What to do when there is not turnout HELP!!

HappyHollyDays

Slave to 2 cats and 2 ponies
Joined
2 November 2013
Messages
13,231
Location
On the edge of the Cotswolds
Visit site
OP you don’t need to gallop on the gallops. I used them for fitness training by doing the equivalent of human interval training by walking a circuit, trotting 1/4 of a circuit, walking the rest, trotting 1/2 and walking the rest and so on. They are a fantastic place to get horses fit because the surface is consistent, no boggy bits or holes and when they were up to cantering longer distances I used the hill gallop.
 

Haha123

Active Member
Joined
29 November 2021
Messages
48
Visit site
OP you don’t need to gallop on the gallops. I used them for fitness training by doing the equivalent of human interval training by walking a circuit, trotting 1/4 of a circuit, walking the rest, trotting 1/2 and walking the rest and so on. They are a fantastic place to get horses fit because the surface is consistent, no boggy bits or holes and when they were up to cantering longer distances I used the hill gallop.
Of course and thank you!! We are just going there to have some fun with friends and do a bit of fitness work
 

Haha123

Active Member
Joined
29 November 2021
Messages
48
Visit site
Just a quick one to say please please don’t lunge him every day. It’s the fastest way to break a horse!
No don’t worry I won’t be doing like hard work on the lunge it just fun him for have a fun time and have a roll around in the arena and get stuff out of his system
 

ycbm

Einstein would be proud of my Insanity...
Joined
30 January 2015
Messages
56,541
Visit site
No don’t worry I won’t be doing like hard work on the lunge it just fun him for have a fun time and have a roll around in the arena and get stuff out of his system

Get things out of his system rolling and messing around while on a lunge line? Please don't, this is a recipe for disaster and injury to him, you or both of you.
 

AmyMay

Situation normal
Joined
1 July 2004
Messages
65,910
Location
South
Visit site
No don’t worry I won’t be doing like hard work on the lunge it just fun him for have a fun time and have a roll around in the arena and get stuff out of his system

To be honest, if he’s going to be doing as much work as you infer in preparation for hunting, his time at grass will give him the opportunity for fun time and a good roll. He doesn’t need to be lunged for that to happen.
 

Starzaan

Well-Known Member
Joined
20 January 2010
Messages
4,084
Visit site
No don’t worry I won’t be doing like hard work on the lunge it just fun him for have a fun time and have a roll around in the arena and get stuff out of his system
Oh god that’s almost worse!!! Please don’t lunge him!!! By the sounds of it (and please don’t take this the wrong way, I am trying to help, and don’t mean any offence at all) you don’t have enough knowledge to be lunging a horse safely without risk of serious injury to the horse or yourself. Please just focus on riding or simple in hand work for now, and ensure he gets proper turnout.
 

LadyGascoyne

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 May 2013
Messages
6,767
Location
Oxfordshire
Visit site
In case it is genuine…

When my mare arrived on the livery yard she is at now, she went from being out 24/7 to very limited turnout. Her stable has an attached hardstanding pen so she has quite a lot of room but I did worry, coming from being totally free range.

She went on the walker twice a day, was hand-grazed for a hour or so. She is also ridden three times a week in the indoor (only 15-20 min because she is just starting out) and then hacked or walked in hand out on the other days.

We did this for the first three weeks, and in that time the yard brought in contractors to resurface the entrances to their fields so they had more useable turnout for her. She’s now out overnight and in during the day. She was absolutely fine being stabled 24/7 though. I just wouldn’t do it for longer than a few weeks at a time.
 

ycbm

Einstein would be proud of my Insanity...
Joined
30 January 2015
Messages
56,541
Visit site
My mare ended up with an impaction colic due to lack of turnout at a previous yard.
I will never entertain keeping them at a yard that restricts turnout again. They are now out for a minimum of 6 hours a day in winter, and 24/7 April - October.

How do you know it was the lack of turnout? There are horses who get turnout who still get impaction colic. I was at a yard which had no winter turnout for 60 horses and another which had turnout one day a week, if that, for 30 horses, over several years and there wasn't one case of colic that I remember.

I am not advocating keeping horses in full time, by the way, but for some people (and it will be more in future) it is that or not keep horses at all.
.
 

Gallop_Away

Well-Known Member
Joined
5 May 2015
Messages
1,019
Visit site
How do you know it was the lack of turnout? There are horses who get turnout who still get impaction colic. I was at a yard which had no winter turnout for 60 horses and another which had turnout one day a week, if that, for 30 horses, over several years and there wasn't one case of colic that I remember.

I am not advocating keeping horses in full time, by the way, but for some people (and it will be more in future) it is that or not keep horses at all.
.

My vet agreed it was most likely caused by lack of turnout, given my mare's history.
It was a change in her routine as she had previously always had turnout, but my old yard owner decided it would be restricted one winter. A few weeks down the line she coliced.
My mare had always previously had daily turnout and nothing else in her routine had changed (diet, water intake, quality of hay etc) and impaction colic was something she had never had previously any issues with, and has *touch wood* never suffered from again.
I trust my vet's opinion and in her experience impaction colic is more common in horses in winter that are on restricted turnout, and she is a senior vet with over 25 years experience.
If it works for some people then good for them but turnout is an absolute must have for me and thankfully my current yard accommodates it 365 days of the year.
 
Last edited:

ycbm

Einstein would be proud of my Insanity...
Joined
30 January 2015
Messages
56,541
Visit site
A change of routine from in all the time to turned out could have caused the same issue in a horse sensitive to change in routine.

I find vets very willing to agree with owners' hypotheses as to why things happened if they aren't obviously untrue. They know people like answers.

I'm not disputing your vet, but she will see more colic in horses kept in full time who have insufficient exercise, and that seems to be most leisure horses, from what I read.
.
 

Gallop_Away

Well-Known Member
Joined
5 May 2015
Messages
1,019
Visit site
A change of routine from in all the time to turned out could have caused the same issue in a horse sensitive to change in routine.

I find vets very willing to agree with owners' hypotheses as to why things happened if they aren't obviously untrue. They know people like answers.

I'm not disputing your vet, but she will see more colic in horses kept in full time who have insufficient exercise, and that seems to be most leisure horses, from what I read.
.

This was a few weeks down the line so while it may have been a change in routine that caused it, given the amount of time that had passed the change in routine didn't seem to be an immediate cause of it, although could have contributed.
I did not offer an explanation for my vet to agree with. I gave her the facts of my mare's routine and how she was kept and my vet offered the explanation (although it was what I had been thinking myself). In her experience it is something more common in horses that are on restricted turnout in winter than those who are turned out daily or who are out 24/7.
Perhaps it was not caused by lack of turnout, but equally perhaps it was, and given that my vet who i have known many years and has extensive experience in the matter felt that it was, i am inclined to agree with her opinion and it is not something I would be prepared to take a risk on again.
 

Velcrobum

Well-Known Member
Joined
17 October 2016
Messages
3,042
Visit site
So to summarise, this horse is going from being ridden twice a week, to now suddenly being expected to live in while being lunged every single day, hacked once or twice a week and is all set to go hunting.

I often wonder how people like this manage to keep their animals alive...
Apparently the OP is either 14 or 15 according to a post up thread. The OP also has 2 log in names............
 

maisie06

Well-Known Member
Joined
31 March 2009
Messages
4,545
Visit site
How do you know it was the lack of turnout? There are horses who get turnout who still get impaction colic. I was at a yard which had no winter turnout for 60 horses and another which had turnout one day a week, if that, for 30 horses, over several years and there wasn't one case of colic that I remember.

I am not advocating keeping horses in full time, by the way, but for some people (and it will be more in future) it is that or not keep horses at all.
.

I'd rather not keep horses at all if it becomes normal for no turnout.
 

ycbm

Einstein would be proud of my Insanity...
Joined
30 January 2015
Messages
56,541
Visit site
So to summarise, this horse is going from being ridden twice a week, to now suddenly being expected to live in while being lunged every single day, hacked once or twice a week and is all set to go hunting.

I often wonder how people like this manage to keep their animals alive...

If they were alive in the first place.
.
 
Top