Turning out in groups... how many?

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I have recently looked at a new livery yard which really appeals to me - the only thing which concerns me is that there is one 20-acre field for turnout so all horses go out together (approx 10 horses I believe). I am used to turn-out being groups of 4 horses, has anyone experience of group turnout with larger groups of horses?
 
Mine are in a herd of seven; three belong to me and four belong to another girl. It works very well for all of them, and we never have any problems or squabbles. If anything, they seem to be more chilled out than they used to be, and they're much happier to lie down for a nap during the day with a bigger herd around them.
 
I've got 9 turned out together - mares and geldings - currently on 10 acres. They are in at night and out during the day. Like JJS I have actually found it is easier having them all out together rather than in two separate fields. One of the mares was very stressy if another mare was taken out of the field without here when they were split but now she doesn't mind at all.
 
I'm on a livery yard where they can have 30 out in winter turnout. I can't have my gelding with the main herd because old injuries mean he can't get out of trouble quickly - & there's a fair amount of arguing, esp when haylage bales go out. Many of the horses have back shoes on & they have had the odd nasty injury.

My friend has a herd of 40+ together! but she has a very stable herd so the hierarchy is pretty well established and a lot less arguing.

If it was a stable herd with no known kickers and lots of space then I'd be happy for mine to be out with 10.
 
I've worked on yards with about 40 turned out together, horses knew which order they would come in and pretty much line up at the gate! I've been on livery yards with herds of around 30. As long as there is enough grass and horses well socialised there shouldn't be a problem.

Now I keep horses in herds of 4 max because they are in small fields and I'm on my own getting them in, it's too difficult for me to safely deal with more than 4 horses round a gate. If I had bigger fields and a helper I would happily have them all in together.
 
I pretty much grew up on a yard that had bigger herds on larger acreage. To be honest it made life a lot easier in so many ways.
Horses were all very happy, yes the odd scuffle but not as bad as you might think.
 
12 out together at my old horses yard over about 20acres. Mares and geldings together and never any squabbles and no injuries the 5 years I was there. They loved going out together and buddied up with certain others within the group. I think it made them a lot happier to be out together, they had their routine of moving up the fields in an evening and all working their way back down in time for breakfast
 
Mine is out in a group of about 16, previously he was out in a similar size heard at previous yard. In my experience, the naughty ones who play and fight in a small herd do the same in a large herd and the ones who keep out of it, still do in a large herd. Doesn't bother me at all.
 
Mine is in a herd of about 30 mares. They are in a huge area though, so there is plenty of room for them to separate into little sub-groups. There are fairly frequent changes to the herd and mine does come in with the odd scrape, but they settle down again in a few days. And most of them live out 24/7 so they don't all mill around the gate wanting to come in. We get the odd one wanting to come in with a larger group, but they are generally easily managed. Now I've said all that I bet I have a huge problem when I go to get mine in next time!
 
Mine is in a 20 acre field with about 12 in there now. Some got moved out recently to help the grass. Works well enough only mine gets injured because he winds the others up and gets bitten for it but that is actually happening less now shockingly. Never thought he would grow out of being a mischievous git. He never harms the others.
 
My 22 year old mare has been in large herds and small ones. Definitely suited to turnout of 6-8, as when in changing field of 12 she was targeted for chasing. I actually refused to go to a new yard cos turnout was with 11 others. Finally went with field of just 5 others and no issues whatsoever. Personally with the older ones a smaller herd is essential!
 
Lévrier;13420136 said:
I have recently looked at a new livery yard which really appeals to me - the only thing which concerns me is that there is one 20-acre field for turnout so all horses go out together (approx 10 horses I believe). I am used to turn-out being groups of 4 horses, has anyone experience of group turnout with larger groups of horses?
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we have 8 horses on 4 acres but they are all in at night, as we are resting the other pair which has nice grass ready for the DEC change over 10 horses on 20 acres is good for this area, providing intro is done correctly and new horse not turned out straight away with existing ones.
 
I have nine out together and generally no problems, they have their favouite 'friends' and quite often split off into groups of three (strangely by colour!).

Established herd, no more than one change a year on average, and seem much more settled than when they were in small groups/pairs.

One thing to consider if they only have one field is the ability to manage reduced grazing/turnout for rehab or injury recovery
 
Honestly, big herd turnout is the best. I've gone to yards with smaller groups but without exception every one of my horses has been noticeably more relaxed & happier in big herds.

A PITA for owners at times in the winter around the gateway if they come in at night yes but I would never even consider groups under 6 now, wouldn't even bother viewing and have happily turned out in groups of 25+ & currently have my gelding in a group of 15+.

Consider what life would be like if you had to work in an office of 2-4 people all year round, seriously bad for the mental health:)
 
Prior to loosing my old lad, he was in a field of 17 geldings, some of which came in at nights.

My mare is in a herd of 7, 2 of which come in at nights.

The riding stables I used to work at had 20+ in a mixed field at one point.

I much prefer bigger herds.
 
I was on a yard with 25 acres with 18 horses of a mixed herd and the horse I had had been the boss in the field at every other yard, I was a bit worried when I first put him out he was totally on the defensive but had about 8 mares following him around from the off, he had a few scraps with the herd leader on the first morning but after that they settled down and they both became the best of pals and ruled the field together, every new horse that came is put into a small field within the larger one so the horses can meet each other over the fence first, and the whole time I was there I can honestly say there were hardly any horses being kicked by others compared to other yards with smaller field set ups, I would definitely do it again the horses had a very natural life and all seemed very happy.
 
I'm on a yard with a mixed herd of 17 during the day and 4 out at night (due to problems such as COPD etc)
There are less problems than you might think. Most even have back shoes. You get the odd cut from a squabble, usually when introducing a new horse. We've never had anything sinister in the 15 years I've been there apart from once, where a horse had broken its leg and the vet had to put it down there and then in the field. But the vet and owner reviewed the skid marks and injury and it was actually deemed that he'd probably slipped and skidded rather then been kicked.

I have a friend who went to get hers in once when it was on individual turnout on another yard and she thinks that it had gotten upset by another horse coming in and being alone and had been running around. She found it dead as it had skidded and impaled itself with its own hooves bent into its girth/abdomen. Accidents will happen with horses (don't we all know it) I personally believe, regardless of how many horses they are out with.
 
Had one of mine with anything from one horse to fourteen and it was always fine. I love seeing horses out in big groups. So many opportunities for them to form bonds, play, groom etc.
 
Mine is out with 9 others, not that big a field at the moment but they get split up into differant fields for summer.

It seems to work, they all buddy up and everything is calm I have to say. My mare has one horse she doesn't get on with, they are even stabled next to eachother. They just keep out of eachothers way tbh.

I am lucky, my mare isn't a bully but she won't be bullied. I have never seen her kick another horse, I have seen her threaten and that's usually enough but none of them seem to go out looking for trouble.

Our field is through a big door in the stable block, they all come in loose and they all know what time they come in at so mine and her mate hang back as they know they are last in at night.
 
Our yard has 13 horses (all geldings). They're split 6 & 7 in the winter and the two herds merge on the hay fields once the hay has been cut. We never have any problems. They all get on really well. When they all merge they tend to keep to their own herds to begin with but mix in gradually. We then have them all calling to each other the first day they split up for winter as they miss each other! As long as they have plenty of space, lots of horses together isn't a problem
 
I wish I could find a livery that did group turn out. Round here it's all individual turn out in small fields with electric tape fencing. I think it's sad that they can't interact with others, I know there's risk but I think it's worth it to have happy sociable horses.
 
If its a massive field where they don't get bored and hover at gates it should be fine.

Only hassle with big herds i had was on a non-massive field where they all had a long haylage feeder at the gate. There was hardstanding for a few feet but after that it was very poached. Mine kept coming in with injuries as they couldn't move fast enough in the mud to avoid kicks etc. Was a nightmare bringing in a horse if they all followed too. I've had more injuries in bigger herds than smaller, but i asumed it was because the bigger herd was getting more new members and stuff.

There a big difference between a big herd is a large enough stimulating environment, and a big herd in a flat turnout paddock.
 
I have 5 mares and 2 geldings and they are all turned out together. When one of my geldings was first born I kept him and his Mum sectioned off for a while because he was such a tiddler (6hh at birth) and I was worried about him getting hurt! But I gradually integrated them back in to the herd. I much prefer them being altogether and could spend hours watching them interact with each other.
 
I've known more horses injure themselves on individual turnout or pairs than in a herd! I used to have 2 in a mixed herd of 12. Now I have my own field with 4- 2 geldings, 2 mares. Big herds are great for a variety of interactions and friends. Less likely to get over attached to one other horse.

I would just want to ensure there were not too many changes to the herd too often
 
We bought a horse from a huge livery yard near Bradford, where there were 50+ horses, turned out in two herds, mares and geldings. The one we bought was thin, with trashed rugs and was covered with bite marks. There was little grass, and hay was in big round bale feeders - he obviously wasn't getting a chance to eat.

We put our herd of 5-7 out together this summer in a 20 acre field. One of them took it upon himself to have a herd of one - and I couldn't catch either of them. He just took his mate away from me the whole time, in walk, and I couldn't get near either of them, on occasions for several days.

It was great watching them interact and form relationships but I would be very wary of a constantly changing population, altering the hierarchy - when one of mine went out for the day on a fun ride, he had to careful reinsert himself into the herd, as alliances had altered while he'd been away. I would also be very scared of the risk of damage - particularly to other people's horses and rugs. One of mine has totally destroyed 4 rugs this summer, that were on other horses - it would have cost me a fortune if I had to replace with new for someone else!
 
My old horse was out with a group of about 25 mixed mares and geldings. Sometimes it was OK, sometimes it was a nightmare. There was hardly a time he didn't have some scuffs or scrapes. The herd wasn't stable though, as there were always lots of changes with the riding school horses.

The school stopped turnout after they lost *another* horse to a field accident (broken shoulder).
 
Old yard had separate mares and geldings- over 50 geldings and about 30 mares. Total nightmare for one of mine who came in injured every day because he loved to play rough and gallop about like an idiot. He's now on a private yard and out with my mare, just the two of them. I couldn't go back to herd turnout with this horse, purely from a trying to keep him sound point of view.
 
We have approximately 25 turned out together in a mixed herd they all know there place and there are very little arguments, when the hay is put out we drop a pile for each horse and a couple of extra of the back of a truck. The only time we see fighting is when a new horse comes but we spend a lot of time slowly introducing them they might get a hard time for the first few days but they soon settle down.

I think it is wonderful to watch the horses living as a herd interacting with each other as they should.
 
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