Leaving horse out at night on Sand Paddock

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SCMSL

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Ok, so here in Portugal facilities with turnout are almost non existent. The place where I board now is mainly a breeding farm so they have a paddock where I am allowed to turn horsey out on weekends. She also has a couple of hours out on an old bullfighting arena but as there are many horses waiting to go and stretch their legs, I feel she spends way too many hours in her stall.

There is obviously no shelter in the arena, so until I'm sure it won't rain any more, this isn't possible - but am I too crazy if I ask the YO if I can leave the horse out at night as soon as the weather warms up?

The arena is always free during the night so there wouldn't be any "booking" issues and she would be out a lot longer. However, the footing is sand. How would this play out? Could I leave her out with just water or would hay be an absolute necessity? I am afraid that would involve too much work for the staff.
 
Good idea! For me ad lib hay and water would be a must in that situation. You might also want to consider adding a supplement containing psyllum (not sure on spelling) to combat sand colic.
 
She currently has ad lib hay in her stall. If doing this, I would have to put the hay out myself and I can't actually go there every single day...
 
There would have to be ad lib hay if left out all night in a sand arena. Going out all night without food is just asking for gut ulcers.
 
Sorry, but no, absolutely no way would I ever leave a horse all night with no hay.

Horses have evolved to trickle feed; 16 - 20 hours a day. They don't sleep 8 hours a night like we do. Depriving horses of fibre for long periods of time will have serious health implications; ulcers being number 1.

Unlike us, horses constantly produce stomach acid, but they only produce saliva (a buffer) when chewing. In a natural environment this is not a problem, as horses chew from 16 - 20 hours a day and have fibre constantly passing through their system. Take that away and you have big problems... such as difficulty in maintaining a healthy bodyweight, for example.
 
I would never consider leaving my horse without hay or food overnight.

Whilst it's a good idea turning her out overnight so she can move around, it's a very bad idea leaving her without food. Not only do you risk the chance of ulcers, she may also be tempting to ingest sand and pebbles if hungry enough, over time this will lead to colic and blockages.

If you're not there everyday, fill 7 haynets up leave them where the staff can access them for your horse
 
I think you have to make the best of what is available to you, and get her turned out at night, even if they won't put hay down for her. I have been keeping horses overnight in our indoor school with a sand surface for five years now, and no harm has come to them.
 
Turn out in a sand arena by all means but do feed.
Also remember to poopick and pick up the hay not eaten as it can form a nasty thick mat under the sand .... speaking from experience!!
 
I hadn't even though about the poop!

The thing is, this is an extra service, and if I start asking for too much they may just say no. So its about working with what I have...
 
You can't have a horse without food all night. I personally would rather she was stalled but had ad lib forage and was exercised more often than left out all night without food.
 
Just wanted to share with you guys tonight is the first night I'm leaving her out.

Left her with a bucket of Solution Mash, bucket of water (takes about 40L, hope its enough!) and a haylage net. Nice cozy blanket, front and back boots and bell boots on all fours as well.

Barn owner thinks I'm crazy but is indulging me, trainer thinks I'm crazy and she'll be wrecked in the morning, grooms think I'm crazy and are sure she'll rip her blanket to pieces and hurt herself in the meantime - so pretty much the consensus is I lost my mind! Hoping everything goes well though.
 
I would be most reluctant to leave a horse out for any length of time,with or without food in a sand paddock.You are running a major risk of your horse coming down with "sand colic",which can be very expensive to cure and at worst fatal.
Why not ride/exercise the horse more in the day,then he can be boxed at night with adequate feed.
 
Horse is exercised for over an hour daily. She also goes on a hand walk in the morning. The thing is, having her locked up the other 22 hours really bothers me, specially because she is very prone to ulcers.
 
SCMSL said:
Horse is exercised for over an hour daily. She also goes on a hand walk in the morning. The thing is, having her locked up the other 22 hours really bothers me, specially because she is very prone to ulcers.
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Another majorly important reason as to why you absolutely should not consider leaving her without fibre for any period of time.

One think that struck me, if she can have hay overnight in her stable, why can't this be the same for the sand paddock? Why was it even a consideration to turn her out without hay? Not accusing, just curious.
 
If the horses are on a rota for turnout in the paddocks during the day, can't she go out in the paddocks instead of the arena at night?

I suspect the hassle of picking up poo (and especially the wasted hay) from the sand school might quickly make the YO think this is unworkable, if you can't do the work yourself.
 
I agree with the poster who said they would rather a horse have hay and be stuck inside than out with nothing.
You said you were thinking of no hay as it creates extra work for staff, well i think the best thing to so is actually ask them!

If they wont do it and you said your not there everyday i would just turn her out the days you can with the hay otherwise leave her inside
 
You probably didn't read my update post to the end - she is left with a haylage net and she still had some this morning, so she clearly wasn't left without anything to eat.

Horses are turned out in this same arena, one by one, which means each horse probably has 2 hours out. I don't feel this is enough, thus my idea to turn her out during the night.
 
SCMSL said:
You probably didn't read my update post to the end - she is left with a haylage net and she still had some this morning, so she clearly wasn't left without anything to eat.
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How did it go? What's the YO's verdict?

I believe it's a very different culture in Spain re turn out. Many horses are stabled most of the time in my understanding.
 
I'm actually in Portugal but yes Amanda, mentalities here are very different!

Sports horses are meant to be competed, and turning out is a risk, so they are always in. It went well but people still think I am crazy, and that my mare will show up swollen somewhere in the near future! Actually one person of the staff came to me and told me he thinks its a bad idea because in the morning she ran around the arena for about 10 min - I just told him its normal, horses tend to stretch their muscles in the morning and before nightfall. They had no idea, and again, thought it was a huge risk to have her running around without supervision. LOL
 
SCMSL said:
I'm actually in Portugal but yes Amanda, mentalities here are very different!
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Ah ok. I expect it is the same/similar though.

SCMSL said:
They had no idea, and again, thought it was a huge risk to have her running around without supervision. LOL
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Lol, how is 'supervision' going to stop anything happening anyway. I wonder how horses managed to survive for millennia before humans took them in? Must be a miracle. :D
 
Exactly! Oh, and just thought of another super funny thing they told me when I got there in the morning! She was laying down in her stall, and trainer came to me and told me she clearly wasn't getting enough rest being out all night and her performance would probably start to suffer from it. Yep, they think I'm crazy!
 
I did read your post, you said you give her a haynet but some nights you mightnt be there and then she might be left with nothing so i suggested the nights you arent there to give hay its best to keep her in with food than out with none especially if she has 1 hour riding a day and 2 hours turnout.

Also when I worked in Australia, racehorses worth millions were often kept in sand paddocks (only small ones) so I dont think there must be much danger re the sand as some people were mentioning.
 
SCMSL said:
Exactly! Oh, and just thought of another super funny thing they told me when I got there in the morning! She was laying down in her stall, and trainer came to me and told me she clearly wasn't getting enough rest being out all night and her performance would probably start to suffer from it. Yep, they think I'm crazy!
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Oh heck. I wonder what they will think when she is used to being out and is lying down in the arena one morning. :D
 
amandap said:
Oh heck. I wonder what they will think when she is used to being out and is lying down in the arena one morning. :D
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Well, if a horse lye's down in a situation like this, its pretty obvious the horse is either dead or dying... call the vet!
 
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