My horse hates being out!! Help

[diesel1981]

My new Cleveland bay 2yr old hates being out! He was kept in for the 1st 6 months of his life and then turned out with a small herd, He was periodicaly brought in and kept in for up to a month at a time with no turn out at all!! not even into a school!! I want him to be a horse and enjoy being out.
He has a lovely field with my other 2 horse all they get on really well and are stabled next to eachother too, Plenty of grass, A nice warm rug etc etc...BUT whenever i turn him out he comes back in and goes to his stable..He's only 15.3 at the moment and will clear a 5 bar gate, Electric fencing, hedges etc to get in, Nothing stops him...
Its not that i cant keep him stabled i just dont want to..Ive managed to get him to stay put in the school while i muck out by feeding him twice a day in there so he knows something nice is going to happen when he goes out, This didnt work in the field..
So apart from going into the school or on the walker he's in all the time, I'd love for him to enjoy summer days out with the other horses.
Any suggestions or advice would be great..

 

[Brandy]

Its a habit, my horse 'hated' being out when I got him, hes not a jumper though so would just stand by the gate looking miserable after half an hours loon round. This is how he had been kept for years before I had him. I just bit the bullet, made sure he was wamr, and turned him out all day every day (give or take the odd day) he soon got used to it and now lives out 24/7. Even last week when it was lashing raing, I brought him in to change his rug at 6pm, pitch black, cold and wet, and after 5 minutes he was pawing the ground waiting to go back out again. He is used to his new 'habit'

If you can keep him out, he will get used to it and start to enjoy it I think.

 

[M'n'M]

Just as Brandy said, basically give him no choice. Even now sometimes my mares don't want to be out but I just ignore their complaining. They get used to it eventually and I think once he finally gets used to it he'll like it better being out. Persevere!

 

[BonneMaman]

He really needs to go out as he is a baby - it is not very good for such a large 2yo to be kept in and could affect his growth and bone density.

I suggest you might have to move yards to somewhere that has very good grazing and a herd environment 24/7 - at least until he is over his wimpy ways..

Good luck.

 

[diesel1981]

He really needs to go out as he is a baby - it is not very good for such a large 2yo to be kept in and could affect his growth and bone density.

I suggest you might have to move yards to somewhere that has very good grazing and a herd environment 24/7 - at least until he is over his wimpy ways..

Good luck.

Haha He's very wimpy! Typical Cleveland he's stubborn too but is so wonderful, Our yard has good grazing there's plenty for him to eat, Ive tried returning him to the field every time he escapes for a month now, I wait for him to wander off and then next minute he's cantering past me back to his stable. The people i bought him from have 70 acres and a small mixed herd living on it, It has 6ft hedges all the way round and he wont stay in there either, Ive taken to sitting in the field with him at the weekends and he's quite happy to be out then, the bugger! Guess i'll have to keep doing that for my special needs ned haha

 

[Bug2007]

My horse used to hate being out in the rain, she'd practically get in the hedge to get out of it or try to get under my smaller horse.

Just left her she was all rugged up and warm......now she doesn't care at all.

Worked wonders for my other horse too, at my old yard if a spot of rain came out of the sky the horses were in and they didn't ride, i'd still turn out and ride in horrendous weather, as a result it heaved it down during a show class we were in all the other horses, spun round bum to the rain etc... Prince stood stock still facing the rain and then won the class.

He'll get used to it. Your problem which others don't have is the fact he jumps, not sure what to do about that one.....tie him to one of your other horses!!!! lol

 

[MagicMelon]

As others have said - he'll soon get used to it and will enjoy it eventually. Can you block of his access to his stable (even just for a few hours a day) to try and break the habit? Try putting hay out in his field if there isn't much grazing which there wont be at this time of year.