Rant - about the importance of turnout and a poll

How many hours do you think the average country GP works every week?

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tabithakat64

tabithakat64

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Someone I used to ride with keeps asking me for advice with their horse, I'm not hugely experienced but it's obvious that lack of turnout is causing her horses unpredictable, excitable behaviour. I keep suggesting that she move yards to one with more turnout and it's like talking to a brick wall.
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Why do people think their horses will be calm to potter about on with a couple of hours turnout on their own or no turnout at all?
Both my geegees have as much turnout as possible as I believe that it is the most important factor in ensuring that they remain, sane, healthy and happy.
I'm curious about how much turnout other peoples horses get so have added a poll.:D (it's my 1st attempt at a poll, sorry if it sucks)
 
My horses are out 44/7 but coloured will come in when I get back from hols, he is in hard work coming to hunting season, in winter he is fighting fit and gets turned out for 8hours every other day. I can't turn him out all day because I live on a farm where the grazing needs to be kept as best possible, which is why yards offer limited turn out.
 
Ours are out for about 20 hours a day, come in for a few hours in the morning for breakfast then go out at lunch (the joys of working where the horses are kept).
All 3 of ours are in light to medium work. I consider turn out to be majorly important, especially for a horse like Bodey who really prefers being out.
 
My horses are all out as much as possible anything from 8hrs a day to 24/7. I wouldn't go anywhere with no turnout although I don't think it hurts for a few days i.e. away schooling or competing.
 
It's an observation of mine that those most worried about turnout are those who are scared of their horses and / or don't exercise them regularly.

I have most out 24/7 at the moment, but have shut one up in a cattle pen to diet him and give him more energy.

Granted its no 12 x 12 stable, but I am happy shutting him up as I need the extra pep and even strip grazing was leading to him getting very fat!

Worth noting that most polo ponies are kept in to keep the weight off too!
 
We've just decided to move our horses to a new yard, but when we were looking I had to rule out at least three yards in the area because of lack of turn out. One place just turned them out in the school for 2 hours a day!!!!
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What life is that?
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It is the most important thing to me to be honest - over and above good facilities.
 
I have 2 horse and a shetland out 24/7 all year round. I haven't used a stable in 6-7 years. I used to stable my old mare, but she hated it and I just left her out one winter and there was no going back she has been much happier. I kept her in when she had laminitis and she was total miserable.

We have a big 6-7ft hedge round the field so plenty of shelter, but they are on the side of a hill near Newcastle, so we always get the worse of the weather. I used to struggle every winter to keep the weight on my old mare when she was stabled at night but now its not a problem. So she is 26 and only gets rugged for about 3 months of the year.
 
Mine gets about 5 hours a day and sometimes a little longer on the weekends but she isn't that young and doesn't mind being in if she has a few hours out first. Any longer and she gets huge and is impossible to ride, I don't think that is fair on her or her joints. In the winter we dont have turnout but she goes in a pen for a few hours each day, on the walker or ridden every day and has a lovely stable with a view of everything that is going on in the yard. It suits her but my horse I had before would ahve gone crazy with no winter turnout, they are all different and it also depends on how much time you have to exercise them.
 
[ QUOTE ]
It's an observation of mine that those most worried about turnout are those who are scared of their horses and / or don't exercise them regularly.

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I'm not scared of my horse - and exercise him every day. Still want him turned out as much as possible.

Is that so wrong??
 
my horse is out most of the time during the summer but like him in a few nights as i show him and he gets gassy and fat and goes really lazy if he doesnt have a few nights kip in the stable! winter hes out working hours 8-5 !x
 
All mine are out 24/7. I have 2 retired ponies and 2 in medium work (showing, BSJA and BE - compete every weekend etc.). They have permanent access to 2 stables / shelters as well as high hedging round the edge of the field.

Occassionally I will bring one in - for veterinary reasons or if I have a show early the next day and they need to be kept clean! But leaving the stable doors open into their paddocks means they have the choice.

Im all for 24/7 turnout. I keep mine at home though so I can do that easily. But even if I had to put mine in livery, I would still only choose one with at LEAST all day turnout. Would NEVER ever only let my horses have a couple of hours (or none) a day. Bloody awful I say.
 
AmyMay - I never said it was wrong

I just that the people most worried - i.e. My horse HAS to be out

We had a nightmare livery who was terrified of her youngster and turned down the opporunity for it to go in the open barn system with the herd. Instead wanted it stabled and turned out every day.

Now I don't mind, but we said we didn't want it turned out when wet - guess what : she ruined the paddock as she knew it wouldn't be her horse there over summer.

All I want is for the paddocks not to be churned up, which means when very wet in winter they go in cattle pens (30ft x 30ft ish) in the day.
 
another factor in 'nutty' horses isn't anything to do with turnout (or not) - it's down to (in)correct feeding

if your horse has to live in then you adjust it's feeding regime

too many yards feel compelled to feed 3 meals a day because the owners expect it (and it's sometimes cheaper than feeding top quality hay) and because humans tend to eat 3 meals a day and we tend to treat our animals as if they are humans...!

horses were meant to eat fibre based feed for about 16 hours out of every 24

therefore if stabled they should have fibre fibre fibre (hay, hi-fi, readigrass, grass nuts, whatever else) and not 3 meals with mix/nuts/grains !!!

it is perfectly possible to manage stabled horses - a lot of police horses have no turnout 'cos their stables are in city centres - and they are only doing slow exercise - plodding round the roads with an occasional trot - and you don't see many police horses pratting around !!

I think all horses should be taught to be stabled for 3 or 4 days consecutively as a matter of course. That way when they get an injury requiring poulticing or temp. box rest they have been taught that it is sometimes necessary to not be outside. It also means that if the yard is sheet ice or the paddocks dangerously frozen and rutted then you know that the horse can cope with 2 or 3 days in - far safer than the number of horses I know of over the years with broken legs having been turned out on frozen, icy, rutted fields

Every horse I've had has been taught to cope with up to 5 days stabled as a matter of it's training, in the same way you teach it to cope with traffic, tractors, flapping plastic bags or other issues.
 
Well I think I may be the odd one out here but in the winter my horses are in pretty much most of the time - as are most hunters in this area, although exercised daily whatever the weather.

If the ground dries up and I can turn them out, they potter around for a short time, have a roll and then stand at the gate waiting to come back in again - they are such wimps they cannot stand the wind and rain they just want to be warm and dry in a cosy stable with plenty of hay to munch on.

In the summer we have so much grass, I struggle with their weight so they come in first thing and go out late evening, again they are always waiting at the gate to come in because they hate the flies!
 
Wow, there is ALOT of people who have their horses out 24/7.

I ticked 'other' on the turn out and so i guess i'll have to explain. My mare does not go out everyday, and even in summer all the horses are in at night. She manages to make it out perhaps every other day, or sometimes even every third day.

I do not necessarily agree that horses become harder to manage if they are not being turned out. Whilst this is true in some cases i think in others it has much more to do with exercise, feeding and routine.

Some of the horses on our yard hardly go out at all, they are very expensive SJers who are in alot of work, although they do manage to get out once in a while after a competition for a day off (perhaps once aweek). On a yard of 15 horses we do not have one that is unmanageable by any stretch of the imagination, there are none that box walk or weave and are very happy, healthy horses. I believe this is because of routine and work load. In fact, my mare can be quite lazy after sleeping in her stable all day.

I do think turnout is a good idea in this instance, but perhaps she also needs to look into the other aspects of his routine?
 
George is out 5-6hrs in the summer and I'm told it will be less in the winter, he is a laid back horse and doesn't seem bothered but I really want him to have more time at liberty being a horse.
 
atm out 24/7 in the winter he will probably go out for 10 hours a day but not every day. Last winter 6 of our horses developed a rash from hunting and had to be in 24/7 for over a month with our only choice to put them in the school for a few hours. They all stayed completely sane and behaved as normal. I do think turnout is important and wouldn't go somewhere with restricted turnout.
 
Mine is always out for at least 12 hours whatever the time of year or weather. This year I have put him out 24/7 and he wanders in and out of his field stable as he pleases...it is really suiting him and he seems more cheerful so will continue into the winter now with this arrangement too
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Afraid I sound like I go against the grain here.

My mare is in hard work at the minute, and she is stabled at night and goes out in the day on a Mon,Wed,Fri & Sat.

She seems perfectly happy with this, and gets plenty of hay in the day and toys to keep her company as well as other horses, its a big yard as well so theres always something going on to keep her busy. And she gets far, far to fat when out more than 6 hrs a day.
 
My horse is stabled at night and out during the day. This works for him.

There is a horse I know who has not been turned out for years. This horse doesn't leave its stable except to be ridden. It windsucks dreadfully and is very stiff under saddle. The owner will not turn it out because she is terrified of injury and she doesn't want to loose control of what the horse does. She also overfeeds (yep, three hefty meals a day, lots of supplements etc). Horse is so sad - like a prisoner. It makes me so angry.
 
Out 24/7

Light hacking or not worked at all.

My horses are kept at home, but I would not consider a yard with no turnout. Saying that, when I was hunting a lot and my horse was fit and exercised every day he was in because of the mud and the "Kick me and lame me" sign he wore over his head. No winter turnout wouldn't have bothered me then.
 
Depends on the weather and length of grass and soft ground conditions. Eight hours max for the horses, two or three (muzzled) for the podgies. Usually split into two sessions. I have three ponies for whom laminitis is but an hour on good grazing away a gelding who couldn't care less if he's in or out and a mare who hates flies, doesn't eat grass much and seems to prefer being in.


My stables are enormous and I, like CotswoldSJ, have turnout barns.

They are all ridden regularly and none seem any different for whatever their daily regime unless it is particularly windy. All of them detest the rain.
 
My horse is out 24/7 from April til Nov. Then he's out for about 8 -9 hours a day. If i had my own place i would have him out 24/7 all year, but its not possible at the yard we are at. This is nothing to do with the amount of work he does, (he's ridden about 5 to 6 times a week throughout the year) but because i think horses should out as much as possible. I think you get less behavioural problems and less health probs. of course i realise there are always exceptions, eg. laminitis etc.
 
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