Living Out 24/7Adivce Needed

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Smurphy

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I have been offered Great grazing with a field shelter. How do you guys cope without a stable?

The field will be home to 3 horses to I will be able to feed hay throughout the winter, but how on earth can i keep them clean for shows etc? I boot my horse up every time i ride but with muddy legs in the winter this may be a problem.
 
mine live out and it can be a pain but i manage i get up extra early to clean legs and ive got one of those face vests and a rug to keep clean then its just minor touches really
on booting side it depends on how wet the field is
lucky mine is quite dry so i just brush of the dirt aslong as it dried sorry i give much advice
 
Assuming most of the shows youll be doing are in summer it wont be that muddy anyway. Mine is always out in summer and its not hard to tidy him up, just get up a bit earlier
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My girls have the choice of living in or out - I find that they stay cleaner living out! No stable stains! and mud cleans out alot easier!

Once they are clean, keep a clean silky rug on and keep it washed regularly and they stay clean.
 
Mine live out all year round, I just had to wash their legs or not wear boots. You could also try putting them in the turnout chaps the night before a show as they keep their legs clean but can only stay on for 12 hours i think.
 
My old mare used to stay cleaner living out before the days of hoods and wraps.

Now I wash the head, neck and mane a couple of days beforehand and use a Snuggy hood to cover everything up. I wash the tail and put a lycra bag on it so I'm just left with legs in the morning. I usually wash them then put Thermatex wraps on so they are dry by the time you get there. Easy peasy and you don't have to do all the washing in one go
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Do you really need boots to ride? I don't use any except knee boots for road work
 
Mine live out all the time. In the winter I keep their legs fairly clean by plastering baby oil on there legs. The worst of the mud slides off and any that does stick is easy to brush out. I use brushing boots on my old horse and I've never had a problem while using this method.
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Mine live out 24/7 in the summer and as mentioned they don't get that muddy in summer anyway. Mind you, mine is dun and my sisters is a grey dun sort of so pretty good at not showing mud! hee hee.

There you go, my advice buy a dun!!
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What showing do you do? See, I showjump mainly and do some eventing so they don't need to be v v clean and if they need washing i do them the day before (so the coat is clean) and then do the tails the morning of the show/event. Unless you're show showing it doesn't really matter if they're not pristine surely?

Can you not apply to put stables on the land if needs be?
 
Mine lives out 24/7 and has had his first winter out. I have taken him to a couple of dressage tests and a sponsored ride over the winter and coped fine. I also boot to ride everytime.

We have 3 horses and 3 shelters. I can shut my boy in his stable and I simply towel dry and pop thermatex leg wraps on whilst I groom and tack up putting his boots on last. I also sometimes just use fetlock boots on his back legs rather than having to get his whole legs clean and dry to put his brushing boots on.

For shows our gateway is muddy and I load in a friends driveway 50 metres down the road. I just sponge off his legs with a bit of cold water, towel dry and put his travel boots on in the driveway before I load him up.

I'll be honest and say sometimes when the field has been very muddy I've longed for a stable but I realise my horse has to live there all the time and is happier out!!

Edited to say I fully clipped all winter and just rugged to compensate. When I went on the sponsored ride my boy was cleaner and shiner than my friends horses who are on a livery yard and had been stabled the night before... You also won't miss the mucking out!
 
It is indeed possible to show from the field. As suggested, a snuggy hoods face and neck thingy (they alAo do full body ones I think), tail bag & bandage, equichaps with or without bandages and rug suitable for the weather means they only things you should have to deal with are knees and hocks the morning of the show. We do put ours out in a seperate paddock the night of the show though, as they are playful and will rip the chaps/tailbag/hood off of each other given half a chance.
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Good post
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I will be moving on to grazing without stables soon and was thinking of taking a couple of mine to shows this summer so this is good advice.

Good job they are both duns
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