Keeping Oldies out 24/7

chickeninabun

chickeninabun

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Could I have some of your stories please about keeping old fogies out 24/7, especially during winter?

My 29yo pony is out out all summer but comes in at night in winter. Am thinking of moving to my own field with no stables (would have a field shelter built asap) and wondered if she'd cope ok.
 
I used to look after a 34yr old arab x and he lived out happily with a shelter!
Obviously he didnt keep weight amazingly but what old arab does?!

He was rugged well and fed well, and we only had one problem all winter when he stupidly stood out in the rain all night and got very cold and stressed and ended up colicing but that was the owners fault for not checking the weather before doing his rugs! So long as you rug well, feed well and keep a close eye you wont have any problems :D
 
She hasn't had any problems keeping weight on so far **furiously touches some wood** so I hope I'd be able to stick the her usual routine and she won't be too bad. She does tend to get a bit stressy (she is chestnut :rolleyes:) and will walk the fence line when she ready to come in on a night in winter, but she doesn't get sweated up or anything. Just keeps her fit really!;)
 
I think if your mare is hardy type she should cope if well rugged and has plenty of hay available. My mare had always been stabled at night as had her companion but we moved to a rented field with small wooded area and a field shelter and both lived out happily using the field shelter only when the weather was horrendous. When i moved them they were aged 26 and 28 one was a 15hh thoroughbred cross and very fine and the other was a 12.3 newforest cross... Im sure all willbe fine.
 
Our 27 year old is out 24/7. he copes fine, well rugged and fed.
Better for older stiffer horses to be out so they can keep moving around and less likely to be stiff in the morning after a night oof standing in the stable.
 
Last winter we acquired a 19 year old arab x show pony, that previously was in from 4pm-8am daily, and well pampered with rugs, stable rugs etc.

He was given to us as companion to our newly acquired 6 year old NF, who apparently has never spent a night in a stable, always lived on grass and no rugs other than in extreme weather.

So chalk & cheese really.

We got him on the rainy last day of November, and it rained till it snowed. We had no field shelter and he was given the choice of staying in the (one) stable we have, or being out with plenty of rugs, but clearly prefered to be out with new best mate. Our field shelter arrived at the end of January, and both ponies studiously ignored it for a month or two, preferring the overhang of trees to shelter. As spring progressed and dawn began to break where the sun shone over the trees into the field shelter I often spotted them sunbathing in the entrance first thing. Once the flies arrived they took to daytimes in the shelter quite happily, and now will shelter overnight in there if it's wet - if not they just lay down in a bit of a hollow where they can see what's going on from the house and from the road - have to sneak up to catch them there!

This year his coat has grown through a lot thicker and fluffier than it had been last year. I'm putting this down to less rugging generally as it's been quite mild. He's perfectly happy to be out, and I actually think it's better for him physically to be able to mooch about, go for a roll etc. than be cooped up in a stable (although he does roll in the stable, he's a bit of a rolling pony!)

I would say so long as she has enough rugs appropriate to the weather, enough shelter and enough to eat to keep her warm she should be fine.
 
We kept our old boy out all winter with access to a field shelter - he was PTS at the grand old age of 36. He had lived out 24/7 all his life. We tried stabling him one winter, in his early thirties, but his legs filled up terribly and he stiffened up so much overnight, he was much better out and moving around.
 
we have a very old pony who tends to wander "freerange" between yard,garden and field. we first let him free in the garden (farm so not proper garden!) when we had a pony who was a bit of a bully and we didnt want the old boy chased about. since then if he wants to go in the field he simply follows another pony out in the morning. in the summer he would only wander in (again following another pony!!!!) perhaps once a fortnight just to check up on everything. however with winter just about here he will not go into the field at all and even if he is nowhere to be seen during the day he is always stood in his stable by tea time. despite leaving the door permanently open he stays in until the following morning although sometimes he nips out before breakfast but is soon back again when he hears morning buckets!!!We are very lucky that he can be given complete freedom of choice and so is he because he organises his day about the place ,keeps busy and knows he is top pony!!! Although he is healthy and active i know he would just be miserable if stuck out in a field with nothing to do. i would rather have him put to sleep than end his days like this. however we do have a number of older ponies still working who are kept out until it is clear they prefer their stables at night. i suppose it really depends on each individual pony and possibly what they have been used to although i would never automatically assume that any of them would be happiest out 24/7.
 
My 25 yo Welsh stays out all winter by choice. If my husband wants to save the grass then he comes in but he'd prefer to be out and I prefer him to be out.
 
I have a 22 year old who is out all the time however this will be my first winter with her, she doesnt like stables. So far so good being out only just started to rug her in a l/w to keep her dry to ride.
 
No physical reason why not providing you rug and feed accordingly. We had a 27 year old TB living out but his mum fattened him up in August and took good care and he looked brilliant.

However, it does depend on the horse. I had one who lived out and did very well - he preferred to be out despite having been a show horse in a previous life. Neither of my 2 supposedly tough as boots ISH "do" staying out for long. TBF, the mare wil last the day but really does want to come in so that scuppered my plans for her retiring out to grass. The boy manages about 3 hours and then yells to come in. Wimps the pair of them!
 
Isnt it meant to be better for them to be out moving about? Causes far less stiffness and respiratory issues than stabling. I certainly keep my veterans (22 and 19/20) out all year round. They have shelter (basically stables with the doors left open so they can come and go as they please), get as much hay as they want and get feed twice a day. In the past, only in the worst of the winter did they get rugged although I'm going it a bit more often now they are getting on a bit (and one has been diagnosed with cushings this year) - but the rugs arent particularily warm, they're just waterproof shells which is all they need as they're natives.
 
so long as they have shelter, are rugged accordinly and have a good source of food - grass or hay - then i think its better for them to keep moving :) i'd always keep an oldie out 24/7 if i could - tbh with modern rugs/field shelters etc i can't see benefit of having them in?!
 
my 37 year old doesn't like being stabled, gets very stressed and box walks all night so the first time she did that I opened her stable door and gave her the run of our yard, she has access to her stable but prefers to stand outside her best friends stable. I leave my main gate open to the paddocks and sometimes in the night she goes to graze out there but always comes back up to Mony. This year I have had to leave them all out in seperate paddocks but Sov and Mony still have access to the yard and their stables, not that they go up there apart from feed time.
 
My gang thrive living out all year (I have no stables either). My oldest is a 29year old Arab mare, with most of her teeth missing. How she manages to still eat grass and hay is beyond me, because she's not supposed to be able to with her lack of teeth, but she thrives on that, along with her mushy speedibeet and nuts. She's well rugged in winter, not clipped (not in work) and, although she carries no excess weight, seems to easily maintain her weight in Winter. The biggest benefit, however, is that she shows no sign of stiffness whatsoever, and can still canter along and play horsey games with the 3 much younger boys as and when she feels like it.

Each horse is different, but in the case of my mare, it would take a lot to convince me that she wasn't thriving and it would also take a lot to convince me that she'd be better off being stabled some of the time.
 
Thanks everyone, really good to hear that lots of oldies live out. And agree it's definately better for them to be moving about that getting stiff in a stable.
Am going to talk to the man about the field tonight, so hope to get some things sorted. I'm still debating going to a "proper" livery yard with some facilities, arena etc, but not sure I could cope with other liveries after being just me and my friend for so long. I'm a very "influenced" person and fear I would be influenced into changing all sorts of things for my horses just because someone said I was doing it wrong etc.:o
 
i have 2 28 year olds, and a 24 year old, and then ages down to a 6 month old foal that live out all year. one of the 28 year olds lives out on vets orders. My advice would be:
- def have a shelter, maybe one with a gate on the front so if you felt you wanted him stabled as such he could be kept in there.
- have an area of hardstanding where it wont be muddy
- feed ab lib haylage
- invest in a few rugs of different weights, and maybe have a spare or two?
- from the start, put loads of udder cream or lard etc on your horses legs to help prevent mud fever etc
- theres prob loads more but i am sure others may have mentioned some,

the advantage is not only will he not go stiff overnight but as you wont have the mucking out to do, you'll have more time to 'play' with him :)
 
All of mine (including 31yo PBA) thrive living outdoors 24/7. I've given up my stables to liveries as horses far happier out.

I have a round bale feeder so they have access to adlib haylage. I'm also very lucky in that I have a hardstanding area where they have their hay so hooves get chance to dry out. I feed them well, & wrap them up warm and the old boy is less stiff and less grumpy (only slightly less grumpy though,, it's his personality, think Victor Meldrew:rolleyes:)
 
My 35 year old PBA lives out all the time. He is double rugged (Rambo mid wug and knackered Rhino mid original fit on top) in the very worst weather. He grows his own massive triple layered fur coat as well of course :D. The times I have to watch him is when he is changing his coat and I tend to rug him if it is going to be a wet summer night. He also has a special girlfriend and they snuggle up together, they even lie down touching each other :)

ETS - he lived in all his life but as he got older he is better out as he can keep moving.
 
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