to a field..

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SarahRicoh

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Im thinking of moving my pony from my yard to a field.
My yard is lovely & an ok price for what we get but i just cant afford it.
Also i want him out 24/7 in.summer & winter really but yard doesnt allow it.

So...
Chance of a 5 & a bit acre field. No water but farmer would bring up a massive water containr & take it away to refill it.
Fencings not great atm but hed fix it (although wouldnt be like post & rail) so its secure & put in a gate.
No shelter (manmade) but trees & stuff.. Could ride in it & do what i wanted with field. Hackings good once i get up on hill..

Does anyone else keep horses similarly? Would horses be ok with no shelter/stable? Only thing that im.bothered about is somewhere for farrier...(& vet)..

Its £50pcm per horse (current yards £163).

Any opinions/advice :)
 
I did something similar, although we have a water trough, and some hard standing outside the field for the lorry, and a container. Again only hedge and trees for shelter. Been there 4 years at the end of april. Result was happier horses.
 
It would only be feasible IMO, if your horse would have a companion. As for the farrier, would a friend let you use their yard, so that at least there would be somewhere without mud?
 
Our horses are kept out at home, in a 4 acre field with only natural shelter. They thrived this winter. We do have a running stream for them though - the water thing I'd want to be VERY sure of come high summer. If farmer wants stock fencing, see if you can top it with electric.
We bring them to a hardcore area we have for trimming and everyone seems really happy with that.
 
Theres a track outside yard that i could stand them on for farrier.
Im sure id be allowed to put hardcore down by a gate.

Sorry i shouldve said.. Pony will have a companion pony or another horse thatl be ridden..

Does anyone else have problems just having two horses? (ie. Riding the one & leaving companion alone?)
 
I have HUGE problems with mine, had to buy another companion for the companion...:rolleyes:
However, haven't always had these issues, when I was younger I had an older shetland companion, who didn't seem to care :)
 
Oh god lol...
Possibly there could be three but more likely to be just two...

Like youd train a puppy to be left in a house alone im guessing you can train the companion to get used to being alone?
 
Ours live out 24/7 and seem to love it. We just had a field when we moved on there, but the owners have put up lovely shelter now. We are thinking of getting another horse as hubbys mare used to stay with our old horse, but she wont seem to settle with just my youngster when the other two go out. It seems it can be a problem however many you have.
 
TBH my yearling wouldn't settle no matter what we did, so we got another small one for company for her.
It's weird because if it was in a livery situation, you'd just get on with it - seems liek sometimes you can be too soft when it's your own horse running around. I'd sy build it up slowly, see how you go?
 
Only nice after the water tank is full and the fencing has been completed. I moved once with the promise of new fencing, never hapened, so I moved back.
 
My pony used to be alone so he never bothered about being left til i moved yards (last horse out comes in rule)...
It would be very rare my boy would be left on own.in field... Other horse would be left or theyd go out together...
I think 3s a bit much so i hope 2 can work
 
Two will be fine but expect there to be separation issues you have to train them through so have a plan to deal with it!

Ie, just walk the horse away for a minute or so and back and then build up the time amount until you can disspear for the whole day. Eventually the horses will have faith the other one is coming back and all will be OK.

You may have to think a little bit more carefully about rugs. Someone once said to me that they don't mind being wet or cold its just the two together they object to and I think thats quite a good rule of thumb.
 
i have 5 now who live in a farmers field, no electric and water we pump from the stream, we maintain fencing which suits me fine as i can split the field as i please. I started with only 2 lol and never had problems with separation anxiety, little pony never gave 2 hoots if mare went out lol. i do have a stable/shelter but never use it, I have a woodchipped area for the farrier and tacking up and it's worked fine.:)
 
i would probably ensure i had electric fencing to partition field if necessary.
re separation anxiety - some horses are more adaptable than others. My old mare would hack out alone and was fine when being worked but i could leave her in the field on her own without her stressing. My other horse was fine being left in the field on his own but because she stressed and called he was stressed being ridden out of sight of her :rolleyes: he is fine when other horses aren't calling him.
My only concern about not having a manmade field shelter/stable is if the horse suddenly needed box rest.
 
i would do it! my friend and i are searching for grazing or private yard for sole use and it is deeming IMPOSSIBLE where i am...we would cut off a limb to have 5 acres to ourselves for our little herd of 4:( my little oldie used to despise being seperated from my other boy (except on his own accord escaping!) but i just had to wean him away, and get him used to being on his own. he used to a big worrier and though he may follow us to the gate he will soon potter back off on his own back to his other buddies.:o
 
Hi, yes I did this before Xmas, moved 2 of my 3 to grazing with stables initially, after being on a yard with everything provided and facilities. Then just recently moved them to a field, some natural shelter with water hose piped up from a trough in next field. Best thing I ever did for these 2 both in terms of their well being and my pocket. the difference in their legs from constantly moving is amazing,no puffiness from being stood in for 20 hours a day. They are semi fit all the time no coughs or sneezes from dusty environments and they are so chilled. I'm very pleased, and better off!:D
 
I did very similer about a year ago. I rented cheaply and in a very bad state about 4 acres. We fenced and made a "yard" area by laying loads of scalpings (like crumbled road) This has actually become hardened and worked very well, I imagine they need to be fairly deep- we rolled it in the summer when it was very hot. Then we built a stable/shelter out of bits dumped in the said field- we had to buy about £70 worth to complete it but its a cheap stable and not half bad either!
A couple of garden sheds off ebay provide storage for feed etc. We have since bought and built more on it but just to give you an idea. A bare field can become your little haven!

We have more than one horse so they have company, i make my own rules. Ie they are allowed out every single day as i can fence off bits to rest/recover.

Its the single best thing ive ever done in all my horse ownership days!- go for it
 
i did this 5 years ago for my 2 horses and never looked back.

I love being my own boss and not having to deal with yard politics.

the water bowser the farmer supplies is brill and gets topped up about once a month.

on the down side, i have to pull my own weeds, poo pick and sort out any fencing/hardcoring/ maintenance etc... but its well worth it.

Its far cheaper than livery yards and the freedom you feel from doing your own thing without judgemental eyes looking over your shoulder is well worth it.

i would say go for it! :)
 
SarahRicoh said:
Thats my worry to coss.. Guess id just have to find an emergency stable if that was case.
Click to expand...
in which case having some electric fencing that you can build a temp small pen would mean you'd restrict movement. Would the farmer agree to a mobile field shelter as that can be removed if/when you don't wish to have the field any more
 
I did it for a while when I got my old boy back from loan, I was never really happy with no shelter, but he was old and a TB and had lost a load if weight in his loan home.

When he was at home he was also out 247/365 but had a shelter, he would not stable.

Out current pony is different, he won't stat out at night, little lord fontloroy springs to mind :D

I guess what I am saying, is suck it and see , living out is a great option for the majority of equines :)
 
Sounds good to me, the only thing is to remember is that it will be you, that feeds,check water and whatever other needs crop up, unlike a livery yard it will be only you around to see to your horse, but if you can except that then go for it, at least your horse will actually know who he belongs to, good luck :)
 
I have no problem with doing everything-infact id prefer it! And it will be nice to do what i wang with horses rather than follow yard rules...

I thought about a mobile shelter but theyre sooo expensive (i dont have the money)...

Im really happy to build my own shelter if i could do it cheaply but not sure if farmer would agree.

Poss have another option of a 3acre field again no shelter but water at house(need to be taken down to field) & some other benefits but i worry about grazing.

How many could 3acres hold comfortably all year round & how many on 5 acres do you all think?
 
I have two on a 7 acre field, no manmade shelter but sheltered 3 sides naturally. There is a water trough which we put in and plumbed in our selves and one side along the brook was not fenced, again we did this ourselves but the farmer supplied all the materials.

I have had no issues really, I ask the farmer if he would put sheep in when the grass is getting too much, which he is only too glad to do.

I dont have anywhere with hardstanding for the farrier but we are on very well draining soil and never have mud so it has not been an issue. Nor has it been for the vet for jabs etc.

I do rent a stable from the same farmer but we use it for storing our junk in really....in my situation I wont be box resting if needed as mine will not cope with another bout of BR but we do have the option....

Mine would not tolerate being left alone either, which is the main reason I have moved onto private grazing and got a companion on loan. If one goes out the other goes too or they dont go at all.

Very occasionally I miss a livery yard scenario.......for like half a minute and then realise I wouldnt cope with it again.
 
Maybe worth looking to see if there's anywhere nearby who'd let you stable temporarily if something happened if no option to put up something yourself? Like an emergency plan in place if stabling was required with short notice.
 
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