Wintering a tb out

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saskiahorsey

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So short story .... I purchased a tb ( windsucks in stable) 3 weeks after last race ... He wouldnt settle very well at livery yard and neither did i .... So got offered a lovely 7 acre field ...lots of natural shelter etc grass is good ... So put him and my mare in with another pony which was already there...they seem happy as larry hes not windsucked at all in field that i can tell....i have plenty rugs in all weights ....but he came out of racing lean ( well when i got him he was lean) hes looking better but i know hes lived in a stable for years until now... So will he cope ...i can build a field shelter and plan on doing so before december but im just worried !!

Anyone successfully wintered out a tb right out of racing ??
 
My first horse was an ex racehorse, out of racing a couple of months before I got him and he lived out in not a dis-similar sounding set up to yours (which sounds perfect by the way!) living out with plenty of hay, good rugs, shelter and horsey company is all most of them need! It's a lovely way to keep horses if you can, got to be worth a try x
 
Second that, I've kept TBs out all year before, my latest one had lived out (along with several others) at his trainer's yard for 12 months before I got him. Good rugs, somewhere to get out of the wind and plenty of grub is all they need.
 
my mare was turned out with an ex racer for years, he used to come in at night, but he stressed himself out, weaved, wind sucked, so much he ended up knocking/breaking his 2 front teeth.

anyway when he was about 22 they decided enough was enough, my mare was out 24/7, they bought him extra rugs and he lived out happily for the next few years. he died at about 26, but I think that was stress related, our farmer died, pretty much all of the horses left, he got upset if I took my mare out, but until this happened he was happier and healthier than he'd been for the 10 years I knew him!!
 
I have one here that has wintered out, the first after he came in to rest following a tendon injury, after several months box rest he was turned out 24/7 early Dec well rugged, he did ok and the tendon recovered so he returned to work in the spring, he raced again the following winter/ spring being turned away afterwards spending most of the winter out resting. He is very happy living out, he has a couple of ponies for company, he does tend to drop a bit of weight but easily picks up in the spring, this year he will be in full work doing sj/ dressage in prep for ror and eventing next season, so he will be in at night, he is very happy stabled and it will be easier for his owner to work him.
There is no reason yours should not be able to stay out, you have a fairly big field, as long as he is well rugged and has plenty of hay he should be fine and probably very happy to be able to move about all day and night not stuck in a box.
 
Thanks i feel better now....i must say hes only been there four days but seems so happy and chilled...theres a lot of good grass there at min so im not feeding any hard feed but obviously i will once the weather changes and farmer puts in haylage bales when needed so adlib for them.... Another quick question ... Hes having the winter off to chill and be a horse but my mare ( ish) id like to ride however iv never had no stables so is it possible to keep a horse in work all winter from the field ? Any tips appreciated ��
 
Our old tb who raced wintered out with us from age 19 until he passed aged 29. It was the best thing for him as for older horses arthritis can become worse if stabled. He wore good rugs, but got a really good coat and had rugs on to avoid weightloss.
 
Plenty of rugs, shelter and most importantly always having something to eat and they will be grand. The first winter mine lived out he came out of winter OK, not great but not bad, just OK. The 2nd winter when he got the idea of it he came out of it as fat as a pig!

My other 2 lived out all winter when in training and they did grand. Just keep a close eye and up feed as/when necessary.
 
I kept mine in light work, mainly hacking (no arena), he did grow a very thick luxurious coat though (I didn't know tbs could get so hairy)! So if he gets sweaty that's when you need to be careful he doesn't get chilled and/or you will need to clip (but then up the rug weight accordingly).
 
Thanks everyone i feel a lot better now....hes not a wuss i should say but hes been pampered .... Hel prob cope better than me....im so used to having stables when needed so im dreading the winter gales etc.......but iv never seen him or my mare so happy....i check on them four times a day lol...but they seem happy being out when stabled he had adlib haylage but would spend so much time at his door windsucking and stressing he hardly ate much .... Now hes never near the fence line just munching in middle of the field with the others ��
 
Mrs G said:
I kept mine in light work, mainly hacking (no arena), he did grow a very thick luxurious coat though (I didn't know tbs could get so hairy)! So if he gets sweaty that's when you need to be careful he doesn't get chilled and/or you will need to clip (but then up the rug weight accordingly).
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Iv managed to get farmer to cut a sectioned off 90x60 paddock so i can still ride in field and lots of bridleways but its just so alien not having a stable to cool of dry off etc ....i guess im going to have to be a bit more aware of weather etc and cooling off x
 
He should winter out fine but start feeding him now if he is lean. Ideally you want him with a bit extra to start winter as if he is a little underweight, a real change in temperature could take him by suprise and horses can drop weight really quickly in winter. Anything living out of mine always went in a bit plump and wintered out well.
 
Luci07 said:
He should winter out fine but start feeding him now if he is lean. Ideally you want him with a bit extra to start winter as if he is a little underweight, a real change in temperature could take him by suprise and horses can drop weight really quickly in winter. Anything living out of mine always went in a bit plump and wintered out well.
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He wont have his feeds yet i think hes getting enough off the grass .... He just turns his nose up at
 
The only thing I would watch is when the grass dies back a bit balancing the different horses' needs. Mine needed extra hay when others in the field didn't, it's fine if all the horses in the field need hay or don't but a bit more tricky if you have one fat on fresh air and another than needs hay.
 
Ad lib hay will keep him nice and warm - a horse's stomach is its personal radiator! You sound well prepared and once the field shelter is built, your set up sounds perfect.
 
Good food, plenty of rugs and natural shelter are all he'll need. My TB lives out (fully clipped) and is a happier, more chilled horse for it. He comes in the morning of hunting to be cleaned and goes out at the end of the day after his tea and another clean. He's had ks surgery and it's so much better for them to be able to move around - after all if they're a bit chilled outside they can gallop up and down to get warm, can't do that in the stable! It'll do yours no end of good to spend a winter being a proper horse, both physically and mentally.
 
My old TB wintered out last year,good rugs,2 feeds a day & adlib hay-thrived & kept weight on better than when he was stabled. Young TB,straight out of racing lived out until end of Dec,well rugged,1 feed a day & hay out at night & he too was absolutely fine.
 
I've wintered out plenty of TBs. If not in work and unclipped, some don't even need much rugging, especially youngsters! Certainly a couple of our happy hackers did all winter on grass/ad lib hay and medium weight rugs (no neck) and no feed. And still were as fat in April as they had been going into winter!

Whilst you won't fatten a TB up over winter, if they go into autumn with condition, there is no reason why they won't maintain all winter. Just feed and rug appropriate to them. Each reacts differently to being out 24/7 however I would maintain that it's better to be out 24/7 on grass/hay and rugged, than in a stable.

We do not provide ours with field shelters either - but do have plenty of good hedges and trees to back up against/under.
 
Riding from the field is fine. It makes things a bit easier if you have a small area of hardstanding to tie up, groom and tack up (and change out of wellies into riding boots!) just so that you're not battling with mud and have somewhere to put things down, but it's not the end of the world if you don't. Unless you're going somewhere special, don't be too worried about the way she looks, just make sure there's no mud in areas that could rub.
 
Ahh yes, the mud; in my rose-tinted reminiscing I had conveniently forgotten about the mud! We had a large field shelter with begged, borrowed and stolen (not really!) paving slabs outside as a 'patio area' so there was always somewhere clean and dry to stand.
 
annagain said:
Riding from the field is fine. It makes things a bit easier if you have a small area of hardstanding to tie up, groom and tack up (and change out of wellies into riding boots!) just so that you're not battling with mud and have somewhere to put things down, but it's not the end of the world if you don't. Unless you're going somewhere special, don't be too worried about the way she looks, just make sure there's no mud in areas that could rub.
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Wont be doing huge amounts of work just to keep her ticking over

Thanks everyone i feel much less worried now ��
 
I keep mine out fully clipped out. I would investigate ulcers asap though if I were you. My mare is out and not a great eater, but will just about eat at the moment. Try and feed him up before the winter if possible, I say this as someone with a horse who is always lean, now is the time to try and get the weight on!
 
zaminda said:
I keep mine out fully clipped out. I would investigate ulcers asap though if I were you. My mare is out and not a great eater, but will just about eat at the moment. Try and feed him up before the winter if possible, I say this as someone with a horse who is always lean, now is the time to try and get the weight on!
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Hes munching away fine now in the field he just doesnt eat much in the stable as at every mouthful he windsucks ....when he was in he ate his hardfeeds fine but my mare not even having hers either the field is full if grass and clover etc hes not windsucking at all ....hes not thin i should say and has gained in the couple months iv had him but coming straight out of racing he had no extra fat on him ... I was just worried about keeping condition on him when living out but to be honest hes eating pretty much all day now instead of standing at his stable door windsucking.... Going to take him a feed down tonight to see if he will eat it .... He wont be clipped or in any work at all just want him to chill out and be a horse over the winter ��
 
I don't see why he shouldn't winter out fine. I haven't had a pure TB but I've wintered out all different types, including a woosy Luso x TB who came from Portugal and was always stabled a lot prior to me getting him and also a thin skinned WB who again was stabled permanently prior to me. All live out 24/7, well rugged and fed with no probs at all.
 
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