opinions on horses in 24/7 during winter?? debate for the night :P

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wildpoppywild

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i always think this is a very interesting subject and after seeing a post below i thought i would throw it in for an evening debate

my opinion is tht horses should only be in 24/7 if on box rest or for extreme weather ie very heavy snow or whatever, and i wouldnt keep my horse on a yard/farm where i didnt have all year turnout. personally i would keep popy out all year round to help burn her belly off lol but i cant leave her out alone
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i dont have any issues with they way other people keep there horses in winter and obviously circumstances play a huge part in it all

what are you opinions??
 
I personally think it highly unethical to keep a horse stabled 24/7 in the winter no matter what the weather. They aren't going to melt in the rain! From a yard point of view I understand some are worried about the mud etc but I think if they are that fussy then perhaps they should provide all weather turnout in some kind of arena even if its just for a couple of hours a day per horse. Witnessing the behaviour of horses who were stabled 24/7 365 I can safely say that it changes a horse completely....
 
I'd insist on daily turnout! Luckily mine are at home but they all go out everyday (even the grade A's) no matter what the weather!!
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iv never winterd 1 off but if threw illness ect i would but then again id never go on a yard with no winter turn out i keep myn on a yard that has winter turn out every day only in the day 9 till 7 at nite so myn goes out every day but then again hes that soft he wont stay out at nite in the summer you may get away with leaveing him the odd nite but hel make sure youl not leave him the nite after hes a softy n loves his comfy bed n hay net
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All mine are out 24/7 but i do own a stable for illnesses etc personally i think mine would be unhappy and go stir crazy if they were kept in what i call a cage all the time. But everybody as their own opinion and i am not judging anyone else if this is what they choose for their horses.
 
It works OK for horses hunting hard twice a week with an hour's exercise on the other days. They are too tired/content to fret.
 
In an ideal world, for my horses, 24/7 turnout through the winter, cosy turnout rugs, a nice big shelter with a dry floor so they can get out of the wind, and ad lib hay. When I was a child we used to turn our ponies out on the Essex marshes for the winter. The local farmer would feed them hay along with his cattle, and the ponies (and some horses, all unrugged) would shelter in the big open barns with the cows from the worst of the weather. They all, without exception, came back in March looking fat and shiny. I don't know if anyone does that anymore, times have changed..
 
Prefer to keep out as much as poss but I did keep my mare in one winter gasp shock horror.......
She did not develop any vices but was a tad more forward going whilst hunting never naughty though.
 
I've made the decision to move to a yard with limited winter turnout this year, because yards with good winter turnout are few and far between.

The horses will NOT be in 24/7, all through the winter, they stay in on days when its torrential rain (not that often) and when the ground gets waterlogged so the fields don't get churned up.

I've been there seven weeks and they've spent one day stabled so far. I don't know to what extent the turnout will be limited through the depths of winter.

I think limited turnout can be done, providing the horse gets enough exercise - the facilities at my yard are excellent and so is the hacking, so there's no excuse for her not to be exercised twice a day.

I wouldn't want to keep a horse in 24/7, ever if possible, but on a short term basis I and hopefully my mare can live with it. TBH, if its a choice between staying in her stable for the day or standing in a miserable little field, knee deep in mud in pouring rain, I think she'd choose the stable.
 
I think the majority of horses are best (mentally and physically) having 2 hours of some sort of exercise outside their stable every day. This can be a combination of inhand grazing/walking, ridden exercise, lungeing/loose-schooling, horse-walker, turnout in sand school or grass turnout. However, for my own horses I prefer them to have plentiful outside turnout with equine company every day.
 
The only time i think stabling is needed 24/7 is on the advice of the vet for an injury or such like.
My girl goes out in all weather, with the full neck rugs we have now, they stay lovely and dry and warm under there, they only need some hay or such like and they are mostly happy as larry imo.
I do not like the idea of a horse being stabled 24/7 and i think it should be avoided at all costs
 
It depends on the horse and why is it being stabled. There are some good legitimate reasons for being stabled 24/7 for some horses.

For example, my mare last year injured her pelvis, was on box rest before Christmas. She came sound again, but then the ice came. Do you risk walking a horse across ice to turn out to a paddock that's a sheet of ice? Or just suck it up and work 2x a day, give a bit of a leg stretch and roll in the school and get on with it? That's what I chose to do, and I don't regret it.

Over the summer, my horse is stabled 24/7 which totally sucks - but that's the way it has to be for her as she's laminitic. Some would say "put her in a starvie". This is a horse that jumps a wooden fence from a stand still, just cos she wants to get to the other side. Electric tape she ignores and simply walks thru. Grazing muzzle? You must be kidding. There was a time even that a stable wouldn't keep her in, if she didn't WANT to be in...she'd take the thing apart brick by brick if she had to. However, since she's been stabled, she's been content, chilled and seems to like her routine. She's worked more consistently now that I have to than before when she was out. Her work has progressed ten fold and she still has her turn out time, but it's just not all day. She doesn't have vices, isn't any more forward than usual (though if she has a day off, the first day of work can be interesting)
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Even when stabled at night and out all day in teh winter, within 3 hours, she'd be standing at the gate waiting to be let back in, looking rather miserable. And she'd stand there for another 4-5 hours....
 
I guess I am in the minority then! Mine are stabld 24/7 in the winter from now until about march time! They are ridden daily for a couple of hours and hunted twice a week! They have no vices and are very happy. Since we moved there is no way I could turn them out its just too wet!
 
I think other than for health reasons horses should get some turnout not just for grass but as it give them the chance to socialise with other horses.

My pony does not like being stabled so he lives out 24/7 all year but I know that not everyone is lucky enough to have that option.

I think if you are going to keep a horse in 24/7 then you need to make sure they get plenty of exercise and attention - what is sad it when horses are kept in 24/7 but don't get enough or any exercise everyday due to their owners working full time or the weather being bad etc.

They will also need ad lib hay too to help keep them occupied and stop ulcers etc.
 
Wilypoppywild, can you please reduce your signature. It's absolutely huge at the moment. Thank you.

Personally, I would never stabled my horses 24/7. I think it's incredibly detrimental to their mental and physical well being.
 
Personally, I prefer mine to be out as much as possible, whatever the weather. They are out 24/7 at the moment, and will be for as much of the winter as possible.

How other people keep their horses has nothing to do with me and as long as a horse is content in whatever its routine then I dont see any harm if they are kept in 24/7.
 
As I can't ride every day due to work I wouldn't be happy with any less than 8 hours turnout with equine companions a day as I think it's important for their mental and physical well being.
 
Mine are stabled 24/7 from the time the clocks change at the end of October until they go forward again in March. I would prefer them to go out but I have to walk them down the road to their field & by the time my husband gets home in the winter its too dark to get them in. I can't get them in earlier as I am looking after my 2 year old daughter & she's not old enough to walk down the road with me safely yet.

They seem quite happy though & both get an hours exercise every day & hunted or showjumped twice a week.
 
I am lucky enough to have my horses with me now, but when i did have them at livery I would not use a yard where they were in 24/7.
 
If they are in proper work, fed properly and have the opportunity for a bit of a hooley and a roll in an arena then quite honestly, I haven't got a problem with that.

If they are stuck in all day, taken for an inadequate stroll, stuffed with unnecessary grain (and so many horses just do not need feeding at all for the work they do) then yes I do have a problem with that.

Snow doesn't cut it as an excuse to be in, my lot have to like it or lump it. I don't do IN for any length of time at all, because they don't need it, they are not ill or cold, and far more truthfully I am too damn old and lazy to do it anymore.

Horses for courses though, most adapt to anything we throw at them, not always happily. Some just don't adapt and we have to either get another horse that suits the way we want to keep it, or find a compromise that suits us and the horse.
 
my answer to this question is/has been the same everytime it has been brought onto the forum.....


would you, personally, like to live 24/7 in your bathroom?
 
My big lad in 24/7 which he really doesnt mind if i turned him out he would stand at gate knee deep in mud looking totally miserable and prob end up with mudrash and lost shoes
 
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my answer to this question is/has been the same everytime it has been brought onto the forum.....


would you, personally, like to live 24/7 in your bathroom?

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Lol
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I think that in an ideal world, we would all have turnout on great big green fields that never turned to mud and never ran out of grass. However, this is not reality for most of us - it upsets me a bit when people say "oh I would never have my horse on a yard with any less than 12 hours a day of turnout all year" - no, nor would I, ideally, but around her, those yards just don't exist. There just isn't enough land here. Or if they do, that turnout is in muddy field with 30 other horses who fight (and no schools on the yard). Does that mean I shouldn't have a horse at all?

On our yard all horses are out daily between May to end of October /November - in the summer a bit more, but otherwise 4-5 hours a day. The grazing was gone quickly this year, so is now really just turnout. In the winter it depends on the weather - our yard does not have a lot of fields and have to look after what they have. I think that this winter, they will be going out for an hour or two every day unless the weather/ground is horrible. It doesn't take long to ruin a field, and if you don't have others - what do you do?

I do feel guilty, but at the same time, for my sake I want to have my horse on a competition yard where I have access to training, shows, like minded people etc. I make sure horse gets exercised daily plus goes on the walker, gets lots of fuss and attention, and that we hack for hours at the weekends. I will also take horse for walks and in-hand grazing when possible.

This is probably cruel by the standards of most people here - but somehow I do think this is a bit of a UK thing - horses in other countries really often do go our a LOT less than here.
 
no one was having a go as majority have stated this is just individuals opinions
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alot of horses, if they are used to it, will probs prefer being in, and i have no doubt that everyone who keeps there horses in knows exactly how to look after them
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I think my point is that it often happens due to lack of choice - in this area there just aren't any decent yards that have decent turnout, so you just have to ask yourself - work with what you have (horse in "cage" or "bathroom" 21 hours a day), although it might not bean ideal situation, or don't have a horse. It is not such an easy decision to make, and I am prepared to be challenged!
 
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I think my point is that it often happens due to lack of choice - in this area there just aren't any decent yards that have decent turnout, so you just have to ask yourself - work with what you have (horse in "cage" or "bathroom" 21 hours a day), although it might not bean ideal situation, or don't have a horse. It is not such an easy decision to make, and I am prepared to be challenged!

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choice?

who's choice?

certainly not the horses/ponies choice, is it?
 
yes thats why in my initial post i said its obviously all dependant on circumstances :P

i understand that some places aren't as lucky to have gd turnout like up here
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None of mine have the option to be stabled, poor little loves!
Bear and Gimley are going to have blanket clips this winter
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But they will have F/N H/W rugs on with vests, it can be quite bleak where they live
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