Stabled / feild kept horses is hard work. Opinions please.

[Cloverly_Clover]

Hello,

Well i don't tend to post much on this forum but i was wondering if i could have your help.
Basically i am currently studying for my BHS Stage 2. As well as teaching the sylabus our instructor likes us to think outside the subject boxes a bit.

And this weeks extra homework is to find out about horses who are in regular hard work e.g eventers or horses who hunt. and see if generally people keep these horses stables or if it is possible to feild keep such horses.

So..please could you tell me what you do with yours? and identify the reasons to why you keep your horse/horses the way you do.
Please concider things such as

-the number of hours your horse has turned out per day/per week.

-the breed of your horse and if he/she is clipped

-how often he is worked/compete/hunted

-the time of year

etc

Thank you your help will be greatly appreciated.

Julia

 

[RunToEarth]

I think druid keeps hers out 24/7 and hunts them all if that helps- and they all look in fine shape from what I have seen on the forum.
My hunters are all stabled- the two at my yard have two/three days turnout per week for 8hours a day, and are in hard work for hunting/showjumping and soon teamchasing. The ones I ride at bekka's yard have more turnout- 4/5days per week for about 8hours, and are also in hard work. All hunt average once per week and all are clipped out. Just upping Oshk and Eric's fitness for teamchasing now.
During summer monthes I showjump, and all of the horses live out 24/7.

 

[EllieBeast]

My mare lives out 24/7 all year round,is fully clipped (and fully rugged i might add). she is ridden 6 days a week, including hard work - ie jumping and flat lessons, fast hacks and competing (XC, ODE, SJ dressage - you name it!!).
She copes very happily - i had her 3DE fit in the autumn - again living out and had no problem. she lives off ad-lib hay, spillers conditioning cubes, pink powder and mollichop.
i keep her out as she hates being stabled at night - wont settle and kicks the walls - both of us are happy with this arrangement and she has never been happier or healthier during winter as she is now. she keeps her weight better when turned out and never frets. If you have any more questions - feel free to ask.

 

[Baileysno1]

Ryu is a 5 year old 16.2ish WB.

-the number of hours your horse has turned out per day/per week.

In winter he is out 4 days a week for 5-6 hours.
In spring hes out all day for 10-11 hours
In summer he lives out most of the week and is in 2 nights before a show.

-the breed of your horse and if he/she is clipped

He is czech WB and has a variation of a trace.

-how often he is worked/compete/hunted

He is worked most days including schooling, hacking, gridwork, lunging, he is fit enough for half a days hunting.

Hope this helps you, theres all sorts at our yard and most are turned out as much as the weather and fields allow.

 

[EllieBeast]

Oops, sorry forgot to add that mine is a 15.3hh middleweight IDx so is pretty hardy.

 

[beh]

>Sicco: 16.3hh 7yr old dutchwarmblood and fully clipped
>he competes in a bit of everything, XC, DR, SJ etc.
>in the winter (October-Marchish?) he is out for 8 hrs during the day and then in for the night. this is mainly for my comfort and to save the fields from turning into more of a swamp.
>worked about 4/5/6 days a week either schooling, hacking lunging, lessons.

 

[hussar]

I have 2 Arabs, one retired, one youngster - both in endurance. Both do/did hard work straight from the field. They're out 24/7 all year round - I find that turnout helps to keep them fit. The youngster is bib clipped through the winter. This year he will be competing at Silver level - ie, rides up to 50 miles.

Hope that helps.

 

[air78]

There is a racehorse trainer who keeps some of his horses out 24/7, and all the others go out everyday. I can't remember his name, but I've a feeling he's based in somerset. May be you could google him? I think that would make interesting reading, especially as with BHS stuff I get the impression they think only hairy ponies can live out!

 

[pottamus]

Well I have a Welsh Sec D who is un-clipped. He is out every day for 13 hours a day and in at night during the winter and will have a medium weight rug on. In the summer from May through to Oct/Nov he is out 24/7 with access to his field stable and no rugs on.
He is worked (hacking) as much as I can in winter (usually 5 days a week) for an hour or so. Then in the summer last year I started doing pleasure rides and low level endurance each week so we were doing more work then. I like to keep mine out 24/7 in the summer because it keeps his lungs healthy and nasal passages clear as he gets a bit bothered by hay in winter.

 

[RobinHood]

This is how I keep mine but it's not something I would say at a BHS exam! I really would steer clear of talking about fully clipped horses living out. Just jump through the hoops and get the qualification even if you don't entirely agree with it

I have 6 horses that live out 24/7. They are split into 2 fields, 2 in one and 4 in the other, but we can move them about as necessary.

3.5 yr old halfinger has a small bib clip, is unrugged and unshod. He goes for a small hack probably once a fortnight. He has a small dinner every evening.

15yr old new forest unrugged and unclipped because he's retired. He has some chaff every evening just because the other get fed.

16yr old tb has a mediumweight fal with neck. Unclipped because he's only in light work. Has dinner every night without fail.

7yr old irish pony has a medium weight on, was fully clipped but it's grown out.

Then the other two have ad lib hay, they eat a round bale of hay every 4 days.
15.3hh ISH fully clipped except legs, does hunting/pc/indoor sj etc
14.2hh connie fully clipped except legs, goes hunting, same work as above

They all live out because a) it's cheaper b) we can't turn them out in the mornings c) we only have 3 stables d) the tb gets cast and gets filled legs e) they are much happier in the field.

 

[flyingfeet]

There are so many variables - type of ground, shelter outside, breed of horse.

Just to confuse mine are kept like cattle in a big barn and outside corral - so half way house. I compete them from the "shed", but will remove kickers/ trouble makers if I am worried about the competing horses being kicked.

 

[JessPickle]

-the number of hours your horse has turned out per day/per week.

Pickle is turned out 5-7 hours in winter and kept in at night

-the breed of your horse and if he/she is clipped

He is a 17.1h cyclesdale x

-how often he is worked/compete/hunted

He does
2 1.5 hour hilly hacks
1 half an hour quite hard private lesson (with a heavy man on him!)
3 hours group lessons
1 hour jumping lesson every week
2 1 hour hacks

At the moment he is not competed

In summer he does roughtly the same work (maybe a few more hours hacking) and is turned out 24/7

 

[OliveOyl]

Mine events (BE Intro so far, PN this year with any luck??) in the summer and lives out 24/7/365.
She's ID x TB 16.2, 7yo. Dressage and SJing through the winter months, qualified for the BD Winter Regionals Prelim & Novice.
Blanket clipped so goes out with 2 rugs on.
Worked 4-5 times each week, half hacking, half schooling and one competition each week - on average.

 

[amandaco2]

my mre when in competition-dressage bit of Sj and showing


the number of hours your horse has turned out per day/per week.- in summer out all the time.did go for a few winters out 24/7 too.in winter mostly just in at night

-the breed of your horse and if he/she is clipped. LW ISH,clipped in hard work and rugged.

-how often he is worked/compete/hunted-competed most weekends

-the time of year. most of year!

 

[SouthWestWhippet]

-the number of hours your horse has turned out per day/per week.

Winter: in pretty much 24/7 but turned out for a few hours twice a week in a small paddock.

Summer: out 24/7

-the breed of your horse and if he/she is clipped

TBxWelsh clipped out

-how often he is worked/compete/hunted

Worked everyday, compete every week/two weeks. Likely to be more in the Summer as we are hoping to event.

Personally I would rather keep her out as much as possible as she gets grumpy in winter and so bored of the school

but we have no turnout.

I'm sure I read an article about some high level competative rider (like olympic level) who keeps her horses out all year round. Can't remember the name of the person who does it though - sorry

 

[Cloverly_Clover]

Great thank you all for your replies it is greatly appreciated.