No winter turnout??

Toffee44

Toffee44

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Does this actually mean the horse sees no grass over winter or just very limited???

I am shocked at the amount of stables that have no winter turnout.

For me that is not a option completly goes against keeping a horse and keeping the horse in a sane enviroment. I dont stay in one room all day and not go out etc. If it means there is no turnout for the horse whatsoever.
 
It usually means no turnout whatsoever :(

i wouldn't keep my horse on a yard with a no winter turnout policy either. Unfortunately many of the large yards want to keep their paddocks looking pristine so don't allow it.

I don't like a lot of these huge establishments as what goes on out of sight isn't always pretty. I visited a renown showground/yard once and was shocked to find two young ponies shut in the back of stable in a tiny sectioned off area barely big enough for one of them, they lived in there 24/7 apparently, poor little things couldn't even see the outside, they were literally shut in the dark.
 
We have no turnout. It can vary and is weather dependent, ie frosty weather they can go out but wet, no. Can last for a good couple of months and the whole yard despairs :-(

We do have an indoor 'arena' that we turnout it when mucking out, but still it's a miserable situation for the neds
 
Its an issue that I'd like the horse welfare organisations to address in regard to livery yards.
Moving to an area a few years ago, found it was commonplace to offer very limited/or no winter turnout. The nearest yard to my house has no grazing from October -May. Horses are turned out on 2 small areas of hard standing complete with muck heap for 6 months for a few hours everyday. Other yards may have weeks without any turnout when the ground is wet. Stabled in dusty, dark indoor stables, not seeing or breathing fresh air except for 20 minutes standing in the school while stable is mucked out. Many of those horses are not ridden/exercised during the week and consequently become too excitable to ride on the days their owners have the time.
When I had the misfortune to find my yard's all year turnout actually meant 'subject to dry weather', I found myself spending hours each day trying to exercise/graze in hand my horses while looking for 'real' winter turnout.
 
I would see it as completely unacceptable. If you can't turn out in winter because it ruins the fields then you haven't got enough grazing for the number of horses on your yard. Fair enough if the horse in question suffers from raging mud fever and the fields are under a foot of water but as a general rule I think its cruel. I don't have a native, I have a think skinned imported WB who would quite happily live in his stable if he had to but I still like to see him get some turnout to run around and play with his friends. Even in the snow last year they still went out every single day.
 
We have enough grazing to be able to rest fields - horses and ponies go out at night/in during the day - year round (except those who don't like going out - and, yes, we do have a few of those - or just can't go out for long b/c they are retired/ill, etc.).

Have to say that I would never have Kal anywhere where he couldn't go out - even in the worst weather for just a couple of hours if it were safe to get to the field.

P
 
wellsat said:
I would see it as completely unacceptable. If you can't turn out in winter because it ruins the fields then you haven't got enough grazing for the number of horses on your yard. Fair enough if the horse in question suffers from raging mud fever and the fields are under a foot of water but as a general rule I think its cruel. I don't have a native, I have a think skinned imported WB who would quite happily live in his stable if he had to but I still like to see him get some turnout to run around and play with his friends. Even in the snow last year they still went out every single day.
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Totally agree . . . my own thin-skinned, imported sport horse NEEDS to go out - does his head in if he's kept in for too long. Horses need to be outside - as long as it's safe for them to do so.

P
 
I wouldn't touch a yard with 'no winter turnout' with a bargepole. Quite apart from the massive cost one would incur from having a horse stabled 24/7 it is really bad for the horses breathing, metal welbeing, and joints. I agree with earlier poster that I'd like to see laws to address this. These yards don't care that if you spent any length of time there your horse would eventually be crippled up with arthritis etc. Horses are designed to roam and to be on the move all the time.
 
We have no turnout from nov-march all horses cope well with this arrangement, they are all ridden, use the horsewalker and can blow off steam in the indoor.

There are no yards by me that offer winter turnout :-( I would like it even if just for an hour a day but it's just not available
 
I agee with 'wellsat' and others.

I am shocked as to how many yards do not provide winter turnout.

To me that is simply too many horses on the acres they have and not managing setting up the land sufficently.
It seems abit "Pile em high" to me, get as many horses on the yard without considering the welfare needs of the horse.

Good drainage systems, hardcore gateways and paths etc... can all make all year turnout perfectly possible. But these cost money/time etc...

If the horses without turnout were being exercised well each day, given enough mental stimulation and some time in the arena then some may be OK on this set up. Afterall most stallions live this sort of existence.

However, for most 'hobby' animals and their owners in the winter it must just be a total stress - what on earth do the DIY-ers do in these situations if they have flu or something?
Rely on someone else? Has someone really go that extra time?

We are fortunate to have ours at home, last winter when I had flu and my hubby was trying to deal with 'the small humans', meals, cleaning, working, ill wife and then the 'herd' - I just told him to rug them up and turn them out.

They were all fine - even the thin skinned Europeans, good rugs helped, the only one not keen on that was the Irish horse - hmmm but he is abit "pipe & slippers".

I don't envy anyone who faces a winter like last one, no turnout and potentially nowhere to ride.
 
4faults said:
We have no turnout from nov-march all horses cope well with this arrangement, they are all ridden, use the horsewalker and can blow off steam in the indoor.

There are no yards by me that offer winter turnout :-( I would like it even if just for an hour a day but it's just not available
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^^^THIS^^^

I'm in the North West and yards with Winter Turnout just don't seem to exist?! If you find one with spaces and facilities to ride as well... You're very lucky :eek:!! ... And if you do happen to know one, let me know!!!!!! :rolleyes:
 
Borgrae- where in the north west are you? Searched high and low for a place with winter turnout but had to settle for great facilities so they can be exercised everyday. Would love to see them out on crisp winter days though
 
I once kept my boy on a yard and I was totally lied to about the winter turnout situation. I was told that we might be expected to limit it in very bad weather. The truth was that they were expected to stay in from beginning of October and I finally left in March and they were still in. Everytime you asked the owner when you would be able to turnout you were just told 'I'll see if I can find you a field next week' or some other fob off excuse!
We had access to an indoor school which we were only allowed to turn out in if we were there watching our horses.

I wouldn't mind but they had over 100 acres of land....they just didn't want it to get muddy. Oh and that having them in meant we had to buy lots of inflated price hay and shavings from the farmer.

I couldn't stand it and ended up going onto permanent nights whilst I looked for another suitable yard.

I ended up:
Another livery would give him a haynet and small feed at 6.00 am
I finished work 8 am -
go to yard - Tack up and ride for a minimum of an hour.
Turn out in indoor with a haynet for a roll etc whilst I mucked out. I then used to sleep in my car next to the indoor for 2-3 hours so that he could stretch his legs etc whilst I was 'watching him'.
Back in his stable with another small feed.
I then went home ate lunch and went to bed for another few hours.
Back to the yard
Grazed him in hand for a minimum of an hour and half. I used to sit on a fold out chair reading a book, him on a lunge line. In wet weather I huddled under an umbrella.
He then went out in the indoor school again for another couple of hours whilst I skipped out etc.
A good groom.
Then an evening feed.
Back home for another small sleep, dinner and off to work.

Everyone used to tell me I was mad but I couldn't see him just shut in all day.
I was soooo knackered and always seemed to be struggling with a cold. I literally wept with relief the day I moved him to the wonderful, scruffy yard with muddy fields and I watched him bucking and squealing with joy as I turned him out :)
 
Thing is everyone wants winter turnout, but if you get it, it knackers the field for the summer! Unless of course you have enough to rotate the turnout.
 
I wouldn't be on a yard if this was the case.
It is totally unfair.

If you can't rotate fields or allow a winter one to be trashed then you have too many horses for the land.
 
4faults said:
Borgrae- where in the north west are you? Searched high and low for a place with winter turnout but had to settle for great facilities so they can be exercised everyday. Would love to see them out on crisp winter days though
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I live in Blackpool, but currently stable in St. Michaels. I'm moving to a yard in Wrea Green on Saturday though for more summer turnout.

I'm gutted I'm moving yards mind, as I LOVE the yard I'm at now, but need more summer turn out for my lad. I'm pretty sure the yard I'm moving to in Wrea Green has no winter turn out, but does have a sand paddock turnout pen so he can have a buck and a fart! Both yards have great facilities, so that's a bonus!

Where are you??
 
I'm in Warrington, and had the same problem, great facilities but no winter turnout, tried mine on another yard with rubbish facilities and some turnout in winter but they hated it there, are so much more settled on this place so we will soldier on ;-)
 
We have very very limited winter turnout (read this as a day a month..)
My horse copes. We have a lean to to turn out into when we muck out and I always ride/graze her in hand.
Unfortunately I have no real choice, its the only yard in a 18mile radius. Literally.
Thankfully this winter I have been informed we will have a a couple of hours a day of turnout due to there being less horses on the land..
It really annoys me too because its poor field management.. they have the land... but they use the well drained land in the summer and the clay type poorly drained land in the winter?!
 
I'm really keeping my fingers crossed that my lad likes the new yard. There's more summer turnout, and like I said, a play pen for winter. And the facilities are still great... But more expensive :rolleyes:

Here's hoping it all goes well!!!! :)
 
benson21 said:
Thing is everyone wants winter turnout, but if you get it, it knackers the field for the summer! Unless of course you have enough to rotate the turnout.
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You don't need enough to rotate necessarily. We have winter turnout, out during the day and in at night, but we (3 owners) take great care to ensure that the horses come in together so that there's no mad charging about. We keep in occasionally and also cut off the bottom half.

I wouldn't contemplate keeping my horse anywhere that had NO turnout for 6 months of the year, it's a recipe for tendon trouble once they are allowed out. I also wouldn't want to ride a horse that was brim full of excitement after being cooped up for possibly days.
 
The only yard round here that has proper winter turn out is scruffy as hell but hey its full!!!!! Im lucky i rent my own private yard so i please my self, mine are out every day in the winter and 24/7 in the summer. And no i dont have the land iv only 2 acres for 5 ponies!!! So it is possable with out having acres of land!
 
My friend is in equine studies college and takes her horse with her, I find it unbelievable where an institution is teaching equine studies and doesn't allow winter turnout. He goes nuts understandably has been unmanagable, I think this creates vices
 
I hate horses being in too, but its very easy to condemn yards for over population and bad management, and unless you have run a yard you can't really comment. Its also easy to say that fields wouldn't churn up when you are on good draining soil - if you are on clay, like us, you are basically living in the bottom of a big pond! Its also easy to say that gates and fields should have hardcore/concrete paths - try getting it past the planning dept round here...

We used to do DIY, and had six horses on 20 acres. They churned it up like you wouldn't believe. Yes the drains could do with redoing, but it would cost thousands - that we don't have, and the DIYs made about £1 profit a week for us after stable and field maintenance... In the end we stopped doing DIY so that our 3 horses could have the land in a better state.

My friend runs a livery yard near us, and doesn't do turnout over the winter. It is a condition of her tennancy on some extra land that she rents, that it is rested over the winter and rolled etc to keep it in good condition. Its not ideal. The horses are turned out on a sand school for an hour a day. The yard has a huge waiting list.

If these yards were regulated to only allow enough horses so that they could turn out, many of the DIYs would be kicked off, and there wouldn't be anywhere for you all to keep your horses, as there would be huge competition for yards. Prices would also rocket. So be very careful what you wish for! (Not saying that its right that horses should be kept in, but that there are good reasons, and people choose where they stable..)
 
I think in part it is down to land management, as others say; too many horses, and/or poor management.

It's easy to squash more stables into a yard and take livery money, but that isn't the consideration of the horses welfare. I have seen this over the years too many times.

Whilst I appreciate in certain conditions turnout is not possible (severe ice to walk on perhaps) I believe all horses should be given access to kick up their heels each day - and for at least 2-3 hours.

My friend had an ex-racer who was on such a yard (no turnout) - when they finally did have turnout he went mental and bowed a tendon, she was devastated.

I am in awe of the dedication of some owners (the lady who worked nights) to manage for their horse.

Must be terrible, and for those who have nothing closer to home, I guess finding the balance of life/horse/work etc... with how far you are prepared to travel (and it's costs) must be so tricky.
 
I used to be at a yard where we had limited turnout! As soon as it rained we had to stay in. Which I didn't know until i arrived one morning and was told I wasn't allowed to turn out as it was spitting!!! I went up 3 times a day to graze and take him for strolls around the village. It was hard work having 2 and doing that. Some of the horses there never left the stables! I now love my new yard and when I asked about if there was any limited turn out in the winter, she just laughed at me and said of course not. It's great we have so much land for so few horses. We literally use 1/4 of the field for the summer so winter grazing is great!
 
On the flip side of the coin, I used to choose to keep my horses in for the majority of time.

The land was clay, and holes and mud were literally knee high at times, bad enough when it was wet (Wales, it was wet a lot) but when the ground froze, lethal. The state of the land was nothing to do with bad management, it was just unavoidable due to the soil and the weather. There was an arena that they went in whilst we cleaned stalls, and my horses were hunting fit so got exercised everyday.

If I had to Board my horses now I wouldn't even consider a yard where there was compulsory stabling, fortunately, I am not in that position and can do whatever I like.

Nowadays I never bring them in, anyway, I only have 10 stalls. Sure the land (sand based and flat) gets a bit muddy/flooded when the snow melts but it is rolled and harrowed when we can get on there and after a few weeks it is back to being a dustbowl for the summer.

Sometimes, YO's are damned if they do, and damned if they don't.
 
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