What to do with tonights weather

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ChestnutConvert

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My liverys are currently in during the day and out over night but i keep getting reports that thunderstorms are coming over night. Is it best to leave them in tonight and wait for weather to settle tomorrow? Only prob there is they will have been in all day and night. I could put them out now fpr a while but it is so hot. What would you all do or expect!?
 
Leave them out.

We had huge storms and tornados a few days ago, after a long spell of temps touching the 40's my horses revelled in it. Cool weather, a bit of rain on their backs and no flies. Whilst the winds were bending 60' trees, and the lightening turned night into day what were my lot doing? Heads down in the paddocks eating happily.

Unless you have hysterical, young, old or ill horses I would let them get on with it. I would rather my horses had the option to move around rather than be trapped in a stable with all the noise and potential of rooves being lifted or trees falling on them.

If you feel the need to stable them then put them out for a few hours before it hits.

I hope the storms are not as bad as expected and that everyone gets away with no damage.

This was just a few km from my house.

BrantfordTornadoJuly19_zpsb99d037c.jpg
 
My hysterical and fragile (and self-destructive!) youngster will have her turnout boots + a lightweight rainsheet on. Not to keep her dry, but to try to minimise the damage she is bound to try to do to herself!
The others will be out naked. I bet they will enjoy the feel of the rain on their backs after all this heat :)
 
tallyho! said:
Just chuck about three heavyweight rugs on. They'll be fine :D
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Easy for you to mock, but I have a 34 year old who has to wear a fly rug all summer. When it gets wet it is heavy, clammy and cold so she needs a rain sheet over it, but it is too warm right now for that. It's a constant juggling act - the others can cope with wet fly rugs, even the itcher, but she is far too old to cope.
 
JillA said:
Easy for you to mock, but I have a 34 year old who has to wear a fly rug all summer. When it gets wet it is heavy, clammy and cold so she needs a rain sheet over it, but it is too warm right now for that. It's a constant juggling act - the others can cope with wet fly rugs, even the itcher, but she is far too old to cope.
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A 34yo is a bit of a special case though...

To answer the OP, I would stick to the normal routine and leave them out. Mine is out 24/7 and he will stay out even if we have torrential rain. Ours all of plenty of natural shelter (and shade for when it's hot) if they want to use it. Even when it was 31C (which it isn't now... seems to have turned into autumn again here...), none of them chose to use the shaded areas (huge trees, hedges etc etc), they just stood sunbathing in the driest, dustiest bits of the field... And whenever he's out in the rain, I have yet to see him stand under any shelter. He just continues to stuff his face whilst getting soaked.
 
JillA said:
Easy for you to mock, but I have a 34 year old who has to wear a fly rug all summer. When it gets wet it is heavy, clammy and cold so she needs a rain sheet over it, but it is too warm right now for that. It's a constant juggling act - the others can cope with wet fly rugs, even the itcher, but she is far too old to cope.
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It can be a juggling act at times I agree. If a horse suffers in any weather and the solution is as easy as putting a rug on then that's what you have to do (and blow what anyone else thinks) I had an arab that had to be constantly rugged because he was a wuss of the first degree. Anything more than a mild rain shower even in the midst of summer (we got a lot of those in Wales :( ) would have me out there putting a sheet on him, otherwise I would find him hunch backed, tucked up, starey coated and shaking like a leaf.
 
Should we not be concerned about the possibility of them being struck by lightening? I'm quite happy to leave mine out rugless and let them get on with it, but a few years ago 2 ponies were struck by lightening not a mile from here, so I normally keep them in during storms.
 
Where I used to live we had a lot of electrical storms. It was very rare that a horse got struck by lightning. Cows, for some reason, seemed more at risk. We did, however, always run lightning wire down all tall trees and our shelters, etc.

The only horse I personally know who died from lightening was in his stable at the time and the stable had no lightning wire on it. However, a quick Google reveals that horses do indeed die in lightning strikes here in the UK when electrical storms come along. It's the storms that are less common perhaps than in other parts of the world.
 
Mine are staying out. They wear fly rugs normally but are actually not being that badly bothered by flies the last few days, so I have taken them off which is better than heavy, wet fly rugs on them. They don't have a great deal of shelter in the paddocks though, so being a mile away, the stables will be ready and if it gets too bad, I will drive down to check them and if needed bring them in. Usually though, it sounds awful outside, I rush up the yard and find them happily munching away!
 
Mine will probably enjoy the rain but they're fine in storms and gales. The fencing is secure,so I'm not worried. They'll probably be too busy eating the wet grass to worry about running around.

PE do a fly rug with a waterproof panel running along the top of the back and neck, although I suspect with torrential rain and the temperatures, they'd probably dry off quicker unrugged.
 
Most of mine will stay in tonight - too much risk of lightning strike. 3 horses out of 4 in a field of my friends were killed 2 years ago, a pony club pony from the next village was killed etc. etc.
 
Wind and rain mine are out now since i lost part of my stable roof during hurricaine bawbag while they were in, luckily all were unharmed but i dont like them out in Thunder and lightning,we're due some here tommorrow and first rumble or flash and mine will be in
 
We might get a thunderstorm this evening but it's so hit and miss you just never know for sure. Mine will be staying out naked and that includes my veteran mare. Too warm to rug, neither of them are stupid and both of them will be much happier outdoors with other horses around them. I do have a fly rug with a waterproof strip on the top of it. Too warm to wear it though.
 
My boys will be coming in tonight as we have thunderstorms forecast. I have some trees in the paddocks & I don't want the boys using them for shelter in a thunderstorm, worst thing they could do. Also electricity from a lightening strike can travel through lying water & if your horse is standing in it (with his iron shoes aswell !) it could be a disaster. So in they will come, what's a few haynets against the possibilities for harm.:)
 
Mine will stay in his usual routine, which is out. As with fireworks the noise and light of lightening echos more around a stable and IMO can be more frightening than if they are out in the open and free to move about as they wish.

There is always a risk of lightening strike but it is minimal (she says, living in a house that has been struck 3 times...) and a lot depends on the set up of your stables and grazing as to how high a risk that is... in my case the grazing is on lower ground than the stabling so much lower risk for them to be out...
 
I keep constant track of the weather, partly because my OH works outdoors, partly because I'm a weather geek, the Met Office and Ukweatherforecast, both have really good rainfall and lightning trackers that are updated every 15 minutes so you can check if anything is coming your way. They are forecasting lots of lightning and large hail possible in the next couple of days.
 
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