Why do we stable?

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Alphamare

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Just musing here. I prefer to keep the horses out i think its cheaper and better for them but i do plan on bringing them in over the winter at night just because i have the facilities. It just seems like a lot of extra money and work but for what benefit?

Enlighten me. Why do we stable. If you stable when and why do you do it?

Thanks all.
 
Get my horse in the warm and dry where I can monitor that he's eating a certain amount of hay and his dinner/ breakfast. Also monitor the amount he is drinking.
 
I have very wet, clay soil. So in the winter I prefer to get my horses into a stable at night, so their legs can be washed off and dried, it also stops the field being totally trashed.
 
Well mine are fully clipped out and need the extra protection a barn gives them at night. I prefer to barn than stable as it gives them more room and they can still stay together.
 
The main reason I stable overnight in the winter is to protect the fields a bit, as I don't have a big acreage. The horses stay out until it gets really wet and the ground starts to get trashed and then they start coming in at night until the ground improves again in the spring.

It is also easier to manage individual diets if the horses are stabled overnight - the fatties can have double-netted soaked hay, for example, whilst a poorer doer can have adlib haylage.
 
A lot of people stable nowadays for their own convenience or because they think that horses should be "toasty". It makes life easier to have a dry horse to ride etc.

I agree with the comments about the problems with mud. We have 20 acres for 3 horses, yet still have to stable the horses (full time with a small hardstanding that has grassed over paddock for a bit of turnout) for 3-4 months of winter. If we didn't suffer from mudrash and boggy clay fields I would have the horses out 24/7 in winter with a big field shelter.

I also love the idea of barn stabling - they did that where I did my AI in Lincs years ago - all the horses went into a big barn at night as though they were in a field. I thought it was wonderful for the horses.
 
If i ever get my own, i will try to keep them out as much as poss- ie grass kept. Most good liveries will have a spare stable or two for box rest- emergency keeping in etc regardless of whether you are just on grass, so that shouldn't be a problem.

My loan pony is out 24/7- he uses rugs in winter and particually rainy/cold times (not clipped but thinnish coat). We also use mud guard sprays in winter too. He looks none the worse for it including other fieldmates who are not all natives etc.

Afterall, for most horses it is the most natural.
But that's coming from me- most of the horses i've ridden live out.

I suppose a stable gives you a dry place for the human to be with horse out of the wet.
Some bad dooers loose weight out in a cold field, some seem miserable and shivering too.

Being out in the field also helps respiritory problems too. Horses can sometimes be warmer out in the feild as they get to move about etc, depending on how bad the weather is.

So, unless my horse had a specific reason, we lived in bad weather conditions, sick, or it was easier and almost as econmical, eg spare stable at home, some mutual agreement for someone to bring horses in and muck out in exchange for rides etc i would leave out- no mucking out!
 
For me:
- to get my lami prone girl off the grass when it's frosty
- to keep weight on her (however many rugs/duvets she wears, she just isn't warm enough outside at night in the worst of the winter)

The rest of them live out - why stable if you don't have to?!
 
Ours stay out most of the year. Last year when we had snow up to our knees we brought them in for fear of not being able to get to them if it got worse. Some of my livery companions will bring them in every night from about october onwards, it's just personal preference I suppose. Also, if you're used to doing something for years, I think it's hard to adjust and accept that maybe your horse would be fine outside (dependant on breed/age/condition too though).
 
Luckily my grazing is able to cope with the horses all year round, so I use the stables for grooming,physio, feeding etc when its raining. Also handy for keeping farrier dry, and as a waiting room for horses waiting to be worked. Saves mutiple trips to the field.
Basically, its a Useful Room.
 
In my case, mainly because I don't have the luxury of keeping my horse at home so I am bound by livery yard rules. A lot of people on here will comment that if the YO makes you keep your horses in then you should move yards but life isn't that simple. It is incredibly difficult to find a decent yard that will let you turn out all year - around here, all yards want the horses in over night for the winter, if not in 24/7 for a period.

In summer I stable because my horse has ringbone in front and can't cope with being on the hard ground 24/7, so he comes for part of every day. It's also easier to keep him slim (ish!) as he isn't on grass all day and night.
 
Mines in to stop the mud clogging up on his legs and he has feathers so its a nightmare to keep clean. I can monitor what he eats and when i go competing in the winter he is nice and clean! :D
 
The only time I've had a horse in for any period was when my old pony had laminitis and was in during the day and out at night on a tiny patch. Other than that I would only have in if on box rest, or if one is having different feed to others i'd shut it in for feeding then out again. All mine are natives/cobs and good doers so no need for them to be in, the old one has a rug in winter and all cope fine
 
Our pony (Irish cob) is stabled every night all year round.
a) because he lives off fresh air & we have hassle keeping weight off him.
b) if he is out 24/7 he stuffs his face till he's all fat & full then is too stuffed to perform (jumping)
c) he competes all year round so it helps to keep him clean & dry & easy to catch ready for work.
d) he's always ready for in by 6pm anyway & hates being out all night!!

I hate that he has to come in - I have more grass than I need & am still buying hay all year round :( hopefully the next one will be an outdoorer!! xx
 
Very good question.

Before i got my mare, i used to think it insanely cruel to bring in a horse and plonk them in a 12x12 box (think of you being stuck in your room for half the day). Its not like they sleep like we do, and surely they must want to be out in a paddock with their friends, able to run around...

But my mare loves it. She has been known to walk herself in from the field, and be standing in ehr box with the door open. Shes always the one waiting at the gate to come in.

So i bring my mare in cos she loves it. (And shes a bad dooer so would lose far too much weight over winter) She loves being turned out too, but i think she likes the variety as well... we only haver individual turnout so must be boring if she was out all day and night by herself in a small paddock :/
 
I have to on my new yard. Shes out between 7-8 and in 6-7.

However shes a lot easier to handle, tie up and generally do stuff with.
And considering she is at the gate at 6 calling and wont walk out of her stable when its raining I dont think she hates it that much.
 
i think horses need stables a lot less than we think, and those that wait at gates shouting are just in tune with their routine and know that stable means food;) I think stables are definately more for the humans benefit than the horses, clean mud free dry horses obviously take less time to groom than one thats just applied it's daily mud pack before coming in from the field;)
mine are out 24/7 all year round, it is very rare for me to stable either of the 2 horses, the mare hates being in a stable, one of the conditions of me having her originally was that she be kept out as much as possible:) The 2 ponies are out all year too. i haven't had a single case of mud fever in the last 7 years:)
 
Ibblebibble said:
i think horses need stables a lot less than we think, and those that wait at gates shouting are just in tune with their routine and know that stable means food;) I think stables are definately more for the humans benefit than the horses, clean mud free dry horses obviously take less time to groom than one thats just applied it's daily mud pack before coming in from the field;)
mine are out 24/7 all year round, it is very rare for me to stable either of the 2 horses, the mare hates being in a stable, one of the conditions of me having her originally was that she be kept out as much as possible:) The 2 ponies are out all year too. i haven't had a single case of mud fever in the last 7 years:)
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I havent stabled for about 8 years and trust me its a bit of a eye opener getting back into routine. But I love the mucking out, the chinwag, and singing to the radio while mucking out and making a bed look nice and fluffy again. :D

Considering shes only been on livery for two weeks I think her routine is good, she only has hay no hard feed and the grass shes out with his really lush (shes wearing a muzzle atm). She doesnt really eat her hay when she gets in as shes stuffed.

Mudfever is something im worried about this year with the whole in and out business, we shall see.
 
Kaylum said:
I prefer to barn than stable as it gives them more room and they can still stay together.
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Yes, I prefer an open barn too and I have a big yard attached so they can come and go as they please in a bog free zone.

I think much of stabling is for historical reasons because if you look at it from the horses point of view it's a no brainer...
A herd animal designed to move most of the time foraging for food and run to escape danger shut alone in a small box for long periods able to stand still most of the time gorging...
 
regarding mud fever i don't wash my horses legs during the winter, although they look awful, if i part the hair the skin is actually clean and dry, the mud actually seems to form a good barrier if left alone!! As i see it, washing is going to continually get them wet down to the skin and that's when the infections start. That is just my own opinion though and it could be that i've just been damn lucky rather than there being any basis to my theory;):)
 
I stable my Clydesdale mare at night to reduce her waistline. She got so miserable in a muzzle that I've found it the best way to diet her.

To be able to feed my 3yr old more feed than her mum needs.

Also to reduce the pressure on the grazing - I don't really have enough now to graze 24/7
 
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I stable because
- we're on clay - once it starts getting wet it turns to bog very quickly
- to watch grass intake in the summer - I have 3 fatties
- my horses are clipped in the winter so for protection against wet and cold
- to get them out of the flies in the summer

Personally I like to have my horses come in and they are thoroughly checked and handled twice every day (not saying that horses that live out aren't checked - but they probably aren't handled as much). This has been huge help when I've had very nervy unhanded horses with me, as they've had to get used to being handled every day very quickly
 
Ibblebibble said:
i think horses need stables a lot less than we think, and those that wait at gates shouting are just in tune with their routine and know that stable means food;)
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Hehe, when mine go out for periods whether on a track or whole field they learn to wait near the gate much quicker than they learn to wait at the gate to come in. :D Horses in stables can't wait at the gate can they? :p
I actually think horses pick up on routines very quickly anyway.
 
Ibblebibble said:
regarding mud fever i don't wash my horses legs during the winter, although they look awful, if i part the hair the skin is actually clean and dry, the mud actually seems to form a good barrier if left alone!! As i see it, washing is going to continually get them wet down to the skin and that's when the infections start. That is just my own opinion though and it could be that i've just been damn lucky rather than there being any basis to my theory;):)
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My youngster who lives out all year had mud fever for her 1st 3 winters, but last winter, I left her legs unwashed and she didnt get it.

The skin becommes more porous and more accesible to pathogens if hosed down too much.

I did used to have a stabled overnight horse that i would, once a week fully hose her knee downwards, then the following morning apply baby oil as a barrier. She didnt have mud fever, but i thought it would be a good preventative as she was a grey!.

Years ago, it was all about leaving the mud on the legs to dry overnight and brush it off in the morning, but what a chore! PArticularly if you are on clay soil that formed pebble like clumps around the pasterns, and it would really annoy the horse having you hacking away at their legs every morning!.
 
Its true about horses being in a routine. My TB would stand by the gate after half an hour turnout when I first had him, just becuase he wasn;t used to being turned out.

At my last livery yard, I stabled over night all year ruond becuase that was the rule of the yard. They didn;t wany horses out overnight becuase the fields would be trashed in winter, and also becuase the fields ran alongside a bridle way and they were worried about security.

Current place - they all live out 24/7. The TB has a night time paddock where he goes on his own overnight, so he can have a big feed and ad lib hay and an open stable to go in. The fatties stay in another paddock with their rations, and we have big grassy field for daytime. I tried to bring TB in last winter, but he was habing none of it - he is used to his new routine which means he gets fed and hayed in his stable in the field, with the door left open.
 
Apart from thats the yards rules both Nadia and my mums shetland love coming in. During the summer they come in once or twice a week too as my mum thinks they have a proper sleep that way.
 
Ibblebibble said:
regarding mud fever i don't wash my horses legs during the winter, although they look awful, if i part the hair the skin is actually clean and dry, the mud actually seems to form a good barrier if left alone!! As i see it, washing is going to continually get them wet down to the skin and that's when the infections start. That is just my own opinion though and it could be that i've just been damn lucky rather than there being any basis to my theory;):)
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Thats what I used to think until I got one that gets mud rash just by looking at mud. Its not called mud rash/fever for nothing.:(
 
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