Stabled 24hrs

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The fact that racehorses are kept in 24/7 largely explains why so many of them suffer from Gastric Ulcers (think its about 90%).

At the end of the day, horses are not designed to spend their lives in a small box. How would we cope if we were cooped up like that?

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Thought it was just that TB's are prone to Gastric Ulcers? All horses I've known that have suffered from them are TBs, and not because they're in 24/7.
 
I've kept my horses in 24/7 and out 24/7 don't have a problem with either as long the horse is happy and healthy. In an island were land is expensive and very limited in some areas, no winter turnout is fairly common. I would check however what they mean by winter, is this just 4 months, 6 months etc. And how much turnout is available in the summer?
Yes I would never keep a horse in 24/7 it's entire life, but in the darkest and wettest winter months few horses mind if they have regular exercise and are managed and feed correcly.
 
Yeh you are right its beacuse they shut in 24/7, fed very little forage and a huge amount of hard feed (of course this isn't the same for every racehorse)!

So its different for an everyday horse as long as they have ad lib hay and the right amount of hard feed this shouldn't be a problem.

Also ad lib forage has been found to decrease the amount of stable vices. Stable vices are not copied from others but are started due to eating habits.
 
It is not just TB's that suffer from Ulcers, any horse can suffer from them. The reason that it seems that more TB's do is because more TB's race and racehorses are prone to them due to the way they are kept, (ie, in 24/7), the way they are fed, the training regime etc etc.

I never said that they get Ulcers purely from being in 24/7, but it certainly is a contributing factor.
 
Racehorses are more prone to gastric ulcers because they tend to be fed a lower fibre and higher carbohydrate diet than most other horses. Its the lack of fibre/forage that is thought to predispose them to ulcers.
 
I moved our horses to a yard last year where they are stabled 24/7 and I admit I did have concerns beforehand as I had always been a fan of turnout.

We had BIG problems keeping weight on 1 horse and tried every supplement on the market but he just used to pace the field and lose it all again (tried turning out on his own, with 1 and then 2 companions and no difference). A year on and he now looks amazing and is so calm and settled - a totally different horse.

I think the important thing is that the horse have a routine; ours are fed at 7.30am, ridden for 1 hour, lunch at 12.30 then grooming/horsewalker, tea at 4pm, dinner and hay at 5.30 then hay at 10pm. They do get turned out once a week on their day off.

This system definately works for our horses but, again, routine is key. Anyway, off to find my tin hat now!!!
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the voice of reason airdale in answering topic

I'm sure all of us would like to see our gg, in the prefect environment for the equine species, but most poeple have to balenced this with living in the real equine environment.
Keeping an equine in all winter does require special management on lots of level, airdale, you answered this brill

so come everybody don't lower the tone
 
Lowering the tone? Are we not all entitled to our opinions, different though they may be?

It's good to have discussions about topics like this so that people can see the argument from both sides and therefore help them to make informed decisions.
 
I could not keep my horses in 24/7, my big lad loses weight so easily. It is not kind to keep them in 24/7 but with at least half an hour turnout a day, I think theycan be kept sane.
In saying that, I would never keep mine in more than at night/or day.
Used to livery with no turnout at ANY time of the year, hated it and pony hated it!
 
I know how and why horses get gastric ulcers, since my best friends horse suffers from them badly. Just saying I thought they were TB's were more prone to stomach ulcers than others, and then being stabled 24/7 contributes to it. Horses on the continent often never experience turnout, but then I suppose it depends on what the horse is used to.
 
have NO PROBLEM WITH other views, in my opinion very healthy
but when its start getting personnel, different kettle of fish, and that what i mean by lowering the tone
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But really (perhaps in an ideal world) we should not have too many horses for the grazing available and then this would not be an issue??? [/i
Unfortunately all our horses have to accept short comings and compromise around us humans and our routines!

I couldn't agree more!
 
im in the avoid at all costs camp im afraid...my horses are out 24/7 but I know that im lucky to have the land and they all do well on that-its natural and the horses thrive on it..I wouldnt and didnt have a problem stabling my horse when I was a livery but certainly not for 24 hours-think about it-they are a big animal and to be kept in a small enclosed space must be mentally exhausting for them-im not saying physically they are harmed, they are warm, fed etc but just spend a few hours watching horses turned out and see how often they just roll or move around ...not nice and I dont think its fair-sorry im off to get my tin hat as well!!!
 
Louis only gets 2/3 hrs turnout a day in winter (as do all the horses on the yard) and copes fine with it. We don't have an option for 24hr turnout so I have no choice but he copes fine with his routine. I agree with what has been said above about routine. All the horses at the yard have a strict daily routine and non of them show any signs of boredom (weaving or box-walking etc). Louis is fed brekkie promptly at 7.30am, lunch at 12pm, turnout 1/2-4, I am up and ride at 6.30 and he has dinner after that.

It really depends on the horse though, my old horse was turned out most of the time as it suited him best but Louis doesn't seem to suffer mentally by not having as much. If I felt that he did in anyway then I would have to move yards or re-think his lifestyle.
 
A lot of livery yards restrict winter turn out to come degree and I have been at various ones - none of my horses ever suffered from ill effects however my personal view is the more turn out the better. Sadly the vast majority of us dont have our own facilities and are at the mercy of yard rules - moving is an option but I have yet to find one that offers 24/7 turn out which also has stables and a menage in my area.

The yard I am at now does limit turn out when the weather is very wet and during the very worst part of winter we may reduce to 1 x weekly but that is a rarity.
 
When I first moved to Lincolnshire and the land was clay, I would turn mine out in the winter: they would roll, then come back and stand at the gate until I brought them in, then spend the next 20 minutes pulling faces at me as I tried to get the sticky, clingy, horrible clay mud off them. And I'd never had a problem with mud fever until I moved there, but that's another subject.
 
I worked in a point-to-point stables where the horses were stabled 24 hours a day with once a day exercise. They survived but by the end of the winter vices such as cribbing, bad temper when handling and excitabillity when exercising were definatly apparent. If there was no other choice at all I would go with this but I think the best option if to turnout daily.
 
I've had horses kept in 24/7 (Sienna was in for 3 - 6 months p year for 4 years)and at the time was unhappy about it but thought there were no ill effects, she was chilled & healthy.
It's when you move from this kind of regime that you realise how much happier and healthier horses are with maximum turnout and maximum forage, she is a different horse now & doesn't really like to be stabled. My old pony is transformed with this new regime, we've had no laminitis and she is plumper & livelier than she ever was stabled. I had another pony which simply wouldn't tolerate being stabled so much and was so miserable after a year of limited turnout that I decided to do something about it.
I aim to have them in as little as possible (not one single night for the last 12 months) and have rented my own land to enable me to do this. All the yards round us are limited grazing in the winter & I think I'd rather keep the horses in the back garden.
 
At the livery where I ride there is no winter turnout,its just not possible.Howevere, there is a sandpaddock to pop the horses out in while you muck out or what ever.I would personally try to ride/lunge everyday even if its just for 15 minutes

They have feed morning and night and haynet for night and daytime.

Not the best circumstances, but canot be helped, but horses adapt pretty quickly!!
 
Last year my horse was at a yard where they were stabled for weeks on end during winter with no apparent reason(they had masses of grazing but didnt like to see it get muddy!). If i had known that they would do this i would have never taken my horse there. 6 out of the 9 horses that were stabled there (excluding mine) had regular bouts of colic from trapped wind/stress etc. ALL of the horses were stressed and unhappy after a length of time. Personally i think it is very cruel as it is against their nature and needless to say i moved sharpish! I was shocked though by the amount of people that stayed there and were unhappy about turnout and stress their horses were under!
 
Sorry only scanned through other posts, but my advice would be....Find somewhere else to keep your horse
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Person on first page who is in Essex and turns ut in sand pens...are you at Hobbs X? Saw their sand pens - thoght were a very good idea.
 
Personally I'd say no to 24/7 stabling. I mean, what on earth do these horses do with themselves all day
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Its like putting a hamster in a half a shoebox for its life (sizewise). All that horse can do is turn a circle - how boring for it!! I appreciate its sometimes necessary but if I had a choice it would definitely be never!!
 
There is a VERY good reason why horses are stabled all winter. It lets the YO keep more horses on limited acerage,a nd so make more money.

The answer for commercial yards is not to take more liveries than they can turn out in winter.
 
Personally I don't agree with stabling a horse for more than just overnight (ie. 12 hours in every 24 max). I would never ever stable my horses 24/7 unless of course I had to by order of the vet.

It would be very harsh to stable the horse but never exercise them so definately the more exercise the better. They also need to blow off steam so loose schooling them or simply turning them out in an enclosed arena would be a huge benefit.

Feed-wise, ideally little and often so into as many feeds as possible simply to give the horse something to do as he will be bored stiff!

If you really MUST MUST stable 24/7 (which sorry, I really do think is unfair), then make sure its with other horses, ideally so it can touch them over the wall or something and make sure it always has forage to amuse itself. Try to buy it toys and give him things to do like hanging turnips in his stable etc.

I think we owe it to our horses to make them as happy as possible. All research shows that stabling 24/7 is certainly not the way.
 
This is always a very controversial topic! My own personal view is that as horses have evolved to be creatures who are constantly on the move, confining them to a stable for long periods of time must surely have some negative effect on their bodies (although I must state that is just my opinion and I have no scientific proof to back it up!) Because of this I like my horses to have plenty of turnout, but I am aware that I am fortunate to have my own land and be able to have my horses in and out at whatever time I wish. But sometimes we have to adapt our principles for horses individual needs - for example, I had a laminitic pony who could not cope with unlimited turnout and had to be stabled for significant periods of time. Luckily she had the sort of temperament which coped with it well, plus because I work from home I was able to split her turnout into 2 short spells, plus space out small forage feeds throughout the day.

On the other hand I have another mare who hates being stabled. I kept her at livery for many years and even if she was turned out all day, she would still box walk and weave when kept in at nights, although hay was always available. She now is now much happier on almost 24/7 turnout (she comes in for a few hours during the day when flies are bad and at night in midwinter if weather is particularly foul).

Personally, I don't think it matters whether horses have grass turnout in winter or not - it is the hours of activity that matter. This is why cavalry and police horses cope well because they tend to have a lot of daily work and are not actually in their stable for 24 hours a day. So if you HAVE to have a horse stabled 24/7 you need to ensure it gets out of that stable for at least 2 hours a day - this can be ridden exercise, lungeing, loose schooling, on a walker, time in a play pen or a sand school, hand grazing etc.

However, I don't think it is a wise plan to have a horse permanently stabled if you cannot provide that minimum of 2 hours exercise a day, unless it is because of a medical condition.
 
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