Warmblood living out?

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emma001

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We are really interested a 16.2 Dutch warmblood gelding. He lives in mostly all year especially in winter. Does anyone have a DW or warmblood who can live out or do they all have to stay in during the winter months ?
 
My Dutch mare had always lived in 24/7 in winter. We kept her out one year as she was in foal and never managed to convince her to come back in. She used to get so stressed she got colic. Even in the worst weather she would not even go into her field shelter. I nearly got reported to the RSPCA by people in the village as she was not rugged either.
 
The breed makes not a jot of difference.
Most horses will live out 24/7 perfectly happily provided they have adequate food/shelter/rugging etc.
There is the odd exception to the rule, but if you take the time to gradually acclimatise a horse used to living in, to being out for longer and longer periods, the likelihood is you won't have a problem.
 
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I had one kwpn who did not do fields at all .
Raised on the continental way she had no idea how to do fields grass etc although we did get her to the stage where she would stay out for one hour twice daily if the weather was nice but never got her better than that .
Before her I would have said all horses will live out but she was miserable stressy and in danger of damaging herself, I tried everything we never got her settled .
 
Depends on the horse rather than the breed if that makes sense. My WB is far too much of a pansy to winter out, he cries to come in when it's raining, despite being rugged.....
 
Agree that it depends more on the horse than the breed - though the majority can live out 24/7 absolutely fine if they have adequate shelter and feed, with rugs if required. Not a warmblood, but I used to loan a twiggy TB who point blank refused to be stabled, she was incredibly dangerous if shut in the stable and would have caused herself severe damage if we'd forced her to stay there. We did try for a while as her owner was convinced she wouldn't cope outside, and if I'm honest I was concerned about her being out 24/7 as she was so very delicate - but she was absolutely fine and did much better than we expected. She wore a mediumweight combo rug all winter but never needed the heavy weight ones i'd bought her as she stayed toasty warm and kept her condition. We made sure she had lots of hay available to munch on when there wasn't a lot of grass and she was perfectly happy - I wouldn't hesitate to do it again with a similar type. A friend of ours owns some warmbloods, they all live out unclipped 24/7 over winter and are only rugged in the very worst of weathers - they keep their condition well and stay fit and healthy.
 
As others have said, breed makes no difference. I have had a DWB who was at her best when she lived out, as have been my other WB's and TB's. No overly heavy rugging needed.
The only thing that makes a difference is having well draining fields, ad lib forage when needed, good trees/hedges and company.
 
We were advised not to get a TB as we keep ours out 24/7... We got a little, fine ex racer anyway, rugged him up, ad libbed haylage and started him on hard feed and he hasn't been in a stable to stay in over night since we got him nearly 2.5 years ago. He was so happy out in the snow it was unbelievable!

Any horse can live out, it's all in the management :)
 
Oh my mare would have lived out if I had been prepared to watch her stressing and miserable trying to get in if I had fenced the field so she could not jump out ( not easy she was grade A and would could jump a seriously big place )
My horse simply had never grazed and did not understand and that's before we start thinking about the increased grass sickness risk such horses are at .
In my case accomadating her needs was the kindest thing and the best management.
 
All mine live out..

My Danish Warmblood unrugged and with a coat like a bear..

My Dutch Warmblood mare was kept in and cross tied when she broke her shoulder.. She has lived out since.. I have to rug her as she grows a minimal winter coat..

As already said though, there is no reason why any horse can't live out (this side of a medical disorder that doesn't allow for it)..
 
My DWB lives out all year round, with the company of two Welsh ponies who dominate him! They're 11.1 and 13.1, and he's 17.2 and the oldest! When it snows in the winter and there is no grass, we put a bit of hay and just one rug on.. He HATES being stabled!
 
If you go abroad you will see loads from foals upwards living out unrugged. they have shelter and adlib hay and are perfectly happy. all horses can live out if they have plenty of hay and good shelter its just that people see warmbloods who s job is being a competition horse and asume that because they are stabled warmbloods cannot live out but if you were talking about and irish sports horse people would assume it could live out because of the irish in the title yet they are a warmblood as well.
 
My current tb and old Dutch Wb x tb lived out. I rugged up as I clip in winter, but have never had a problem. Even my exracer soon became tricky to convince to come in in the worst of weather!!!
 
My sister has a lovely well bred warmblood who she brought as a broodmare. Before my sister had her she was in 24/7. She has lived out for the last 2 years in Scotland!!! and loves it, she does have shelter and add lib haylage but looks amazing!
 
Our Trak x TB lived out unrugged from being a foal, and our anglo has always been happiest out in any weather although as he is getting old we brought him in for several nights last winter. Yet we had a welsh pony that would shiver and beg to come in even with rugs on.

It is more the individual horse than the breed that makes the difference.
 
I bought a horse that apparently needed stabling, 3 feeds a day and rugging to survive. He was a product of (probable) overstabling and over feeding.... I popped him out in the field with my cob and treated him the same and with time he thrived to the point he was wintering out rugless on a diet of hay and a token feed.

As has been said...most horses can manage and IMO, many often cope better.
 
My DWB ex BS is an oldie now so I will bring him in but only on the worst weather - and that's to ease my conscience rather than him actually "needing" to come in! He's much better off out - that's what rugs are for 😃
 
All of ours live out 24/7 in all weathers, inc. my warmblood x ISH. We have stables but keep the doors open like field shelters (we don't have any natural shelter) and this seems to work well for us, though the horses don't often use them. They two larger horses and the older pony are rugged in the worst months but not heavily. They have a small feed (really a token) and hay twice a day or ad lid hay if snow on the ground.

I truly believe that the vast majority of horses can adjust to living out all year. I understand that there are some exceptions of course, but I would always prefer to keep mine this way given the choice and provided that the horses are happy.
 
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