Keeping competition horses in barn/shelter arrangements?

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now_loves_mares

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I am (half dreaming, half reality) planning a yard layout. Having lots of ideas about how to do it to make my life easier. One of these is the idea to basically keep my horses out overnight, but to build a large barn/shelter that was open to the field for them to self-stable. This would mean a large straw bed and round bales of haylage.

However, do any of you do this with your comp horses? My specific concerns are:

1. My mare gets RAO. Currently I bed on mats/cardboard so no dust. Straw is usually far dustier.
2. Monitoring haylage intake. One of mine is a fatty but one needs as much as she can eat.
3. Manners! During winter when I can't ride as much, the daily discipline of stabling/being led/groomed keeps them in check, but I'd worry they'd turn into hooligans being slightly more free range :rolleyes:
4. Injury/settling/bullying. I do think one of mine particularly likes to get in her stable at night to get a rest from her thug field-mate! Are smaller, cuter ponies better suited to this lifestyle than my idiot WB and TBs?
5. Feeding - issues with different feeds, restricted substances eg Danilon to one horse when the other is competing affiliated.

Just wondered if anyone has experience of doing this with "bigger" horses. I know in theory it shouldn't make a difference,but frankly mine are abnormally annoying and will find any way possible to make problems ;). Don't want to shell out on something that doesn't work! I'm sure there are ways round everything but just trying to do complete research :)
 
hmmm, i can't help thinking that a free-for-all ends up being exactly that, sorry! i find that enough shelters in the fields, and normal stables for those who need to come in and be fed separately etc (or even, ways to separate them in the fields just for feeding, then let them mingle again) works pretty well.
what makes things much easier is having hay feeders, shelters etc etc in the right places so that you don't have to slog through mud to fill the feeders, skip the shelters etc, imho.
also having the right machinery to do the jobs. e.g. i have about 5 acres and with something suitable to whizz about and do the muck picking, while the horses eat their breakfasts and tea, it's easy to stay on top of. doing it with a wheelbarrow was an utter nightmare...
 
Hmm yes food for thought. "Free-for-all" is a good way of describing it and highlights my concerns. I think with the right horses (easy going nature etc) it could work, but I don't think that describes mine!

One of my motivations was that mine can be pigs to bring in at night just now; but where we are it's a very long walk. I'd love to be able to ask my OH to take care of them once in a while but there is no way he could just now. However, I guess if I designed it so stables were close to winter turnout, he could open gates and let them do it themselves.

Maybe that's the better solution then?

BTW agree re shelters, mine is without a doubt the single best investment I've ever made. It's blowing a hoolie outside just now, and I know mine will be tucked up inside (or in front of) it out of the wind :)
 
mines a v low level comp horse :o but she lives out 24/7 365 with only natural shelter with two other horses who all get different feeds - ew just go down twice a day to feed/water/check etc
my mare loves it - so much so that i tried ot bring her into a stable last winter for some restbite (i'm talking a few hours here - not over night etc and with her friends in satbales next to her) and she broke door and buggered back off to field on her own :rolleyes: so she certainly prefers this lifesstyle :)
hay - again fed twice a day ad lib
ETA - and i'm north of you ;)
but i've remembered is it magic melon on here (i could have got that TOTALLY wrong:o) who's up aberdeenshire wahy and keeps her eventers out 24/7...?!
 
yes, having the stables near (winter) turnout really helps. another thing i've done, here and at last place, is having gate to far fields at the end of my manege, so i walk them down it and turn them out at the end (small convenient paddocks to side of it, up near stables) so that when it's wet and muddy and slippery i can lead them down a secure surface. trying to lead overkeen youngsters (or big horses, come to that!) on liquid mud is NOT fun...
i'm not sure about just opening the gates and letting them in though, i tried that once when on crutches and they hooleyed around like nutters for a while! also, they used to do that at a livery yard i was on as a teen, let about 15 horses in at once and leave all the stable doors open... well, unless you have extra-wide stable doors, i wouldn't recommend it. naughty horses shot into the wrong stables to grab hay and food, then rightful occupant would get there and there would be a head-to-head dance, or worse the second horses would go in and there would be an argument, then horses zooming out etc etc. utter mayhem basically, and much running around trying to shut stable doors on the right horses asap... possibly do-able with a few horses which are VERY used to going in exactly the same stables etc, but they all have naughty moments...! ;) ;)
 
Not quite what you meant, but I keep my horses in a barn & corral system over winter. I have vowed to ramp this up so everyone is in there next winter and zero mucking out for me!!

I have one with COPD from being a dusty barn through summer and was getting steamed haylage and on cardboard. I chucked him in with the herd and not one cough

I think as the ventilation is far superior to a stable you don't get the problems

Here are some pictures:
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=420685
 
Mine deffo became more unmanageable having been living out, the routine of handling, stabled etc etc seemed to keep his head together better.

With my cob / natives types it makes no difference, they are easy no matter how they are managed.

Just my experience though.
 
A friend has a long shelter that she has divided up into 4 areas, each are 12x12 and have a gate on the front rather than a traditional stable door (lined I hasten to add!) In front of each is a large fenced off corral, so basically 8' concrete and then about 60' which she has covered with woodchip to make an all weather turnout area, at the end of each is a gate into the fields. This is a very social arrangement in that the horses can all see each other if shut in but she can manage dietry requirements individually. All this winter they were only actually shut in at night for a dozen or so nights, she just poo picks to turnout area and skips out the shelters and will bottom out everything in the summer. The horses are very happy and when her fields are too wet (clay) they still have turnout but it is very easy for her to manage working full time.
 
Yeah, Jane Lou's post reminds me of a nice set up we saw in Texas - indoor barn with doors to a passage down the middle ( somewhere nice and dry to work when the weather's grim!) and each stable had a back door that led out onto an individual turnout area. These were dirt, but you could subsitute woodchip in our climate to avoid it getting muddy. The horses could see each other and socialise but had their own hay and feed. The turnout areas led to a track which then led to larger paddocks for summer.
 
We did this with our two last winter. They had the run of a large barn which opened directly onto the field, they could come and go as they pleased and their hay was in huge round bales which we simply rolled into the middle of the barn in a Bale Buddy (big bag thing, invention of divine usefulness) and let them eat down. We skipped out once a week and put fresh straw down as well. It was warm, the horses were super happy and not a lot of work for us. I would absolutely have this again. If i had a lot of horses, I would divide the barn up into 2 or 3 and divide the horses into small groups based on personality then let them all have their own individual hay bales. I'd design it so they could come and go as they pleased but come in to be fed in the barn so that the area around the hay didn't become a swamp.
 
Im not a competition rider really (unless you count local shows!!) but having moved at the end of last year from stabling at night to a large barn/field shelter arrangement I have definitely notices a difference in 2 of my horses behaviour - I am planning to convert my barn into stables for next year.

I think it could work, hasnt worked for me
 
Thanks everyone. Some really interesting posts. Ironhorse/Jane_Lou - that sounds like the ideal sort of compromise. Interesting to see that a couple of people have noticed a difference in their horses behaviour.

Kit - am I right in thinking both yours are TB types? I think maybe the total free range works well if they have the same sort of weight issues, but maybe not so much with a fatty and a thinny.

Posey - I'm not particularly precious about them coming in for the sake of it, and MM is very keen on them being out 24/7 I know! However one of mine would need more than just a shelter, she'd need a big enough space to hunker down in if it gets cold. The other thing is, that the place we are looking to do this is on clay (as is the whole area) and out 24/7 would be just horrendous for the fields and their legs.

Jen_cots - good to know your horse's cough didn't become an issue.

K - I know exactly what you mean about the herding system. It's just that the one time I asked my OH to lead my two in, it was a cr@ppy night and one of them tossed her head violently and dislocated his shoulder :o. So he will help me sometimes and lead the saner one, but no way will he lead the ****** (so to speak :p). I wouldn't do it as a matter of course, but would be nice to have this option I think. And it's only two of them so again not the multi-horse stampede, which I agree is just daft.

It is an absolutely horrendous day here today. P'ing down icy rain and gale force winds. My horses behaved like absolute monsters yesterda for the lady that takes them in, so today two of us did it together and boy did it need both of us. I would just like to be able to avoid this sort of dicing with death, if at all possible :rolleyes:
 
ironhorse said:
Yeah, Jane Lou's post reminds me of a nice set up we saw in Texas - indoor barn with doors to a passage down the middle ( somewhere nice and dry to work when the weather's grim!) and each stable had a back door that led out onto an individual turnout area. These were dirt, but you could subsitute woodchip in our climate to avoid it getting muddy. The horses could see each other and socialise but had their own hay and feed. The turnout areas led to a track which then led to larger paddocks for summer.
Click to expand...

that is exactly how i would have a yard if i could afford it - a barn with large stables and a back door into each individual turnout area and leave the door open. Mine lives out 24/7 with a field shelter (she is ISH 7/8th TB) and she manages fine - fully clipped well rugged but is on ind. grazing so no feed/hay issues.
 
We have an American barn with 5 stables down one side with both internal external doors, the external ones open out onto an area of concrete for each horse with an overhang it works very well for us as we have no winter turnout and it keeps nearly all of them happy :).
 
We have an american barn sort of setup!

The barn doors open onto the field, and inside there are 2 stables open, these and the middle are strawed up with hat in haynets in the stables and middle and loose hay in the corner of the stables. Old pony has COPD/RAO and this suits him fine, he is very outdoorsy so he loves having free range and spends very little time in but has the option whereas FH who is super wimp rarely leaves the barn! We have also found this much cheaper method of keeping them as it is less straw and hay being used.

ETA They are also fed hard feed too, and they have a large bucket of water in the stbles and then a huge tank outside!
 
I'm far from being a serious competition rider but I think we have a similar set up. Our horses are all very chilled out and have established a natural herd order without any problems. In addition my mare, who used to be a total b!tch to catch (Honestly, she's had me in tears so many times) is an absolute dream now. The first time she whinnied and came to me, I nearly collapsed with shock!

We have 3 mares and 3 geldings, with access to 30-odd acres split into paddocks. Then they have free access to a 20x40m coverall arena. I feel very lucky up here in Scotland to have somewhere indoor to ride. :) We have an adjoining coverall area that has hardstanding with a tackroom, toilet, feedstore etc. I think our system works well because they all need pretty similar amounts of food, although I did go through a phase of feeding the skinnies seperately for a while. Poopicking the arena is much less work than mucking out 6 stables (we have a poopicking machine for the paddocks in the summer) and best of all - it's so easy even my husband can do the pony chores!! :D

From outside, camouflaged in the snow :D
DSC00994.jpg


Happy ponies in the summer hiding from the flies...
DSC00763.jpg
 
Wow - now that is a nice set-up! OK now I want a coverall :p

<ponders nosily what they might cost and wonders aloud if Daveismycat would perhaps PM a clue>

By the way, love the horse that appears to be wearing a Florida-golf-retiree style visor :D
 
Sorry guys, have no idea what they cost. The estate owners put it up - I keep my mare at home on the estate FOC in exchange for taking care of their five. In addition to working full time as a vet - not that my pony chores take long to do.

n_l_m - you are welcome to come and have a nosy if you'd like? We're probably not too far from you. And yes, I laugh every time at the photo of them hanging out with the fly visors on. They look totally 80's. :D
 
These sort of set ups seem to be a bit more common in North America where land is cheaper but you need to provide water, shelter etc. both from summer sun and winter cold.

I've been a couple of places where everything opens into a hardcore surfaced yard - barns, paddock gates, "back door" to loose housing etc like spokes on a wheel. This allows groups of horses to be let out/brought in to smaller areas and even let into the stables loose, which can be a time saving system if it's done quietly and systematically. One brought all the horses in to stables to eat their hard feed, another tied them individually on the fence line (I can see people wincing but it worked for them).

Another option is similar to daveismycat's, where entry and exit is through the arena so the horses can be let in or kept out. One place I know has a set up like the one mentioned above - stables into small yard into larger paddocks - but the indoor doors open onto an aisle way that also opens on to the arena, separated by a low wall. (I don't love having stalls in/into the arena because of dust but in this case the horses aren't forced to stand in breathing it and because it's a private yard there isn't much traffic or wear and tear on the surface.)

I was at another place where the barn was circular and the stalls all arranged around a central turnout/longe pen! I think it was better in idea than application though, really, as it was for stallions so designed for show.

It's certainly possible to separate horses easily for hard feed but I have to say, all the ones that I know that live out get free choice hay and there's not much you can do to limit a particular horse other than remove it or maybe muzzle it.

Would the main problem here not be planning permission though, as you'd pretty much have to build from scratch? And possibly finding a suitable property to start?
 
Daveismycat - thanks, I may well do that! You may regret asking ;)

Tarrsteps - as always, a font of information and good ideas! You are right about the planning, but it's part of a wider planning application anyway. I'm still at ideas gathering stage. My idea is to come up with what I really really really want, then compromise down to what the planners want :rolleyes:
 
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