Turnout restrictions in winter

[jehsb]

Having always had my horses on diy yards where they are turned out from about 6am until 5/6pm every day in the winter I was wondering if it has just become the norm on yards nowdays where winter turnout is much less than this ? Currently they are getting about 6/7 hours out per day but I am struggling in my head to be happy with this (should add that both horses are also worked pretty much every day, even if its just a 20/30 minute leg stretch in the evening).

 

[Lipglosspukka]

6/7 hours is absolutely fine. I wouldn't lose sleep over that.

 

[jehsb]

6/7 hours is absolutely fine. I wouldn't lose sleep over that.

Thank you

 

[AmyMay]

6/7 hours is absolutely fine. I wouldn't lose sleep over that.

I absolutely agree. And for many horses during the winter this is ample.

 

[JoannaC]

Agree i'd be fine with that, mine can choose for themselves and they are very much choosing to be in more than out.

 

[jehsb]

I absolutely agree. And for many horses during the winter this is ample.

Thank you, think i just needed someone else to tell me it is if that makes sense !

 

[dogatemysalad]

My expectations seem to fall with every passing year. I've been shocked after moving to different areas, that yards seem to follow localised trends regarding what they offer.
From taking it for granted that my horses would be out for 12 hours a day through winter, I'm now at the point where I'm pathetically grateful for any time in the field.
This year was the hardest. No weekend turnout during jan and Feb, and on some days, we were thankful for one hour.
Livery yards do seem to maximise the number of liveries they take, knowing that the land can't cope. Don't know what the answer is, beyond legislation and an increase in livery costs.
My horses saving grace, is that I am able to exercise him twice a day when stabled, but when the field gates are opened, hell, he's out there and I don't interfere with his time out during the most restrictive times.

 

[jehsb]

Agree i'd be fine with that, mine can choose for themselves and they are very much choosing to be in more than out.

Thank you, i would love for them to have the choice then i could stop worrying !

 

[jehsb]

My expectations seem to fall with every passing year. I've been shocked after moving to different areas, that yards seem to follow localised trends regarding what they offer.
From taking it for granted that my horses would be out for 12 hours a day through winter, I'm now at the point where I'm pathetically grateful for any time in the field.
This year was the hardest. No weekend turnout during jan and Feb, and on some days, we were thankful for one hour.
Livery yards do seem to maximise the number of liveries they take, knowing that the land can't cope. Don't know what the answer is, beyond legislation and an increase in livery costs.
My horses saving grace, is that I am able to exercise him twice a day when stabled, but when the field gates are opened, hell, he's out there and I don't interfere with his time out during the most restrictive times.

It does unfortunately seem to have become more acceptable for yards to offer much less turnout, I am not sure what the answer is either but I would happily pay more for a yard to not be overstocked.

 

[PSD]

6-7 hours is a lot more than most livery yards offer in my area. You’re lucky if you find a yard near me with anywhere to let them have a run in winter let alone actual turnout!

 

[jehsb]

6-7 hours is a lot more than most livery yards offer in my area. You’re lucky if you find a yard near me with anywhere to let them have a run in winter let alone actual turnout!

I find it sad that it is becoming more common to hear this nowdays

 

[Lipglosspukka]

I find it sad that it is becoming more common to hear this nowdays

Me too. Turnout is just so, so important. I would sooner not keep a horse than keep him on such minimal/non existent turnout.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

One of my horses wont turnout in winter. I'm lucky to have access to all day unlimited turnout but he just hates it. A local livery yard also offers all day turnout in winter, your paddock is your own to wreck as you see fit but it's that muddy a lot of people dont turn out as it's too dangerous to walk your horse to the field.

 

[Sprat]

Livery yards do seem to maximise the number of liveries they take, knowing that the land can't cope.

I think you have hit the nail on the head here. Our yard (part and full livery) is generally very good, but ultimately there are too many horses and not sufficient land for the amount of turnout that I would like.

Don't get me wrong, the horses are usually out everyday in winter, but with wet winters and poached fields the YM has been keeping in on days that it chucks it down, though we do have a walker so it's not as bad as it could be. It did irk me the other day mind you when none of the horses got turned out despite the weather being decent, because a lot of the yard had the dentist so they kept all in for ease...

The horses are generally out from 08:00 - 15:00 / 16:00 in winter, and we'll swap over to summer turnout (so in during the day, out at night) as soon as the ground dries up a bit. I am longing for summer turnout, as I imagine most of us are.

ETA - there is a large polo / livery yard a mile down the road from us that offers NO turnout from September - April. Madness in my eyes!

 

[PSD]

I find it sad that it is becoming more common to hear this nowdays

Yep me too, we don’t have much on my yard but we have some. It’s better than most

 

[teddy_]

6 to 7 hours seems ample to me. I would be jumping up and down if my horse had access to this in the winter months.

My current yard offer no turnout between November - end of March. Just one muddy paddock on an incline which I can only liken to The Somme, between 20 horses. Needless to say, this is completely unsuitable for any horse that might suffer with mud fever or tend to career around. After one winter and a horse that is positively boiling over, I have decided to move as I am not doing that again.

I really wish people would stop normalising horses not leaving their stables for anything other than exercise. IMO, a horse with no access to liberty is not going to be a happy horse .

 

[awelshandawarmblood]

I've moved from 3 yards as they were offering so little (5hrs max) winter turnout with weeks on end with none if the weather was particularly bad. I do the extra mileage now but both mine live out 24/7 with shelters & I have stables if needed.

I understand most aren't so lucky & all situations are different but I think it's inexcusable to have them locked in all day everyday bar a spin on a walker or lunge, I can't see it's mentally or physically accessible - not down to owners choice, but more so yards overstocking or not wanting their pretty fields getting mucky.

 

[fredflop]

My horse seemed to much prefer being in the stable with plenty of hay with turnout in an all weather pen for a couple of hours, to being in a field with very little to eat for the majority of the day

 

[AdorableAlice]

This comment says it all and evidences the total lack of respect and understanding of land management undertaken by yards/land owners to facilitate liveries.

 

[Dexter]

My horse seemed to much prefer being in the stable with plenty of hay with turnout in an all weather pen for a couple of hours, to being in a field with very little to eat for the majority of the day

Those arent the only two options though

 

[spotty_pony]

Mine are at home and I have them out for around 7 hours per day at the moment and over the worst of the winter they went out for 4 hours per day with the odd day in in extremely bad weather. They are more than happy with this. They are always ready to come in for their dinner! They will be out 24/7 for the summer when the weather allows and the grass starts to pick up but I think they will be in at night for a few more weeks yet.

 

[sport horse]

How much would you all be prepared to pay for a stable, manege and unlimited turnout and how far from your homes would you be prepared to travel and how frequently. ie. Can you really do DIY livery or do you need services as and when? No feed, forage,bedding or assistance?

 

[ihatework]

God, I’d be over the moon to have 6/7 hours of turnout every day in the winter. To be honest, provided the horse is worked hard enough, 4 hours is generally adequate - I often find they are very settled on a half day turnout. But then any non working horse I have I try very hard to have out 24/7 - that is getting very difficult to find on good ground

 

[Flowerofthefen]

My horse seemed to much prefer being in the stable with plenty of hay with turnout in an all weather pen for a couple of hours, to being in a field with very little to eat for the majority of the day

My horse is the same. Sometimes he will only tolerate 10 mins out. I've decided to go with with his decision rather than worry about it anymore. After all surely if the horse wants to be in with hay and dry stable as opposed to being out in fetlock deep mud, no grass, in all weathers just because its deemed necessary to turn your horse out whatever then I'm hapoy for him to make his own decision and stay in!!

 

[ihatework]

How much would you all be prepared to pay for a stable, manege and unlimited turnout and how far from your homes would you be prepared to travel and how frequently. ie. Can you really do DIY livery or do you need services as and when? No feed, forage,bedding or assistance?

The best yard I was on (moved out of the area and this is the only thing I miss) was £78/week pure DIY and £103/week assisted to include hay and one side of day done.

Beautifully run yard, turnout was 6/7 hours a day in winter and I was happy to pay. It was a 28 box yard and they rarely had an empty stable

 

[chaps89]

How much would you all be prepared to pay for a stable, manege and unlimited turnout and how far from your homes would you be prepared to travel and how frequently. ie. Can you really do DIY livery or do you need services as and when? No feed, forage,bedding or assistance?

Last yard I paid £25 per week stable and grazing, 10 mins from home but pure DIY unless I paid a freelancer and no school or much in the way of hacking. But stable was massive (15 X 10) and stayed cool in summer and field was mine to do as I wished so I set aside money for harrowing and rolling come spring. That meant she was out at night all year round so from 5pm to 8am.

She's now 45 mins from home and I pay approx £300 A month for a freelancer as it's too far to go twice daily and there's no onsite assistance, my livery has also more than doubled. She's currently out from about 8am to 5 or 6pm and in summer can swap to overnight turnout if I wish. The move meant I also have a school and great hacking so it's worth every penny to me. I wouldn't have done it if turnout had been compromised though.

I think the other thing about turnout is it's not the length of time but quality as well. I wouldn't turn out into mud pits, small over grazed and over populated fields with no shelter are not acceptable in my view for proper turnout. I don't think I would have horses if that's all that was available to me, that said I am prepared, and fortunately able, to travel and pay more to avoid that.

 

[Ranyhyn]

Lucky enough to have mine at home where they live out almost 24/7 apart from truly inclement weather or if I have them in to dry off in order to ride.

If I was at livery I wouldn't be too dismayed at 6-7 hours. In an ideal world obviously it would be more like 12.

 

[brighteyes]

I'd LOVE to have enough land to allow for winter trash-paddocks or have perfectly sane and tippy-toe-about-the-place horses I could turn out daily, safe in the knowledge there would be useable and flattish fields when time in the field is less likely to reduce the available grass to zero. Or them end up with mud fever because they have turned my fields into something resembling the Somme.

One won't turn out without access to her stable at all times and the rest won't stay out if she doesn't stay out. My field/stable configuration don't make this easy. I'm a mental wreck unless they are all in - when they also seem to be the most relaxed. My stables are huge, have outdoor areas attached and I have a sand-roll pen and large day barn for one, so they aren't locked in small cells, but still not ideal.

Non-land owners have no idea how land-management is a bloody nightmare without horses in the mix.

 

[SO1]

We are on 7-8 hours a day turnout all year round not just winter in order to make sure we have enough thick grass covering to get proper winter turnout with grass not mud pits - a lot of grazing is rested over the summer so the grass becomes long and thick and we can rotate the fields in the winter when they get muddy and waterlogged so they always have decent grass. My native pony is muzzled most of the winter as we have so much grass but the non native horses really need a lot of grass to keep their weight on in winter.

We are a part and assisted DIY yard no pure DIY's - assisted includes turnout and catch in Monday to Friday and poo picking of the fields. We don't have the issues of people having to leave work early to catch in as it included in the basic livery option.

It would be nicer if they could stay out longer in summer but I would rather have 7/8 hours all year round and decent grazing in winter with no slippery mud pits. I think it is not just the amount of turnout but also the quality if they start getting hungry and the weather is wet there is more congregation around the gates at catch in so more likely to get kicked and more likely to slip over if it is really muddy. I have a very good doer so not being out all the time on lush grass in the spring and autumn helps with weight control.

I have been on grass livery before at different, it was only available for natives and cobs who did not need huge amount of grass and hay, again most of the land rested until winter, but you need a lot of land to do that and often have to feed hay in the fields in winter which is not always easy to manage even if you put it out in lots of piles they can still squabble. It is not very lucrative and the only reason if was offered was that the land was so far from stables on the yard (15 minute walk to the nearest field and in the far field it was 30 minute walk so could be an hour to catch in so was not practical for horses that were in over night.

 

[brighteyes]

We are on 7-8 hours a day turnout all year round not just winter in order to make sure we have enough thick grass covering to get proper winter turnout with grass not mud pits - a lot of grazing is rested over the summer so the grass becomes long and thick and we can rotate the fields in the winter when they get muddy and waterlogged so they always have decent grass. My native pony is muzzled most of the winter as we have so much grass but the non native horses really need a lot of grass to keep their weight on in winter.

We are a part and assisted DIY yard no pure DIY's - assisted includes turnout and catch in Monday to Friday and poo picking of the fields. We don't have the issues of people having to leave work early to catch in as it included in the basic livery option.

It would be nicer if they could stay out longer in summer but I would rather have 7/8 hours all year round and decent grazing in winter with no slippery mud pits. I think it is not just the amount of turnout but also the quality if they start getting hungry and the weather is wet there is more congregation around the gates at catch in so more likely to get kicked and more likely to slip over if it is really muddy. I have a very good doer so not being out all the time on lush grass in the spring and autumn helps with weight control.

I have been on grass livery before at different, it was only available for natives and cobs who did not need huge amount of grass and hay, again most of the land rested until winter, but you need a lot of land to do that and often have to feed hay in the fields in winter which is not always easy to manage even if you put it out in lots of piles they can still squabble. It is not very lucrative and the only reason if was offered was that the land was so far from stables on the yard (15 minute walk to the nearest field and in the far field it was 30 minute walk so could be an hour to catch in so was not practical for horses that were in over night.

You need lots of land and great management (equipment, time money and the elements to be on your side) to achieve this.