What's your opinion on individual turnout?

I have mixed feelings on it to be honest.
I have had to retire one young beautiful horse due to being kicked in a herd environment so I'd rather not do it again. Its truely horrific.
When we moved yards i was concerned that Hovis wouldn't like it as he was used to being in a small herd but we put him and Pride together and they were fine. When we sold Pride Hovis ended up on his own and whilst I miss seeing him play he's perfectly happy. He has natural shelter, can groom his field mate next door over the fence and lies down quite happily. In fact the horse in the field next to him lies down so much occasionally i have to go and check shes not died!
If hubby gets another horse then I'd like it to go in with Hovis as I do think its more natural but safety is so important to me after Sid.
 
What works for some may not work for all, and as we have constricted them to a small patch of land I will always look for the best options...

We only see our horses for a fraction of the day, the rest of the time they can be getting up to all sorts and I prefer to give my boy as much to do as possible to keep him occupied including having a friend to mutual groom when they want, someone to watch over him whilst he sleeps, someone to play chase with when the excitement kicks in and lastly someone to run away from danger with so he is not alone.

I personally prefer smaller groups in the winter if they have to come in, it is not fun trying to get a lower member of the herd past the leader at tea time, neither is the knee deep mud by the gateway as they all mill around late afternoon. For the rest of the year I am happy to mix with whichever group suits my horse the best.

If for whatever reason I bought an expensive showjumper or dressage horse that needed protection from their own kind I may opt for individual turnout but... they would have to have shelter (be it natural or man made) companions on both sides and the ability to groom over the fence without any risk of a horse damaging themselves if they decided to kick out.
 
Sorry I havn't read all the replys so sorry if i'm repeating anyone. :o
I think it depends entirely on the horse and the situation.
Horrid lives on his own in a small paddock. (His name gives a clue as to why ;) He's not the friendlyest of ponies and will fight with anything that he wants to. He even attacks dogs who wonder into his paddock and hates strange people. I live in the new forest and he's even had a fight with a wild pony while I was riding him :eek: ) He is much happyer on his own and I know he's not going to hurt anyone. Merryn lives in the paddock next to him and they do on occation groom each other over the fence. But once Horrid has had enough he bites Merryn and swings round to kick him. Luckly with a fence in the way Merryn just walks off and leaves Herbs to it.
Merryn also lives on his own but thats only because he is laminitic and the other horses live in big fields which is a big no no for Merryn. :( I'd like for him to have company but noone else on the yard needs starving.

Lucy would happily live on her own. Even if she was unable to see any other horses. She once lived in a field with 10 other horses but she spent all her time on her own. She wasn't bullied (Infact she did the bullying sometimes) She was just a misrable old cow who liked to be on her own.
 
I am at a yard where they have individual turnout, luckily i keep my boy with another one and they get on great, every horse is different, i tried a herd with mine once, and as hes such a baby he got bullied alot, and was even tougher when muzzled and recovering from a Laminitis attack, one saw him as a "weak link" and kept driving him away. Very horrible to see so he came out and went in paddock alone and was much happier, getting old and grumpy now he prefers his own company or with something a bit quieter.
 
I like them turned out in pairs or individually-I like my horses to be happy and quiet in the field- it's a good way of keeping them sound and may cut down on vets bills/injuries!- depends on the horses though and the set up of the yard, I would not turn mine out with others.

I think it's common sense though there is no point in turning a horse out on it's own if it doesn't like it!
 
joeanne said:
I have yet to see a horse on individual turnout relaxed enough to lay down.
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:confused: Pacing the fenceline fretting? My horse is perfectly happy on his own, I think to condemn all individual TO without knowledge of the circumstances or the horse is extremely unfair.

Would you want your horse put out with this one? I bet you wouldn't.
 
this is my previous horse, he was on individual turnout in this pic and had been for approx 8 months or so

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that's just one of many pics of him fast asleep!
 
It wouldn't be the option I would choose for mine, although as people have already said, its better than no turnout.

I look after an old, very laid back cob and when he's the first one turned out he'll call and call until someone is in with him, even if there's horses in the next field. He'll ignore them as soon as they're in his field but seems to appreciate thier company.

As for my mare, she seems to have a lesbian love affair going on with a few in her herd so I wouldn't want to deny her of that!
 
My little welsh section A, Matrix, goes out on his own for a number of reasons.

Firstly, Matrix has had a lot of leg trouble. He has arthritus, a dodgy tendon and its taken us 2 years and a lot of money to get him totally sound. So i would really rather he didnt get a kick and ruin all that hard work.

Secondly, he's a fatty, prone to laminitus. If he went out in a group, and not his little strip, he would be obese.

Thirdly, he's a sod to catch. He went out with another horse, and i couldnt catch him for 3 days.

Most important of all, he LIKES being on his own. That is the reason we put him out to start with. Matrix doesnt like other horses! He's perfectly happy just seeing the horses over the fence.

However, my mare hates being on her own, so I would never put her on individual TO.

Depends on the horse ;)
 
teasle said:
I dont understand how some of you say that an advantage of individual turnout is that you can feed your own horses in their fields, if you feed yours dont the hirses in the adjacent paddocks fret and stress the fences?
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No, they all know who their owners are and who feeds them!
 
I prefer mine together - and they are so - for daytimes over the winter when both have hay etc out at day - bigger one gets what she wants & small fat furry one gets a snack or 2 on it.
However, when the grass comes in, then they will be back on individual as small fat furry one HAS to diet more than bigger nearly fat furry one.

They 'tolerate' each other in the same field, will lie down & kip not far from each other & graze close to up to 20 metres before one pulls a face for encroaching on 'her' patch & the same for any hay out in the field too.

Both of them ARE happy on their own, they DONT groom each other (hell, no! WW 3 would break out if they did!) but they DO like to see each other over the fence & bigger one wont be left out if little one is brought in. (tho littln happy to be out on her own)
 
I do not like individual turnout, but can understand certain times such as an ill horse or a good doer/laminitic needing a paddock to itself as long as there are other horses nearby.

Even if I was a competition minded person, I woudnt want to keep a horse in an unatural way to decrease the risk of injury that may occur in a herd situation. To me, that is like not letting a child play outside with friends just in case it comes to harm. I know that people with expensive horses will strongly disagree with this though :)

My horses are out in a herd of seven on 10 acres, I understand that they may get kicked, or injure themselves in the field, but I wouldnt ever want to deny them that life.

What is concerning are the yards that have split one large field into regimetary 1 acre plots, a horse per plot surrounded by electric fencing. Poor horses in the middle plots have no shade/shelter. They must get zapped every time they mutual groom their neighbour and if they are like my filly, who sqeals and strikes out with a foreleg, the fence will be dragged out with their foot too!.

IMHO, individual TO just for the convenience of the owner is wrong.
 
I'n sure individual turnout would be great for me, however neither of mine would tolerate it. My 21 year old loves being in with the boys and is the grandad of the field. He looks after them all and likes to know where they all are and what they are all doing. He is everybody's friend and stresses even if he is over the fence from them.
When I got my mare, I tried to put her in with my gelding - just the two of them together. She hated him and got really stressy. I couldn't work out why as she also would not go out on her own. I then realised that she could see the field of mares over the driveway and wanted to go in with them. I put her in with them - she was bottom of the herd and bullied for a short while,but she still was desperate to go out with them in the morning and was happy in with them. I think it all depends on the individual horse....
 
Depends what suits the horse. Mine is a dominant mare who'll put the boot in if annoyed - I don't mind, but other liveries would.
 
Nadia is not hugely fussed on joining the herd but she likes to have 1 friend. Nadia is on her own at my yard and i love it. She is surrounded by horses for company, I poo pick my own and can come and go.
 
I don't think its a good idea, personally. All horses need to be a horse, and, regardless of our preferences, at the end of the day its what's best for the horse that counts. :)

xxx
 
I wouldnt have my horses out in group turnout. Had 1 nasty injury which ended one of my event horses career and numerous little injuries which meant that I couldnt ride or compete which just got to a point I wouldnt do it any more.
We have individual turnout and the horses are perfectly happy. They can touch over the fence and are happy. Because I have a mini herd my babies do go out together, think it would be unfair to keep a baby in individual tbh. The grown ups dont seem to mind at all. Again like anything its down to the individual.
 
Maesfen said:
The only time I could condone individual turnout is when introducing a new horse to the yard for a few days.
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Our new one has just been on her own for a week and that was plenty long enough!
She arrived last Saturday and they weren't really settled enough with a wall between them for her to go out with the herd on Sunday, so in order for us to be at home to supervise, they had to stay in adjoining fields until this weekend. The new mare spent much of her time leaning over the gate, watching the herd.
The strategy worked and the introduction to the herd went very peacefully. I think that individual turnout for any length of time is simply mental torture for an animal which is evolved to live in a herd.
Companionship is not just about being able to see other horses but is about mutual grooming/following/standing together and even on occasions, bickering - in other words natural behaviour.
 
I like individual turnout. Thats what we normally do in the summer, as we have lots of immature geldings, and as they say, boys will be boys :o Galloping is a favourite pastime :o

For those who say they don't lie down on their own, I beg to differ :P
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I think he looks pretty relaxed!
 
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I particularly dislike individual turnout for youngsters (don't like it for any horse tbh) as if they are not socialised to live in herds when young, how can they be expected to understand herd life when mature? I do prefer to keep single sex groups, as this tends to reduce the likelyhood of real fights, this is why we only have mares at home.
 
my pony would not like it but he is very sociable and loves other ponies. He is very well socialized as he lived out in the new forest for a couple of seasons when he was a stallion so is used to herd living.

he lives out 24/7 in a mixed sex herd of 8 ponies and cobs and they are a very close knit group. They are always graze in a group and in the evening they all line up near the trees and go to sleep, they have plenty of space as their field is 10 aces and they have natural shelter.

In the summer they all stand in a group in the shade and snooze flicking the flies from each other. They are mainly interested in eating and sleeping rather than running about fighting.

I think fighting mainly occurs if you have lack of space or not enough grass to support the herd.

we don't have individual turn out on our yard unless a horse is sick. YO does try and make sure the horses are in groups that get on well though. Living out is only available for good doer ponies and cobs. The ones that come in at night in different fields do sometimes squabble by the gates when they want to come in and some have got kicked but they seem more flighty
types anyway.

however I can see that individual turnout might be preferable to group turnout if the horses don't get on well together.
 
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When I first brought my horse I kept him with 2 geldings all out together and in the 9 months he was there I sepnt over £ 1k on vets fees all directly related to injuries sustained in the field.

My horse is one of those annoying ones that will go round pulling rugs and always wants to play and is rather clumsy so if anyone will get injured it will be him!

As much as I loved watching him play in the field I didn't love the going lame every other week and the vets receptionist recognising my phone number when I called !

He is now turned out next door to others and is quite happy and sound !

It's horses for courses IMO ;-)
 
I think it depends so much on the composition of the individuals in the group too. At the first yard I was on my pony did a lot of fighting and was not happy. When I moved yards from day one got on really well with his field mates and any new ones that arrived have fitted in really well too.

Here is a photo of my pony when he was first introduced to his field mates, he is the bay as you can see he is not worried about the others coming over to meet him, he is just interested in eating. I watch them for a while and no-one tried to kick him and he did not try and kick anyone.

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Wow Im amazed and relieved at how many TO individually. My horse is in a large field but seperated from the other 3 by electric tape. He got a fractured leg in the field from a kick and towards the end of his recovery was turned out alone. Due to his very playful nature, which probably caused his accident, we decided to keep him on his own and I hate it!! Yes I have piece of mind that he wont get injured but I always feel sorry for him being on his own.
But reading this has made me feel a bit better about it. Thank you :D:D
 
Wow this has had some great replies!!
I'm not keen on Ind TO but it's a small compromise to make so that everything else can be improved. Hopefully it won't be too long before I can move to the yard that I really want to be on and they have small group TO.
Thanks everyone, it's really good to hear opinions from both sides of the fence so to speak :) xx
 
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