Opinions on overnight turnout during winter

Bertolie

Bertolie

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Last year my cob was out in a paddock with two ponies that are routinely stabled at night during winter, so he was also stabled at night. This year he is turned out with my daughters new horse who is not used to being stabled and gets very stressy when brought in. He is calmer when my horse is with him but still panics a bit! We are planning to keep them out 24/7 this winter as much as possible but the condition of the paddock will decide whether they will have to be brought in for some of the time. My daughter would prefer to stable her horse during the day as there is usually always someone around that can let her know if there are any problems. We are building him up to spending longer amounts of time in the stable but he does get quite worried about it!

So, I am wondering if anyone else turns out overnight during winter and if there are any major disadvantages to doing this. My cob is 18 years old, in good health and will be rugged if necessary.
 
Am a total fan of 24/7 turnout. Ours - a retired TB steeplechaser, a cob and a Welsh Section C will all be out, rugged, well fed, and content.

The only thing that is a worry is if you have nowhere dry for your horses to stand. You are not sure? of what condition your paddock will get into this winter. Is there any hardstanding where the horses can get out of the mud? Not only do they obviously hate standing in fetlock deep mud all winter, but you may get all sorts of mud-fever type problems.

The ideal is a bit of concrete or tarmac where they can be up out of the wet (and where of course you can also feed your hay/haylage on the ground if you want to - less wasteful and less mess than if trampled into the mud.

The only other consideration is to make sure there is somewhere they can stand in/under, like a tall hedge or high wall, to protect them from driving rain and wind. The cold won't get to them, but the wind will!

Give it a go; I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
 
Most of ours are out at night . . . they have good shelter in their fields and so far the fields don't look too churned up (relatively small herds). They have limited time in their stables and all seem to relish the chance to come in and doze/be dry/get warm as I suspect they spend an inordinate amount of time playing. Also, they almost all come in - so they have plenty of company - and the yard is pretty busy (except on a Monday when we're shut except to private/full liveries) so there's plenty of company/lots to look at.

I reckon ours are only in for about 6 hours or so total.

Oh - and we have all sorts - relatively elderly TB-types, cobs, IDs, sporthorses and WBs . . . and, as long as they are all adequately and appropriately rugged and fed for their types/metabolisms, they all do just fine.

Hope that helps.

P
 
Last year I went from overnight stabling 365 a year (yard rules) to 24/7 turnout. If i were you i would bite the bullet and leave them out - why is there a need to stable during the day? That way the paddock will get less trashed as they won't hang around the gate waiting to come in. At least this is what i found. They soon get used to the routine of being out - i tried to bring my elderly tb in during the worst of the weather and he was having none of it!
 
I usually bring my two in early mornings for breakfast, a check up and a little snooze :) I much prefer them being out at night and in during the day ( although they are only in for a few hours ) they are in when you want to ride then! I hate the thought of any horse in for 12/14 hours a night.

If you have the land then go for it!
 
I think its definately a personal thing and depends on the horse, i tried to leave mine out in the summer with 2 others last year and he hated it! He was lethargic from lack of rest and was always calling at the gate but I know other horses that wouldnt have it any other way. You already know the disadvantages im sure so I would say go for it and see how he gets on.
 
Thank you all for your comments which are most helpful.

Just to clarify:-

Leo has been out 24/7 over winter before but at a different yard whilst on grass livery. He doesn't mind being out but I had to bring him in last winter as he was the only one out at night and was getting into 'mischief' on his own!!

We are planning on leaving out 24/7 as much as possible but this is a new paddock for us so we dont know how poached it will get and YO will only allow 24hr turnout if the field will hold up otherwise he insists on some period of time off the paddock.

At present we share two 'single' horse paddocks of approx 1 acre each. We will only be able to use the one paddock during the winter as the other one is up a long dirt track that will be inaccessible over winter. So we will have one acre for both the horses - 14.3hh cob and 16hh warmblood. Paddock has plenty of natural shelter - high hedges and trees but no hardstanding. Ad lib hay will be fed when necessary.

My query is whether it would be better to stable (if necessary) at night or during the day to minimise problems with warmblood getting stressy?
 
My warmblood gets stressy in the stable,so I know what its like.
I have chosen not to stable him at all,because although he may appear to have 'got over' his claustrophobia,I can't help feeling that he is likely to develop stress related health issues.
If you do have to get them in, I would opt for daytime,a)because the days are so short in winter so they will not be confined too long and b) because as you say,there are more people around to keep an eye on him if he's climbing the walls.
 
He's a cob, for goodness sake. My cobs live out 24/7 all year - and they have no rugs either except for wind and rain. Not wind, not rain, wind and rain.

That helps to manage their weight.
 
Mine were out 24/7 last winter and were happy. The only problem I had was a bit of mud fever in one of them. Pig oil and sulphur solved it. But I have chosen to stable this winter at night because they were often knee deep in mud :(
 
I'm not saying he wont live out 24/7 he will and quite happily as well. What I am saying is that the YO may decide he cant live out 24/7! I dont have a problem with stabling him either if I have to, but we are trying to decide whether it would be best to stable at night or during the day IF we have to bring them in - in light of the Warmblood getting stressy at being stabled .
 
It really won't make any difference to them whether they're out at night or in the daytime. Its just a routine to them and the same climate - just a few degrees colder at night, thats all.

Your daughter does have a point that the stressy horse may be best in while there are people around, but personally I think that the horse would probably settle down once it gets into a routine and is fed in the stable..

I would be very interested as to how two horses would live on an acre over winter - even for 12hrs a day - without causing damage to the field.
 
All the YO will say is that we can have 24hr turnout as long as the field holds up. Your guess is as good as mine as to how bad it has to be before he says to bring them in!! This is my 3rd winter on this yard and I haven't heard of him 'banning' anyone from 24 hr turnout yet! Though it will probably only be our two that will stay out anyway as all the other liveries alway stable at night between Nov and March.

I am not too worried about them trashing the one paddock. Our plan is to use the one paddock for winter and then put them in the other paddock come spring and allow the winter one to rest and recover. So hopefully we can leave them out 24/7.
 
As long as they arn't stood in deep mud 24/7 they'll live out no problems. Rug up well (your cob prob won't need much other than a waterproof/ light fill) and strip graze if you can so they have fresh grass everyday.

I keep full TBs out no probs like this. They are designed to live out after all!
 
my big mare comes in during the day in winter - elderly & struggled with her weight last winter - i cant feed hay in the field - so yard staff bring her in when they get there, she stands in out of the cold/wet/mud & eats her body weight in hay:rolleyes: & is then either turned out by them after 5/6 hrs or stays in til i get there - she is happier with a bit if company on the yard & due to her arthritis i dont want her standing in a stable for 15 plus hrs - this way she gets to do the eating thing [ the main reason she is in] without being bullied by the others & still gets more hrs turnout thna if she was stabled at night - i know it looks a little odd as she goes out when many of the others on the yard are coming in for tea & bed time - but it works for us
 
Both of mine (arab and TB) will be pretty much out most of the year - day and night obviously unless there's torrential rain or snow! I hate them being stuck in as much as they do ... although do bring them in for a couple of hours each day for a good old fill on haylage and a bit of pampering :D

They will be rugged up to eyeballs though to keep toasty warm :)
 
My mare hates to be abandoned, which to her is 24/7 turnout. She's OK during the long summer days and light warm nights, but there's no chance she'll stay out there come the chill winds, mud and wimpy grass of winter.

Diva? Oh yes.
 
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