No turnout for 6 weeks ...

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Bedford Joy

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My freind is at a yard that has very flooded fields and her horses have not been turned out for 6 weeks. She can't ride at the moment but they have had the occasional leg stretch in the school. What are people's opinions on horses being in? Is it bad for them? Or are they happy provided they have hay and water? Opinions please :) thanks x
 
Lots of threads on this atm. No I wouldn't be happy in short. I'd want a decent amount of turnout in school, walking in hand/riding daily and a chance to socialise if I had to keep in for a reason other than medical
 
Ours have been in since well before xmas. We have a turnout paddock but YO insists on having hers out there, one in the turnout paddock and one in the school. So being able to turn out is near impossible. Thankfully my horse is sold and waiting to be picked up or id've been gone long before now.
 
Much as I don't like it, I think they manage if ridden every day & also able to have time for a bit of freedom & a roll etc somewhere. Otherwise I very much disagree if they never get chance to express any natural behaviors.
 
No turn out / no ridden exercise is not acceptable in my book unless the horse is sick or injured and you have no choice .
You can get away with no turn out if the horse is in hard work but not with out.
 
I have a very good friend that did the same this winter. She has mostly school ponies. They got out every other day loose in a pen. Saturdays they worked. She had limited grazing for a couple of old mares and her 2 young horses. They were absolutely fine. I can't do that so despite the trashed paddocks they went out. I have some paddocks saved. And more over, I would have had high vet bills because mine would have invented new ways to try and top themselves. As long as they get out they're very easy. To be fair many days they came in at half a day because they stood at the gate feeling sorry for themselves. As long as the got out on schedule everyone was happy. Now with the dry weather and increased daylight they're happy to roam a little bit. I also let them loose in the arena about 3 times a week for a good roll and so they wouldn't forget how to move in stable ground!

But no I really couldn't ask mine to stay in 24/7 no matter how good the care. 3 of my 5 have been here since birth and they have their routine. They are capable of standing in if absolutely necessary. But I mean once the paddocks are a little trashed, what's the point? Besides coping on all types of ground is important for youngsters. They learn how to take care of themselves. And as I've said some paddocks are off. I leave one paddock off in the middle of all mine. Mine are at the back of the farm. But when you drive by, because of the lay of the land, you see my one green field. I call it selective paddock management. An optical illusion that makes it appear that all is green and well here! Reality is different!

Terri
 
Our yard closes the field in winter so they all come in. If its a particularly nice day they will go out again for a run and graze, they also get turned out into the school in pairs so they can play but the no turnout certainly doesn't effect them. I think it would be different if we didn't have a surface to ride on, but we can all lunge, ride and hack as normal, and none of the horses are bothered really. Though all the horses are exercised regularly, average of 5/6 days per week. I wouldn't want mine to stand in doing nothing for more than 2 days.
 
Littlelegs said:
Much as I don't like it, I think they manage if ridden every day & also able to have time for a bit of freedom & a roll etc somewhere. Otherwise I very much disagree if they never get chance to express any natural behaviors.
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I agree with that really. Sometimes turnout has to be limited and you have to cope. Somehow, be it led in hand (for a good while), ridden or turned out on a school/paddock, the horses must get some form of exercise.

We have very very wet fields and horses prone to mudrash. We tried turning out for an hour or two a day and leaving them in, we tried leaving them in and riding daily, but the best solution for their mental wellbeing (proven as they are much more relaxed in general) is turning them out on a quite big area of road chippings we have around the yard. They go out on there 10-12 hours a day with haylage, they get to have contact with each other, walk around, see whats going on/past...
 
Wouldn't work for me at all on many levels, don't feel its fair on any horse to be in 24/7 without the opportunity to socialise, indulge in natural behaviours etc, also gets expensive re bedding costs, and my horse gets very stressed and unhappy if kept in too much. If I couldn't turn out every day, I would find a new yard, after all, if my horse is unhappy, then I'm unhappy.
 
If its this wet next winter I'll probably keep mine in provided they can have an hours exercise. if not they can go out for an hour but seeing how miserable they are and desperate to come in i don't think they'll mind too much!
 
ours have been in for about 6-8 weeks now - Rio because he flat out refuses to go out in the field and Taz and Missy because they have really bad mud fever (which is going now thankfully!) Taz and Missy get 2 hours turnout in the school of a morning and a walk of an evening and Rio gets a walk of a morning and 2 hours turn out of an evening (although he doesnt want to be out so stands at the gate after he has had a buck and a roll :o)
 
Mine hasn't been out since the end of October. Yard provides all year turnout and its pretty well draining so minimal mud but my horse hates to be out in the wet/cold and jumped out her field to bring herself in continuously as the weather started getting miserable so the only option was for her to stay in or she was going to end up hurting herself. Id rather she was out but that's not what she wants. She's exercised daily for about an hour every morning (more at weekends) and walked out in the evenings. She use to have a special field to go in while i mucked out but she decided she didnt like that by November! She goes out once the weather is better. if it gets better that is :P
 
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