Weighing up yard compromises... turnout vs. facilities?

I am in the same situation. At a yard with goodish hacking and 24/7 turnout if requires (although the fields flood so not always possible), but no school, so means I can't do much through out winter as it's dark by the time I finish work and can only really hack or do light schooling at weekends. I have one who is not 100% safe to go hacking on his own (over reactive spooking/bronking) so would rather have somewhere safe to ride more regularly i.e school. Therefore I have decided to move him to a yard which has a floodlit school and miles and miles of off road hacking (safer if he decides to throw himself around!). unfortunately they have to be in at night for the winter and 3 days a week in summer but this doesn't bother me too much if I'll actually be able to ride my horse! :)
 
b.
but even it had been NO turnout it would have been B.

as a competition orientated person no school=hopeless.

if yard B allowed daily loose schooling to let off steam and allowed daily hand grazing, and had BIG stables,CS and Fig would be perfectly happy being in, out the weather.

dont get me wrong i prefer them to go out in the daylight hours, even if just for 2/3 hours (in the snow etc) but if it was a trade off (with no other yards available) between turnout or facilities, facilities would win out (again providing the grazing in summer was unlimited and good quality).

they would get loose time whilst being mucked out at both ends of day, hand grazed x 2 and ridden daily. not ideal but acres and acres of grass with no way of riding would make horse owning pointless for me personally.
 
Prince33Sp4rkle said:
b.
but even it had been NO turnout it would have been B.

as a competition orientated person no school=hopeless.

if yard B allowed daily loose schooling to let off steam and allowed daily hand grazing, and had BIG stables,CS and Fig would be perfectly happy being in, out the weather.

dont get me wrong i prefer them to go out in the daylight hours, even if just for 2/3 hours (in the snow etc) but if it was a trade off (with no other yards available) between turnout or facilities, facilities would win out (again providing the grazing in summer was unlimited and good quality).

they would get loose time whilst being mucked out at both ends of day, hand grazed x 2 and ridden daily. not ideal but acres and acres of grass with no way of riding would make horse owning pointless for me personally.
Click to expand...

Agree
 
Yard B no point in owning a horse if you can't ride most of the winter .

In fact I would not own a horse if I had no access to a school.
I would struggle with no turnout though I would not like that .
 
Prince33Sp4rkle said:
b.
but even it had been NO turnout it would have been B.

as a competition orientated person no school=hopeless.

if yard B allowed daily loose schooling to let off steam and allowed daily hand grazing, and had BIG stables,CS and Fig would be perfectly happy being in, out the weather.

dont get me wrong i prefer them to go out in the daylight hours, even if just for 2/3 hours (in the snow etc) but if it was a trade off (with no other yards available) between turnout or facilities, facilities would win out (again providing the grazing in summer was unlimited and good quality).

they would get loose time whilst being mucked out at both ends of day, hand grazed x 2 and ridden daily. not ideal but acres and acres of grass with no way of riding would make horse owning pointless for me personally.
Click to expand...

Agree with this.

Would also prefer horse stabled over winter, with some turnout/exercise as above, than living out 24/7 up to their eyeballs in mud
 
For me turnout comes above everything else. At my old yard the horses only got turned out in the summer months for about 2 hours a day as the horses field shared. I hated it but as I loaned a horse there I was stuck. When I bought my own 2 I deliberately chose a yard that had all day turnout whatever the weather-even in the snow! I sacrificed 2 large indoor and 2 large outdoor schools for the sake of my horse. We only have a small school that is prone to flooding but in exchange we have miles of hacking. My horses are so so happy and if they are happy then so am I
 
I personally wouldn't entertain stabling my horse anywhere where it could not be turned out for at least an hour a day 24/7.

You sit in a stable for an hour on your own with nothing to do. Now repeat for 23 more hours. Catch my drift?
 
Wow, okay. It's not a dilemma as such, I'm just doing my own head in trying to decide and was hoping others' opinions might kick me in the right direction. My cob is currently on individual turnout which is making him unhappy, so I need to make a decision sooner rather than later.

For reference, yard A is on well draining sandy soil. They do run out of grass, but the ground is always relatively good. They hay over winter and I have a good doer anyway. I'll double check on turnout in bad weather for yard B, that's a good point. I'm potentially changing jobs which may be a shift pattern too... if it's odd hours I guess it would suit grass livery better.

I do wish the perfect yard existed... or that yard A would build a school!!
 
I would choose yard B because my girl doesn't like being out in all weathers. Plus if I'm reading correctly horses can go out during day and you can also exercise in floodlit school.
 
Absolutely yard B

I'd not keep my horse out 24/7 in the winter and have no where to ride, that's two big no no for me.

I want to come up in evening to a dry horse be able to tack it up and ride.

As for T/O in bad weather is rather my horse is in and not slipping about in flooded fields and after our yard had a bad accident with horses charging about and running into each other and one breaking its neck, I'm much happier knowing when the ground is bad my horse is not out on it.
 
Last edited:
So long as yard B really does offer daily turnout in winter (so often this is not actually the case!) then I would go for that, especially if you want a school. For myself, I would pick the first yard, but that's because my mare is retired so no use for a school! I couldn't have done without one when she was in work though, not in the winter.
 
6 month a year being kept in a cage?! Well I dont even see what the question is! Turnout is a basic need IMO so that would absolutely come top. Mine I keep at home because they have 24/7 turnout (with stables left open) but that means I have no sand school. It would be cheaper for me to NOT build the stables I'm currently doing and put them into the livery down the road where they have a lovely big school but they dont offer 24/7 turnout. I wouldn't keep my dog in a cage permanently, only being let out for a quick bit of exercise so not sure why so many people are keen to do this to a horse!
 
Last edited:
Turnout over facilities everytime though i could live with being "in" at night as long as they are turned out daily and i mean all day turnout in field not just hour in a school.
 
fuze said:
Please take the time to actually read the other posts... I would never "keep a horse locked in a cage".
Click to expand...

OP has never suggested keeping her horse in 24/7- this was merely a subject mentioned by a few posters having a mini discussion of their own. The dilemma was whether she should keep her horse out 24/7 with no school or keep him in overnight (with daily t/o) with a school.
 
rising_promise said:
OP has never suggested keeping her horse in 24/7- this was merely a subject mentioned by a few posters having a mini discussion of their own. The dilemma was whether she should keep her horse out 24/7 with no school or keep him in overnight (with daily t/o) with a school.
Click to expand...

No she did, we weren't on a complete tangent and then the OP realised and corrected her post :).
 
So really the choices are 24 / 7 turnout and no school
vs
in at night in "the winter" and a school.

I dont have a school but do have 24/7 /365 day turn out with access to stables as well. Its a real pain not having a school but I can hire one close by if needed, although it means a trailer trip and go to clinics, group lessons etc etc.

I wouldnt change what I am doing now - knowing they are out being horses together is brilliant. Last palce had a school but it was so overboopked I couldnt often get in it anyway and the previous place the school was often so busy I didnt like being in there anyway!
 
Actually the thoughts of 24/7 t/o during winter gives me the shivers, I can only think of wet, sore legs and soggy feet. It only took until November last year before my boy got raging mud fever, as the ground around the hay feeder was a foot deep in sloppy mud.

Despite both of my horses being hairy natives, they, and I enjoy our creature comforts, which includes being able to dry off, at least over night.
 
Definitely yard B, mine is out 24/7 in the summer and in at night in the winter, however she's still out at the moment because the ground is still good and we've still got plenty of grass in the bottom field. I'm sure your boy will get used to being in at night provided you give him enough hay and maybe a toy to keep him occupied?
Plus, having a stable is always handy in case of accidents etc.
 
If yard B is stabled at night for 6 months of the year but they can be turned out in the day that would be ideal, but if they're in 24/7 I wouldn't personally like that, mind, I don't think any of mine would cope with 24/7 turn out in the winter judging by the sad faces greeting me at the gate each night when I turn up to bring in :)

Also, with schools in winter, peak times can be very busy, I remember my daughter schooling her horses at 9pm some nights because that was the only available slot
 
Casey76 said:
Actually the thoughts of 24/7 t/o during winter gives me the shivers, I can only think of wet, sore legs and soggy feet. It only took until November last year before my boy got raging mud fever, as the ground around the hay feeder was a foot deep in sloppy mud.

Despite both of my horses being hairy natives, they, and I enjoy our creature comforts, which includes being able to dry off, at least over night.
Click to expand...

See the thought of stabling for a solid 6mths overnight gives me the shivers :tongue3: My last cob was out 24/7/365 for his first winter with me, and stabled overnight for his second. Living out meant a trim, happy cob with no early morning turnouts. Stabling meant a rather bored, fat cob with bad bog burn, and a lot of early mornings!

I'm sure new boy would adjust to being stabled, but I now start work at 6am which will make morning turnout difficult. I hate making decisions.
 
sussexbythesea said:
Now you have edited your post and are clearer I would go for B which is practically the set up my horse has now. I don't even get the dilemma unless your horse is particularly unhappy being in.
Click to expand...

Ditto this. I like the fact mine is in during the cold wet nights and so does she, although ours are in American barn system stabling and I think the horses are more settled in together.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top