Those of you who only see to your horse once a day...

[welshies]

...does it work? I assuem there must be people out there who only go to their horses once a day, for what ever reason, and i mean where there is no one living there and no liveries seeing to their horses. Do you have any problems with this?

 

[Jazzy B]

Bit confused by your question, are you saying that it is okay to see you horse once a day if they are on their own on grass livery? Personally I wouldn't, I think you need to check them twice a day.

 

[LauraWheeler]

Luckly my horses live at home so mine are checked lots through the day.
But I look after Two ponies who live in the next village over. There owners live miles away and don't come down that often. The property they live on is a holiday home and so is the house next door. There is no paths running through or next to the field so they are compleatly isolated. I only get payed to check them once a day and they are a good 30min cycle from where I live. I'm not happy about only checking them once a day to be honest. What if something happened to them just after I left. It could be over 12 hours till I go to see them again. I couldn't keep my horses this way I would worry to much. I worry about the two ponies I look after but I'm doing my best for them
I'm shore there will be people who tell you this is fine but If it's going to happen it will happen to me (The story of my life ) So I wouldn't risk only seeing my horses once a day.

 

[jacksmum]

If they were on a livery where somebody did check them the other end of the day then ok but personally no i would check twice

 

[aimsymc]

I only go to yard once a day, but, im on a yard where all horses are fed, hayed and checked by yo in winter and checked in fields in summer. If no one was on yard all day I wouldnt be happy goin once.

 

[Irishbabygirl]

I would only be happy checking twice a day...mine always seem to need something either end of the day - rug change, fringe on/off,

 

[claribella]

I only check mine once a day in the summer. She shares a field with another horse and there are horses in the field next to her on the yard so I know if something was wrong I would get a call. I am relaxed in that.

 

[meesha]

I personally would worry about only checking once but if you can only do it once (and are only being paid to do it once) then can you talk to the owners about minimising risks around them - if they have shoes on or rugs I would want them off - make sure they have automatic troughs (esp in this weather) and the fencing is good. It might also be worth asking owners if its alright to put a sign on the gate with your mobile number in case a passer by spots anything amiss (be prepared for the "horses are dead" phonecall when they are sleeping haha).

 

[LauraWheeler]

meesha The ponies I look after are getting better care than before I came along. Before they wouldn't get checked for days They are truly isolated noone will see them if theres somthing wrong. They have several massive containers of water. Even in this weather I only need to fill them once a week.
But the owners are the sort of people who get away with keeping horses this way I know I wouldn't. Something would happen to one of mine

 

[Brightbay]

Mine is on grass livery, and I usually only see him once a day. However he shares with two other horses whose owners visit field at different times to me, we keep an eye on each other's horses. It just seems to be me that's the one who finds the horses when they have problems The field is also overlooked by a friendly local farmer who has contacted us in the past to let us know rug straps undone etc.

 

[Bionic Boy]

There are only 2 of us at our yard but we always make sure they are checked twice a day, one usually does the morning and one does the evening but if one of us isn't about the one that is would do it twice.

 

[Suby2]

I mainly only check mine once a day except in winter when they have hay twice a day and in the summer when the flies are at their worst and she has her fly mask on. She is in a rented field with a friend's horse so if we don't ride together she gets checked twice.

There are also other liveries there and the fields are surrounded on two sides by houses so extra pairs of eyes to check on her as well.

 

[horsemadelsie]

When my youngster was living out at another yard to my other horse I usually checked him twice a day- occasionally I'd just go up once, but I knew there were farm hands walking about that would shout if something was really wrong. Mine are all at home now so I can check them every 5 mins if I want to!
A friend of mine breeds welsh cobs and she will rent grazing a few miles away for her mares in the summer, and will drive up to check them a couple of times a week, and she hasn't had a problem- not that I would recommend this!

 

[Nannon]

I only check my horses once a day - the ones that are out all day in the summer anyway. However they are on our farm and my mum or dad are up there all day and are a bit horsey themselves so I know of something was wrong they would sort it or if it was serious they would ring me

 

[Tilda]

I only check mine once a day but our yard has a minimum of assisted DIY so we only have to go once a day. I have had horses on grass livery before and only visited once a day but have always shared with friends who do the opposite end of the day or paid a yard owner. I don't think I'd be happy leaving a horse 24 hours without care. Laura wheeler this is not aimed at you, you obviously care about these horses and are doing your best for them when they are not even your responsibility x

 

[AmyMay]

Wow, wouldn't be able to sleep if my horse didn't have a hands on check at least twice a day.......

 

[Littlelegs]

I'm with amymay.
Mine get properly checked by me twice. It's nice to know the other liveries, a fair few neighbours & the farmer we rent from would all let me know if they had something wrong, but its not always glaringly obvious there is.

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

I only check mine once a day. He is on a livery yard, so others going into the fields would notice if there was something very obviously wrong, but they don't check him as such. If stabled he's exercised, groomed, mucked out, left with enough food and water to last. I don't consider myself a bad owner for only being able to go once a day. It's not ideal but so few things in life are.

I know plenty of people who only go once a month to pay their livery, unless someone phones to say horse injured ill or trashed its rug. Most of those horses kept like that are too thin by end of winter, some get mud fever or lice, but all survive. In summer the ones with sweet itch suffer. It's not a horse management system I approve of and its not something I'd do myself. I find it sad.

 

[0310Star]

I only check my horse once a day but the yard I am on does all rug changing/fly masking etc in the mornings for me. she gets bought in/put out when needed (if for example we have a bad storm they will get them in for a few hours)

I have ALWAYS done my horse twice a day, and this was a huge adjustment! I only recently started going once a day when I realised there was actually nothing to be done if I did go up in the mornings! But this took me over a month to get into

 

[sophiebailey]

I check Bailey once a day (normally after I've finished work) I'll groom and check for anything bad, ride, feed, pick fields and do waters etc then go home.

If I need to be up there in the morning (winter for haying, if he needs antibiotics etc etc) then I go before work but otherwise I don't. I could worry my head silly all day long that he might injure himself in the field but he's a sensible old boy that doesn't give me cause to worry.

As I share my field and the fields surrounding mine are filled with my friends horses, there's a lot of people around who would notice if something was up and they all have my number so I'm comfortable with my arrangement

I don't think people who check their horses once a day (through the summer, through the winter when there's need to hay that's a different ball game) should feel ashamed/guilty about going once a day; some people don't have the time in the day or the means of transport to be at the yard morning + evening

 

[sophiebailey]

Sorry that should say SHOULDN'T feel ashamed lol my bad x

 

[AmyMay]

I don't think people who check their horses once a day (through the summer, through the winter when there's need to hay that's a different ball game) should feel ashamed/guilty about going once a day; some people don't have the time in the day or the means of transport to be at the yard morning + evening

Oh I agree, Sophie. Providing there is someone there who will actually physically check the horse then there's no problem.

To my mind, making the assumption that someone may notice if something is wrong with your horse whilst passing is just too risky.

 

[sophiebailey]

I understand your viewpoint amymay, mine slighlty differs but that's what makes life interesting lol

I'm lucky as I don't have to assume; the lady I share a field with does her horse at lunchtime every day, I do Bailey around 5.30 every day and the lady at the end of our lane (by her own admission lol) walks her dog past the field gate every night at around 9pm(ish) and gives Bailey + his field mate a polo each, so someone sees him 3 times a day. Others aren't so fortunate to have this kind of arrangement though, I'm quite lucky

 

[AmyMay]

So who looks at the horse first thing in the morning Sophie?

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

I agree you can't rely on others. I'm a caring person and will sort out dangling rug straps, go see why if a horse is standing alone from the herd for any length of time etc, if I have time, but I find many others simply don't notice these things.

On bringing my horse in from the field before work one day, I found a puddle of blood by the gate. All the horses were up the top of a huge hill and mine comes to call. I watched for long enough to see each of the others move, to see they wasn't lame. If one was hobbling I'd have investigated. But all looked relaxed, sound and were grazing. I didn't really have the half hour it would have took for me to walk up the hill to check them, I'd have been late for work, getting my wages docked and facing disciplinary action. So I made the judgement to leave the horses unchecked, figuring the blood was probably from some other animal. I did feel bad when one of them turned out to have been bleeding from a minor artery all morning until his owner came at lunchtime, and had lost a lot of blood. But my choices were checking somebody else's horses, which from a distance seemed fine, and risking losing my job (the resulting lack of money affecting my own horses welfare) or leaving them and getting to work on time.

I don't realistically think other people can be relied upon to notice anything other than major colic, severe lameness or a horse caught in the fence panicking. Unless they've agreed to physically check the horse over for you.

 

[AmyMay]

I don't realistically think other people can be relied upon to notice anything other than major colic, severe lameness or a horse caught in the fence panicking. Unless they've agreed to physically check the horse over for you.

Exactly.

 

[SpottedCat]

S&S are you on a livery yard or is it just a group of people in a field? I think if I'd seen what you did and didn't have time to check I'd have sent the YO a text and asked them to check over the horses, or sent the people in the field a text and said the same!

 

[3BayGeldings]

Mine are only checked once a day - shock horror! Their field is overlooked by the farmer's house so anything obvious would be spotted, but I certainly don't sit and worry that they haven't had their legs felt on a morning

 

[_HP_]

I only check once a day...sometimes once every other day. Noone else checks on them. They live out 24/7/365. Their field is safe and secure. There is no reason for them to come to any harm. If I were suspicious that something was wrong I would check on them as many times as necessary but if they are healthy and happy I leave them be.

 

[monkeybum13]

Wow, wouldn't be able to sleep if my horse didn't have a hands on check at least twice a day.......

I agree.
When some people 'check' on others peoples horses they just check to see they're stood up with 4 legs and a tail, how you're meant to know if they're lame, have a wound, infection or whatever without actually walking up to the horse and checking on them I have no idea...