Turning out on a hill. Good or bad?

T

Tangaroo

Well-Known Member
Joined
31 December 2005
Messages
2,534
Visit site
I just wondered, how many peoples fields are on a hill? I seem to have problem after problem with all my horses and my field is on a hill. I know some of the problems have been caused by accidents but just wondered if having a flat field would actually keep my horses in one piece. I cringe when i see them racing around and sliding down the hill in the mud. One boy has actually got bilateral PSD from falling in the field and now the other one is broken too
 
Our winter grazing has some gentle slopes which is a good thing imo as it helps drainage. The summer field has a virtual cliff running along one side, not quite vertical but very steep. I have seen them come charging down it and sometimes wonder if it's a bad idea to graze it. On the other hand it has helped the balance and coordination of a completely idiotic youngster who has no idea where his legs are. There are horses who will break themselves even on flat grazing, so the jury is out for me!
 
Hills are good for them. They learn balance and self preservation.

IMO part of the reason horses break more easily nowadays is because we seem obsessed with raising them in flat fields with no obstacles that challenge them as youngsters. Thats why Horses from Ireland always seemed to have an extra leg likewise those raised on farms over here . Mine have to muck it with all sorts of obstacles never done them any harm.
 
Last edited:
Mine winter on a really steep hill with no issues. Are yours only out for a set time? I think that is more likely to be a contributory cause than the hill itself.
 
I can see why you would be concerned.

Mine have been kept for twenty five years on a steep hill. I've never had an injury I could put down to being on the hill.

I have had a sacroiliac injury caused by 'sitting down' on a road due to a sliding halt. When they do that on a hill, they don't sit down nearly as badly, so you'd be more likely to get that sort of injury in a flat field. I think it's probably swings and roundabouts for field injuries on flat vs hills.
 
ycbm said:
I can see why you would be concerned.

Mine have been kept for twenty five years on a steep hill. I've never had an injury I could put down to being on the hill.

I have had a sacroiliac injury caused by 'sitting down' on a road due to a sliding halt. When they do that on a hill, they don't sit down nearly as badly, so you'd be more likely to get that sort of injury in a flat field. I think it's probably swings and roundabouts for field injuries on flat vs hills.
Click to expand...

Steep hills do cause injuries, if horses are inclined to charge about after heavy rain.

After my (living out) horse has twice re-aggravated his long standing SI injury charging down steep hills in the mud, I don’t turn him out on steep hills any more.

It took 9 months to rehab the second time!

He was living out, with his friend, with adlib hay at the top of the field, I was doing something, at the top of the field, we’d had several days of heavy rain, even the sandy field was saturated (drains pretty fast). Horse galloped straight down steep part of hill, skidding in the mud at the bottom to stop. Now reason, his friend didn’t join in. Just because he could!!

I’m a huge believer in working horses on a variety of gradients and surfaces to cross train, teach balance, and keep sound.

But I wont turn my big horse out on a steep hill again, not worth it if he cant be sensible in the wet!!

The converse is that hill turnout is great for keeping muscle on horses, and same horse did six months of field rest on a steep hill, spring to autumn (a few years earlier) and kept a great amount of muscle.

I used to be on a yard where some of the winter fields were on a steep hill, and over the years, there were too many winter hill and mud related injuries. Horses turned out on a wet, steep hill, seem to lose their quality of movement and start bracing, IMO
 
Thanks everyone. My horses do seem to hoon around only in the winter. I am thinking of moving them next winter to 24 hr turnout and just keep them at home in the spring /summer
 
Horses hurt themselves all the time. A friend of mine found her two year old in a nearly flat field dead with a broken neck.

I wonder how many hills are being blamed for injuries that horses will give themselves anywhere except in the modern 1/4 acre individual turnout pens?

And how many exercise related injuries are caused by not providing sufficient conditioning in the turnout?

I don't suppose we'll ever know, really.

I only know that my one example of an SI injury sat on the road with me on him, was lame on and off for weeks while we tried field rest, put him on box rest and after a week he escaped me while hand grazing, jumped the gate into the field off a concrete yard, ran for ten (timed) minutes non stop around and around the hill field, came in dripping with sweat, with a big cheeky 'that showed you!' grin on his face, and was never troubled by it again. Horses, eh?!
 
Last edited:
My horses moved in November to grazing livery in 22 acres of land that is full of some really steep hills. I do wince a bit when they come flying full pelt to greet me but they have honestly never been better for it. The old boy is generally moving so much better and when a friend rode my youngster at the weekend she commented on how much more balanced he felt.
 
My lovely TB tore his supraspinous ligament in his back from galloping flat out down a steep hill in the snow and skidding to a halt at the bottom. I knew I shouldn't have turned him out there but it was too slippy to get to his normal field. I learnt a valuable lesson from that - horse never came right and he was the one that had the potential to be my horse of a lifetime. If your horse is sensible and happy in the stable and the field conditions are too dangerous then keep them in until its safe enough to turn them out!!!
 
Horses will hurt themselves regardless, it seems that's all they ever aim to do! Mine are turned out in their own individual paddocks, and if Small grey didn't come in first he would certainly do himself an injury!
 
Ours live on a hill, and hack out on hills. When we watch them in the field they use tracks to get around like sheep do hugging the contours, and they seem to only really let rip along certain pathways - they know the field well and have different areas for different activities. They are also pretty sensible when it comes to going up and down hills under saddle, they know how to balance and use their feet from their turnout.
 
Mine are out 24/7 on a steep hill and no issues. They career around quite a lot judging by the long skidmarks in the field. - They do seem to hoon around more in winter than summer but that has been the same regardless of what field they have. I've had bigger fields, smaller paddocks, flat and on hills.
 
Mine has been turned out on hills of varying steepness ever since I got her, 16 years ago, and she's never had an injury or problem related to the turnout. However, she lives out so is not prone to charging around like a wild thing or doing acrobatics on the hillside!
 
We have a steep hill but now keep that for less wet seasons after a few horses fell - thankfully uninjured. In summer they charge around it and even when it's raining they are fine, but when the hill gets churned by incessant cold/wet winter weather the ground becomes unpredictable and while most of the horses walk for the treacherous sections, two (over 3 years) managed to lose their footing and slide a long way, one of them ending under a fence. That was the last straw. So big YES to hill when ground has enough purchase, but from me its a NO when the conditions are treacherous.
 
ycbm said:
Horses hurt themselves all the time. A friend of mine found her two year old in a nearly flat field dead with a broken neck.

I wonder how many hills are being blamed for injuries that horses will give themselves anywhere except in the modern 1/4 acre individual turnout pens?

And how many exercise related injuries are caused by not providing sufficient conditioning in the turnout?

I don't suppose we'll ever know, really.?!
Click to expand...

I'd love to know why my 18 year old, long backed, weak SI horse, who lived out and was generally sensible, thought galloping down a steep steep hill in field after 2 days of heavy rain was a good idea! He seemed to enjoy the skidding.

After two hill related injuries, after heavy rain, I refused steep hill turnout in winter, and have had no repeat injuries of this kind. I have also seen a number of specific steep hill, wet related injuries at that yard.

I am all for varied terrain large field turnout. And varied terrain hacking promoting soundness, and teaching a horse a good awareness of his feet and to deal with rough doing. But I think you take your chances turning large horses out on very steep, wet, slippery fields. Especially horses with known weaknesses such as SI weakness.
 
Horses that live out 24/7 and are not shod and have electric perimeters (actual electric not just bits of flapping tape) have far less injuries than any other combination of care, in my opinion.
 
There's 4 cob colts who live on a pretty steep hill behind my horse's yard, they seem perfectly safe and happy. They live pretty much as Ffion Winnie describes :)
 
I would never turn out on a steep hill again. My youngster who I bought for dressage slipped and fell coming down a hill and damaged his sacroiliac joint and nerve damage. He is now only a hack/low level riding club horse. I think Ponies cope better than large horse but he was also a Warmblood and seemed to lack self-preservation.
 
I would never turn out on a steep hill again. My youngster who I bought for dressage slipped and fell coming down a hill and damaged his sacroiliac joint and nerve damage. He is now only a hack/low level riding club horse. I think Ponies cope better than large horse but he was also a Warmblood and seemed to lack self-preservation.
 
tallyho! said:
Flat....... fields.........?

What are those?
Click to expand...

I've moved my horse from edges of peak district where there weren't any flat fields to turn out in, to Lincolnshire, which is flat, flat, flat! My mare's field has a bank in it from when it was used for xc, and she spends her a lot of her time stood on it, so i think she misses the hills!
 
Our flatter field, is not flat :) The younger pair are on the steepest field and have worked out how to use the terain, it keeps them fit and helps them to learn to balance. Having said that they are unshod and we have electric fencing inside the dry stone walls, which avoids some of the possible problems. What I would never have again is turnout/field that has a drop onto a road, we lost our first horse many years ago with that arrangement and when we were looking for this place that was one of the things that crossed a place of the possible list, we looked at one where the fields were above the house and we really did not fancy the (then ) Clydie landing in the bedrooms!
 
sz90168 said:
I would never turn out on a steep hill again. My youngster who I bought for dressage slipped and fell coming down a hill and damaged his sacroiliac joint and nerve damage. He is now only a hack/low level riding club horse. I think Ponies cope better than large horse but he was also a Warmblood and seemed to lack self-preservation.
Click to expand...

Just reinforces my views on how most dressage bred dumbloods are brought up im afraid.
 
Well thank goodness all wild horses are on flat pastures or horses would be extinct by now.

Horses will injure themselves in all circumstances. My mare fell catastrophically and died in our only flat paddock.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top