Individual or together......

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Charlie007

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Those of you with 2 horses, do you turn them out together or keep them in individual paddocks?

What are your reasons for turning your horses out the way you do??
 
When I have 2 they go out in separate paddocks.

I think group turnout is great for horses with no shoes, who are out 24/7 so not separated, who are not fit and on hard feed.

I think when shod, fit, fed, and spilt up at night or to be ridden then the risk of injury is too high. I don't just mean a little scrape, I mean the risk of serious injury.
 
Thanks for your replies so far. I currently have an older wb who is happy to be stabled or in the field on his own. MY other horse is a 4 yo tb who always gets brought in first as doesn't settle quite so well outside in field. Currently they are in adjoining paddocks separated by electric fencing. They are playing over the fence alot. Tb not in work at the minute due to weather and wb is due back work at the end of march. I put them in together this afternoon and they were fine after an initial run about. They played a bit, rearing etc then settled to graze ( not a lot of grass, hay in field). Really not sure if I should carry on putting them together???
 
Red-1 said:
When I have 2 they go out in separate paddocks.

I think group turnout is great for horses with no shoes, who are out 24/7 so not separated, who are not fit and on hard feed.

I think when shod, fit, fed, and spilt up at night or to be ridden then the risk of injury is too high. I don't just mean a little scrape, I mean the risk of serious injury.
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I understand where you're coming from, and I realise it costs a lot, in time and money, to have fit competition horses, but reading that just makes feel a little sad:(

I know they can probably communicate over the fences, but it's really not the same as being together, able to properly scratch and play etc. Horses really are such social animals, it seems wrong to deny them that.

Mine all get turned out together, and in the winter come in to stables at night. They are fit and competing, they have no problems with separation at home ( 2 of them not so good when at shows together, but working on that). They happen to be unshod, but would still be together even if shod.

I wonder if field size is a factor? As in less chance of injury in larger fields, more chance in livery yard 'postage stamp' fields you sometimes see?
 
I have four all go out together I know it increases risk but they love it, however I bought a new one today .
He's used to individual turnout so that's what I'll do until he's settled at home and the others are used to him and hacking out with him and travelling with him .
When the hunting ends I will remove the hind shoes of all the others and indroduce to them firstly I'll put him out with Fatty and see how he reacts .
It's a really hard one I totally understand why people do single turnout .
 
We have 4 mares and have had 4 or even 5 over the years. They were always all out together, first at livery then at home. Now, however, I have a mare who is very keen on her own personal space and a 3 yr old who thinks that she is all-important. We have had to split those 2 up, so now our mares are kept in pairs. I am still trying to work out how to re-introduce them without them fighting - neither have back shoes and actually in hind-sight some of their fights have been hilarious - like a couple of Sumo wrestlers bumping into each other! But we are keeping them separate to avoid injury atm. Not sure what I would do if I only had the two.
 
I've got five fit competition horses and they all go out together - out during the day and in at night. I keep them at home plus four horses belonging to a couple of friends and they have grown up together. I have not had any significant injury from them being out together although I did have one get a life threatening injury whilst in the stable.

I do find it rather sad seeing small electric fenced areas for single horse turnout.
 
Thank you for your replies, I'm still unsure what to do!! My fields is by no means huge but it does mean that I can rest part of it if they are in together. I was hoping that the older horse would keep the younger one in check!! When the grass starts to come through they will just eat its just at the minute they are getting bored and playing silly beggars over the fence
 
Mine are together, even when they are fit, stabled overnight etc. The only reason for me to have one on individual turnout would be if the individual was a violent bully. If they have sufficient room to move around, enough food and are carefully introduced, I don't think it matters whether they're shetland ponies or showjumpers. I won'r condemn anyone for choosing otherwise, but personally, I wouldn't have a horse on individual turnout.
 
I only have one horse, but he is a fit, shod, (dressage) competition horse (although only 14.2hh!) and he lives out 24/7 in a herd. He's never had a serious injury caused by the others in his field (touch wood).

I also find it incredibly sad to see horses in individual postage-stamp paddocks. Chatting over a fence isn't the same as a full body itch!

Once they get used to going out together, one coming in to be ridden, or being separated for stabling they will be fine. No reason to be clingy if it happens every day :)
 
Mine is kept out 24/7, shod in a herd on hard feed and in full work Spring-Autumn. In winter her back shoes get pulled off to save some money.

They're a very happy, chilled unit. My foal is extremely well adjusted and chilled out in this set up.

Tbh I've seen more injuries in horses on postage stamped paddocks than those out in a reasonable sized field with a small herd.
 
Having had 1 fractured leg (caused by a pony with no shoes on) and 1 fractured head I now only ever individually turn out. All horses were sensible and good natured. I'd love to put them together but it's just not worth the risk to me.

Edited to add.. I make no judgement of anyone choosing to turn out horses together, I wish I could bring myself to do it!
 
My field is not postage stamp sized but it certainly isn't huge!! They have plenty of room to get out of each others way and there is plenty of space between hay piles. So confused!!!:~
 
ok, none of mine are fit, or shod or competition horses and I would be gutted if anything happened to any of them. There's a 4yo, 6yo and a 21yo all together in 35 acres right now. In the summer they have various paddocks ranging from 7 acres down to 1.

I have in the past kept my old horse in individual turnout. I was at livery, the horse in question was a bit of a one and everything was shod behind. I wouldn't do it again and it was one of the many reasons I wanted out of livery yards. I got the horse in question a small, unshod companion (the now 21yo).
 
Charlie007 said:
My field is not postage stamp sized but it certainly isn't huge!! They have plenty of room to get out of each others way and there is plenty of space between hay piles. So confused!!!:~
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Mine spent most of last winter in a 20x40 school - 4 of them. They had the odd party, and squabbled a bit about hay (even though they had ad lib!) but no-one got hurt!
 
I have two, they share turnout. One is very much the boss and as long as the other tows the line they are fine together. They do play together and they love having the big winter field so I would be reluctant to have to separate them into smaller patches.

I did have one that would not tolerate other horses at all. She always had turnout on her own and mostly as far away from others as she could get, that is what worked for her.
 
Individual, mainly because they are on two different yards but even if they were on the same one I'd still turn them out separately, too much chance of an injury and my pony can be aggressive. However if you know your horses and the risk of them injuring each other or themselves is low then I'd turn them out together - you can always put them individually if it doesn't work out.
 
Red-1 said:
When I have 2 they go out in separate paddocks.

I think group turnout is great for horses with no shoes, who are out 24/7 so not separated, who are not fit and on hard feed.

I think when shod, fit, fed, and spilt up at night or to be ridden then the risk of injury is too high. I don't just mean a little scrape, I mean the risk of serious injury.
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How awful.

At one time we had a herd of 10 fit shod horses of mixed sexes. Maybe we were just lucky.
 
An Arab and a mini Shetland. Turned out together. Both un shod. It can get a bit rough at times, but I step in if my Arab can't cope. :)
 
catroo said:
Always in herd, only time I do individual is if they are recovering from injury.

Yes there's a risk but quality is better than quantity
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I'd have to agree. I couldn't ever go back to individual type regimented horsemanship.
 
Individual. And it's for the sake of the companion pony! My mare is very much the boss, but the pony believes he is.... I don't want him to get the cr#p beaten out of his body and soul learning that at 30plus years, he isn't actually number one!
 
Depends on the horses - we have two oldies that are out together 24/7, but the two that are 'in work' have adjacent but separate paddocks.

The two who are grazed separately seem happy and get interaction over the fence, and accompany each other on hacks and in the lorry, but remain independent when required.

At the end of the day, by domesticating our horses, they are no longer kept in a 'natural' environment, and however 'ideal' herd turnout is, it doesn't suit all horses, or their owners requirements.
 
Mine is mostly turned out with other horses. He is now unshod but used to have front shoes and my previous horse again was turned out in a herd wherever he was and he was shod all around for most of the time I had him. I can think of only a handful of serious injuries caused directly by other horses in about 10 years of having fit, shod (and barefoot) horses turned out in both large and small fields together. I can also think of a handful of serious injuries caused out riding and of several minor ones but they can also occur just being ridden, on fencing or in the stable.

Current horse does have periods of a few hours on an evening where he is alone in the field but has a friend next door whilst waiting to be brought in and he also spent a month on his own last summer to control his grass and hay intake (he then went out in a large but grazed down field with a muzzle on because I felt it was more detrimental for him to not have company)

I would never consider long-term individual turnout unless in exceptional circumstances (I have known a couple of horses for who this was appropriate due to their behaviour but one of them actually turned into a different horse when he moved yards and was given a friend he liked) as I feel that social interaction and room to roam about is absolutely crucial for mental well-being. I would prefer to be able to control my horse's grazing without the muzzle in the summer as obviiusly this restricts him from grooming other horses but sadly at the moment that's not an option where I am
 
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