living out 24/7

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05kitty93

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Hi, I've moved my ponies to a field they have natural shelter, lots of hay or haylage, well ruged up no running water but I bring fresh water from home daily and they are fed twice a day both Welsh cobs.

Does anyone else keep they're horses in similar way? And if so do you have any advice or tips etc.

I will be having a field shelter built over summer ready for next winter.

Thanks Ruth.
 
Pretty much the same except mine only get one bucket feed once a day and then I fill the tub with hay & tip their soaked beet over it.

Mine do have a temporary shelter but rarely use it. I put hay in it when it is very wet to get their feet out of the mud.
 
Mine are out 24/7 no man made shelter, but the field is surrounded by trees and had loads and loads of natural shelter. I also have a water trough and a stream coming down off the hills which has never been known to freeze over. I'm lucky in that I have 3 out on 3 acres so dont need to supplement them with hay or hard feed generally.

I'm not sure I have any tips, other than dont leave anything at the field that you dont mind being stolen, and I try and let mine put on a small amount of condition over the late summer and then lose a small amount of condition over later winter. Not much and at no point are they fat or thin, but they just vary slightly depending on the season.
 
Yes! 3 NF ponies and a section D all living out just with trees and the "natural" contours of the land (former gravel pit) for shelter. There are water troughs. I put them there in September and they are absolutely thriving! Always before 3 of them have been in overnight, so quite a change for them. The 4th one is a forest run NF pony who has wintered "in" as she is in foal for the second year running aged only 4 and last years foal (her first) took a lot out of her and left her skinny. The other mare has just had her rug taken off as she is fatter than the in foal one!. The 2 geldings are clipped and therefore rugged. They get an old Hi Fi sack of hay 2x a day each. plus one feed a day - calm and condition plus chaff.

They are very happy being kept this way, I could never have believed it would be so successsful. The worst thing I find is when the farrier comes, I now understand why some of them refuse to shoe in gateways. Whereever possible I try and arrange it so I have a helper and we take the ponies back to the Yard (stables, so therefore some shelter from bad weather, and more importantly a feed room with tea making facilities), which is about 1/2 mile away. So much more civilised to do it there...
 
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Thank you all very much I think I just want some moral support, I hope that makes sense? I've kept ponies for almost 20 years and recently I've kept them on a livery yard with friends with the rising cost of everything something had to give. Xx
 
Puzzles said:
No advice but your set-up sounds fantastic! I'm sure your horses will all thrive very happily! And you should have more time (and money ;)) on your hands - everyone wins :)
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Agree with this! So many horses thrive on being out 24/7, especially the native breeds. You sound as though you are being conscientious about all the details and I am sure they will be perfectly happy.
 
My mare is out 24/7. Natural shelter only. Only had hay this year in the snow. Minimal feed the smallest amount I can get away with to put a vit supplement in. Oh and she is unrugged.

Is she standing shivering and dropping weight, looking like a rescue case? Every rib on show?......is she hell she has actually gained weight on this awful management :D
 
My two live out 24/7, they have a large hedge, lots of tree cover and ad lib haylage, they're fat, happy and healthy

A stable is useful for if they get poorly, otherwise I don't really see the need
 
Yep - me too, my 3 live out 24/7, 2 Sec D's and a Sec A - all unrugged, 3 on 3 acres...natural shelter...stream in the one field, the other has a trough..big Sec D boy shares with a friend's two girls and they have adlib haylage...young Sec D boy and Sec A share with a Sec B so they are all on weighed hay as tend to get mahoosive otherwise...
all do really well on it. ;)
 
You are not alone:D My PB Welsh has lived out this year. Supplemented with haylage, mineral lick, rugged when necessary, no hard feed and is looking the best she has ever looked over a winter season.:)
 
It is the way horses are meant to live, so I'm sure they're very happy. But just wondering, what do you do if illness/lameness requires them to be stabled?
 
madmav said:
It is the way horses are meant to live, so I'm sure they're very happy. But just wondering, what do you do if illness/lameness requires them to be stabled?
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I have a stable that I use as a feed-room that I would use in an emergency. Others I know of locally share facilities if something occurs - eg a friend's field-kept arab had to be on 6 weeks box-rest recently, and she was able to use a stable locally. We live in a hill-farm area so are surrounded by farms/barns etc etc..always somewhere handy to stick a horse if need be! ;)
 
madmav said:
It is the way horses are meant to live, so I'm sure they're very happy. But just wondering, what do you do if illness/lameness requires them to be stabled?
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She has a brand new stable available, if necessary. I chose t/o 24/7 this winter down to pure laziness! I couldn't face another winter like last, the mucking out, snowed in, suffering the flu from hell etc etc. If she was miserable out 24/7 then I would have her in at night , gritted my teeth and got on it!:D Thankfully, she's thoroughly enjoying it.:)
 
Mine have lived out this winter, ad lib haylege, sacks of carrots, plenty of grass, natural shelter, the muck heap is piled in their field so they sleep on that as it's dry and warm, both are rugged in middle weights, and both are clean (apart from their legs) i think this is down to the muck heap! my old boy is 15 and it's the first time he's lived out, would he prefer to be in, yes i think he would, i only get to visit twice a week as it's a 50 mile round trip till we move, he loves coming in for a check over etc and always very reluctant to go back out, but he's thriving, he's woolly and fat, but it does mean i can't ride, i don't think it's fair when i can't keep him fit and he's so woolly, so roll on April when they will be coming home!
I think as long as there is plenty of grass and the field isn't a mud bath then it's a great way to keep them, as long as they are happy :-)
 
mine is out well rugged and so much more relaxed. am in a similar situation in that will get a field shelter put up for next year - mainly so that i can sleep at night knowing he can get under cover if he wants and so that if there was an ailment requiring box rest i'd have somewhere to put him. Currently he uses the house as a wind break :p
 
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