TB's living out 24/7, anyone had trouble making the change?

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custard

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Need some support really, could be long!

As of 13th May became the proud owner of our own little yard and that blissfull state which is doing as you damn well please having got off the livery treadmill.

For the last 5 years Will', who is now 16, has been coming in at night all year round. He has lived out all summer before this though and we've managed to keep him looking great in spite of him being a bit prone to laminitits by giving him ad lib hay, high fibre feeds and limited grass.

Anyway, for the past 6 weeks he's been out all the time and as I was worried sick about the very good grass we have, I cut out all his bucket feed and got very strict with how much grass he's had using a muzzle when appropriate as well as strip grazing. I've tried not to mollycoddle him with rugs too much in the hope he'd burn calories but TBH he looks bloody awful
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I had the vet to him a couple of weeks a go and she thought he looked fine, no evidence of lami or colic, indeed our worm counts are seriously low. He just looks permanently knackered like he's been partying all night!

I'm sure I can get the condition back on him as have started feeding him again, he now also has access to a shelter 24/7 and I stock that with hay when the weather's ropey. He's also got his light rug on tonight.

Am I panicking over nothing? Has anyone had similar problems getting a thin skinned TB type to live out? I'm listening to the rain bashing the windows and I feel terrible but I know if I go and get him in he will climb the walls and be a total stress head, help!!
 
My 28yo TB lives out and she has no rug or extra feed at the moment, tbh i have felt terrible in the past when its been pouring and gone to bring her in and got to the field and she is in the middle still scoffing!! I always picture her stood dithering at the gate looking longingly towards her stable.... she never is so i wouldnt worry. Even in winter I let her decide what she wants to do if she eats her feed and comes back to the door and weaves she goes out (Wearing worlds thickest NZ!!)if she eats then goes on her haynet she stays in!! So dont feel terrible horses eh?? whod have em?
 
I have to say that my TB does very well living out at the summer, however she does live in in the winter.
She prefers to be out and at the moment is looking amazing. I would just leave him to climb the walls. Maybe try and leave him in all night and out all day, the way his old routine was?
Is he in regular work?
 
My TB is living out 24/7 although I do feel rather guilty as it is pouring down and he is naked.
He is doing very well living out and he will be inside on a night when the colder months turn up.
So no sorry I haven't had any trouble.

How come you have decided to change his routine?
Personally if there is no reason stopping him from having his old routein back (ie no stable space) and he was happier and in better condition than he is now I would go back to how you used to manage him if his condition doesn't improve as he obviously had no problems before.
 
mine are out 24/7, un rugged and as happy as pigs in mud. they are on 25 acres of lush grass with loads of natural shelter. In fact my eldest went out 3 weeks ago looking hurrendous, very angular..... now he is starting to look round in all the right places.
 
My ex-racehorse, who has been out of racing for 20 months now, was not used to being turned out at all. But he LOVES being out 24/7 now.

He comes in at night during the winter but this is his 2nd summer out 24/7 and he is blooming with it. Find it chills him out so much compared to when he's stabled.
 
Our 23 yr old tb lives out all year, has access to a shelter (and lots of good trees) all the time. He wears a rug in winter and gets hard feed and hay. He does drop weight in the winter, but in summer he is out on up to 6 acres of grass with 3 others and doesn't suffer from colic/lami ever. Think lots of grass makes them less prone to colic anyway - cleans them out well IMHO!!

he does get the shivers occasionally in summer when his coat is at its thinnest and its pouring down, and just cos he's shivering doens't mean he's dying - he is a horse after all and won't melt in the rain. not my fault if the stupid horse doesn't go in the field shelter is it!!

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How come you have decided to change his routine?

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Mainly because I'm doing the two single handed and working horrendous shifts. Whilst I see them several times a day, no two days are ever the same so to stable them would be pretty much impossible and not fair to juggle them from pillar to post.

The other factor is he's very attached to my young horse who has taken to living out like a duck to water. Willow will make himself ill if he's brought in, trust me have had him 8 years and know him inside out so pretty determined to stick to the plan. Unfortunately I daren't just let him have as much of the green stuff as he'd like. Both horses now have a lovely shelter each so am hoping he'll turn a corner, he seems keen to use it anyway so will just keep him stuffed with hay.
 
It sounds like your doing a good job, and try not to worry to much. If i know the weather is going to be bad then i would put a light weight rug on, otherwise he would shiver his weight off. (Does not like the rain very much)
However i have never had a problem changing to 24/7 turnout but then mine does not suffer from lami. Good luck
 
Well if its any comfort the TB mares that come to us to retire from racing to be broodmares are all gradually introduced to 24 hour turn and they are never rugged just fed well and given adequate shelter. They all look fine.
 
I just moved yards and am waiting for my loose boxes to be built so my 17 y.o. TB has no choice but to be out at the moment. I try to put a lightweight rug on her if I think it's going to rain but she was out in all that torrential rain yesterday and eventually I had to bring her in to a pony's stable for a couple of hours as she was absolutely dithering! Saying that though they are in a paddock with no tree cover so can't get out of the rain at all and strangely the Highland in my siggy has a bit of rain scald which seems strange as she's meant to weather out all year on the Scottish Highlands! Maybe we get different rain down here lol.
 
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My ex-racehorse, who has been out of racing for 20 months now, was not used to being turned out at all. But he LOVES being out 24/7 now.

He comes in at night during the winter but this is his 2nd summer out 24/7 and he is blooming with it. Find it chills him out so much compared to when he's stabled.

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My boy is exactly the same - chills out completely in the summer
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Would love to have him out 24/7 x 365 but drops weight living out in the winter
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God I cant believe I have just read all this! Me and my hubby have just had a bit of a barney over TB's living out! I have 2 TB's - my mare who absolutely loves her bed and likes to come in. My TB gelding just wants to be out 24/7. I have had him with a l/w rug on tho on a night time, and sometimes thro the day, depending on the weather, but I have just said that depending on the winter, I will leave him out (well rugged up cos he does like to be warm) 24/7. My husband doesnt seem to understand that my gelding gets stressed to hell when he is in! Then I get stressed to hell worrying about him! They both have a pony for company and seem v happy. Ps, I think you are doing a good job too. Go by your instincts - as someone said earlier, they do have a nack of letting you know what they want anyway. I've also told my hubby to concentrate on his own job and leave me to do mine!! x
 
My TB mare lives out 24/7 365days and she is so happy, does have huge thick rug on in the winter, but wheni tried stabling her at night she lost loads of weight and weaved constantly and could not wait to get out of the stable in the morning and nearly had to be dragged back in at night so gave up and let her have her wn way with a field shelter if she needs it.
Have to say only uses the field shelter in the midday heat (not that we get much of that) and when its raining is normally found in the middle of the field eating happily.
My advice see what makes you horse happy they will let you know.
 
Hi. I think with some of them.especially some ex racers, it takes them ages to get over any changes. We have had our ex racer for about 10 years......she stresses if we change fields and it takes her a couple of weeks to settle...she stresses when we turn out 24/7 and it takes her a couple of weeks to get her head round it......when we bring everybody in at night for the winter, she stresses again til she gets her head round it.

She is turned out now without rugs and in an unfamiliar field.so she stressed and hung around the gate wanting to come "home"......and the field she is in now is just a couple of fields away from the field she is used to being in for winter turnout.

She also looks haggered when we either first change her routine or turn her out for the summer.....but she gets over it and this morning she is as right as rain.
 
My 24 year old, 7/8 TB lives out all year round. He used to be an ex-eventer so was used to coming in every night but now he hates to come in at all! He has rugs and ad-lib hay from Oct - Apr, plus hard feed and he doesn't lose weight. He was more prone to lose weight when I used to bring him in overnight in the winter as he wasn't too happy about it.
 
we had a 17yo tb who we bought when she was 14, but she had been worked VERY hard at a polo club as a pony for hire. Very skinny when we got her.

First year, out all summer, stabled at night all winter. Put on fantastic amount of weight and started looking younger!

Secound Year, out all summer, stabled at night all winter. She looked FANTASTIC by this point and much younger.

Third year, out all summer, out all winter rugged up. This literally took everything out of her. Due to circumstances, we couldnt find stabling that we could afford so we had no choice. She became thinner and thinner. The this spring when the grass started growing, she didnt even start to put on weight, and started having frequent bouts of colic until we had to have her put down last month.

Im sure many people have TBs out all winter, but due to the delicate condition she has always been in, it was the biggest mistake we made.
 
I feel I need to add that I wouldn't winter them out if they didn't have ad-lib hay all winter. Ours have 5 big round bales a fortnight (between about 10 ponies and 2 horses) and they literally never run out of hay from October to April. Everytime you see them they are munching away. I have to make sure I don't give my 24 year old too much hard feed as he puts on too much weight!
 
Update! Think I may have got this a bit more sussed.

We had his front shoes off the other day as he keeps losing the one and farrier felt that since he doesn't actually have to set foot on concrete or stony ground, it was a bit silly to keep banging it back on.

Anyway, because he is a bit sore and feet were pulsing we are treating it as poss laminitis as well (hope not as been so damn carefull) and have made him a tiny pen in front of his own shelter. Now the baby can't keep pestering him, he seems very happy with ad lib hay and a soft bed in the shelter. I've rugged him last couple of nights and he seems a lot brighter with a shiny coat.

Made me laugh yesterday though. He was just outside having a drink when we got a short sharp shower. He looked upwards, felt the rain and made a dash for the shelter and his haynet.
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Whilst he doesn't 'do' wet weather, he hates being stuck in alone and this way, we may just have cracked it.
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