Keeping horses stabled during the winter

I have to add, I keep the horses at home, I'm lucky as OH has contracting business and built my all weather area for me using cheap stuff from the local quarry. :) I don't think that many yards have an all weather turn-out near me - if they do, the horses maybe get an hour a day in there.
 
Mine go out during the day and in at night. If the weather is really awful or the ground very bad they may stay in, but they don't stay in for more than two days in a row. They still get groomed every day and walked around the yard even if not ridden. They seem pretty happy with the system, although some days I do have to drag them outside!
 
she stayed in for 2.5 months last winter - she was all the better for it tbh....

i will do whatever the yard dictates with turnout and restrict mine where needed....no point trashing fields as id rather have summer turnout, as shes happy being in in winter - :)
:)
 
I've had mine at home the last 3 years but with only 1.5 acres of grazing that can only be described as bog-like I've moved them away from home and as of 2 weeks from now they will be at a yard where they will be able to stay out 24/7 365 days of the year and I can't wait. They coped fine being stabled a lot over winter and we made sure they got as much turnout as we could in a sacrificial paddock/school/horse walker, but after 3 winters of never ending mud, mucking out and a hay bill that could feed a small third world country I've had enough. I firmly believe they are better off out and that many of the problems horses have today is due to them being in so much and when they are out being in small over managed paddocks. I've had them all out before and it worked well so out again they go over 40 acres in a small herd with adlib hay in the field through the colder months, there are stables if I want one for my older boy in the really bad months or if I want to stable the younger one the night before a lesson/show but thankfully there will be no more keeping them in for days on end or only being able to get them out for 3-4 hours. I can't wait. :)
 
I bring in at night from November (yard rules) but, we can turn out everyday no matter what the weather. The yard is on sandy soil so we don't have any mud issues.
 
All horses on my farm are out 24/7/365. All pasture fields are large but they also have small 1-2 acre paddocks attached to them. These little paddocks are where most of the horses spend the majority of the winter (that's where the ad-lib hay is!) and there are barns/field shelters in all of the paddocks so they can go in if they like, or stay out if they like. I don't micromanage the horses here. Sometimes they will go out into their big fields for a run around but that's fairly uncommon in the winter, they tend to conserve their energy and stay around the hay feeders. All horses are rugged, none are clipped.
 
We only have one field for the two so if they trash that then theres no grass for the rest of the year. I have thought about letting them out into half of the field but no wire (and I mean NO amount of wire) can keep my mare in, she has to be on the other side, no matter how much grass she has! Thry dont mind being stabled though so it works out pretty well, they get enough hay and some hard feed as hunting. They seem to be happy during the winter, they look miserable when they're out in the field!
 
We keep 2 paddocks for winter use for ours so that they can go out every day. I do have them in at night from November until about March depending on the weather. Those paddocks are then rolled and topdressed and rested until the following November. We keep them topped as well so that we have a good sward when we need it.
 
My lad has the same routine all year round - out in day from 5.30am through to 7.00pm and in at night on hay. He will have a rug on in the bad weather as seems to have suffered a bit this year with arthritis and stiffness. I am lucky though in that I rent a field so can do what I like with regards turnout and he never messes the field up anyway. This year he will be moving to a paddock we bought some years back opposite our house...yippee! He will be on the same routine then too.
 
My yard offers turn out all year round, so unless I choose to keep her in if the weather is too bad then she goes out for about 9 hours a day during the worst of the winter, longer when the days are a little longer.
 
We have ours at home, with 16 acres for two horses and far far too much grass, yet we end up with the horse having to come in as one of them particularly suffers from acute mud rash and we have wet clay ground. So two years ago we made a hardcore turnout pen alongside the yard. It is about 50m x 15m and has road chippings. The horses go out on that with haylage from 8am to 7pm, and can get into the yard and under the overhang, thus finding shelter in 75% of the direction. The difference in their mentality is amazing. My mare used to get really grumpy mid winter from being in too much, now she is much better. So far they have done two winters like that, going out in the winter field for a roll and mooch about a couple of afternoons a week. We haven't had a sniff of mudrash since, touch wood. It was the best thing we ever did!
 
We are just looking for a yard to move Boyo closer to home, after a stable, unrestricted turn out is top of the list. He will be in at night in the winter, and out in the day with hay if necc. Out 24/7 for summer. Think we may have found the perfect yard, just hoping his owner likes it as much as we do!
 
Honey08 said:
We have ours at home, with 16 acres for two horses and far far too much grass, yet we end up with the horse having to come in as one of them particularly suffers from acute mud rash and we have wet clay ground. So two years ago we made a hardcore turnout pen alongside the yard. It is about 50m x 15m and has road chippings. The horses go out on that with haylage from 8am to 7pm, and can get into the yard and under the overhang, thus finding shelter in 75% of the direction. The difference in their mentality is amazing. My mare used to get really grumpy mid winter from being in too much, now she is much better. So far they have done two winters like that, going out in the winter field for a roll and mooch about a couple of afternoons a week. We haven't had a sniff of mudrash since, touch wood. It was the best thing we ever did!
Click to expand...

Honey - how many tonnes of road chippings did you use for your turn out paddock? Am thinking of doing same as fed up of clay mud! Thanks
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top