Stabling during day in summer......

Supertrooper

Supertrooper

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Who does this and why? Just interested as planning on bringing one of ours in possibly, mainly to get him away from flies and heat as he's black and suffers in the very hot weather xx
 
i used to do this with my old tb who had bad eyes in the bright sunlight, its nice for them to come in away from the flies if your stables are cool. wouldnt reccomend if your stables get very hot in the day tho.x
 
I think that most horses and ponies enjoy a break from the sun and flies on very hot days. They usually come in and have a nice snooze. My old pony used to come in a lie down flat out and snore for ages must most horses will have a well earned nod off.

Not sure if I would do this every day though, only very hot days and only for the hottest part of the day - IMO horses should be out grazing for the vast majority of their lives ;-)
 
Last summer I brought Mollie in during the day most days.

I only bought her in June and I wanted us to get used to each other. She'd been turned away all winter and I needed her to realise life wasn't going to be all about lazing in the fields with pals all the time any more! :p

Also, she had some sunburn on her white face :( when she came, and reacted really badly to fly bites. She's also a good doer and I don't want her getting fat. So she'll be coming in during the day this year too.

(Sorry Molls). :p:D
 
I leave the gates open and then come in to the barn if they want to..

They often all spend the whole day standing around dozing together indoors..
 
Always bring them in I like them in over the time when the sugars in the grasses are at there highest and I think they like it to. They get worked ,and have a sleep in the shavings get a feed to get their supplements down them and go out late afternoon/ early evening .
I also like them handled every day so it all just fits in it will be literally years since I had a horse stay in the field for 24 hours .
 
I do - gives them a break out of the sun - or more likely rain down here lol. Also I have 2 fatties so a break from stuffing grass too. On the very rare occasion I leave them out, they generally look miffed that they're missing their bedroom kipping time ;)
 
I have brought them in if the grazing had no natural shelter from the sun and flies. Presently they have free access to large barns and the whole herd seems to wander in to get out of the sun.

Last year I had one good doer out of work due to injury so brought in him during the day to reduce his intake. However, he wouldn't eat the hay while in, but when turned out early evening, he gorged on grass.

Our grass isn't short and stressed, plus the herd has plenty of room to roam, so perhaps mine are better off out 24/7 and removed to work as normal, so no periods of fasting followed by gorgeing.
I think there is no one answer for all, it depends on your grazing and the needs of each horse.
 
I stable in the day and turn out overnight all year round (aside from a short swop over around xmas this year), I much prefer them out when the sugar levels in the grass are lower, I can manage my LGL TB that way, it stops any sunburn issues with his pink nose in the summer too and If I want to ride after work or during the day at the weekend they're stood in ready to go - even better if the weather has been bad as they're dry too!
 
Mine used to be stabled in the summer during the day when I lived in the Uk... seemed madness as it was hotter in the stable than it was out they would stand there sweating..... plus there were flies in the stable..

I live in Spain now and July and August the temp gets up to 40'c+ but the horses live out all year round, (same horses) and they have no problems with the heat at all... they do have the shade of the trees, and they wear flies masks... and not once since living here have they sweated due to the heat.. and sometimes the welsh pony will stand in the sun all day!...
 
mine come in for most of the above reasons , not all thru the summer but on exceptionally hot days and when the horseflies are out in force i have a big airy barn for my stables so it is cool and relatively fly free , we also have a very arthritic horse and it is nice for him to come in and stand on a cushioned surface and lay down if he wants rather than being on hard ground 24/7
 
mine have access to stables and can go in and out as they please - i must say that the only time they spend all day in the stable is when its hot and the flies are bad - doesn't happen that often here though! so can see why people would bring them in during the day even if only for a few hours at the middle of the day.
 
I usually do this in summer. It has loads of advantages.

They are out of the flies and heat.
They don't have as much sugar in the grass when they are eating it.
They are around when you want to ride.
If you want a lie in they are not stuck in a stable with no food/water left..!
 
Mines out at night, in during the day and will be all year round (whilst I have this job anyway).

He is either in at night or during the day so I chose the day as then he gets to be out much longer which means he's more chilled to be ridden (nice as he can be very sensitive). Plus as I ride during work hours, it saves a lot of time as field is a good 10 minute walk, and it's very big so if he's down the far end it means I spend forever getting him and putting him out which I feel guilty about :)

Plus he only has 1 eye and it gets weepy when flies bother him, which i'm paranoid about.
 
In the summer I use a fabulous field but no shelter from the sun or flies. Mine lives out 24/7 and I think his other field for winter which has the shelter and barn that he never uses in all cold weather would be better for him against sun and flies!

So if I could provide some respite from flies and sun (he is cremello..sun burn etc) yes as long as there is a breeze and water is plentiful supply I would definitely bring in during day and put out at night.
 
Hopefully mine will stay out 24/7 this summer. The last few years he has been in a paddock on his own so no one to swish off flies. He is now turned out with three others. Obviously if he piles on the wieght I rethink and he will come in for a period of time in the day.
 
I got Markie in May last year, he's a very good doer cob. He was in a 2 acre field babysitting 2 Shetland yearlings, coming in at 6am, then back out at midday. It helped with his waistline, but it meany he was out in the hottest part of the day and the worst time for flies.
This year, he's in a much bigger field (7 acres) with 2 other horses. One of the other horses has to watch her weight as she has PSSM. We're hoping to bring in around midday, then turn out around 6.
 
The only time I've experienced this was when I shared a pony last year; it was the livery yard regime. I can only say I was amazed at how chilled those horses were when they came in - nearly all of them had a lovely lie down and kip in their stables in the morning...I think a lot of them do appreciate getting some respite from the weather (and sometimes their field mates), having a bit of attention etc.
 
Are stables really fly-free in the hot of the summer then? Don't the flies follow the horses into the stables at all?

My boys live out 24/7 at the moment, only natural shelter (trees/hedges) and the flies really bother them, so summer morning routine includes adding fly rugs and fly face masks, then late evening take it all off so they can enjoy being naked overnight.

I do hate flies - and yesterday and today it was so warm here the little flies have started already - they get in their ears and on their 'bits' and make them bleed :(

I'm actually sowing new velcro onto fly face masks as we speak, as I put their face masks on yesterday and the velcro's a bit old and one roll and it came straight off
 
HappyNeds said:
Are stables really fly-free in the hot of the summer then? Don't the flies follow the horses into the stables at all?

My boys live out 24/7 at the moment, only natural shelter (trees/hedges) and the flies really bother them, so summer morning routine includes adding fly rugs and fly face masks, then late evening take it all off so they can enjoy being naked overnight.

I do hate flies - and yesterday and today it was so warm here the little flies have started already - they get in their ears and on their 'bits' and make them bleed :(

I'm actually sowing new velcro onto fly face masks as we speak, as I put their face masks on yesterday and the velcro's a bit old and one roll and it came straight off
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Yes, most flies don't follow into stables as they are darker than outside. Doesn't really help with midges, unfortunately.
 
My friend/YM brought her warmblood in during the day and he was out at night with my filly during the summer and I always assumed it was because of the flies and the heat. The only thing was that he was quite lethargic when ridden and just wanted to go to sleep!
 
Our yard comes in during the day in summer. With my old boy, I'd have rather had him out 24/7 in summer as we used to but with new boy, it's more of a blessing as it helps his waistline. As with others, reasons are to get them out of the main heat and flies but as the yard's expanded, it does also go some way to conserving grass.
 
When I was on livery everyone brought theirs in during the day as the flies were particularly bad there. Mine now live out 24/7 but have free access to field shelters. They voluntarily spend all day inside when the flies are bad only the cob x goes for a regular wander. This is fine for good doers but ended up putting my oldie in a different field and feeding her in her shelter to keep the weight on. She absolutely hates flies
 
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