My yearling is looking very scruffy...

Reading this post I am horrified at the suggestion that youngsters that are brought in at night during the winter (or when the weather is vile) are not going to develop properly. What codswollop! Total tripe.
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Of course it would be a wonderful world if all babies could spend their first 3 years out on rolling pastures 24/7, but Hey! This is England in the middle of the wettest couple of years, in a long while. If I left mine out 24/7 year round they'd be riddled with rainscale and mud fever. No sireee.... mine come in at night from around late November/early December until late March/early April. And I'd like anyone to say any of mine look worse developmentally wise than any one else's living out 24/7!
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Reading this post I am horrified at the suggestion that youngsters that are brought in at night during the winter (or when the weather is vile) are not going to develop properly. What codswollop! Total tripe.

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Absolutely agree 100%.

And if you read back on Jetset's posts OB - you'll see what a caring (and she won't mind me saying) slightly paranoid owner she is. She always wants the best for her horses, and has worked particularly hard on getting it right for Troy.

Bringing a youngster in at night or during vile or even over hot weather is perfectly acceptable. Not sure why you'd think otherwise really.....
 
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I think your boy is just stunning in all those pictures
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As a yearling he looks so much more mature than my boy
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Thank you! But as someone has already pointed out, he was a professionally produced show horse as a yearling and 2yo, so it's not fair on yours to compare them.

Also, my boy is from 'show' bloodlines that tend to look smooth and in proportion even as youngsters - and to develop fairly evenly, without going through an angular, ugly-duckling stage.

But last year as a 3yo he was still very leggy and colty-looking - he has only just started to look like a proper stallion!


Oh - and JS my boy was brought in at night as a youngster and it doesn't seem to have done him any harm!
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Thank you to everyone who has posted and more so to those who have posted pictures of your youngstock for me to compare with
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As I have said many times, I am very much learning as I go as this is the first youngster I have had from birth all the way through
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I have rebacked horses at 5 years old, but this is the first time I am going to see the whole thing through myself (obviously with lots of guidance from my trainers etc etc).

He had a nice conformation at the Futurity in August, receiving two straight 8s from the veterinary examinations, and lots of 8s elsewhere too
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However, since those photos were taken he has changed again quite a lot which is what surprised me, it seems to happen so suddenly. I tried getting some pictures of him last night, but he was somewhat 'on one' for the first time in a long time
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Plus he was covered from nose to tail in mud
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AmyMay... you are spot on, I am completely paranoid
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I probably over think things and try too hard to make sure my horses are happy, have a good routine and are worked correctly
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Perhaps that is why my husband complains I am never at home
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HTobago... your boy is something special, I don't think many could compare their own stock with him
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Thank you for sharing your photographs, I never get tired of looking at them
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When I was 16 I always wanted a chestnut Arab, and I imagined he would be called Dangerous Limits
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To echo many others in this thread I think your post was very unfair O_B. Yes in an ideal world we'd all have access to unlimited grazing but speaking as someone who lives in the same area as Jet_Set livery yards with all year round t/o are like gold dust. Lancashire is the worst of combinations - very built up (we have two huge conurbations in Liverpool and Greater Manchester) plus many other large towns built close together (fall out from the Industrial Revolution), the largest swathes of rural land are moorland/fells used extensively for grouse shooting and owned by the richest people in the country (The Queen and the Duke of Westminster) and not available for grazing land for horses. The land that remains that might be suitable is generally used for livestock - sheep, beef and dairy are all still dominant in the rural economy and farmers round here are generally not huge fans of horses. Their livestock is brought in the winter to indoor housing and therefore the ones that do diversify into livery also expect horses to come in during the winter too.

Add to the shortage of land the fact that most of the land is clay based, we are one of the wettest counties in England (only Cumbria gets more rain than us) and most of the land is a bog come October/November (August this year
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), plus a very high head count of equines all competing for too little land - I don't think any other county faces the challenges that we do here in Lancashire.

So aside from moving to one of the more rural counties where grazing is more plentiful we Lancashire lasses have to struggle on making the best choices we can for our horses. Mine had only an hour turnout a day last winter and I felt guilty every single day knowing I wasn't doing the best for my horses. I moved yards twice trying to find somewhere that worked better and also have rented a separate field where I can turnout everyday in winter and 24/7 if I want. It's fab to have that - but it does mean a 20 minute drive there and back and moving horses around by horsebox if I want to use any facilities like menage or even stabling.

No one worries more about their horses' welfare than Jet_Set so to say she isn't concerned is ridiculous. She's doing her best - what more can any of us do?
 
She lived in overnight when she was a little foal and whilst being backed *whispers* as a 2 yr old for approx 4 weeks but otherwise has been out 24/7 and indeed was when all of these pics were taken

Yearling-
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2 yr old-
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gedenskis_girl... When you put it like that, what on earth are we still doing here??? Fancy jumping on the first bus to Kent!!!

Bossanova... what a change! Your pictures have given me hope
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AmyMay... you are spot on, I am completely paranoid
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I probably over think things and try too hard to make sure my horses are happy, have a good routine and are worked correctly
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Perhaps that is why my husband complains I am never at home
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HTobago... your boy is something special, I don't think many could compare their own stock with him
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Thank you for sharing your photographs, I never get tired of looking at them
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When I was 16 I always wanted a chestnut Arab, and I imagined he would be called Dangerous Limits
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You have always struck me as a very devoted and caring owner - if anything, as AmyMay has said, you are probably too anxious about your horses!

Thank you for your very kind (too kind!) comments on my boy! I had to giggle at your 16yo fantasy-horse, especially as a friend told me recently that my choice of horse showed that I have an emotional age of about 12! She's got a point - Tobago is exactly the 'beautiful fiery chestnut Arab stallion' that I longed for when I was a child. Unlike you, I never managed to grow out of this fantasy.
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hi my yearling didnt look fab comming out of the winter and i wanted to show him in june we where told to give him raw egg and stout in his feed and it made a huge diff, now he looks fab but still he needs to grow into his legs, but he is very fine coated we had to put a sumer sheet on his as he felt the slightest temp drop here he is at kent in july [image]http://
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That is my whole point.
JS does worry, in fact I feel she could make her self quite ill if she believed someone thought she was not doing what was best for her horses. Sometimes we have to remember we live in the real world & not the ideal world. I still do not believe it is better to have youngsters out 24/7 in cold, rain & soaking wet fields. Troy is in a very busy yard & when he does have to be stabled for whatever reason there will be plenty going on to keep him amused. Other than that I promise to allow any stock that can not be ridden as full a turn out as possible.
 
Been reading this thread and totally disagreeing with O_B with regards to be concerned about troy , Really no need .


B you have no need to worry troy is going to turn into a stunning little horse, They change soo much .

Heres a few of missy ....

Missy as a yearling .... scrawny isnt the word lol
march 07
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may 07
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Now this year ....
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My weanlings are kept in filly and colt groups in pens during their first winter, they will go out during the day only if the weather is OK and the fields are not soaking or frozen, but they are in pens every night.

All breeders in Europe winter their youngsters in huge barns, they don't go out at all during the winter, if they did they simply would not have the grazing required for the spring and summer months.

I can assure you that if you have a horse that was bred on the continent it, as a youngster, will not have had 24/7 turnout.

_Jetset_ don't worry about your boy, from what I have seen from your posts, it is obvious that the care and consideration of your horses is paramount to you, what more could a horse want from its owner.


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I have to agree with cruiseline.all our horses stay in barns in groups and are allowed out into a yard if it is a nice day during the winter..i really hate to see them standing shivering in a field when they could be nice and warm in a barn with plenty of fresh haylage and hard feed.I would never stable young horses on their own as they stress too much but that is just my opinion and the way we work here.

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www.freewebs.com/ballyshanhorses/
 
Yep, that is how it was done at the old Broadstone Stud too. Grouped by age and sex, into big barns. Was leathal bedding down though!
 
AmyMay... no, I think paranoid is much more apt
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Thanks everyone, I feel a little better now
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He is out every day, seems really happy and is growing a lot at the moment. I will get some pictures of him tonight for you and post them on here
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I keep meaning to go out and buy a measuring stick as would love to know how big he is now
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Colleen_miss_tom... you know I have a soft spot for your girl, she is just beautiful
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I keep meaning to go out and buy a measuring stick as would love to know how big he is now
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If you have aregular measuring tape you could do what I did... from the last pics of Taz on the top of the thread I could see that his wither was as high as the bottom of the window pane... turned him out and went back and measured it in cms on the tape and then used the website Teffy linked to recently to see what it came out as... little monkey is officially 13.3hh on the wither- much to my joy!
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http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Agriculture/animal-welfare/ImpExp/HorsePony/Heights
 
hi JS - i'm so glad you have managed to find somewhere thats in commutable distance for you/Troy.
I MUST remember to take regular pics of my foal, i must admit i havent taken any for the last few weeks.
Just again to repeat on what others have said, Lancashire is bad re land, it makes me realise how lucky i am that all of our drain amazing well (except the 2 acre lami field which does flood the odd day) My foal is still out 24/7 and i am going to try and keep it that way all winter... (whilst she seems happy, i am happy, if not, she will be in overnight, out 6am-7pm) There are places that offer winter grazing, but they are not always around the corner and there is not space for every horse in lancashire! (we have calls year round with people wanting to reserve a place, we are quite picky though and prefer multi-horse owners (studs etc Greygates, i'm waiting for the fencing contractor to come to redo a fence then i'll give you a call back) or individuals who have horses who need to be out for medical reasons) To whoever said that Cumbria gets more rain, well i am having to commute daily up there are the moment and i can honestly say, Lancashire has more water on the fields than any field i have seen in Cumbria.
i really wouldnt be worried about troy at all and i think all horses have to have a bit of a scruffy spell in life
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ETA - if i was on my other laptop i would be able to post 'growing up pics' of my shetland and my now 5 year old. shetland was stabled at night in winter every year until recently. The mare was barn kept by her breeder (as she got fed up of her jumping out of her field!) then from 12 months out 24/7 summer, 1st winter i had her just out in the day, then the following summer and winters out all year. She never made her expected height - by 1 hand - i however believe this was due to her not getting out before i bought her
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