ycbm
Overwhelmed
You said the whole yard is currently on deep litter because of the full muck trailer.
Why would they give food to a thin horse who 'clearly' has hay available at all times?
Other liveries interfering on DIY
- Thread starter MaeBee93
- Start date
You said the whole yard is currently on deep litter because of the full muck trailer.
Why would they give food to a thin horse who 'clearly' has hay available at all times?
MaeBee93
Well-Known Member
Why, neither of them are at risk from eating good straw just means I go through more. Do you know some people will actually feed straw instead of hay (I don't btw I feed hay)
MaeBee93
Well-Known Member
EXACTLY!! The whole yard this week has had to do the same but they have gone into my stable and dug my bed up and left it and put hay in a net for two horses who don't get fed in nets for vet reasons! If they want to shove their own hay over the door their welcome to it but don't start putting hay in nets giving hard feed and turning out during strictly no turnout days horses that don't belong to them
Moomin1
Well-Known Member
This has got to be the most boring and obvious troll thread ever
conniegirl
Well-Known Member
Good god you are an idiot!
If your horse is staying in then it needs to be mucked out at least twice a day and get a good few hours exercise!
Im on DIY livery, i work 8am to 6pm, my horse has various vet issues that mean exercising is difficult for him, on the very rare occassion that he has to stay in for the day i pay my yard owner to muck him out and gove him hay/water in the morning, she will also turn him out in the school for an hour, then i go at lunch to skip him out, top up hay and water and turn him out for 20 mins in the school. In the evening i will turn him out in the school for a couple of hours and then i will lunge or ride, i will also do a good muck out at this point.
He is also checked and given a net at around 10pm by my yard owner.
So in total he is mucked out twice, skipped out once, hay/water 4 times a day and out of his stable/exercised for at least 4 hours if he doesnt get his normal all day turnout.
He is also bedded on rubber mats with deep sawdust on top of very well draining earth floors. This means his bed is extremely absorbant so no ammonia fumes and no wet patches.
A thin horse will still need exercise otherwise they will put on only fat not muscle, fat leads to metabolic disorders, muscle leads to well rounded, healthy horses.
If you cannoy provide this for a horse then you should not be keeping one.
As for the muck heap, start a new one! then fork it into place once the old one is emptied.
If your horse is staying in then it needs to be mucked out at least twice a day and get a good few hours exercise!
Im on DIY livery, i work 8am to 6pm, my horse has various vet issues that mean exercising is difficult for him, on the very rare occassion that he has to stay in for the day i pay my yard owner to muck him out and gove him hay/water in the morning, she will also turn him out in the school for an hour, then i go at lunch to skip him out, top up hay and water and turn him out for 20 mins in the school. In the evening i will turn him out in the school for a couple of hours and then i will lunge or ride, i will also do a good muck out at this point.
He is also checked and given a net at around 10pm by my yard owner.
So in total he is mucked out twice, skipped out once, hay/water 4 times a day and out of his stable/exercised for at least 4 hours if he doesnt get his normal all day turnout.
He is also bedded on rubber mats with deep sawdust on top of very well draining earth floors. This means his bed is extremely absorbant so no ammonia fumes and no wet patches.
A thin horse will still need exercise otherwise they will put on only fat not muscle, fat leads to metabolic disorders, muscle leads to well rounded, healthy horses.
If you cannoy provide this for a horse then you should not be keeping one.
As for the muck heap, start a new one! then fork it into place once the old one is emptied.
ester
Not slacking multitasking
IME people only don't like deep litter beds if they look awful. You wouldn't know mine wasn't mucked out daily.
Are you sure these people weren't genuinely trying to help you out by doing some barrows given your condition??
It has gone from very dry for the time of year to one day of rain and that was all it took for them to have to stay in? Which makes me think they are going to have to be in an awful lot the rest of the winter at this yard which seems to be a bit of a dive (surely the yo could see the heap filling up ahead of time?) so I would seriously consider paddi's suggestion.
AmyMay
Situation normal
Yep, me. Mixed in with a little hay to get weight off a fat little cob.
Op, wet, cold and mud are not a precursor to keeping horses in. Every horse needs turnout for a couple of hours a day. And appropriate rugs and ointments can be used to keep them dry and warm and mf at bay. A horse that's in also needs to be mucked out a minimum of twice a day, and ideally skipped out in between.
In my experience people rarely interfere unless there is a good reason to do so. So in your shoes I'd be inclined to get my act together and start managing your routine and management rather better - for the sake of the horses.
Auslander
Well-Known Member
Just be careful. I had a £1600 vets bill a few years back, courtesy of a horse who ate his own bodyweight in straw. Oat straw is fine in small quantities, bu wheat straw (which is what you usually get for bedding) isn't easy for them to break down in the gut, which can lead to impaction. My horse survived but it was very touch and go. There's a long thread on here about that week - I'l never forget the support I got from folks on here, when I was exhausted, heartbroken and terrified
AmyMay
Situation normal
So what's changed since September when you psted this, op?
Nudibranch
Well-Known Member
Mmm..notice the reference to cantering while 34 weeks pregnant when things started to calm down...
Goldenstar
Well-Known Member
A
I hope so ,because if it were my yard and OP was managing the horses as you describe I would be showing the gate .
If it's true poor poor horses .
I hope so ,because if it were my yard and OP was managing the horses as you describe I would be showing the gate .
If it's true poor poor horses .
9tails
Well-Known Member
People generally only interfere if they think horses are suffering. How about investing in hay bars so the hay supply is obvious?
It's odd that your sodden deep litter was dug up but I suspect that was someone trying to make them better and realised the enormity of the task. Wood pellets under the straw will soak up the worst of the wet, though as others have advised a morning skip out will help keep your beds looking good. As others on your yard have the same mucking out issue, they must feel that your beds are particularly bad to get involved.
Order plenty of hay. I have at least a month in hand for any problems with delivery.
Sorry it's not what you want to hear, but if your horses are stirring their hay into a dirty bed then it will look like they have nothing to eat and others will be concerned.
It's odd that your sodden deep litter was dug up but I suspect that was someone trying to make them better and realised the enormity of the task. Wood pellets under the straw will soak up the worst of the wet, though as others have advised a morning skip out will help keep your beds looking good. As others on your yard have the same mucking out issue, they must feel that your beds are particularly bad to get involved.
Order plenty of hay. I have at least a month in hand for any problems with delivery.
Sorry it's not what you want to hear, but if your horses are stirring their hay into a dirty bed then it will look like they have nothing to eat and others will be concerned.
skint1
Well-Known Member
IF you're not a troll, I think you've had some good advice here about how to improve the quality of life for your horses, though I think if the yard is as badly run as you say it is, you should move as soon as you can, grass livery is probably going to be best for your horses.
twiggy2
Well-Known Member
When out trailer does not get emptied we tip wheelbarrow muck next to it- I would never muck out once a day if horse was in, you must be a troll
Achinghips
Well-Known Member
Right I have an arthritic horse I stable and now is the perfect time to get a skinny Tb one month before I drop a sprog with winter coming, while I start my degree.Unless it's a degree in village idiocy, something doesn't quite ring true.
Amye
Well-Known Member
If this isn't a troll....
You've got lots of good advice on how to help care for your horses. I don't have many years experience behind me like some of the posters on here, but I do agree that, either from your pregnancy or lack of time, parts of your horses care are lacking.
I understand you do turn your horses out sometimes, but on the days where they get no turnout they really do need to be mucked out (or skipped out) at least twice a day. Most people do muck out once a day, but this is because their horses are turned out for part of the day. On days they have to be in and can have no turnout people muck out twice a day (and if other people on your yard are only doing in once a day when their horses haven't been turned out that doesn't make it right).
If your muck heap is full all of the liveries should be complaining to YO. I would be very annoyed if I couldn't muck out my horse! And if it can't be collected then another muck heap needs to be started somewhere else. Even if people only skip out so it doesn't build up as much as with full muck outs
Have you considered getting hay bars instead of feeding off the floor? It will keep the hay and bedding separate so your horses don't mix all their hay into their dirty bedding. Other liveries will then be able to see that they DO have food - if you feed off the floor and the horses have spread it all about, it might look like that have no food which is why they were feeding them...
Have you considered putting a sign up saying that the horses mustn't be fed from haynets? The other liveries probably don't know that your horses have conditions where they can't eat from nets.
Like others have said, people don't tend to interfere unless they think there's a problem. Other liveries shouldn't interfere with others horses but most do it with good intentions.
When you have the baby, you'll probably find yourself with even less time then you have now. Especially if you are doing a degree. I would really consider moving yards to assisted DIY/part livery so you don't have to do as many chores or try to find someone to help you out at either end of the day.
You've got lots of good advice on how to help care for your horses. I don't have many years experience behind me like some of the posters on here, but I do agree that, either from your pregnancy or lack of time, parts of your horses care are lacking.
I understand you do turn your horses out sometimes, but on the days where they get no turnout they really do need to be mucked out (or skipped out) at least twice a day. Most people do muck out once a day, but this is because their horses are turned out for part of the day. On days they have to be in and can have no turnout people muck out twice a day (and if other people on your yard are only doing in once a day when their horses haven't been turned out that doesn't make it right).
If your muck heap is full all of the liveries should be complaining to YO. I would be very annoyed if I couldn't muck out my horse! And if it can't be collected then another muck heap needs to be started somewhere else. Even if people only skip out so it doesn't build up as much as with full muck outs
Have you considered getting hay bars instead of feeding off the floor? It will keep the hay and bedding separate so your horses don't mix all their hay into their dirty bedding. Other liveries will then be able to see that they DO have food - if you feed off the floor and the horses have spread it all about, it might look like that have no food which is why they were feeding them...
Have you considered putting a sign up saying that the horses mustn't be fed from haynets? The other liveries probably don't know that your horses have conditions where they can't eat from nets.
Like others have said, people don't tend to interfere unless they think there's a problem. Other liveries shouldn't interfere with others horses but most do it with good intentions.
When you have the baby, you'll probably find yourself with even less time then you have now. Especially if you are doing a degree. I would really consider moving yards to assisted DIY/part livery so you don't have to do as many chores or try to find someone to help you out at either end of the day.
Schollym
Well-Known Member
Sounds like you need to consider moving yards if the YM isn't managing the yard! Good luck with the baby and use as much help as you can get in the next few months because it is going to be a hard few months ( speaking as a mum and horse owner).
Birker2020
Well-Known Member
At the last yard my horse was only going out for 2 hours per day in the winter into a sandpit. He had access to ad lib hay, was able to stretch his legs, buck and run around to an extent and roll. All natural behavior. Because I am unable to get up in the morning before work to muck out I had the YO mucking out for me in the morning whilst he was turned out and putting minimal bed back down with large banks and also skipping out for me in the afternoon (rarely lies down in the day). He would have a net lunch time. Then in the evening when I would get to the yard around 4.45pm I would ride, and skip out and pull down the banks so he had a nice deep clean bed. This saved me time and money to manage the shavings in this way. On the days I didn't ride I would only lead him around the yard car park for about ten minutes, but this was only usually a couple of times per week.
I decided to get the YO involved in the mucking out because keeping a 17.1hh MW horse in a 14 x 12 stable for 21 - 22 hours per day meant a huge amount of muck and it would not have been fair to him (in my opinion) to have stood in it until I got there after work - he probably wouldn't have cared but I would have.
Now he has moved yards he is out between 3.5 - 4.5 hours in a grass paddock and I only muck out once per day in the evening after work because he is out more.
I decided to get the YO involved in the mucking out because keeping a 17.1hh MW horse in a 14 x 12 stable for 21 - 22 hours per day meant a huge amount of muck and it would not have been fair to him (in my opinion) to have stood in it until I got there after work - he probably wouldn't have cared but I would have.
Now he has moved yards he is out between 3.5 - 4.5 hours in a grass paddock and I only muck out once per day in the evening after work because he is out more.
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