What is 'roughing out' or 'sending to the moors?'

[petite-girle]

A friend of a friend said why don't I rough out my filly. When asked what this was she replied, send her to the moors and get her back sometime next year.

I've never in my life heard of this! And I'm pretty sure there are no moors round where I live. Can anyone enlighten me?

 

[FleabittenT]

'Roughing out' to me means turning them away for winter.

We used to do this with the trekking ponies - they worked all summer, then we pulled their shoes off and basically turned them out on 25 acres and left them to it from Nov - Feb (besides basic health checks & haying, of course!).

It gives them a chance to have a break from work, mature (in the case of young horses) and freshen up for the next season.

Can't say I've ever turned a horse away onto the moors though!

 

[BBH]

My step dad was a race horse trainer and he roughed off the horses over winter ie turns them away un rugged for an extended period of time.

 

[petite-girle]

Oh I see...not suitable for me to do then as I have no-where to send her to for the winter!

 

[smellsofhorse]

I think it is a good idea, let them have a break or for young horses give them time to grow and mature.

It doesnt actually have to be the moors or someone remote.
Just living out in a big enough field, with some friends and maybe some hay!

 

[BBH]

The only other thing I think is worth mentioning if you do ' rough her off' is that depending how young she is she may need to relearn the things you have taught her so far ie she reverts to unhandled ways.

 

[tuppence's fortune]

dont send on moors! if you do do it. my best friend had 3 of hers "go missing" and they were found at a horse sales a few months later on the other side of the country. the moors is a very big place. if you do turn her away do it somewhere were there is plenty of acres with other horses but enclose or fenced off so they can not just vanish into the distance you could ask a local farmer who has sheep or cows if you could put your horse in with them for the winter and offer him a payment in way of a type of livery that way she is enclosed and the farmer will check his herds anyway so you know that she will be ok? it may be worth looking into. i did this last year and my gelding came back a bit fatter and very refreshed