Throughbred living out?

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charlottemary

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I recently got a thoroughbred after owning a welsh pony; a massive difference. He has been staying at a livery yard next to my house but I am planning on moving him because there is very restricted grazing and no school. If given the opportunity I would love for him to be out 24/7 in the summer. Is this realistic with a TB? If it was very wet or cold then he would come in for the night but as for the rest of the time would he be ok? He is a typical TB in that he looses weight rapidly when he is cold and have had him in a 400g rug when it snowed recently. What rug would he need overnight in the winter. As I said I have had a very hardy Welsh Sec D for three years who only needed a medium rug when it was -5 :D so it is taking some adjusting with regards to rugging and feeding :D:D. Any advice is very much appreciated and I just want to do the best for my boy :o
 
charlottemary said:
I recently got a thoroughbred after owning a welsh pony; a massive difference. He has been staying at a livery yard next to my house but I am planning on moving him because there is very restricted grazing and no school. If given the opportunity I would love for him to be out 24/7 in the summer. Is this realistic with a TB? If it was very wet or cold then he would come in for the night but as for the rest of the time would he be ok? He is a typical TB in that he looses weight rapidly when he is cold and have had him in a 400g rug when it snowed recently. What rug would he need overnight in the winter. As I said I have had a very hardy Welsh Sec D for three years who only needed a medium rug when it was -5 :D so it is taking some adjusting with regards to rugging and feeding :D:D. Any advice is very much appreciated and I just want to do the best for my boy :o
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Hello
I dont own a TB but have a fine French Trotter who is like a TB, hard to keep weight on, rarely gets fat etc. She lives out all year rund with a good rug and field shelter so yes i definitely think a TB could live out in the summer! With a good shelter there is no reason one cant live out in the winter! Mine is in a heavy weight in winter all the time however in summer is NAKED! :)
 
The last few TB's Ive looked after lived out in the summer perfectly well without a rug and in inclemental weather or risk of rain, a lightweight rug. They all kept weight and condition really well either way, I just bought them in every day for a check, fuss, work and basic feed :)
 
I used to stable my horses opposite a TB stud farm and the mares and youngsters lived out, unrugged all year.

My own TB lived out unrugged most of her life. I did start rugging her when we moved here as she was getting old and this field is more exposed.

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I find the Amigo lite rug great, it fits well, and keep feeding from Spetember onwards.
No need to rug all year round, but it does help if you want to to ride, this in the main reason for rugging in my opinion.
 
My very wimpy TB x has just done his first winter living out and looks better than he ever did when being stabled :)
 
Yes a TB can live out, my first did no probs, my current one however gets very upset by flies in summer so gets turned out at night to avoid them. I have found Horsewear (inc Rambo, Amigo etc) rugs a good fit on my TBs and as mentioned, with shelter and decent grazing he should be fine x
 
My ex racer lives out 24/7. Last summer/winter we had no stables and this winter we just chose not to use them. She was adequately rugged and fed and was happy as Larry with her mates.
 
Yes, my neighbour has a retired TB eventer on loan as a happy hack. He lives out all winter, with his pony companion with rugs as appropriate. We are very exposed and in fact, I bring my horses in overnight in winter. The ex-eventer struggled to maintain his weight the first winter but since then has been absolutely fine and looks great atm. There is a SB stud nearby and the mares and foals live out all year with no problems.
 
Yes tbs can most definitely live out, I've worked on several tb studs and they will live out unrugged nearly all year round. Youngsters brought in for sales prep, broodmares brought in when close to foaling but otherwise out 24/7
 
Mine did really well living out, wish he still could but 24/7 grass livery is difficult to find. In the summer he does need a fly rug as every horsefly in the area seems to attack him.

In the winter he had a mediumweight most of the time but upped to a heavyweight just for really cold spells. He does have a coat like a yak though.
 
criso said:
Mine did really well living out, wish he still could but 24/7 grass livery is difficult to find. In the summer he does need a fly rug as every horsefly in the area seems to attack him.

In the winter he had a mediumweight most of the time but upped to a heavyweight just for really cold spells. He does have a coat like a yak though.
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Sounds very familiar! Suprising just now hairy some TBs can get given the chance and I do think TB blood must be particularly delicious.
 
Mine lives out, he lived out for 12 months at his trainer's yard before I got him. He also wasn't rugged this winter until he came to me in January.

At my yard there was an old TB who'd lived out for 11 years, if stabled he would weave himself into a sweat so was left out. He was well rugged and well fed but only had natural shelter. It is absolutely possible for a TB to live out all year, just keep a close eye on their weight.
 
Mine came in in October, goes out in day during winter and is now out overnight again while I spend time with my baby daughter, he's loving it x
 
They can live out, including winter if necessary, but only in the right conditions. They should be rugged appropriate to the weather, and have shelter, either a field shelter or good natural shelter like hedges so they can choose where to stand when the wind blows! Also the field shouldn't lie wet and poached.

Some TBs, and others, just love their stables though and start to look miserable if left out in the wet and wind and cold.
They can also become miserable in the very hot summer if they are troubled by flies.
 
There are at least 6 TBs at our yard and all the horses live out. This is a management choice not because they have to. They all have a stable if needed. We are lucky that we have good grazing and lots of it but with modern rugs they easily cope and are healthy and happy living out as a herd. Some of the horses including TBs are fully clipped and live out. Most of the horses are also not fed any cereals as we use Simple Systems which is forage based and they look great. I agree about flies in the summer - all horses can find these unbearable - I use a fly rug on mine which sorts it out but she does come in out of the heat when they are bad.
 
My ex-racer boy lives out 24/7. He has relaxed, filled out and runs far less risk of ulcers. He has also hunted every week/fortnight since September and is clipped. You'll be surprised how much they can take!
 
My TB is out 24/7 with the appropriate rug,
She does so much better being out that in a stable fretting. (Weaver, box walker and separation anxiety)
 
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I had an ex racer who was a really poor doer like yours. I kept him out all the time. As long as they have enough hay/haylage and feed they won't lose weight.
I know someone who has tb's and keeps them out all year unrugged! Horses grow winter coats! :)
 
Mrs G said:
Suprising just now hairy some TBs can get given the chance
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And as it's moulting season I'm wearing quite a lot of it and picking bits off the laptop keyboard.
When I got him he grew very little coat the first year but once he caught on that his pampered days were over he grew a proper coat in subsequent years.
 
My 19 yr old TB has just wintered out for the 1st time since he was 2. I've always stabled at night in winter but he never really liked being in,didn't eat much & is a very poor doer. I bought a youngster last Autumn & decided to put the old boy on grass livery & let youngster have stable. He absolutely thrived! Kept weight on for the 1st time in 17yrs,ate 2 big feeds a day,when in he'd struggle to eat 1 feed! We leave ad lib haylage out & he was often the instigator of coming up to the barn for the nets. He was so much happier in himself, he's quite an old grouch! I treated him to 2 Rambos & various weights of liner for them & used a fleece neck cover as well when it was really cold. I part clipped for most of winter sort of modified blanket clip but when weather improved a month ago whipped the lot off bar legs & half head. Really wish I'd booted him out yrs ago! My new youngster is also a TB, got him almost straight off the track in Sept, got him to grow a decent coat, rugged him well & he stayed out until end of Dec, then came in at night, should've been going out at night again soon but has serious leg injury & just started 3 months box rest...
 
My TB lives out 24/7 all year round as we don't have stables. She is in a rain sheet only at the moment, and only gets a medium weight rug on if it drops below freezing. She has no hard feed at all, just ad lib hay when required.

However, it is horses for courses. My girl is very easy, has great feet, isn't stressy, and is as far away from the stereotype of a TB as you could get. Another TB may not cope at all with our regime.

interestingly, the only time she has displayed TB 'behaviours' is when I had to stable her overnight for three moNths. She weaved, cribbed, box walked and was a complete stressy witch. She returned to normal when she went back out 24/7.

As you can see she does ok on it :)

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My retired TB lives out 24/7 all year. She even did this winter with very little hard feed and just ad-lib haylage during the coldest months. She looks much better than I thought she would (she's on full livery so I don't see her daily)
 
My tb lived out 24/7/365... Rugged only in persistent rain. If they have shelter be it a hedge/tree/rug or man made shelter and plenty of roughage then they will cope and probably better than they do in a stable....
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I have a tb and know many others who do, in my opinion it just depends on the horse. My boy stays in year round, ends up looking like a skeleton otherwise! 🙈
Others would be absolutely fine and require no faffing about with
 
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