Who keeps their TB's out all year?

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Parkranger

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Now that Ty is coming to new yard with me (on grass livery) I need to consider how he's going to cope out 247!

He has a 450g turnout and a few 350g which I can layer up - there is a stable near the grass livery field that he can have if it's really bad and other fields with shelter if it's going to be a rough night - just have to move him back to 'his' field in the morning.

He's a good doer (read fat) so I don't think he'll drop weight - just appreciate some good stories!

x
 
yeah Oscar is the same - hence the reason I want him stabled. Ty is a typical tough Irish and he could do with losing a few pounds if I'm honest!
 
I have a 7/8 TB veteran mare who prefers to live out all year round. I do occasionally bring her in overnight if the weather is really atrocious, but that is more to save my limited grazing than for her benefit. She is unclipped and just wears a LW turnout to keep the wet out.
 
My TB is also of the skinny variety and lives in all year.

However, the TB I sold last year would happily have lived out all year with no problems. She only ever came in to keep my other one company. Before I got her, she lived out 24/7, year round.

Also, think of polo ponies - the majority are TB or TBX and live out all winter (unless they're playing in the arena/abroad). Some drop weight, but most cope fine.

He'll be ok with a decent rug, and maybe some hay/feed to supplement the grazing if it's poor over the winter.
 
hay and feed is included in his grass livery so that's good - he'll prob get two small feeds a day anyway if he drops weight
 
My mare is 7/8 TB but is very hardy, hates being in and doesn't really feel the cold, so she is rarely in, just put something waterproof on her to keep her dry. But she is not your typical TB I suppose, i'm lucky. Wrap him up warm and if he starts to lose condition or is miserable, use the back up shelter.
 
Ty always overheats in the winter so I think staying out would be a good option for him. I'll keep the stable ready for him if needed and there may be the option (if I ask nicely) of Ty ahving access to walk in and out of the stable if needed.
 
My TB developed COPD at 14 and had to spend the the rest of his life living out (another 15 years) he was happy and looked well. He had a vast selection of rugs so i could change them twice a day when it was raining, adlib hay in winter and 2 good feeds a day. He had access to a shelter but rarely used it.
 
My tb that I've just sold lived out 24/7 with me, even through the -10 temps we had with the blizzard snow a couple of autumns ago... She was fine, just kept an eye on her weight and rugged her up. Though saying that, she didn't need more than one rug on, ie. no layering or anything, just her 450gm. I don't think horses need to be in as much as we think they do... yes for convienience for us, or lack of turnout, convelesance etc... But not if they are perfectly healthy and you have the facilities.
 
TB stud i worked on all our broodmares and youngsters lived out 24/7 (except for foaling time
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) without rugs. they had plenty hay, hard feed and shelter if they needed it.
i'm sure Ty will be fine, and it's great you have a stable there for really bad weather
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I did whan I had a TB, she was out for the 3 years i had her (until she died) and as she was a box walker she actually coped better being out than being stabled. I now have a TBx who also lives out all year, last winter i didn't even get the HW rugs out the cupboard, never needed more than a MW!
 
Yup, both of mine are out 24/7 all year, fat one is always fat, thin one copes fine with a decent rug with a neck cover. I brought them for Easter when it snowed though (was afraid they would hoon and slip!).
 
My tb lives out all year to keep her sane. I have to put a grazing muzzle on too as she gets so fat. If she is clipped she is rugged accordingly but last year was not rugged at all as she wasn't doing much work
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I had to keep mine out all the time (apart from the odd exception, if he needed box rest or the evening before a show at home in the large open stable) but he was a box walker and a weaver and he really didn't like being in, unless you were with him, he was fine if you were in with him, but soon as you opened that door and left him he used to cry like baby and get all upset and suddenly become very loose (poo's) so it was in his best interest to keep him out. Plenty of rugs, plenty of feed and hay...he was as happy as Larry and never had any ailments until the last 18 months due to old age etc.
 
I keep my 24 year old 7/8 TB out all year and he's fine. In the winter he has a 350g rug (any heavier and he actually gets too hot!) He has ad lib hay from Oct - Apr and not a lot of hard feed and he barely loses any weight at all. He is really happy living out. I sometimes bring him in for a few hours if it's appalling weather but he never wants to stay in, he prefers to be out with his herd. He hasn't stayed in overnight for 5 years and he seems to thrive on it.
 
My mums chunky monkey TB lived out for 25 years
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As I remember she was rugged as necessary and had ad lib hay during the really cold spells and didn't drop weight. There was plenty of natural shelter too.
It must have suited her as she lived in good health and condition until she was PTS at 31 years old. Bless her
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Dragged mine to uni with me, and flung him out on a welsh mountain....... fully rambo'd up he happily (read wouldnt blumming come in if you wanted him to most of the time) lived out 24/7/365........ he was in a right strop when it snowed and i took pity on him, had to put him back out in the end, for fear of him jumping the stable door!

............and as you know he was Irish.... best sort!
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My TB mare is 19yr old and has lived out all year for the last five or so years...she prefers it.
I do give her hay,haylage and hard feed twice a day. I also have a vast selection of rugs for her as she likes to be kept warm - although normally she is in a 350g high neck or full neck.
When the weather is really bad (windy, cold and with wet sleet) I would maybe put a 200g underrug on her overnight, but she's usually fine.
She uses my Shire x TB as a windbreak
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and her field has a tree line down one side, and is sheltered from most wind directions.
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I don't keep my ex-racer out all year.

Probably more for my benefit than his but then again I always think that they need to lie down at some point and have a snooze. My guy certainly does when he's in cos always covered in shavings in the morning.

I would hate to think of him standing out miserable and shivering in the snow, wind and rain during the winter plus can't always rely on the electric tape staying in place when it's mega windy.
 
Mustard lived out through the winter with Moon no problems. He was on a decent feed once a day, hay and had two medium weight turnout rugs on during the colder spells.
 
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I don't keep my ex-racer out all year.

Probably more for my benefit than his but then again I always think that they need to lie down at some point and have a snooze. My guy certainly does when he's in cos always covered in shavings in the morning.

I would hate to think of him standing out miserable and shivering in the snow, wind and rain during the winter plus can't always rely on the electric tape staying in place when it's mega windy.

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Good point.
I worry a lot about my 3yo who has lived out since she was born...do you think she's never lain down?
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Horses only lie down at night, anyway...so they're not missing much, I'm sure.
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They probably do lie down but I always think that they could be lying down in the snow or at least wet, muddy ground so it's nice for them to come in and lie down on a dry bed.
 
My post wasn't meant entirely seriously ShaznTaz.
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Of course my three lie down in the field - do you not think horses may show some signs of problems if they hadn't slept in three years?!
And, just for the record, horses don't only lie down at night, lol.
A lot of horses don't like lying down in boxes - because there is inadequate space, or they have rolled and become cast and frightened themselves. Oh, and regarding standing and lying in the snow - perhaps you don't fully understand how horses' coats work, or their circulatory mechanisms (shunts), in order to minimise heat loss?
If my three are cold, they can walk, trot and run about in the field to warm up - if your poor boy is cold, he is stuck stood there, shivering, til morning.
I always feel sorry for cold, stabled horses - it's so much nicer to give them a normal lifestyle.
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Ty will be absolutely fine out 24/7 so long as he gets fed in the winter and can get out of the wind/weather - hedge etc horses are very clever at finding the right spot in the field. I rode out racers when my children were babes and their retired horses all lived out after having been stabled all their lives - they thrived on it so long as they had a feed and had rugs for Dec Jan Feb - they seemed to laugh at the ones in training being brought in at night! One retired at 15 and was still going strong at 25 - never had a night in a stable for 10 years
 
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Ty will be absolutely fine out 24/7 so long as he gets fed in the winter and can get out of the wind/weather - hedge etc horses are very clever at finding the right spot in the field. I rode out racers when my children were babes and their retired horses all lived out after having been stabled all their lives - they thrived on it so long as they had a feed and had rugs for Dec Jan Feb - they seemed to laugh at the ones in training being brought in at night! One retired at 15 and was still going strong at 25 - never had a night in a stable for 10 years

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Well said - as long as they have enough fuel to keep warm, they are fine. My herd get hay/haylage and fed in the morning, and again in the evening. Most of the stabled lot get thrown into bare fields with no hay...at about 7am and stay there for about 10hrs with nothing to eat, gazing enviously over the fence at my happy hairies
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. They are then desperate to get in for food, and their owners conclude they love being stabled and hate being out....
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