Turning away a TB - anyone done it?

FestiveSpirit

FestiveSpirit

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I am considering whether to put my little TB onto grass livery for a few months to save a bit of money and basically turn him away (no riding, taking his shoes off if my farrier thinks he will cope etc)

Has anyone done this with a TB? He is a sensitive flower who feels the cold so I will be giving him ad-lib hay in the field, will he need hard feed as well to keep condition on?

Cant believe I am asking these questions after 20 years of horse ownership :D but I have been very very lucky and have never had to turn one away before :confused:
 
As i am sure you know there is no hard and fast rule to this one, if he is rugged, has plenty of hay, good shelter and some mates then he should be fine but untill you try you will never know. Keep a good eye on him and good luck :)
 
I have done! He may well need hard feed, and extra rugs, but it depends on the horse. My TB mare is currently out with one rug on, no feed, and no haylage, and is fat as a pig!

The only thing I'd say is to keep an eye on the soles of his feet in the frost - I have three TBs turned away at the moment while I'm so ill, and all three have worn their soles down in the cold weather. Not a problem yet, but could well be at some stage, so we're keeping an eye on them and giving them beef gelatin to keep their feet strong.

I've never had a problem turning away. Even my big poor doer copes well as long as he has enough haylage and hard feed!
 
Not quite the same, but two of mine are TBx's, one is a very fine build, but she's thriving on grass livery. Not clipped and lightly rugged, she has ad lib hay and a handful of chaff and balancer in the evening. She's in full work, snow/ice excepted and loving it.
We also have a 17.2hh TB maintaining weight fine and ridden for apporox 90 mins+ 5 times a week. No problems.
 
Thanks very much for the replies :) I am actually wondering if it will be worth it financially to turn him away - if he needs hard feed as well then I will only save the cost of shoeing and a stable, yes every little helps but I wont be able to ride either :(

Thanks for the tip about his feet Starzaan, I think I'll talk to my farrier before I do anything :)
 
I turned my 3 yo out for the winter ( the pic under my name ), he's fine and happy out. I made the decision in the autumn as I won't be bringing him back into work until next summer due to a previous injury while he was in training.
 
He should be fine
With hay and grass he probably wont need hard feed, if there's little grass he may need a little something extra though.
I've turned tbs away in winter time and theyve all flourished
 
plenty of racehorses get turned away every year and it does them no harm. If youve got ad-lib good haylege them you might be able to get away without hard feed. we have plenty out the field in the winter with no hard feed. Tryt it and play it by ear on the feed front.
 
I have, my eventer was turned away, he looked the best he had ever looked whilst out, rugged up and well fed, VERY happy :) Feet benefited from the break too :)
 
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Our racehorses get roughed off and turned away every summer. The oldies and retired racehorses are out all year round with a shelter and a constant supply of haylage, They never need any hard feed and for oldies they are looking very good. You may just need to see how it goes, if good quality haylage isn't keeping his weight on then you may need to add in some hard feed.
 
Hiya, i had my old boy out a few winters ago, he had bad arthrits and it was best he kept on the move, he was fine skinned but he coped well, didn't drop any weight, also without shoes, i didn't ride much during that time because the only way out was by road, and he could get foot sore, and he really seemed to enjoy his time off.
 
With modern rugs being as good as they are nowadays, there's absolutely no reason your TB can't winter out quite comfortably with ad-lib forage and an additional hard-feed if it's needed.

I winter out all of my TB and WB's as much as I can. The only spanner in the works I ever encounter is the dreaded mud-fever, but as long as you start taking precautions against that well in advance - even that is manageable in the ones susceptible to it.
 
Not personally, but my horse shares a field with three TBs. All live out 24/7, rugged as necessary, no hard feed (but as much haylage as they want), and all are thriving.
 
Carey, my friend's TB is more or less turned away every winter, she works long hours and can only really ride on a Sunday. Her horse reminds me a lot of Bob, I might have even said that to you before. George has front shoes on because she does take him for a plod maybe once a week. During frozen periods he is out 24/7 as the yard get so slippery and he hates being in more than overnight. He copes brilliantly, he only has fibre anyway as cereals blow his mind. He is currently in a medium weight combo and has not been anything other than toasty. He is, I'd say, a much poorer doer than Bob but he copes almost better out than in.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone, it sounds really positive :) I just now have to find somewhere offering grass livery in north Gloucestershire....hmmm.....:D
 
Carey, this is mine out 24/7 with no rug. She gets hay and a bit of chaff :)

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