Winter turnout & routine – can you help me survive this year?!

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diddy

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Hi everyone,

One of my horses has mudfever already so I’m looking for some advice on how to get through this winter! I have 3 horses (hopefully going down to 2 before too long). We have a barn for stabling & a very muddy/swampy field that now has a decent size hardstanding to feed hay (maybe about 30x15 feet?)

I work FT but with quite uneven hours. So 2 days a week I have to leave the house at 7 & I might not be back til 9. Those days were a nightmare last year as I was up at 5.30 to muck out because I couldn’t face doing it after work. I want to try something different this year & have a couple of ideas:

- Get someone in to muck out those 2 days (expensive but wouldn’t that be awesome?!)
- Leave the horses out 24 hours those days, just bringing them in to feed them & check them over

For financial reasons, I prefer option 2 but do you think the horses would cope with alternating between being out 24 hours & in overnight??? I suppose I already mess with their routine anyway as Mrs. Highmaintenance is currently living in the barn until the mud fever clears up (this happened before I sorted the hardstanding so hope that will control it from now on!)

Sorry – very long. Just wondering if anyone else messes with their routine from day to day &/or has paid help & if you think it’s worth it?!

Diddy. x
 
I mixed up bringing in and leaving out last year and mine were fine.

But if mudfever is an issue then I'd probably go with bringing in and seeing if you can get someone to muck out. I also wouldn't worry too much if the odd day the mucking out is a bit basic. I have 1 day a week when work commitments mean the horses are thrown out at first light and mucking out is just 'remove the worst'. It doesn't kill them and I can muck out properly the next day.
 
I've mixed mine up for the past few years when working 3 long days.
On the night before I was working (Mon to Weds) they came in, in the depths of winter, so in on Sun Mon and Tues nights.
They were out the rest of the time unless weather v horrid in which case they came in at night.
In to stables about 5.30pm/6 and breakfast and turn out about 6am.
Doesn't work for everyone but did for me :)

That said, they do have pretty good paddocks and a couple of field shelters in the closest paddocks. They also popped in briefly for check over and small feed twice daily every day anyway.
On those 3 mornings I'd just skip out, then deal properly with boxes on next daylight visit. Took 20/25 mins to do 3 box's, tie in nets, make up feeds for pm and next am and refill waters as well as poss change a rug and chuck out 3.

OP, I'd try looking at the cost of getting someone to at least muck out, if not bring in too first :)
 
Is the barn open or are there stables in there? If a barn could you just bed down a corner and put hay and water at the other end to reduce mixing up and waste, and then it's more of a poo pick job? If proper stables then I'd look into a bedding that requires minimum maintenance e.g. wood pellets or easibed, where you can again skip out in the week and take the wet out when you have more time. Hay bars/feeding from the floor reduce time needed to fill nets, and an extra long hosepipe that goes into the stables as you muck out so no carrying water buckets and saves more time. Horse's can live in their turnouts so no need to change rugs unless soaked through, just make sure they get a good groom every now and then to avoid mane/shoulder rubs and let their coat breathe.
As for mud fever; the effectiveness of the treatment depends on each horse's reaction, my current routine is bring in, hose off legs (not hosing is what got us here), mist lightly with a 1:30 mix of hibiscrub and water, stable boots on. In the morning boots come off, brush legs and check thoroughly for scabs etc, if there are any sudocreme or flamazine and out. This is currently working, if scabs do develop he will stay in, have the legs soaked in warm water to loosen the scabs and flamazine on until they clear.
Could you advertise for a sharer or someone who wants to hack out a couple of times a week in exchange for yard duties? This will take the load off doing all the horses each day and give you a break.
 
Personally, although I like a routine and to an extent my horses do, as long as there is food they are happy! So if I am very busy they cope. last winter I had a tiny baby so kept them out as much as possible with hay in the driest bits.
mud fever- my boy gets it sometimes, but I found last year I did not wash them and I used wraps when in- so legs dried and helped circulation (often I used polo bandages which I chucked in the washing machine after a few days)
 
I hunt horses out the field and sometimes keep them in the night before they are fit and clipped and although when I started I was unsure how it would work it's been fine however they are out most of the time not in most nights and out the odd one which I think would be harder for them .
 
I messed around with routine last year, as I had no help to hand really - I then decided to make the plunge and try help and I have to say 100% its worth the extra expense - I ended up putting my boy on full livery two days a week to make things more enjoyable and less chorey.

I have now upgraded and gone to a part livery yard where everything is done for me on a Monday to fri and I just ride and DIY of a weekend. I only have one and its about 100-150 more a month but for me its worth the extra expense....just! ;)
 
As most others have said - I think the big question is whether the barn is separated into stables or not. If it's one big space I'd leave the doors open and let the horses decide what they want to do. The space will be big enough that not mucking out for one or two days shouldn't be a problem. You could put a round bale inside and one outside on the hard standing and leave them to it.
 
AFB said:
Does your layout allow for leaving the stables open for them to go in & out as they please?
Click to expand...

This, I had my stables built specifically in my field so I just leave the doors open 24/7 and the horses come in and out as they please. I also have hay outside in a ring feeder on a hardcore area (I cant fit a round bale inside). Two of mine can get mud fever a little bit in the winter but this helps a lot as they will spend quite a lot of the day inside dozing especially if its horrible weather. I can also shut them in if I want to as they are proper stables, and some nights I do if I have an event early the next day or something or have the trimmer coming etc. - they couldnt care less. Ive been careful to never set a strict routine so they have always been very accepting of whatever happens.
 
Mud Fever - what are you feeding. I had a TBx that used to be very susceptible to mud fever. I started feeding her a balancer and realised after a few weeks that she hadn't had any mud fever, and never did for the whole of the time I owned her - but she was in at nights and I put Vaseline in her heels every morning onto dry clean legs.
 
MagicMelon said:
This, I had my stables built specifically in my field so I just leave the doors open 24/7 and the horses come in and out as they please. I also have hay outside in a ring feeder on a hardcore area (I cant fit a round bale inside). Two of mine can get mud fever a little bit in the winter but this helps a lot as they will spend quite a lot of the day inside dozing especially if its horrible weather. I can also shut them in if I want to as they are proper stables, and some nights I do if I have an event early the next day or something or have the trimmer coming etc. - they couldnt care less. Ive been careful to never set a strict routine so they have always been very accepting of whatever happens.
Click to expand...

Same here. One of mine likes the door closed in the depths of winter to have a break from the other, greedy one, but generally they please themselves. They do get left out or shut in depending on the weather and don't seem to mind not having a routine. In fact, I think it helps because they never kick up a fuss if I'm later than I was the day before.
 
When sister and I were working fulltime we did weekly deep litter, which worked well. Tbh we did pay someone to put them out and muck out Mon-Fri but she let them get into some dreadful habits, so we were pleased to stop that arrangement after one winter.
 
Thanks for all your ideas - lots of variety there & some handy mud fever tips too!

The barn is about the size of 3 stables but it's all open plan. Unfortunately it doesn't open onto the fields, as otherwise I would let them sort themselves out as many of you do. They would have to negotiate the driveway to get there, which is a bit dangerous as it goes through to my neighbours too!

Interesting to see that many have used some part-time help. I felt like that would be really extravagant but clearly I'm not the only one who struggles to just fit everything in & I guess it's no different to being on part-livery really so don't know why I feel like it's cheating..!

Thanks again :)
 
I have school, which isnt work but its still up at 6. I bring them in in the evening, mix feed, do water and hay ect, by that time legs are dry and i brush mud off and put on some FAB mud fever cream from my vet. give them feed and say night. I KEEP TURNOUT RUGS ON!! In the morning put pig oil on legs (do this every 4 days about) chuck out in field and skip out. Mucking out fully 1-2 times a week.

We make as many haynets as possible up at the weekend, and by keeping turnout rugs on it saves 15 min and they dry. the pig oil repels water and helps stop mud fever.
 
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