Wintering Out - Part 1 - Shelter

chickeninabun

chickeninabun

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So I'm thinking of wintering my cob out, as she had done with previous owners. She is a v well built 14.3hh 14yo h/w mare and I have the first of a few questions...

Does anyone winter out without a shelter? We have big (6-10 foot) hedges and a couple of trees all around the field but not an actual purpose built shelter.
I have access to a stable if the weather turned really nasty, but she gets feather mites and we bed on straw so don't really want to bring her in.
 
Friends horses live out 24/7 through rain, frost, snow and a hurricane last year with just hedges and trees for shelter. None of them were rugged either.
 
I have wintered my lot out without shelters for the last 10 yrs with no problems whatsoever.
Their fields have always had natural shelter of some kind ie hedging but because of my cob's sweet itch it has to be minimal or fenced off so they don't have alot.
They range from a cob to a welsh a to a tb although he did have access to an open stable
 
Generally not but it does help if you want to ride. Last year they were rugged up when it was persistent rain but apart from that I try not to.
 
I winter all my horses out in the highlands of scotland i have about 10 acres for the winter. I have a big barn which i bed down but to be honest they hardly ever use it they have add libb hay and hard feed but i don't need much hard feed. My mare is rugged and hunter clipped as she works through the winter. She is a tbx. She was in foal last winter and had a lovely healthy foal in april. I did bring her in the beggining of april to foal but that was just personal preferance. I always have quite a few rugs so i can swap them over if it is really wet. As long as he is not standing in loads of mud he will be fine
 
mine are out 24/7 all year round my youngster without rug but my mare with and only have hedges and trees for shelter
and mine cope
 
My youngster wintered out well without a purpose built shelter, just walls, hedges,trees etc and he was fine!
 
Your hedges etc sound like perfect shelter to me, as long as there is access to something protecting from each direction.
 
We have a field shelter, hedges trees and a patch of gorse. Tbh, they spend most of their time sheltering by the hedges, and tucked into the gorse. They seem to use the shelter more in the summer than in the winter, although they do use it if the weather is really filthy.
smile.gif
 
i have lots of field shelters but there were already there when i got the place!

TBH, they dont go in the shelters when you expect them to really!

I would say though that you are going to need a 'dry' area, maybe get a load of gravel down etc in a corner so they have somewhere to stand out of the mud etc.
 
I out winter mine and they ignored their shelter 99% of the time preferring to use a windbreak. I do rug them.
 
I've wintered my two Arabs out for the past 4-5 years, no manmade shelter but plenty of natural shelter. They were well rugged-up and happy as Larry. However, I'm probably going to have to put up a field shelter as the recently-acquired donkey suffered from seedy toe last winter - probably thanks to the dreadfully wet summer preceding - and needs some dry hard-standing to protect his feet.
 
I left my lad out all year for the first time last year - he does have a field stable but very rarely uses it in the winter and was stood out in all weathers including knee high snow, rather than go in. He is rugged but only a medium weight that has lost most of its fill due to being old! He thrived to be honest...loved it.
 
Mine lives out in a field that has a wall with trees along the prevailing winds side, and that seems to be enough. He's rarely under the trees anyway---is usually found with his head stuck deep in the hay dispenser.
 
i have a t/b that is out 24/7352 days of the yr when winter comes i just make sure she is rugged propally with lots of hay for internall warmth and thats it she does not even have natural shelter so i think yours will do just fine!
 
Ours are two 14.3 Section D types. Both live out all year with no shelter, although we do sometimes bring them in at night if the ground gets very wet.

They are not rugged, but if it rains consistently for several days we will bring them in and dry them off, then turn back out in rain sheets (no fillings).
 
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