Thoughts on Keeping Horses in?

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CharlieGal

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Just wondering what you guys think on keeping horses in full/part time. I find it really hard in the icey conditions to get my horse out as our road gets too slippy to walk on. Any time its not too slippery shes out though! Whats your thoughts on this? What do you do in the winter/do any of you keep your horses in 24/7?
 
ours are in 24/7 as the fields are too bad to go out in, as long as they got enough simulation in the stable like toys to play with etc and gets enough excercise they can cope with it, not the best solution but some of us have no choice regarding turnout!
 
If it gets too slippery for mine to go in and out then they stay out, I would rather stuck out than in. With rugs and ad lib forage they are as happy as they are in and it saves the hysterical galloping around thing when they have been stuck in for days.
 
long term everyone has a choice regarding turn out, its not always easy to accommodate it though, i would move yards or rent a field on a temporary basis in order to keep mine out. if my only option was to stable 24/7/52 then i would not have horses.
i do realise that some horses seem to like being in and i truly believe it its abnormal behaviour (like a dog that only wants to stay indoors) that needs addressing and it does take lots of effort sometimes
 
I never keep mine in 24/7 unless lame .
Today they went out for three hours followed by being walked two ridden one lead round the school for forty five minutes ,I then levelled the school so it freezes flat so we can walk on it tomorrow.
 
Unless its a temporary arrangement due to unforeseen circumstances or injury, I think stabling 24/7 as a standard practice is awful, & I wouldn't move anywhere that did it as standard practice.
 
The area we are in at the moment we have no choice than to keep them in, very rare you will get turnout in my area, unless you travel far for it. We do get winter turnout but only if the fields are dry, when they get super wet they stay in, but they flood.
 
CharlieGal said:
Just wondering what you guys think on keeping horses in full/part time. I find it really hard in the icey conditions to get my horse out as our road gets too slippy to walk on. Any time its not too slippery shes out though! Whats your thoughts on this? What do you do in the winter/do any of you keep your horses in 24/7?
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Better a bored horse than a horse with a broken leg.

All 7 of mine stayed put this morning, the yard was an ice rink and the salting did not work. The paddock was safe as the very wet land had not frozen solid, by the morning it will have and also be unsafe to use.

They might have four legs to our two, but they don't stand up any better than we do on ice.
 
I have one who comes in at night and two that live out 24/7. On occasions I have left my riding horse in for the day due to high winds and heavy rain for instance, he isn't worried at all, but I don't like doing it TBH. He may have to stay in tomorrow as due to last nights rain and a freeze tonight it is going to be too dangerous to get him up the field as we have lakes of water everywhere and he is like Bambi on ice, so I would rather leave him in than risk an injury especially since I have spent a fortune on physio for him to sort out a soft tissue injury!!

I wouldn't choose to keep mine on a yard where they close the fields though, I would rather give a bit of hay or haylage all year round and have less grass than compromise on turnout. Once the better weather gets here my lad who comes in overnight will go out 24/7.
 
My horse is very very sensitive to the mud, she picks up mud fever in any event and gets lame with it, she is also silly in the field and slips over when it's wet, there fore from October to March she lives in 24/7 she is very happy and I think actually prefers to be in, she is walked while mucking out and ridden for an hour in the evening,
 
AdorableAlice said:
Better a bored horse than a horse with a broken leg.
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Thats what I think! Mines is out when possible and ridden as much as we can, with weekly lessons and plenty rallies and riding around our place. If I cant ride ill walk her around for 20-30 minutes if its not too slippy. When shes in she had plenty stable toys and haynets inside haynets;)
 
We salt the yard lay bedding on the yard if necessary and it's set up so the field gate is very close and we keep the school levelled so it's always possible to walk on I always find away to get them out of the stable.
 
Mine are in 24/7 through the winter. They get worked alternate days and go out for an hour or so at the weekend when the deep litter stables are taken out. Which ever horse is not being worked in the evening wanders around the yard the the morning whilst we skip out, haynets etc. 1 is very quiet and would never put a line out of place whilst the other is a typical young male who pushes the line with everything. However both behave impreccably and neither gallop around hysterically when they go out
 
mines in - shes fine has toys/gets a blast around the sand paddock and tbh shes happy as larry - she is just starting to be lunged too but chooses to amble round - she isnt a hot horse and would rather stand and be brushed than be an idiot. she has a snack ball/likit/loads of hay and i go down twice generally to break up her day (unless im working then its once)!


id rather not risk injuries to be quite honest - she is a youngster but its tough....
 
I have 5 horses all kept at home so cannot just move to another yard to get turnout.

2, the old guy and the 2 year old are turned out with hay for as long as I can manage it. The other 3 are really silly out in the mud, we are on clay and believe me it is awful, they lose shoes or come in with knocks so they do NPT get turned out at the moment. They do how ever have 2/3 hours out each in my sandschool most days not everyday.

The 3 that are in have been fine with this no strops or change of behaivour. They are given hay throughout the day, I am at home so can do this. All are fed a high fibre diet which I have finally got just right. They are ridden most days unless weather is really bad or school frozen. It's not ideal but they are all looking well, have a sensible spring in their step, shine to their coats and I do not feel guilty about their lack of turnout at all. They each have time to chat to the others and those that want have a good old grooming session.

The 2 that are turned out most get fed up as soon as the hay is gone and although there is some grass at the far end of field do not bother to walk off to it and stand looking very peed off at the gate , well I lie the 2 year old goes off and gets into mischief. It suits us and I really don't think they are upset at all at staying in, mind you it is full time work !
 
When mines goes out after being kept in a day or two, she has her blast around the park, her roll (she cant live without it;) ) and then just stands around, waiting to come in.
When shes in, her day gets broken up with visits, water top ups, mucking out and haynets ect...
 
My ground is really clayy too. Its a nightmare! When it gets wet it stays wet even with drainage...
I try to ride as much as possible but with this weather its hard. I keep mine at home and have no arena (thinking about getting one though) so its really down to hacks and using the fields. Go out for an hour/hour half hack quite often with my neighbour. but apart from the fields, its really up to going away to ride. Its good to have my weekly lessons and rallies as they really help to keep the riding up.
 
Fields at yard I'm at have unfortunatley been over grazed and are now poached and muddy with next to no grass. I don't see the point in turning mine out in the pissing down rain/snow to stand up to their fetlocks in mud with nothing to eat all day. The alternative is staying in with constant companionship, ad lib hay, 3 feeds a day, ridden every day for at least an hour and both turned out in sand school together for a good play and a roll for an hour (when not pissing down :rolleyes:). I don't think that's such a bad life and come March, they'll move to my friends for summer grazing and 24 hour turnout for 6-7 months. It's a compromise but one that they adapt perfectly to

It's due to get down to -5 or lower overnight for next few days - frozen solid, poached ground = broken limbs! I would not entertain it to be honest
 
Mine has been in for past few weeks on and off although I'd like to have had her out more but live with it rather she was safe too she's happy enough to stay in eating a net
 
TeamChaser said:
Fields at yard I'm at have unfortunatley been over grazed and are now poached and muddy with next to no grass. I don't see the point in turning mine out in the pissing down rain/snow to stand up to their fetlocks in mud with nothing to eat all day. The alternative is staying in with constant companionship, ad lib hay, 3 feeds a day, ridden every day for at least an hour and both turned out in sand school together for a good play and a roll for an hour (when not pissing down :rolleyes:). I don't think that's such a bad life and come March, they'll move to my friends for summer grazing and 24 hour turnout for 6-7 months. It's a compromise but one that they adapt perfectly to

It's due to get down to -5 or lower overnight for next few days - frozen solid, poached ground = broken limbs! I would not entertain it to be honest
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I read keeping horses in to mean standing in ie with no exercise.
It's perfectly possible to manage horses in work with no turnout in the field very well but standing in 24/7 is something I would never ever do unless the horse was lame.
 
Would agree with that Goldenstar and mine are exercised every day or turned out in school together on odd occasions I can't get to yard in daylight hours


Puts a lot of pressure on with very little daylight and a full time job .... will be exhausted by March and glad to chuck them in a field for a long holiday ... for all 3 of us!! Roll on spring - just praying for a dry one
 
Bit of a sore subject with me atm - in five weeks our horses have been allowed one mornings turnout!! I've tried to keep mine as stimulated as possible but he is now off work due to slight lameness and stiffness and needs to be out as much as possible really so I am having to turnout in the lunge pen and take him for walks to stretch his legs. If I had my way, the horses would be out for a good 4-5 hours everyday with haylage in the fields to keep them happy.
 
Mine will go out in the morning, getting to the field involves about 10 metres of concrete which will be icy but as they were out all day today they will be sensible and its only really the shod one who slips.
My field isn't really poached, as they normally live out they don't stand by the gate anyway and they can see the house better if they stand up the hill. I will then be terrified while they roll and the 2 year old torments the older two but then they will hopefully go and eat haylage.
Every day mine stay in the youngster is sillier on his turnout so out is safest for me.

Edited to add...at the yard I work on it is quite normal for some of the horses to stand in all week, no reduction in their feed and then go jumping at the weekend. I gather that feeding competion mix keeps the horse fit and ready even if it doesn't move out of its box, it is amazing stuff!
 
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Will not stable the any of the horses including mine unless on box rest or owner requests it for a valid reason. Horses need to go out in the fields its awful to keep them in.

Ours go out at 7 and in at 3pm every week day regardless of the weather
weekends 9 am - 3 pm
 
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