day. I'd struggle if I couldn't get them exercised on the days they have to stay in.
 
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It really depends on so many variables. If you have a horse happy to stay in when the fields are wet, or you have other facilities such as turnout on hardstanding or can hay in the field or have a horsewalker, then you won't mind less presumably.

Personally I like to see them out whatever the weather if they have shelter.
 
As I have my own place mine live out 24/7 all year round with access to their stables if they want to go in, they only come in when the weather is hot. Their choice so just goes to show they don't mind the winter weather. Wouldn't be happy to keep mine in at all.
 
My horse is on full livery - out every day, in every night, all year round. We're on sandy soil so not really any mud. In summer they go out at 8am and come in at 5.30pm. Winter - out at 8.30am and in as it gets dark. If it rains heavily all day, they will be brought in if hanging around the gate (left out if happy out). In snow, they go out for a few hours with hay - brought back in when they're waiting at the gate.
 
I think 6 would be my minimum but for short periods of time understand if it had to be 3 or 4. I would further appreciate it if situations dictate the odd day with no turnout but would not like it if this ran in to consecutive days
 
Ideally 6-8 hours a day, but 99% of yards around me stop all turnout from end of sept and don't open field again until towards the end of may.
Where I am now offers 2 days a week no matter the weather, which seems odd to me as I believe they'd be better off physically and mentally with 4 half days,
 
Good weather minimum of 6, bad weather minimum of 4. If it is frozen solid and unsafe I clear a square of yard and we do ground work. It has to be bad for that though, I do still turn out in snow, it is just black ice that we can't manage.

He is in work though, doing something 90% of days.

Oh, and even in summer he is happy to be in after 3pm, in winter he prefers to be in 2pm. Goes out 7am.
 
Thanks. One yard I'm looking at doesn't offer 24/7 turnout, horses are in at night all year round. During the worst of the winter they get turned out for 2-3 hours a day unless the fields are really wet then they may have to stay in for a day or 2. The area where I live is predominantly clay so not sure I'm going to get much better than this. There are 3 outdoor schools so can always lunge if weather is bad. Just weighing up pros and cons before deciding.
 
Crugeran Celt said:
As I have my own place mine live out 24/7 all year round with access to their stables if they want to go in, they only come in when the weather is hot. Their choice so just goes to show they don't mind the winter weather. Wouldn't be happy to keep mine in at all.
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If I had my own place, this is what I'd do. Do you just leave the stables open for them to come and go as they please?
 
I've never had less than 10 hours even in winter. I think I'd settle for 8 hours if I had to, but I like mine to have as much turnout as possible all year round.
 
I would hate to be restricted to bringing in at night in the summer, in by day to get out of the sun and flies would be fine but not in at night, for me it is the time for a break from the mucking out and the expense of loads of hay and bedding to pay for, I have my own small livery yard and all the horses are out 24/7 from early May at the latest until the end of October weather permitting, if I had them all in at night it would be too much work even if they were mainly DIY I still do assisted so would end up doing almost as much as I would in winter.
As for turnout hours, summer 24/7 for most, once they are in at night they come in just before it gets dark so the hours reduce as the time goes on but generally about 6-8 hours with the very occasional short day or day in if the weather is really bad, we are on clay and the fields do get fairly trashed but always recover with a bit of care in the spring, I have 17 acres with about 10 horses on it, sometimes a few more in summer.
 
Atleast 6 - 8, they'll go out at 8am and come in around 3pm. Unless the weather is really bad and the ground is suffering, but even then i'll chuck them out for 2 - 3 hours as they don't get much work in winter due to not having an arena yet.
 
We are on clay on the outskirts of London, with a lot of horses on relatively little land. Mine is content with a couple of hours a day, or even every other day when the fields are at their worst, as long as he has company. Tend not to turn out if the ground is frozen or covered in snow, as it is very poached and rutted and I think that's just begging for an injury. Goes on the walker if he doesn't go out. But he is ridden 5-6 days a week. I know a lot of people wouldn't be happy with that, but I'm not going to get much better without moving so much further out so that riding during the week would be very difficult.
 
I think four hours minimum but I'd like to see horses exercised at both ends of day, and doing long weekend hacks / clinics.

We are on wet clay and do turnout all winter (all day if want) but comes a point if v wet when don't want to be out.

I'm just moving onto summer grazing now, to rest back field. Will move back in 4 weeks, stay in back field until to wet to use pathway (hopefully) in December. Then move to front field and if getting v wet switch to 1/2 days (four hours)
 
shadeofshyness said:
If I had my own place, this is what I'd do. Do you just leave the stables open for them to come and go as they please?
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Yes I do, they very rarely come in except when it is very warm mainly to get away from the flies so I usually have more mucking out over the summer months than the winter. I have three minis and three horses, all under 15.2hh, on about 10 acres which in the winter they have access to all of it. There is plenty of natural shelter and a small river for water. In the summer I do restrict their grazing as they are very good doers and don't need so much grass. I only have three stables but the three minis and one of the horses always share the biggest stable. Saying that the other two usually share as well and I have an empty one. I also have a small yard in front of the stables that is partly concrete and partly woodchip which is very dry so always somewhere to get out of the mud. They are a very happy little herd. The only problem is that in the winter they tend to stay in the furthest fields so twice a day I have to hunt for them to check on them, always when it is wet, dark and usually windy! In the nice summer weather they are right next to the house! No consideration my horses.
 
I used to be on a full livery where if the weather was bad your horse went on the walker for an hour either side of the day and that was it. My horse at the time loved this. She was quite happy with only an hour in the paddock and after that shed be clambering the gate!!!
My boy now I dont think would care how much he got but he's young. I try for 12 out 12 in but sometimes thats just not possible
 
As long as it's a horse in full work then I'm happy with 4hrs/half day.

For anything out of work id be aiming for 24/7 turnout
 
Mine got 5:30am-4pm ish every day last winter bar 1 when he came in early at around 3 that was November to May. Longer from march-May but had to wait for ages for the summer fields (next to the river) to dry out before we could move to 24/7 turnout. Luckily my paddock is on the larger size for the yard and my horse is pretty steady and doesn't trash it. Plus we are allowed to leave hay in the fields. Can only ride three times a week in the winter so this is really my minimum, could cope if it was maybe an hour or so less.
 
I wouldn't b happy with less than 8 in winter which we did have to do for a few months last winter but usually it is 10 or 11hrs in winter ( have hard standing and do hay)
 
Up until last winter I would have said 6-8 - but last year was so wet that they were literally going out and just standing in twelve inches of mud. For the first time in my life I would spend as much time as I could during turnout hours keeping in to groom, etc to cut it down a bit.

In those circumstances,an hour or two at each end of the day would be better - i wouldn't ever want them stuck in all day, but turning horses out for them to stand in thick mud at the gate for hours isn't benefitting them.
 
6 hours for my horse who I ride a lot, my pony it would have to be unlimited really as she has a easy life! however I finally found a livery yard where they can live out together with no other horses in field, 4 fields to rotate and a very large field shelter. Makes life easy and cheaper lol!
 
My pony goes out for 7 hours a day all year round Monday to Friday at the weekends he can stay out longer. Unless the snow is so deep that it is not safe to get them to the fields due to ice and they cant get access to grass. In this case they are happier in with plenty of hay than out in the deep snow where it is difficult to get the grass.

This means that we are never short of grass and there is enough for them to go out every day all year round. The fields are rested and rotated. I have a native pony so he has to wear his grazing muzzle when they move fields to a rested field as there is too much grass for him. Grass does seem to make him very fat and he is not happy in a diet paddock as he just wants to come in all the time and try and escape if there is not much grass. He seems happier in the loads of grass fields with his muzzle on, then there is usually a couple of weeks when he can go out without his muzzle when there is less grass on before they move fields. Going out for 7 hours and then coming in to soaked or steamed hay seems to suit him as he can eat more forage without getting really fat.

He did used to live out but it was very difficult to keep him at a healthy weight and he ended up being muzzled nearly 24/7 for most of the year.
 
This will be my first year with horse at home. I've had the luxury of 24/7 turnout for the first time in about 4 years all summer and now I'm not sure I will be bringing in ever again! I'm, saying out 24/7 BUT that will be an open door and yard policy. If it gets too bad I will restrict his time in the field but he will have access to stable and yard to keep moving. My last yard was pretty rubbish for turnout in the winter although they got to go in the trash pens and school for a couple of hours and with an indoor school I was riding or exercising him in some way everyday but its not ideal and I'm very glad to be calling the shots now :)

I think a minimum of daylight hours turned out would be ok for a horse in full work.
 
Whilst in an ideal world horses would have unlimited turnout, most of us have to compromise.

For three years I kept mine on a yard with 1.5 hours turnout in winter, 2 hours in summer. It actually worked very well, the grazing was fab and the horses were all very happy. But these were fit horses in full daily work, plus there was always something going on at the yard for them to watch during the day, so they didn't get bored or cranky.
 
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