Winter routines

[racebuddy]

Now coming into winter routines. Change for some

mine still goes out every day , depending on what shift i am working he may get brought in tea time and then i will finish after work .

at yard 5am / 6am work work him and do jobs ect if on late shift , oppisote way round if working early

finishing evening yard varies again with shifts earliest 6 latest 9pm

weekeds i try and keep to similar routine but try and let him get some sleep ie go down at 7am unless out competing finihs about 5/6 pn on a weekend
??

 

[Steerpike]

Mine are in at night now, they go out at about 7.30 after they've had breakfast and come in at 4ish, at the beginning of November all 4 will be coming back into work so will only be out from about 11am or 12am as long as its not chucking it down. My fields are very open with no shelter.

 

[windand rain]

Mine are always out but move to sugarbeet instead of water in their food. Rugs on while in the exposed field but will be off again on mild days and once they move to the winter grazing where they have more shelter. The two young highlands are still naked but have shelter and loads of foggage in the wettest part of the winter field. They will likely all move to higher ground if it gets too wet. Our soil is very sandy and have had a few bouts of colic due to it so the extra fibre of the beet helps

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

My yard still the same out at 7.15 am in at 4pm gradually moving back to 3.30pm or 3pm light depending. Not yet on puta beet, otherwise still same routine

 

[popcorn1]

My winter routine.

Chuck hay at them. A bucket feed if they need it.

That is all. Mucking out just isn't for me.

 

[Esmae]

Mine are in at night and out during the day from the beginning of November. Small bucket feed once a day, ad lib hay. Yes mucking out is a pain but, as they say, "them's the breaks".

 

[scats]

Out 7.30am, currently in at 5pm but when clocks change it will be between 2-4.30pm, depending on work. I like the winter routine.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

Currently out at 6am and in at 4.15. Tb usually has a wobbly around the time the clocks change. He wont stay in the field so then it will be turnout at 6am for an hour or as long as he is happy. Sometimes it can be as little as 10 mins. He will then start being exercised twice a day. Not keen on winter!

 

[Winters100]

Mine are currently on holiday as I am off games, so they are just in the paddock dawn to dusk, half livery so they are fed, rugs changed, turned out and boxes done by grooms, but I still go every day to poo pick (where I am no one else seems to do this), and to give cuddles / check them. All get breakfast and supper ranging from a pretty big feed for my mare who is prone to losing weight, a small-ish feed for one of the geldings and a tiny handful of grass cubes for the good doer (mainly just so he has something and to give the supplements).

Hay is ad-lib in the paddock, but at night the good doer has soaked hay in a small holed haynet. Jury is out on how he is going to do without work, but it may be that he needs to be moved to another paddock without hay if he starts gaining weight

They are only ridden 2 - 3 times a week at the moment, and then only hacking with friends who are kind enough to take them for a leg stretch, so no real work.

I have to say that I do not really enjoy having them on holiday. When they were in hard work I never really bothered if I wanted to give a bit of extra food or a treat on the basis that they would work it off. I now find myself reducing food even for the mare who was previously on 4 meals a day. I am also having to reduce the size of my own feeds as I am burning off a lot less calories and don't want to be the size of a small hippo by the time I am able to ride again! On the other hand I seem to suddenly have a lot more time, I have to spend every morning for the next month in an outpatient department having my hand rehabilitated, which were the horses in work would have been difficult, but now I find myself popping home to have a coffee and change rather than rushing like a mad thing to get to the horses So every cloud.......

 

[Julie Ole Girl]

Mine are coming in at 6pm from the field next door which is getting quite wet. They love it, as they get their tea, they are in a stable looking out at our driveway and seem very happy. Little Elsa can't wait to come in but seems more reluctant to go out at 7.30am! Still not rugged unless its raining hard.

 

[Pedantic]

Ours are still out 24/7 and getting enough out the fields too eat still, so not ready for coming in yet, my boy will let me know when he is hungry.

 

[Abby-Lou]

Let out at 5.15am to hay on hard standing & muck out stables, let in field 1pm, brought in at 3pm, 6pm hay topped up and poo skipped out

 

[doodle]

Goes out about 8.30 am. I muck out do hay and water and leave ready to come in. Go back about 3.30ish, bring and groom and ride then fed and left for the night. This time gets earlier as the winter goes on to be able to ride in the light.

 

[ycbm]

Just changed. In at 6 ish out at 10 ish depending on whether they are ridden.
.

 

[atropa]

Had hoped to keep mine out till end of Oct but ended up bringing in for a few days with that bad storm last weekend and just stuck with it.
Weekdays, fed small feed for supplements and turned out some time between 7-8am. I pop down during my lunch break and muck out, WB currently having two haynets and HiPo one soaked net but hay intake will increase as amount of grass in field decreases.
Bring in at 5pm, work one or both. Feed small dinner.
Back down around 8.30/9pm to check, change rugs if necessary, top up hay if necessary.
Weekends, fed at 6am, do stables for an hour then ride them before turnout. Bring in around 6.30pm.

Once clocks go back I will be heading down at 5am to exercise both in the morning, apart from Wednesdays when I will take a long lunch break to give them a hack in daylight. Bring in time will be brought forward in line with the sun going down.

 

[JoannaC]

No change yet, out at night and come in at some point during the day but they will have the odd night in if it's torrential rain and wind all night. Hopefully won't come in properly until January/Feb time.

 

[spotty_pony]

Morning - I go up about 8/8.30 and feed and then either ride or turnout. Then I muck out and tidy the yard.

Evening - anytime from 4pm (or earlier in very bad weather) they come in and have their tea and get rugs changed.

 

[tankgirl1]

Mine is in at night now, I pay for her to be turned out and brought in, and I go up at tea time to muck out, soak her hay, sort her bucket and meds.

 

[Tihamandturkey]

Madam is still out 24/7 - hoping to keep it that way til 31st October when she'll be clipped and come in at night as will her field mate.
If it's before the clocks go back and dark earlier she'll be convinced she's missing something in the field ?

 

[Dave's Mam]

We come in at night from 1st November. I turn out at 0600, muck out & leave floor to dry. He will come in late afternoon, as late as possible.

 

[saddlesore]

No change for me yet, hoping to keep him out till the turn of the year ?

 

[nikkimariet]

Exactly the same as summer just with more rugs and a head torch!

 

[Starzaan]

Mine is the same as the summer. So -

- out on the yard at 4:30, rug up and turn out
- muck out, fill hay bars, waters and sweep yard
- make up feeds for the evening
- if I’m riding in the morning I’ll bring them in at 5:30 and give them a really good groom, then ride. If riding in the evening I bring in around 4 and do the same.
- if I’ve ridden in the morning, in at 6pm, proper groom, rugs changed and into boxes
- out at 11pm to skip out and top up hay and water.

 

[jnb]

No change for me except haynets morning an night if/when he eats them up. Still got plenty of grass as I strip graze or split field into 2. I use more shavings in the shelter in Winter to ensure a dry bed for him to kip on.
Will clip soon then a few more rug changes and I have just fished out my LED baseball hat so I can see the locks in the mornings.
Love having him out 24/7

 

[Bambelina]

Very fortunate to have all year turnout. The last few years our paddocks have been smaller, so a friend fed and hayed on a morning, and another friend and myself did evenings, and I maybe rode a couple times a week (not got great facilities) however this year we have moved to a much larger field, so they will just be checked over by land owner in a morning and then myself and my friend will give them a small feed and some hay on an evening. Luckily not much to do, as the heavier pregnant I get the less I can do! I go on maternity leave in December so after having baby in Jan I hope to go ride during the day, but we will see!

 

[Annagain]

At the moment they're still out 24/7.They usually start coming in overnight (yard rules) in mid-late November depending on the grass and how wet the fields are. They went down to the hay fields much later this year so there is still plenty of grass. I'm hoping we might even get to December as long it doesn't rain too much - there's a natural spring in one of the fields which turns into a pond with any decent amount of rain and the rest of the fields get very soggy too when that happens. As soon as they come up to the top fields, they start coming in.

When they're in, my friend turns them out at about 6.30am and mucks out her stable (it suits her as her kids have something on every evening) and I go up after work and get them in at about 6.30pm so they have a 50/50 split of in/out. I've changed roles in work and my new one is more flexible so I'm hoping to do two or three late finishes (about 6pm) and two or three early ones (about 3 pm) so I can ride Charlie a couple of times in the week. In recent years with Arch and Mont being old and quiet I've stuck to weekends only in the winter. At least working form home means I can wear my jods all day and be at the yard within 5 minutes of logging off!

 

[ihatework]

I’m over the equine winter treadmill routine I’m afraid.

One horse being shipped into schooling livery, the others deliberately placed somewhere with good land to live out 24/7 and with shared checks and throwing some balancer at them. Plus a bit of patting.

 

[ShadowHunter]

Out at 9am.
Mucked out, hay bars filled, auto waters checked and cleaned if necessary.
If its a riding day, I'll try to do that before lunch or just after.
Then they come in just before it gets dark, so that changes all time time, currently its around 6pm.
10pm, bucket feeds are given and hay is topped up.

 

[windand rain]

Must admit the older I get the more into just poo pickng (which I find relaxing) and pony patting really need a kick up the bum to do more with the babies but they are fed touched and patted daily and come for a hug while we are poo picking so are not feral. They lead load and are happy with the farrier and recently the dentist so I am content enough but guess they could use a bit of walking out separating and doing stuff with. Missing showing due to covid as that is where they usually get an education