Turnout opinions please!

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arthurbartha

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Hello all! I'm interested in people's opinions on turnout. My gelding has been a bit bolshy in field, think its a lack of grass or boredom but hes been bit of a pickle ill admit - not too bad but herding others up etc My yard owner has decided he needs to come out of the field and go alone in the lami paddock, about 20m x 20m with barely any grass and no friends. I've had a chat with him and he's saying this is the only option, and that hes fine there alone
. I'm very much friends forage and freedom orientated but im being made to feel like im being extra to expect turn out in a large field with herd mates. Opinions would be so appreciated!
 
Horses that push their field mates around are problem horses for yard managers. How do you balance other owners having possible injuries and the owner of the pushy horse needing herd turn out.

It’s all very well saying move, but the next yard inhabitants won’t want pushing around either. With the ground like it is now it would be easy to jar up the horses being shoved around.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
I'm afraid it sounds as if there isn't enough hay out for all the horses to share. Will the other owners share the cost?
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Sorry I don't think I have been clear enough, my horse has been removed from the herd into a small bare ish paddock and so he is alone and I am haying just his field
 
arthurbartha said:
Sorry I don't think I have been clear enough, my horse has been removed from the herd into a small bare ish paddock and so he is alone and I am haying just his field
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Yes, I am saying that shortage of grass is probably the reason he is rounding up the others in the big field.
We have a couple of mares who are extremely good friends but are having to supplement the grass with hay (and have just increased the amount) because the grass isn't enough for them. Ours are at home so we can do as we please.
 
AdorableAlice said:
Horses that push their field mates around are problem horses for yard managers. How do you balance other owners having possible injuries and the owner of the pushy horse needing herd turn out.

It’s all very well saying move, but the next yard inhabitants won’t want pushing around either. With the ground like it is now it would be easy to jar up the horses being shoved around.
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I've had him 19 years and hes never ever been like this, not sure why hes behaving like this. We've been here 8 months and was fine till recently. I was happy to try a supplement or something, I don't expect other horses to get pushed around. Some days he would graze happily, 1 or 2 days out of 7 he would behave like this. But still should there be no compromise or trying to find a solution for him? He was obviously finding the situation stressful as well. He should just be put into a small bare paddock alone?
 
Pearlsasinger said:
Yes, I am saying that shortage of grass is probably the reason he is rounding up the others in the big field.
We have a couple of mares who are extremely good friends but are having to supplement the grass with hay (and have just increased the amount) because the grass isn't enough for them. Ours are at home so we can do as we please.
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Oh sorry. This is a very large field with 20 ish horses in, no one would hay unfortunately
 
arthurbartha said:
I've had him 19 years and hes never ever been like this, not sure why hes behaving like this. We've been here 8 months and was fine till recently. I was happy to try a supplement or something, I don't expect other horses to get pushed around. Some days he would graze happily, 1 or 2 days out of 7 he would behave like this. But still should there be no compromise or trying to find a solution for him? He was obviously finding the situation stressful as well. He should just be put into a small bare paddock alone?
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the yard should provide him with grazing but they aren’t under any obligation to provide friends for him. It’s a tricky one for both parties.
 
arthurbartha said:
It is, I appreciate no one else wants there horse harassed but feel I need to advocate for my boy too. Thanks for the response
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Perhaps you need another yard where there is simply more grass for the ratio of horses grazing it? Meanwhile, try to ride him out with company as often as you can, ideally some horses from the original group, and just ensure he has plenty of attention and hay from you to ‘compensate’. Good luck
 
arthurbartha said:
It is, I appreciate no one else wants there horse harassed but feel I need to advocate for my boy too. Thanks for the response
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Rather than be an advocate, you need to establish why he is bullying others, identify the horses he is targeting, sex, age, status in the herd, vulnerability etc and determine if there’s a pattern to his behaviour. For instance is he resource guarding or has he taken a mare.

Speak to the yard manager and ask for help and guidance, there’s every chance if they can facilitate his needs they will. Just be mindful they have to ensure safety for your horse and the others, and most importantly the safety of people in the field with loose horses. There have been horrific accidents including fatalities catching up and turning out horses in the past.
 
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I don’t know where in the country you are but here in Hampshire I’ve never seen our fields so bare at this time of the year. We’re normally strip grazing with next to no hard feeds but now we’re supplementing feeds with Haylage. If your horse is hangry he’s probably better on his own with hay.
 
I have been in your position of my horse being the chaser…. My friend asked me to field share, I was not keen as she was terribly lazy about poo picking, but I said yes anyway. I did warn her that BB doesn’t share, hes very much a like other horses from the distance kind of horse! So there were two tbs in the same field.
All BB did was chase shadow around all day long and it got violent if I was in sight. Taking a horse away to ride was an even bigger nightmare.
Four weeks was enough for me. I separated the field off and gave my boy his own space again. Literally no hassle at all.
Could you separate him within the big field?
 
How about talking with the owners of the other horses to see if there’s anyone who’d put their horse in with yours. Might not be any takers if it means buying in hay but worth asking.
 
Do you have a stable?

Sounds like he is hungry.
If you have a stable I would try stabling him in the daytime with ad lib hay. Then turning out overnight?
 
AdorableAlice said:
Rather than be an advocate, you need to establish why he is bullying others, identify the horses he is targeting, sex, age, status in the herd, vulnerability etc and determine if there’s a pattern to his behaviour. For instance is he resource guarding or has he taken a mare.

Speak to the yard manager and ask for help and guidance, there’s every chance if they can facilitate his needs they will. Just be mindful they have to ensure safety for your horse and the others, and most importantly the safety of people in the field with loose horses. There have been horrific accidents including fatalities catching up and turning out horses in the past.
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It seems pretty obvious to me from OP that the root of the behaviour is a shortage of grass for the number of horses.
 
I own one who was downright nasty on group turnout when there was no grazing (& fat when there was). In my own herd with my own horses I can manage her but I have sympathy with your YO. We ended up in a separate paddock too but fortunately with a section A who was a recovering laminitic so she had company.

Are the horses in the main field all maintaining their weight OK without hay? If you are in an area where the grass isn't growing then it sounds like he's resource guarding and I'm not sure you can do much until there's more in the field. On his own with hay might suit him better for now.
 
I can see both sides of the issue. Do you think the YO sees this as a permanent change or will he be willing to try him in the herd again when there's more grass? It depends how good the yard is in other respects as to whether or not you'd want to move him- presuming there was somewhere that's a possible to move to. I know from experience that very often livery yards are Hobson's Choice. How close is he to other horses? Perhaps observe him for a few days in the small paddock and see how he is? If's he's happy with a nice supply of hay it might be better for him for a while than risking ulcers because of lack of forage going through him.
 
Its a difficult one, and being the owner of a grumpy gelding you have my sympathy. At coblets old DIY livery yard of 2 years no other owners would share with him which TBH I couldn't blame them as on track systems he would herd others and resource guard food and water. But then he was shod and ridden and stabled daily either night or day. When he retired I count myself so lucky that I've found a lady who lets me do grass livery at her home and he's out on 8 acres, barefoot with her barefoot endurance arabs and yes he's still an a$se but she takes a laidback approach that horses will be horses and there's plenty of grass and room for them to get away if needed. Our prob will come when they all come into an open barn for the winter but coblet is barely field sound and will probably be PTS before the winter :(
I would agree with another above that livery yards are often hobsons choice and its more a case of what you can live with?
 
I've always wanted my horse to have more friends than she does, she's in with one other who is timid but completely safe. We had another who bullied them both and is now in an individual field with horses all around. In weather like this, it's great to be able to give them hay and not have to feed another load of horses to ensure my own gets some. Embrace the individual turnout and feed him hay, the yard can't magically produce grass in this weather and at least he and the other horses are safe. The only caveat to this would be if the individual field is away from the other horses and he can't see any, that wouldn't be a good situation.
 
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