Is it not very wrong to leave stabled horses 24 hours at a time, or am I being fussy?

OMG - I overslept the other morning and didn't get down till nearly 8.30am (less than an hour later than normal) and was panic stricken - needless to say, my horse was absolutely fine, but noticeably miffed - she had that "And where have YOU been???" look on her face. And she's only in at night! I worry if she has to stay in all day when I'm at work, in case she eats all her hay and/or drinks her water, because there's nobody there to top up.

There is absolutely no excuse for not visiting twice a day, unless someone will check/bring in/turn out for you. And if you really can't be arsed, either sell your horse to someone who cares, or move yards so s/he can be out 24/7 and you only have to go once a day.

I used to be on a yard with someone who made no effort to get to her horse before 2pm when he was in at night, and he'd be hock deep in his own muck with no hay or water, and if was out at night she's only come every couple of days or so. And even when he'd been badly kicked she left it to someone else to look after his cuts.

One day she updated her Facebook status to say what a lovely day she'd had with her horse, yet she hadn't been near the yard for 3 days!
 
No you are correct, I don't agree with it either. The odd day where a horse doesn't get out of it's stable at all won't do it any harm, but still isn't ideal. Horses which are stabled need seeing to at least twice per day. Ad-lib water and forage should be provided, rugs should be changed/straightened as necessary and the stable should be thoroughly mucked out once a day and then skipped out at least once more if the horse is in all day. I also believe it is good for them mentally to get out of their stable at least once (preferably twice) per day - whether that be turnout, lungeing, ridden exercise, horse walker or just a leg stretch in hand.
 
Both my horses are in 24/7 at the moment, one due to an injury and the other one to keep him company, neither of them do very well on their own. It's not ideal I know but the one who is there for company gets exercised daily. I go up to see them twice a day which is the norm all year round even when they are turned out during the summer. I wouldn't feel comfortable just seeing to them once a day, anything could happen from one visit to the next even when I go up them twice a day!
 
My horses had to be in all last week. Something I'd never normally do. One over reached the other had scabs which I thought was mud fever and with 1ft at least of mud I decided best in. They were done 3/4 times a day. Skipped out, hay topped up and either ridden or walked out in hand (one is retired) so no I don't really think its acceptable to leave in 24 hrs with one visit
 
I would never leave a horse that long.
It needs seeing to atleast twice a day preferably more.
Even when living out too, just to check they are in one piece.

Even with enough food and water in the stable,
They are standing in their own mess and need to stretch their legs (apart from obviously when injured)
 
The Polly & The Ivy said:
gosh timiton, really hope the other yard you're looking at works out. Sounds like both you and your horse are getting a really raw deal at the moment :(
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Me too - I've made a list of pros and cons of my current yard and well the cons far out way the pros! big time! talking to people on here i've realised that we really are getting a raw deal.
Sorry OP for hijacking!
 
lula said:
tbf and without offense, that's a bit of a ridiculous comparison really!

you wouldnt bed a child down in a stable, feed it forage and visit it 2/3 times a day so I would suggest children and horses should be kept quite differently :D
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there's a couple of kids I know that I would do exactly that, threatened it once with one boy, (sleeping in stable) he behaviour was excellent, he is a little thug, constantly threatening his sisters who are terrified of him, (he has the attention deficency thing), but by the by, my horses have the choice to come and go to the stables, yet still hoon about on slippy ground when they choose to venture into the field
 
I only see my girl once a day as my yard is a bit of a trek away, but my yo feeds, hays and then turns her out every morning. I go down about 1 (I work til half 12ish and back at work at 4) to get her mucked out, redo water and give loads of hay, bring her in, give her a groom and then ride her. Then I put her to bed at about 3.30 and then the yo comes and gives her dinner about 6 and checks all the horses at 9-10 every night. So although I only see her once a day, she is checked plenty of times but I still feel bad that I dont see her more often, so I make the most of the time I do spend there.
 
I have one on 'pen rest' currently (don't have a stable so is an outside pen).I always see to him twice a day,but TBH I am not always there by 7 or even 8am.

In fact some days i don't get there until lunchtime shock horror:eek: Not that i have a problem with that,I know he's fine and it's not really anyone else's business is it;)


I don't necessarily have an issue with owners who can only get to their horse once a day providing the horse has everything it needs,maybe that's all they can manage with their job/other commitments??
Main issue i can see is that hay and water need to be done more than once a day,but if there is someone else to do this then I don't see the problem.

It's not ideal but then many of us don't always have the luxury of having ideal lives or circumstances.

ETA:Meant to say that I also agree the comparison with a child is totally ridiculous.
 
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At our yard unfortunately we have had no winter turnout at all but all the horse either go on the worker or at least walked out whilst their stable is done and are fed three times a day! It is certainly not good for horses to be in that long:O even when my horse is off work I still make sure I go and give her a quick ten minute leg stretch isn't that part of good horse ownership?:/
 
So you have two livery horses who you are annoyed with because they have been turning their horses out in the field and are trashing it due to the wet ground and now you have this other livery who keeps her horse in the stable 24 hours a day? You really aren't having much luck in your new YM position :o Maybe you should throw them all off the yard and advertise for new ones who will abide by your rules?

In answer to your question. I would never keep any horse in a stable for 24 hours on a regular basis unless sick. As I said on the other thread I wouldn't be able to deal with only checking my horses twice a day.
 
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Depends on the situation.

Current yard is in as there is not a great deal of land and it is too wet for turn out, my boy copes just fine being in though I do like to get him out, even if just for a quick lunge or graze in hand. I can go up once a day as the YO feeds and hays in the mornings. I give him two very large buckets of water to see him through in case I do not come up until later, there is always lots left. They would top up if there was none! So in my current situation it is perfectly acceptable.

Previous yards I've been at have had rules on what time the horses must be seen by, this helps immensely in those few lazy or just plain naive ones.

The problem with stepping in when you see a horse with no food, forage or more importantly water is that the owner either develops the attitude that its not important as someone else will do it, or they don't realise how much their horse gets through as the buckets etc are always miraculously topped up!
 
hannahmurphy said:
The problem with stepping in when you see a horse with no food, forage or more importantly water is that the owner either develops the attitude that its not important as someone else will do it, or they don't realise how much their horse gets through as the buckets etc are always miraculously topped up!
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There's no problem if you are the YO or the YM, you feed the horse and water it and add the extra services cost onto their bill each month. Works wonders!
 
Spring Feather said:
There's no problem if you are the YO or the YM, you feed the horse and water it and add the extra services cost onto their bill each month. Works wonders!
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Well of course :D

I've stepped in filling waters every day, feeding horses .... had to quietly have a word with myself not to do it. If only I could have billed!
 
Spring Feather said:
The 'perks' of being a YO :D It's so true though, hit them in the pocket and they soon change their ways lol
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Haha - yeah, I spend enough money on my horse already without having an extra wedge on my bill!

I guess some people just don't get the responsibility. While I can understand we all go through phases of being really into horses/drifting off to pursue other areas of life, that responsibility doesn't go away.
 
Doormouse said:
Having been reading the thread about the horse who is left in with little or no food until 1pm some days and because I am currently struggling with a livery who does her full timed stabled horses once a day, I am horrified to discover that people believe this is ok.

My livery thinks I am making a fuss insisting that her horses are at least given hay twice a day if nothing else (we have automatic drinkers) but I think it is terribly wrong to leave a stabled horse so long without attention.

Is this a common occurrance these days with horse owners and am I being over fussy?
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No, you are not being fussy. I've been at this horse lark for 60 years and we were taught back then that a horse should never be left for more that 8 hours without a source of food which it certainly would be if only visited once in 24 hours.

My horse is fed, hayed and watered 3 times a day - first time at around 7am and the last visit of the day 9pm when he's set fair for the night.. Very old-fashioned and produces raised eyebrows among some of my fellow liveries! He's on deep litter and skipped out in the morning and at evening stables. I live 6 miles away from the yard so I often have the early morning shift done by the yard staff, for which I pay, as it's actually cheaper than the petrol costs for the return journey. The same regime applied before I retired, with the assistance of the yard staff in the middle of the day instead of first thing.

This is a welfare issue and if you are the yard owner or manager it could back-fire on you if the situation was brought to the attention of one of the welfare bodies. I feel you would probably be correct to give this client notice in writing that if she does not make arrangements for her horse to be looked after properly then you or your staff will deal with it and bill her for the privilege. Again, as has been pointed out elsewhere, if you are a BHS gold member you are eligible for free legal advice.
 
I suppose I can see how people get themselves in these situations, but I would be turning myself inside out if I thought my horse had been without food and water for a long period, say more than about 4-5 hours, I don't really know how long it takes a horse to eat a haynet as mine lives out and devours a section of hay in about two minutes, so if it was her she'd have about 23 hours to go I suspect :-/

I am sure if she had a valid reason for coming once a day you or another livery could be cajoled into putting a pre-prepared haynet in, but I'd hope she would be very appreciative!

My horse lives out, I visit twice a day but usually not at normal times, I feel bad for not getting there early morning even though she has loads of grass, automatic water and still gets fed twice a day.

I think there is quite a difference in once a day visits somewhere with other horse owners/trusted folk though, and doing the same with a set up totally on your own, even if they live out. I know my field neighbours keep an eye on my horse just as I do theirs, so I feel it is ok to visit once a day if I need to e.g. on Christmas day I was 30 miles away at my parents, and they helped me out when I was injured too and couldn't even put on a fly mask! Times like that I'm so glad I have my field!

You are getting a rough deal as nominated YM, I think you need to toughen up and tell these liveries there are rules to be followed or you will kick them off and get new people who are used to doing as the YM says, oh and sorting out remuneration for it too :-)
 
Doormouse, we had one here for 6 months. Also did shift work. The offer of help was there because its nice to be nice. But we got that he can be difficult to handle ect. She would leave 3 haynets for us to put up. Small hole nets but the amount she gave him lasted 15 mins. I'm not joking. So when she worked days the horse never saw the outside. Never cleaned his water and kept him in filth. Now and again she'd let him loose in the arena because her horse "didn't do mud". My mares also had access to the field next to the arena. Next I know her horse can't go out anymore because my mares are messing with him and he's "like a stallion". Never saw them near him. And she lied about everything. He was such a nice horse and deserved so much better.

Terri
 
Should add, I understand how hard shift work is which is why we offered to do anything we could to help make it easier. But then on her stretch of days off she couldn't be bothered to even think about him. He stood in once for 72 hours straight and I lost it. I flipped on her. It wasn't uncommon to stand in for 48 hours and then head to a show after one day of riding in the week.

I don't know how people do that.

Terri
 
If the animal can't be seen too often enough, then it should be out in the field as what they are designed for by nature, rugged accordingly with enough to eat and drink, not cooped up in a stable hungry standing in **** :mad:
NOA
 
Doormouse said:
Having been reading the thread about the horse who is left in with little or no food until 1pm some days and because I am currently struggling with a livery who does her full timed stabled horses once a day, I am horrified to discover that people believe this is ok.

My livery thinks I am making a fuss insisting that her horses are at least given hay twice a day if nothing else (we have automatic drinkers) but I think it is terribly wrong to leave a stabled horse so long without attention.

Is this a common occurrance these days with horse owners and am I being over fussy?
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I may possibly have this dilemna with my horse. To cut a long story short he started running around like a maniac in his field, and has trashed it, and he has suspensory issues which means he can't afford to keep doing this, plus one day he could break a leg. The staff have been great getting him in when running around and the y.o has been very accommodating but its not easy when he is such a silly horse.

So yesterday he moved to a small paddock with another horse for company across electric fencing, the idea being to take the electric fencing away in a couple of weeks time so they can be together, despite him being on his own for the last three years.

If he starts running up and down again and trashing the paddock he will have to stop in until the spring. I need to start work at 8.15am - there is no way I can muck him out before work as I live a considerable distance from the yard and work is twice the distance but in the other direction. The yard are happy for horses to stay in 24/7 whilst conditions with fields are so bad, it makes their life easier in the long run, and it is for the benefit of those horses that won't stop running around. If he stops in they will put him on the walker for an hour a day and throw tubs of hay over the door ay that I have left out for him and he will have a full muck out by me every night after work and ridden or on horse walker again (I am recovering from a nasty virus so won't be riding for a while).

Sometimes although not ideal, we have no other choice for the safety and well being of the horse. If he has to stay in, this is preferable to him being out in danger to himself and others. As I can't muck out in the morning and can't afford for the staff to do it either, he will have to be okay until I get there at 5.15pm, he won't die ! It won't be forever, just until the spring when there is grass on the fields and the weather is drier. It goes against everything I believe as I think horses should be out 24/7 but as I say sometimes we have no choice.
 
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My mare is on box rest and at weekends and holidays, I see to her am and pm. During the week when I'm at work then I pay for her to be skipped out, two nets of hay put in, water done and 20 mins controlled walking in the am. I wouldn't dream of her only being seen to once a day as in my opinion that is neglect! Why do people bother having horses when they can't be bothered to look after them properly?
 
My mare has to be in a lot especially in spring due to being prone to laminitis. She's rarely stabled for 24 hours though, she gets at least a couple of hours out even at high risk times. Sometimes she gets a bit footy/pulses and has to stay in for a couple of days but thats quite rare!
Sometimes I do only go up once (late morning to early afternoon usually) but get everything done then (mucking out, hays/waters and give her a groom and fuss and leave her with a treat ball/swede/double netted hay and lick to keep her entertained and she's fed and checked both ends of the day by the yard.
 
I think it's unforgiveable to leave a horse standing in an unmucked out stable for that long. There is never an excuse for it - my lot were done on time and properly while I was almost dying in Resuscitation, it meant that I was on my own in hospital, but I would rather that than have my horses suffer.

I start having palpitations if anything is still not mucked out by 7am, I know it's not the norm, and I know I go over the top with checking etc., but then I run a livery yard, live on site, and am paid to make sure the horses in my care are happy and safe at all times.

If anything has to stay in 24/7 (the only reason this would ever be the case on my yard is if they were on box rest) they they are mucked out properly before 7am, then skipped out and hay and water is topped up at 10am and 1pm, then another proper muck out (taking out wet as well as droppings and tidying bed) at 5pm. They are then skipped out again at 10:30pm and have more hay and water then. Horses who have to stay in are groomed once a day, and get a walk out in hand twice a day if possible (due to injury/illness) to keep them happy and their bodies moving.

It really irritates me when people say they can't do their horses in the morning because they work, and that their YO will throw some hay, feed and water at their horse if it has to stay in, before the owner gets up to muck out in the evening. That to me isn't acceptable. I've held down a full time job and two horses in full work, miles away from each other. I had to get up at 4am to go and do my horses before work, but they were done every morning without fail. I was tired, and sometimes I stank of horse for work, but I wanted horses so I had to make that sacrifice. In my opinion it's sheer laziness to leave a horse because you can't be arsed to get up an hour or two earlier to make sure they're happy and comfortable.

Grr! Rant over. Well done for sorting it OP, those horses are lucky to have you around.
 
I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks 24 hours is too long. My horse is currently made to stay in 24/7 from Sunday afternoon until Saturday morning. It's far from ideal, but I go and feed, hay, water and muck out before work and then again after work. He also gets grazed in hand after work.

One of the other liveries thinks I am over-reacting at the fact that he is on his own all day stuck in a stable, and thinks that it's fine for any horse to come in at say 12pm, and not be seen again by the owner (or checked by anyone else) until 9/10am the following day. She also told me that my horse will live if I don't come up after work so why don't I just have a few nights off!
 
Equilibrium Ireland said:
Should add, I understand how hard shift work is which is why we offered to do anything we could to help make it easier. But then on her stretch of days off she couldn't be bothered to even think about him. He stood in once for 72 hours straight and I lost it. I flipped on her. It wasn't uncommon to stand in for 48 hours and then head to a show after one day of riding in the week.

I don't know how people do that.

Terri
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I'm not surprised you lost it!

Out of sight, out of mind seems to be a big factor in all this. Shutting a horse in a stable and just leaving it is disgusting imo and I believe it is a welfare issue. If your work doesn't allow you to give decent care then don't get a horse! Have lessons or something similar.

Remember the five freedoms anyone? http://www.rspca.org.uk/servlet/Sat...PCABlob&blobwhere=1210683196122&ssbinary=true
 
Depending n the terms of the livery you could charge her for giving hay say £1 per visit and add it on to her bill, it is your terms and conditions.
 
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