turning out in mud or staying in?

Mine all had huge fun digging out a slight dip in the field until it was almost a pond................and then rolling in it. It's probably hard to divorce your own dislike from the feelings of horses but my lot were happy as could be in it. Me less so because it is difficult to see the land really recovering at this moment in time, but it will.
 
My 5yo is keen to get out every morning, but my 3pm he will stand by the gate wanting to come in. My old boy is having a bit of a miserable time - he has a paddock to himself to manage his lammi but we're on clay soil and it's a bog pit. He still drags me to it in the morning but I feel sorry for him, despite his adlib hay and turnout socks it can't be nice standing in mud all day. I'm also having to walk him around on an evening because he can't move across the paddock easily due to the amount of mud, which is making his arthritis worse. Trying to come up with a better solution for him.
 
Ive one horse & 2 donks living out 24/7 on approx 5 acres that is normally well draining (river runs along field!!). The field atm is absolutely sodden & just water lying everywhere. Horse much prefers to live out but if this weather continues he is going to have to come in, it's getting too wet.

There is the mud as well but it's just by gate/shelter/Haylage bale so can't do much about that. But the ground can't take anymore rain!

Horse is always found in middle of field when it's pouring rain, he doesn't appear to notice or care that it's raining lol. He also takes himself into the river at least once a day to play in so he's obviously truly irish and relishes rain/water :p or maybe he just wants to be a sea horse :p
 
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My old pensioner mare - 25 years old went out at 8.30 and was by gate screaming by 9.30 so I guess that was a NO I do not want to be out! I still have two oldies and 3 youngsters out 24/7 but they have been rushing to the gate the last few days so they will come in tomorrow. My warmbloods hate cold and wet and would rather be in 24/7 than out. I do get them all out in sand corrale's or on walker every day -even field if it is dry enough but I see no need to trash fields in this weather,
 
My HW cob has never seemed to mind being in, but now he is out full time due to ROA he is much happier. I had him in the barn during the last storm and he was clearly glad to be there, but as soon as the weather improved he was hanging around the gate yelling to get out. I think his companion would rather be in, he's always the first one in the shelter in the rain when my cob is out in the middle of the field ignoring it, but since his job is being a companion he has to put up with it!

That said, I moved them yesterday from the bog they have been living in (is a field in theory, but with the current weather I think bog is a better description) to a higher, stony, well-drained and currently mud-free field and they were gambling about like yearlings so I think its fair to say the mud wasn't thrilling them either.
 
Mare will go out with others but in this weather it's obvious she is happier in the stable as she goes to sleep bum to the door . She never yells to come in but will drag you up to the stable in wet windy weather. Maybe as she is a ex polo pony she is more used to only doing stuff in decent weather..! Her all weather turnout looks worse than the resting soggy fields!!
 
I used to hate having to put mine out in fields that were deep mud all the way through and no grass, she'd much rather have stayed in or had an hour in the school. I've been incredibly lucky for the past few years with where I've kept her and she has been able to live out with plenty of grass all year round. Even this year, which is the wettest I've ever seen it, we have plenty of grass and don't need to worry about mud. It is very wet and muddy in the passageway up to the field and then we practically have to swim through the gateway, but once in she then has access to 9 acres of well draining moorland, shared with one other horse, two miniature shetlands, and a small flock of sheep. There is plenty of grass and the field itself is not muddy at all, only the gateway. I thank my lucky stars every day!
 
I thank all gods for our sand and rubber arena, which means that we can keep ours out of the muck and able to have a mooch about and a roll. We have 5 in total, so everyone gets at least 8 hours out every day/night in groups of 2 or 3, plus whatever work they are doing. I also let some out up our 500m driveway for a pick at the grass that is there.
 
We're on horrid clay so it's pretty muddy for 5 months of the year :( They go out daily for as long as they want. When it's really bad they just go in the arena while being mucked out.
 
I have shut the fields today.
They have plenty of grass but they are running in water and the horses are just running about and wanting to come in, then when they do they are plastered in mud and I fear for tendon/ ligament issues after my dressage horse slid to a halt in the mud and did a check ligament.
Our arena sems OK although more squelchy than usual.
We are moving premises in Saturday where the fields are well drained and the luxury of an Indoor walker and indoor turn out so they can stay in the rest of the week.
I don't want to leave my current yard in a muddy mess.
 
Our two are still out 24/7 Tb x Kwpn and Tb x ID they have access to a dry, dbl. stable with a deep bed, adlib hay under an overhang on a concrete yard and a paddock accessed by a stone track - paddock still has an acre of standing hay, I move the fence everyday so they have a 'fresh ' grazing strip.
We are on a moor and the weather has been rough; when its lashing down they spend most of their time in the shelter of the building (but actually outside of it!); when it stops raining they either venture up the field or go inside for a kip.
We are managing ok, but have no school so haven't ridden in weeks. I really feel for those still dealing with flooding.
 
I made a cheap all weather turn out in the summer. I used rubble & membrane we had left over from other work & woodchip free from a tree surgeon.
Oh my word am I glad I did.

I don't mind turning horses out in bad weather but I see little point in turning them out in fetlock deep mud.

The woodchip is in the corner of one of the fields. Well when I say field I mean the sloppy mud pit of doom 😞. Whereas the woodchip is amazing, not in the slightest bit sloppy. Even if the whole field is open they are tending to loiter on the woodchip nibbling on Haylage, preferring to be out of the mud.

At the moment they are going out in their 'pairs' for a couple of hours a day (often just on the woodchip) & being worked. Their stables have half height wall sections so they can touch/groom etc & I'm burning through Haylage at a scary rate.

The good news is though all my spring/summer/Autumn fields looks fabulous 😊
 
I try to turn my retired WB out each day which so far this winter has been achievable. We live in Kent thus weather has been good. The Irish sport horse hates the rain and wants to be back in the stable. This horse loves his creature comforts. The Section D is in the top field which is windy and gates being out in driving rain.
Due to torrential rain all day, all three stayed in and seemed quite content. This is the first time this winter they have had a PJ day.
 
Our fields are sodden. While we've been off for Christmas we've been able to turn out for the morning and bring it at lunch time. It's going to be tricky from tomorrow, I turn out at 7am and friend brings in at 4:30ish. Ours will be thoroughly fed up by then, my friends horse will have paced and trashed the field and mine will go through the electric fence.
So...the plan is I turn out at 7am and my friend (who starts work a little later) brings in at 8:30am. It's not long but at least they get some grass and social time and aren't out long enough to cause trouble.
 
My Welsh D mare has early-stages arthritis and she visibly struggles to get through the muddy gateway.

Traddie cob canters through it like an idiot tho'. I have the advantage of having my own yard, and own land, so don't need to worry about trashing someone else's field! - or any livery yard restrictions. Sheep will be grazing the field in the near future, so any trashing will be trodden in by the sheep when they arrive.

The other morning I turned both horses out in a field which is large enough to not be too poached up, apart from the entrance and exit route to it. I thought they'd be OK and that I wouldn't be seeing them till the evening which is their supper time, and got on with putting down clean bedding, haynetting etc - they can see what I'm doing in the yard from the field.

Within just a couple of hours, both horses had made their way back up to the gate and were standing, very clearly "asking" to be allowed to stand in their Holding Pen, which is a little concrete area where they can stand on hard ground, chomp hay and chill out. There is a hedgerow they can pick at, and a small bit of grass.

I let them come back away from the swamp.

They've been on hard standing now for three days; both are becoming increasingly whizzy to ride, so am hoping that there will be a day during this week when I can chuck them back out; don't want either of them hooning around in the mud and either injuring themselves, or losing shoes, or both.... :(

Am sharing everyone else's dilemma basically. In or out, its just so hard to get it right.
 
My mares have been in for a week... Praying for a decent couple of days so we can get back into our normal routine.

Being stabled even though exercised every day hasn't helped my TBs sticky stifle one little bit :(

Todays rain won't have helped though.

Pony doesn't mind so he has been out...

Fiona
 
if it is any consolation we have the same atrocious weather here in north west Spain.

my two are out 24/7 in a small winter paddock with field shelter. they go over to a large mud free field in the day for grazing but there is no shelter whatsoever, and they either end up feral with the wind or totally miserable in the rain.

in dreadful weather like today, torrential rain and gales, we keep them in the winter paddock but they dont move from their shelter all day. however, the whole area is outside the shelter is a mud bog, so tomorrow, with the winds quieter they are going out to their grazing field even if just for a couple of hours.

it is really tough to know what to do. i have just spent the past few months improving my mares previously contracted feet and getting on top of thrush, so i want her moving around and not standing in mud/poo/urine all day. flipping rain! this is supposed to be 'sunny spain'! ;)
 
My loan mare is an absolute duvet kind of girl ... If I let her, she would stay in her stable 24/7 with her Hay/Haylage! 🙈 After I've ridden her I'll rug her up and put her in the fields with the others from purple yard ans she will stand and the gate for ages wanting to come back I her stable, after about 20/25 mins she gives in, goes for a drink and a roll and she's happy in the field again. ... She's a funny one! 😂
 
Mine wishes to be out in all weathers mud or no mud. As long as there's hay and friends and he's dry under his rug then he's happy. Have resigned myself to not actually seeing what colour his legs are for several months yet as he lives out (plenty of trees and hedges for shelter). Did think about having him in for a few hours in the dry today (he had a rather damp neck after our hack... nice and dry everywhere else though courtesy of exercise sheet) but someone else had beaten me to it and claimed the spare stable so back out he went.
 
I used to leave mine in on hideous days, but since she has a cribbing neighbour she hates an has had ulcers, she started stressing in the stable so now goes out with half a bale of hay onto her paddock; individual turnout, about 20m by 25m. Waterlogged and corners are muddy, but she is better off out with hay than in kicking walls.
 
My Westphalian mare leaves me in no doubt that she dislikes inclement weather. She turns her ears sideways to stop the rain going in! On one occasion she managed to sideswipe me with her bum in the gateway and leg it back into her stable!
iShe has an incredibly thick coat, we have had to give her a bib clip, because in the very mild temps she has been sweating in the stable overnight. She has developed a fungal infection on her back legs and undercarriage, which fortunately has responded to Teatree oil spray, so at least we haven't needed a Christmas vet visit this year.
Yesterday, I was trying to get rid of some of her coat with a shedding blade prior to putting her out to join her field mate, who has the next stable. Every time I was ready to put the blade away, she started to nibble at an itch somewhere else, we laughed at her as we were sure she was just trying to delay going out in the rain! She is a very wily old thing!
Even the youngsters (4 & 5 yr old) are ready to come in after a couple of hours outside, in fact they are trying to get back thorugh the gate as we put them out.
I have never seen our sloping fields so wet, we are in a catchment area for a reservoir but the water is meant to run off our fields, not hang around as if we are grwong rice. We have resorted to mucking out our shavings beds onto the track to the fields, so that we don't have to use the snorkel. In fact we have put every-one onto shavings since we have lost so much straw to the weather, it is more expensive but not asw bad as throwing the straw straight onto the muckheap without putting it in the stables and one of the Appaloosas was beginning to cough, so it is better all round.
 
Yet again I'm so thankful for our road planings turnout pen that leads off our yard. Our horses are spending 8 hrs a day on that with haynets, so they can mooch around all day. The stables and yard shelter them from driving rain. They have a couple of afternoons in the field to roll and get some grass. The fields are boggy. Our summer field has a stream that is 2' wide in it. For the past month it's been about 20' wide.
 
I'm very lucky that we have a stubble field next to our winter paddocks. We've fenced it off this year and it is allowing each group of horses a few hours turnout each day so that they don't go crazy. its so miserable outside that they are waiting at the gate after 2 hours, even my pony who is usually out 24/7! The forecast for the end of the week/next week looks good, so hopefully we'll be back on grass soon.
 
it is just relentless this rain!

My main chap is at a friends yard living in as his frogs just turned to crap, thankfully a week on he is much improved...but turning him out now would be asking for trouble. I duly got a stable up the road but he refused to settle in it and that was with his herd in the field! Miniatures and oldie have been in for several nights just to dry them out and now out together in a field which is marshy but good grass covering as opposed to standing in mud all day.....joyous...
 
katymay said:
Felt awful putting the boys out in torrential rain this morning into a field that is becoming muddy, slim picking grass, blowing a holey!
Very nearly caved and chucked them back in but held it together and rain now stopped! I've put hay out but it's untouched so they must be finding something.
If yours had a choice do you think they are happy to go out despite knee deep mud or would they prefer to stay in with a constant supply of hay?Thank goodness I choose to remove Jesters shoes before Xmas.
Very nearly caved and bought yet another rug today as I feel sorry for them :)
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Ours like to go out every day ( and they do ) but they are equally happy coming in earlier if raining, as long as they have a few hours out.
 
Ours go out every day and seem perfectly happy. I spent an hour yesterday afternoon trudging round the field playing hide and seek with Monty's tailbag. Danny wasn't much help but it was nice to have a little blonde shadow everywhere I went, I love that pony! It was about 3.30 and they'd been out since 8 but they were still off grazing happily although one or two others were at the gate waiting to come in.

It's on a hill and is usually very well draining but it's awful out there. It was really hard work to get through it, I either slipped or nearly lost a welly about 8 times. Normally about 20m around the gate is like this but it's almost the whole field. The bottom third isn't too bad, they're obviously no going down there so much, it's a different, rougher grass down there and they're obviously not so keen on it so it's not all churned up there. There's still a fair bit of grass out there, it's just getting so churned up. We've only got another few weeks on this field thankfully, then they move to the top (even higher) field which has only had sheep on it on and off since May so should be lots of grass up there. I haven't been up there this year yet but hopefully that's a bit drier.
 
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