''My little pony'' yards.....a growing trend? Discuss.....

Hippona

Hippona

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Horses on our yard are split into 2 groups of 10 and rotated around the grazing.

This time of year we take it in turns a week each in the big field and a week in the small turn-out paddock...the rest of the fields are resting until spring, the big field never gets eaten down as its so big. We can turn out all year round....every day until 8pm if wished.

A few years ago...everybody put their horses out every day....it was rare that any horse stayed in unless it was ill/box-rest etc. We used to take it in turns when in the smaller paddock- some would put out on mornings, then the rest would have the afternoons and we would arrange the bringing in/turning out between us so that every horse had a good 5 hours out each day.

I've noticed that people are keeping their horses in more and more.....yesterday I went down to ride at about 2pm. There was one horse in the turn-out paddock and according to YO had been on his own all day ( he had hay + water and was happy enough). I went up to the big field.....plenty of grazing, minimal mud by the gateway...weather was mild and damp. There were only 6 horses out- and 3 of them were mine. So out of 20 horses belonging to 16 owners....between 4 owners only 7 horses were turned out ....

None of these horses compete at anything other than local/RC level...they are not competition horses, they are happy hackers and kids ponies.....ex-racers, natives and general bog-standard horses (if there is such a thing)......I've noticed people seem to want to keep their horses in a box- all clean with pretty rugs on........mine come in plastered in mud, not pretty but it scrapes off
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I can understand when you HAVE to keep in...for medical reasons, if you compete regularly and scraping 3'' of mud off daily isn't practical, or if your yard doesnt allow it......but why choose to keep in when the weather is ok and theres plenty of grazing and turnout daily?

My mate calls them 'My Little Pony' owners....clean pristine animals all year round at the expense of turning out.......is it a growing trend in general?

Not wanting to start a war or say who is right or wrong...I just wondered if anyone else had noticed the same?

Muffins and coffee if you managed to get to the end of my mucking-out ponderings
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I've got mine at home so can't really say, but mine have gone out every single day since I have kept them at home for about 9 years now. They have managed to go out in snow, wind, rain! If the vet wants them box rested I ask him to rethink and if he insists I would rather do a small paddock with electric fencing than keep them in!
 
I'd like mine to be all clean & shiny wearing all the pretty rugs I've bought them, but.....they'd be very fed up & as you say, they're pleasure horses. So they go out all day, every day & I brush the mud off every day!
 
I know, I dont understand it my mare is on box rest due to a injury and Im desperate to get her back out in the fields!! I had word with people at the yard this morning they were like my horse doesnt want to go out! DO they forget that they are horses, with a rug on they are fine!
 
We were at a yard where a woman simply would never turn her horse out without a rug, even when it was sweltering hot. The reason? "I don't want him to get dirty". She was in her late forties. The horse was used for happy hacking, wan't shown or anything. (Not that that would make it acceptable anyway but you know what I mean).

And his colour? Black!

The problem is too many people think of them as babies or children and mollycoddle them. My horses are my world but they live the lives of horses.

I hate horses standing in for hours on end for absolutely no reason. Fine if for medical purposes, completely understand that. But not for vain purposes, never.
 
In my mini rant forgot to say that said horse above HAD to stay in if it was raining or drizzling as he might get mud on his legs. And if the fields were muddy he couldn't go out. Blah blah blah.

Some ponies on that yard never ever went out from about October to April. And then the parents wondered why the ponies went nuts when their little poppets rode them...
 
Bonkers, mine are out rain, snow, wind and shine. The only time I would realy consider bringing them in if it is realy realy realy hot, and then only for a few hours midday.
 
my friend's eventer and endurance arab go out all day every day even when it's snowing! stick a thick rug and some boots on and stuff the mud! grey pony has to be bathed pretty much every weekend but he just goes out with a hood on. There are a couple of kids (about 14) who moaned when their ponies came in with muddy rugs
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but they only went to shows about once a month and were dark bays!
 
Yep I think there is a bit of a "my little pony" culture. I personally like mine to be out as much as possible, and yesterday was the first time for ages i havent turned out, but that was from a safety point of view as opposed to not wanting my horse to go out!! Horses should be allowed to be horses... and it is sad if that isnt allowed
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weird isnt it!! I have the muddiest field known to man it literally is a swamp - yet i just stick a rug on with a neck cover and jet wash his legs when he comes in!! have noticed though since moving from the midlands down south the mud comes off a lot easier - the mud there was clay and just stuck!!
 
I would love to be at your yard. In ours, winter turnout is restricted because they don't the field too churned up, and if the weather is bad I have to beg to get at least have a day turnout because my fruitcake of a youngster who is on the injured list (hence can't be ridden for the forseeable future) will otherwise climb the walls.

PS. Talking of yard steroetypes, apart from "My little pony" owners, we also have the "bored housewives", e.g. taking hours to gossip and drink tea/coffee at the yard, eventually manage to muck out and turn out, but never have any time left to ride their "equine hamster"!
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Fraid it is a growing trend, I like my horses to be out as much as possible, there is some days when they have to stay in, but not too often. One lady on our yard alway complains about the mud and that her horses hate to be out in it, they are that clean and always have a different PRETTY rug on, but with miserable faces....
 
I agree. Some yard owners can be so fussy and it rubs off on their liveries. I was at one yard where you had to dismount and immediately remove any poos from the school. You weren't allowed to canter up the grassy lane in case it frightened the horses in the fields (2 fields away!). There was turnout but YO didn't turn out her own horses if it got muddy and tbh the fields were little squares of perfect green with few natural features that a horse would enjoy being turned out in. At the moment I have to turn out into mud but it is the sloppy non sticky kind and doesn't seem to cause many problems beyond not looking very nice. I strongly suspect my horses could live out quite happily 24/7 at another yard up the road in a vast field with natural shelter and ad lib hay...
 
Yep we have a few of those.
I am clearly mental as I love to see my girl covered in mud. To me it means she has been having fun being a horse, doing what horses do. They have to come in at night so mud is always dry in the morning, it brushes off, usually onto me.
I loved seeing my kids all grubby, with ice cream dribbles down their faces after a day out somewhere too...
 
My horse competes once, sometimes twice a week and unless its snowing (we have to walk up a slippy road to get to the field) he goes out for at least 7hours a day.. i would rather have to give him a scrub a couple of times a week than have to do all that extra mucking out every day, bedding costs are high enough as it is! I dont think it's fair keeping the cooped up all day, they need to be moving around.
 
RS has abround 20,only half a dozen are in and they get a good chunk of the day out whenever possable.
Like most people,I Like to see horses out as much as possable.
I simply dont see any point to keeping them in if you dont need to-it costs more,is more work and it is better for horses to be in a firld with friends then in a stable,but understand that there are many reasons people may choose to keep horses in.
But on day like today when the weather is mild and the sun is shining,it seems such a shame to have horses in that dont need to be.
 
I agree wholely with everything everyone has said... it disgusted me at my old yard to see a yearling turned out when it was cold yes, but not freezing, in full lycra suit, full neck heavyweight stable rug, full neck heavyweigh turnout rug, full set of turn out chaps & overreach boots on all 4's -- to be turned out for an hour!! what a poor little pony hey!

My yard owner will put horse sout for as long as poss (livery yard) those that stand by the gate will be bought in as and when if the weather is really icky, but coming from a yard of competiton horses they will have put on the lightest rug as possible.

All owners at my yard see how happy all the other horses (& owners!) are & see how competant & 'normal the YO is... perhaps that is why there is contactly a waiting list to join!!!

its not only the turning out issue but just in general people thinking that their horses are human! im sure i dont need to give any examples as we all know some that do it!
 
Ladybones you are soo right - grooming is much more fun than mucking out !

As the owner of a very mucky grey mare I have had to learn to embrace her love of mud - through winter she mainly looks like a mud coloured horse with a white tank top on where her rug has been ! I always remember tacking up ready for a hack and she had managed to dye the right side of her neck and mane green and a tail that looked like it had been dipped in a muddy puddle ... the girl who was in the stable next to me actually said " I wouldn't been seen dead hacking out like that " I'M GOING FOR A HACK !!! does it really matter ??? This girl was one of the ones that had a shavings bed that looked like brand new shavings, hand picking out each tiny lump of turd on her hands and knees! I've got better things to do with my time - like enjoy my horse ! (end of rant)
 
Some of them won't hack off the yard unless they look pristine.....well- off road hacking is directly into the woods, so does it matter??

Mine is also grey...well, body and neck is...head and legs are more of a mud-brown colour this time of year but I can live with that......I love to see him getting down for a big roll, just wish he wouldnt do it in the gateway, the sod
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Unfortunatley at my yard they don't turn out when the fields are getting water logged/muddy so at the moment my little pony is in alot. If I had my way she would be out every day come rain or shine and I would just clean her up but its not an option for me. On the good side though she does get rotational turn out in a smaller paddock with less horses so at least that is something.

I do keep her lovely and clean but that does not mean that I mind her getting dirty, on the contrary, I love it cos it gives me more to do. I remember the first day I bought her I brushed her for about 5 hours! I even offer to brush other peoples horses cos I love it so much.

Sad eh?
 
Our fields are pretty badly waterlogged and mine gets mud fever, but she's still out. Rugged yes, but the mud brushes off, it just takes a bit of elbow grease.

I put mine out a good few weeks ago without a rug when it was muddy, but glorious sunshine and lovely and warm, and I got such disgusted looks off people when I brought her in looking like a mud monster. They thought I was mad putting her out without a rug "cos she'd get dirty" but I'd rather spend a bit of time grooming then have her out rugged up and too hot.
 
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I've got mine at home so can't really say, but mine have gone out every single day since I have kept them at home for about 9 years now. They have managed to go out in snow, wind, rain! If the vet wants them box rested I ask him to rethink and if he insists I would rather do a small paddock with electric fencing than keep them in!

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I'm with you on this one. Mine always go out
 
I have to say I don't always buy the 'my horse hates being out in the rain'. I'm sure sometimes you get a horse who really wants to be in but I think alot of the time they are conditioned that way. Horses like a routine and they will be very upset if this routine is changed.

I reckon sometimes, they don't want to go out simply because they are so used to being in. Monty was like this when I first got him and chucked him out but it only lasted a week or two. Now he likes being at one with his inner hippo!
 
I too have a grey and he goes out every day, even in the snow for at least a few hours. We're not allowed to put hay in the fields as the horses fight over it so he has to come in earlier if there's snow, but he's always out.
My instructor always winds me up that my horse goes to his lessons dirty, he also runs a livery yard and the greys there are spotless so when I ask him how he does it, he tells me he only turns them out in the turnout pens (small sand arenas). I'd rather have a beige but happy horse.

I have resorted to a snuggy hood though, as he's 16.3 and hates having his ears brushed! It's a god send, but he only wears it when it's VERY muddy.
 
I hate keeping my horse in, and like to have her out as much as poss. She goes out over night from April/May time through til mid Oct and then switches over to days. She is much more difficult to handle when she stays in.
Saying that though, when the weather is really bad, lashing with rain all day, cold and windy etc, I dont turn out and if I do its only for a few hours.
She is a Trakehner, and is not a particularly good doer. When the weather is truly awful, she just stands by the gate looking miserable, or flys around like a looney, often pulling shoes off or injuring herself. I would much prefer her to be sheltered, warm and eating her hay happily than chucked out in the field, not eating and fretting.
I agree that its not right to keep in just for the sake of keeping them clean, and to be outside with friends and able to move around is far more preferable, but I just try to do the best for my girlie.
Saying that, my old horse hated to be kept in, and happily went out in all weathers. So he did!
 
Gin goes out everyday in all weather. I much prefer them to be out in the fresh air. I will admit to bringing her in before dark though otherwise she has a paddy and fence walks churning up the field. Yesterday she had a stream running through her field and she still went out. Its only a bit of mud, it wont kill them.

A few horses on my yard have been in for a few days now and havent even been let out for a leg stretch. They have been getting ad lib haylage and normal feeds and dont get ridden. I just dont get it.
 
I wish ours could go out everyday, we have our own land but if it gets really wet we don't turn out otherwise we won't hve any turnout in the spring. With todays wind I am hopeful they will all be out again tommorrow when the standing water has gone. I totally agree with what everyone has said. I do rug all of ours this time of year, lightweight turnouts, just so they don't come in wet and have to stay that way overnight. Some are old and some clipped so wouldn't be fair. As for them being muddy, who cares, I clean the worswt of before I hack and if they still have a bit of dirt on there legs who cares, they are horses for heavens sake.
 
I hate having my horses in
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If (when !!
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) I get my own land the boys will be out EVERY day and will have access to a field shelter. The ONLY time I will willingly keep in is if there are VERY high winds and driving rain!

I know for a fact that most of the horses on the yard I'm at now will be staying in for the better part of this winter *wince* so I am resorting to splitting one of the boys field in half so they can both go out even if it means they are the only 2 that do!, said field has fairly good coverage off grass and trees for shelter.

Don't shoot me down but I don't believe in keeping horses in ALL the time just to keep them clean! Fair enough if they are competing keep them in the day before. But Even my grey goes out before a comp.....we manage with warm water from a kettle, shampoo, towels and rugs
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I don't understand how people CAN keep their horses clean when they're in - mine just jumps at the chance to roll around in his poo :P but seriously - my TO rugs are cleaner than my stable rugs!
 
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