Winter Struggles...

[BOWS28]

So winter is here! This means its a ticking time bomb for the turnout to decrease and stable time to increase!!
Does anyone have any ideas of how to keep your horses entertained when they are confined to their stable? We already use a treat ball and Lucie bricks (which she loves).
Just wondering if there are any specific toys or some home made ideas I could try to keep her over active brain busy??
TIA

 

[Cortez]

Work. That tends to take care of brain problems.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

Work. That tends to take care of brain problems.

This ^

 

[BOWS28]

She is in full work but I work full time so she isn't worked until the evenings which doesn't help her all day.

 

[Antw23uk]

I cope by taking their shoes off and sticking them in an overgrown wild 2 acres with a brick barn at my work (business park) and seeing them to feed and haylage but basically ignoring them until the spring

 

[milliepops]

I try to make sure mine have hay to eat all day when they are stuck in. And then give them plenty of exercise daily when I ride.

My oldie used to like grass nuts in a treat ball, but the others just seem to see it as an exercise in violence towards the ball so they are banned now and it's just wall to wall haynets as long as they have company they seem quite happy.

 

[BOWS28]

I cope by taking their shoes off and sticking them in an overgrown wild 2 acres with a brick barn at my work (business park) and seeing them to feed and haylage but basically ignoring them until the spring

Doesn't sounds like a bad idea at all!!

 

[Surbie]

I have a tubby good doer who stresses when he runs out - at the moment I am driving back for a late night check and to chuck extra small-holed nets in and I sometimes take him out for a leg stretch at that point, but while I am working full-time with a long commute I am struggling with sorting time to ride. Will be watching this thread with interest...

 

[BOWS28]

I try to make sure mine have hay to eat all day when they are stuck in. And then give them plenty of exercise daily when I ride.

My oldie used to like grass nuts in a treat ball, but the others just seem to see it as an exercise in violence towards the ball so they are banned now and it's just wall to wall haynets as long as they have company they seem quite happy.

Thank you! she is very good with the treat ball to be fair. now she isn't terrified of the thing lol. She does something different with her ridden work every day so it wears her out mentally. Just always feel bad when she is stuck in her stable! she does get plenty of hay though!!

 

[BOWS28]

I have a tubby good doer who stresses when he runs out - at the moment I am driving back for a late night check and to chuck extra small-holed nets in and I sometimes take him out for a leg stretch at that point, but while I am working full-time with a long commute I am struggling with sorting time to ride. Will be watching this thread with interest...

I know this feeling! Unfortunately, I work over an hour away so I do her at about 5:30 and am not back until about 5;30 again. I have friends that top up the hay supply during the day so she is fine! Keeping the motivation to ride at 7pm isn't always easy but we do get by!!

 

[flying_high]

So winter is here! This means its a ticking time bomb for the turnout to decrease and stable time to increase!!
Does anyone have any ideas of how to keep your horses entertained when they are confined to their stable? We already use a treat ball and Lucie bricks (which she loves).
Just wondering if there are any specific toys or some home made ideas I could try to keep her over active brain busy??
TIA

Is she already not turned out at all whilst you are at work? Ideally I'd want to get her out of the stable and moving both ends of the day. Pay someone to handwalk / hack / turnout in school / loose school the other end of the day? Swap with a friend? Handwalk both horses together?

Box rest entertainment ideas - root veg / likit treat ball suspended from ceiling / battery radio left on / massage pad / multiple forage sources

 

[BOWS28]

Is she already not turned out at all whilst you are at work? Ideally I'd want to get her out of the stable and moving both ends of the day. Pay someone to handwalk / hack / turnout in school / loose school the other end of the day? Swap with a friend? Handwalk both horses together?

Box rest entertainment ideas - root veg / likit treat ball suspended from ceiling / battery radio left on / massage pad / multiple forage sources

They are still turned out now from about 6am until 2pm. Although very soon they will be in for the majority of the day. They go out most days for an hour or so. I always turn my two mares out in the school while I muck out etc - so first thing in the morning, for a good roll. While I am at work she will go out in the field for an hour or so and then I ride in the evening. Its the best way I have been able to manage it. I do have a lovely group of friends that have offered to help me work her if needed so I'm hoping this winter will be better than the last! Just feel guilty when I have to leave her for so long. But unfortunately, if I don't go to work we will both be hungry and homeless!!

 

[DD]

can you move to somewhere with good turnout?

 

[BOWS28]

can you move to somewhere with good turnout?

I have moved her previously and she just didn't settle. Unfortunately, she has been at the current yard for over 15 years and just hated the other yard. the set up was virtually the same, we stuck to the same routine, she had so much lush grass in her field and even had another mare to go out with! Still hated it!! she was there for 2 weeks and it turned her into a nightmare! she was awful to handle on the ground. Stupidly flighty and sharp to ride and was just generally miserable! All of those characteristics are completely unlike her!!
She doesn't enjoy being out in the field for any long amounts of time in bad weather and will just pace and call when she's had enough - high maintenance mare!! Lol. I was very lucky that my old YO hadn't filled her stable and was happy to have us back! As soon as she touched down on familiar turf she was back to her normal, happy self!

 

[poiuytrewq]

I bought a hayball when I had one on box rest. That seemed to go down well. They have them on eBay

 

[tristar]

what cortez says, absolutely

 

[Annagain]

I think the best thing you can do is a sun dance so this dry weather continues and decent turnout is possible for longer . It's made 'winter' pretty easy so far (yes I know it's only November). Boys still out, unrugged (unheard of in Nov before) and only just started having a feed this week as although there's grass there, there's not much value in it now. YO says they can stay out 24/7 until ground is too wet on the hay fields, then they have to come up to winter fields and start coming in overnight. It's still like concrete down there so hoping for another 3 weeks at least even if we get a bit of rain.

 

[JFTDWS]

I just make sure my lot have decent turnout - I've moved a few times to be sure of this, and the ponies are on grass livery this year so will be out all the time, and the mare can be in or out depending on the weather (i.e. out as much as possible). If I had a horse who didn't like being out so much, I'd look for a set up like Ant's - turnout and a barn with forage, where they can come and go as they please. Actually, that's my long term plan for when I have my own land really.

 

[pippixox]

Is there a school they can also be popped in for a roll when they can’t access the field?
Ultimately if you can’t/won’t move and she is relatively happy there I would not worry too much. As she is in work and fed regularly.
If they have food they are happy!

You can do things like hanging veg off strings - but I think this isn’t always great for their necks as they use strange positions to try and grasp and eat the veg. Mine don’t mind a turnip to chew on occasionally but just on the floor. I find the treat blocks are often too sugary. I would make sure their hay is not always in nets- need some floor eating to mimic grazing position

 

[TheMule]

I don't understand why yards which know they can't provide sufficient access to outdoor space in the winter don't then find an alternative solution. All weather turn out space, horse walkers, stables with an outdoor pen etc would all help to prevent the poor creatures being cooped up in a small box for 23 hours a day

 

[mandyroberts]

I don't understand why yards which know they can't provide sufficient access to outdoor space in the winter don't then find an alternative solution. All weather turn out space, horse walkers, stables with an outdoor pen etc would all help to prevent the poor creatures being cooped up in a small box for 23 hours a day

I would suggest yards don't find these solutions as they cost money which owners are not willing to pay? My horse is on retirement livery although I have horses at home. He wasn't happy when he rtired as seeing his friend go out without him was too much and I don't have enough good grazing for him to be out 24x7 with another horse. My first retirement home was lovely but expensive but they are in the process of closing down. I have moved him and its still expensive. You get what you pay for!

 

[TheMule]

I would suggest yards don't find these solutions as they cost money which owners are not willing to pay? My horse is on retirement livery although I have horses at home. He wasn't happy when he rtired as seeing his friend go out without him was too much and I don't have enough good grazing for him to be out 24x7 with another horse. My first retirement home was lovely but expensive but they are in the process of closing down. I have moved him and its still expensive. You get what you pay for!

Of course it costs, every facility costs, but perhaps it is part of responsible horse ownership that people need to wake up to?
My horses live out year round, but my sister runs a full livery yard which provides turn out most days in the winter, but if they can't go out they go on the walker, in the turnout pen, get hand grazed in the hay fields and get worked

 

[milliepops]

I think it's a bit sweeping to make statements like that. I actively choose not to put my horses on a walker, all the ones that have been available on yards I've been on have been small circular walkers and I don't want my horses constantly turning like that.
DIY yards are usually run on a shoestring so to expect amazing facilities is a bit pie in the sky. Mine does have a turnout pen but there are 17 horses on the yard and most of us work office hours, it would be impossible to get every horse into the pen each day and frankly most of the time they don't do anything other than fight with each other anyway!

I moved my retired one to be out 24/7 with no facilities, this set up would be useless for her, likewise simply having a field for my dressage horses would be pretty rubbish.

 

[Leo Walker]

Ironically the yards I've found that do 24/7 turnout are always noticeably cheaper than the ones that dont

 

[milliepops]

I think it's so dependent on where you are in the country. A 40 min drive away, all the yards are on sand so the turnout is always OK in winter (but too far away for DIY). Where i am, it's all clay and we're also close to the river meadows so it's often quite wet. 20 mins in another direction has everything on the exposed side of a hill, reclaimed forestry, clay again and terrible grazing... bit of a venn diagram thing going on but none of the circles interlock to the perfect goldilocks yard!

 

[thenervouscob]

Mine is out 9am until 3pm daily over winter so around 6 hours daily unless horrendous in which case we have a turnout pen, school & walker to utilise. He's always got ad lib hay or haylage to keep him occupied.

Coming from a yard where the horses were in sometimes 6 days solid due to 1 day of rain, its heaven!

 

[mandyroberts]

Of course it costs, every facility costs, but perhaps it is part of responsible horse ownership that people need to wake up to?
My horses live out year round, but my sister runs a full livery yard which provides turn out most days in the winter, but if they can't go out they go on the walker, in the turnout pen, get hand grazed in the hay fields and get worked

I think we agree on horse care. Every horse has different needs and unfortunately some people can't afford to meet those needs

 

[AdorableAlice]

Stay positive, at least it is still bone dry, all be it little grass left after such a hard summer, so horses can still be out for good periods. Every dry day this side of xmas will make the winter shorter.

 

[Surbie]

I I'd look for a set up like Ant's - turnout and a barn with forage, where they can come and go as they please. Actually, that's my long term plan for when I have my own land really.

Now that is the goldilocks yard!!

 

[DD]

I don't understand why yards which know they can't provide sufficient access to outdoor space in the winter don't then find an alternative solution. All weather turn out space, horse walkers, stables with an outdoor pen etc would all help to prevent the poor creatures being cooped up in a small box for 23 hours a day

agree. infact it should be made illegal to keep horses in so much without proper exercise facilities. Still they allow tethering. horse welfare has a long way to go sadly.