Where are your youngsters - in or out?

J

JJ2

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Well the rain has been pretty consistent for the last week which is really depressing!
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My two youngsters, one 7months and one 3yr old are out 24/7 at the moment. They have good grass and a fairly sheltered field (just in process of building field shelter). I feel really mean leaving them out in this weather but they seem happy enough.

What is everyone else doing with their babies?

Can someone put my mind at rest that i am not being a horrid mummy for leaving them out?!
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I cant wait until my shelter will be up, should be in a weeks time, but it cant come soon enough for me!

I feel really mean leaving them to fend for themselves in this horrid weather!
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Although they both seem very happy so i think it is more me worrying than them!

My field is holding up well atm but i would like them off it for part of the day at least!
 
Both
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Out in a pen type thing during the day then in at night. I only bring them in because there's no grazing during the winter at the yard.

Ur not being horrid - horses like this weather. Give them a nice warm field shelter and they still insist on standing out in the rain
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Both out 24/7 knee deep in mud in about half the field, the rest has huge puddles! They seem quite happy though, always to be found by the hay feeder
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Mine are all out....mud at top of the field (where the soil structure has been damaged, I think) is about 4 - 6 inches deep, but the rest of the field, on the slope, dries really quickly as sandy...I do rug mine to the eyeballs though.
S
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Mine is in. I have no choice really. He has acess to concrete yard roughly 15 x 20 metres with stable door open should he decide its tooooooo wet!, not ideal but better than nothing. He seems ok with it. Try to let him out for a couple of hours once a week (if it ever stops raining, ie, flooding), then he goes ballistic, gets it all out of his system for another week!
 
Chancer since 15 months has had to be stabled at night in winter and gets turn out every other day - where I am getting all year t/o is practically impossible and what I do get is very good for the area. From May to end October he is out 24 x 7 most of the time.

That said, despite being a tough gypsy cob, he adores his stable and is keen to come in and does not fret to get out. He is put in the school for a play with Cairo in the morning for about an hour and then again in the evening for a couple of hours and exercised on days he is not turned out.

He has ad lib hay and stables toys and is not bothered. Unfortunately our winter paddock is a mud pit by January.

This year as he is now 3 1/2 I can do a bit more with him to keep him exercised and he does need to work and think or he is a destructo beast, but this is the same if he is just left in the field.
 
It should depend on breed, field and weather conditions, etc (mine are TB and TB crosses) as to whether you rug them or not...
I do think horses benefit from being out and about, able to move around as/when they want.
I always feel a bit sorry for horses that are kept in - they must get both cold and bored
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S
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Shilasdair, I agree. My younster is a Friesian x TB, he is rising 3 (end of April/may) and is a right chunky monkey! I wish I could leave him out 24/7 but alas, my fields won't take it (clay). Even if the fields took it his mates are Tb's and WB's with white socks and like their home comforts! He is unrugged and has minimal feed, but two good quality haylage nets. He is rather "round" and is definately a good dooer!
 
I wasn't criticising...in an ideal world we'd all have lovely old parkland with trees...shelters...draining soil....nice weather.
But
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that's not going to happen so we've all got to do the best we can for our horses in our situations.
Mine are fed well, have water available, are kept warm and dry (rugaholic), get vets/farriers/dentists/osteos when needed, and are handled kindly....and I'm sure all of yours are too...so why worry?
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S
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My musk oxen are all out without rugs: there's a yearling TB, 2yo TB, 3yo CB and 5yo TB. All are happy as Larry, have ad lib hay, huge field, hedges, field shelter that they never use
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and are fed once a day. I know, I'm cruel aren't I?
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Mine are all out, rugged, through the day and in on a night
12, 5 and 2 years

It's as much for convenience as anything else plus they get strip grazed and with this wind, I'd just worry that the fencing will blow down in the night and then they'd escape and get upto all sorts of naughtiness
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[ QUOTE ]
My musk oxen are all out without rugs: there's a yearling TB, 2yo TB, 3yo CB and 5yo TB. All are happy as Larry, have ad lib hay, huge field, hedges, field shelter that they never use
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and are fed once a day. I know, I'm cruel aren't I?
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[/ QUOTE ]

Without rugs?!
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But with a field shelter...which they will probably only use in the hot summer weather, if my guess is right.
I couldn't do ad lib hay or mine would go 'bang!'......but they do get fed twice a day...feed, hay and haylage....because I like to care for my little agents of Satan...
S
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My weanlings are in - as they're not long weaned. The last two were seperated from their Mums today (had been stabled next door and getting one 'join-up' a day for a week).

We have some HUGE boxes (15x24) and they are in pairs. We swapped pairs a bit today to put just-weaned Thicko with a very bossy bigger colt (Thicko is a little brute and needed a bit of seeing to - he would have KILLED poor Sailor Moon (who has gone in with a quiet filly.)

The two and three year olds are all out - in swamps - with huge piles of haylage twice daily and Horselyx blocks - no rugs. (Cruel Mummy!)
 
Mine are in a system similar to moneypit's. The field is a complete swamp and was flooded completely on Tuesday. They are in a tarmac yard with access to a large stable that has the doors permanently clipped open so they can go in and out as they wish. They have hay in the yard and in the stable. They do spend a lot of time in the stable (even the little Forester) so even the natives are sick of this weather. He likes his comfort :
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I tried to explain to him that hay is for eating but he likes sleeping on it!
 
two weanlings out 24/7, field half field half lake most of the time. THey have a shelter but don't use it prefering the trees! Both have NZ's I have no will power! plus want to show and hope a summer coat will come sooner this way
 
I have a 2yo 1/2 TB and a 3yo 3/4 TB (both X warmblood) out without rugs. They have grass but they're not interested. I only started feeding them hay yesterday, they were keen then but this morning not so bothered. The 3yo was a bit off-colour last weekend and lost a bit of weight, but picked up in the dry spells this week and looks fine now. Otherwise they've been fine out. My horse (12yo ID X) is rather fat and doing very well on eating nothing and doing nothing! She's always toasty warm!
 
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