Wintering out pro's and cons?

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my2babys

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Im considering wintering out this year, i've never done it before, i've taken on 3 acres of grazing with natural shelter i.e lots of trees, and caves. i do have 2 stables and 1 acre to fall back on half a mile up the road just in case, but im gonna try this year and see how we get on. What are the pro's and cons of wintering out, is there anything i should be aware of?, my reasons are, i've taken on a new job and think it will be easier in the winter with no mucking out, more time with the horses, and maybe i could get another one lol, (but) i only have 2 stables but my 2 little ponys 11h an 13hh could share a stable (12 by 18ft large mare and foal box,) i've never put 2 ponys in the same stable before and there mare and gelding so not sure really, tell me what you all think be honest not nasty please im asking for advice not to be shot down. Thank you xxx
 
I've almost always had ponies that wintered out, and would never keep one in by choice.
Pros. Healthier for both me and them ( I have a dust allergy ) , cheaper, less work, ponies can socialise and exercise themselves, easier to get someone look after them if you are ill etc.
cons. Mud, more mud, no lighting, trying to find them in the dark, dealing with spells of bad weather when water freezes up etc.
If the field isn't overstocked and there is good drainage or an area of hardstanding the mud problems can be minimised :D
Some ponies will live together in a large stable but they have to get on really well or one will get bullied.
 
I winter out my 17hh TB in north east Scotland...

Pros - they're out. I find him much calmer and easier to ride and handle when he's out. Plus he has PSSM so stiffens up in a stable. They are happier, less bored, and can engage in a proper full time social herd structure.

MUCH less time mucking out.

I find that field-kept horses cope better with a day not being ridden, as they have a baseline level of exercise in the field... ideal for interrupting winter weather.

Cons - MUD FEVER (or is for my boy)

Constant rug changing and worrying over whether they are warm enough/too hot.

They are pretty much never clean all winter - you can over-wash legs which reduces the skin's resistance to mud fever, and you want to minimise the amount of grease you remove from the coat as it helps withstand weather.

Having to hang around waiting for your horse to dry before turning out if he's sweated up when working.

INJURIES. They are far more likely to come in with injuries, whetehr kicks, scratches, a bit ouchy because they've been galloping around and slipped in the mud...

GET GOOD MUCK BOOTS. You will spend five months caked in mud, as gateways pretty much always end up calf-deep.

Weight. You will need to increase your feeding, both of forage and hard feed. They use more energy just by moving about and keeping warm, let alone if you're working them. I start to increase feed in October so that they don't suddenly drop weight in November/December. I regularly weigh tape mine too so I keep an eye.

I still find it worth it, although there are days when even I give in and stable them for a night just to dry out...
 
My 17hh bunch live out. Don't worry about dirt, they will be and the more time you spend cleaning it off ythe more you compromise their natural waterpoofing. As yours are ponies they probably won't need rugs, but you can play that by ear.
Why anyone would stable I just don't know! I have 3 acres and it only gets muddy at the gateways, also I just spent a fortune getting my worse gateway fixed so it shouldn't any more.
They have ad lib forage in a big feeder and a token hard feed once a day.
 
I have a yard with stables in - and could also leave mine out 24/7 as have shelters if they want to use them.

If you poo-pick daily or weekly then its a right pain locating them in the dark/mud or lifting them from frozen paddocks if left a day or so.
Locating said equines is sometimes hard in the pouring rain on a dark night after work, as they are huddling over the far side of a field (as they always do!)
Out 24/7 means that in really bad weather you do not have to 'panic' to get to a stabled horse/pony in the morning, but you get there when you get there :)

Other Pro's/cons are already posted as above in this thread.

MIne only get dragged in to stables when I get fed up with finding them in the dark on work mornings/nights & they are out again as soon as its light enough to see in either the morning OR evening on work days, so prob in from early Nov till end Jan at most :)
 
my 2 share a stable- well it is a section in the barn, that is probably the size of 3-4 typical stables. mare and gelding 16'2 and 15'2, with no trouble, they eat hay side by side and don't fight. i try to winter out my guys, they are in a herd of 10 and on up to 40 acres in the winter, but do find they had to come in a lot last winter because of the mud.
 
Mine stay out a lot over winter now that one is arthritic and I have a perfect field for the job. They only really came in when it snowed or was really wet overnight.
Massive pro is no mucking out, cost, health of the horses, speed to do chores.
Cons - poo picking a huge field!
 
Mine have always wintered out, usually in a 2 acre field with a field shelter and trees so they choose for themselves whether to be in or out, and wear rugs for the dirtiest weather days too. Manure tends to get kicked around more in winter if field's too wet to push a barrow across. I put loose hay out in the field for them to eat and break the ice on the watertrough. Dry hardstanding area for putting hay on if field is really wet.

Last winter they wintered out in 30 acres with 10 other horses, no shelter so they wore their rugs more often than in previous winters. No poopicking. 5 owners so it was a nice "holiday" as we could work it among ourselves to take turns in doing daily checks, putting hay out, rugs on/off, so we didn't have to go down twice a day every day unless we wanted to. There was no dry hardstanding area and the field did get very wet/muddy but fortunately no mud fever.

What I like about them living out is they can move about, breathe fresh air, indulge in play and grooming, and watch the world go by far more than if they were in a stable. Got to be better for their joints, digestion, respiration and general well-being.
 
I wintered out my two youngsters last winter. It was the first time I had done this as previously. I have always stabled at night.

I did not rug either and they grew thick natural glossy coats. They came through the winter in really good condition.

I shall do it again. The frozen water tanks were the worst part as I had to get water from the house and cart.

The plus was they had freedom, and there was no panic too get to them in the really bad weather.

If you have back up of stables in case of illness, you should be fine. I do use stables (12 x 12) as a field shelter and they often lie in one box together, currently the are around 13.1 and still growing up.
 
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I wintered out my tendon injured TBxWB mare last winter. She managed until early December with just the grass and some extra haylage and a big heavyweight rug, after that she was fed 3x a day hard feed, had 3x HW rugs on and had horrendous mud fever to the point we brought her back in mid January! She looked atrocious and it took me at least three months to get the weight back on properly and sort her legs out. I would never ever do it again with a blood type horse after that!
 
I think some blood horses cope well, some don't. The OP has ponies so they should love it. My big horse is, we thought, a complete wuss, and was always cold when stabled, but living out he just had a weatherbeeta orican full neck on and was toasty.
I came back on to add that I don't poo pick in winter - life is just too short for mud wrestling with a barrow - I harrow and rest the fields come the spring and then poo pick until I deem it to be winter again.
 
Mine live out and although there are occasions I would kill for stables I also realise how much easier it is for them to be out. I think horses living out are less prone to colic , ulcers and respiratory problems etc. Mine are rugged at night when temps drop. Poo picking and mud are a right pain in the backside and its horrid trying to check horses and feed etc in the rain. Every year I swear Im moving to stables before winter lol but when the spring comes etc I love them being out :)
 
If the environment is good and ad lib forage is offered, any horse can do well over winter.

My WB X TB had always been stabled over winter with 3 layered rugs.
Her first winter with me, was the awful frozen snowy winter 3 years ago and she lived out for the first time. I had a stable if she didn't cope but she thrived. She loved it and only needed to wear one medium weight rug.
Our fields drained well and didn't get muddy. The horses didn't gather around the gate so it remained mud free.

All the horses, including a 30 year old pony, kept their weight on and remained fit, calm and free of coughs from stable dust.

During the big freeze we had to ensure the water in the fields didn't freeze and burst a pipe and if rugged, sewing a reflective strip on is helpful for locating the blighters in the dark.
I guess the only negative was having to trek across the fields to catch one for riding instead of them waiting handily in the stable.
 
Mine live out 24/7. We feed them haylage in the winter. Frozen troughs and snow can be a pain. I still poo pick everyday. As long as they are fed and rugged appropriately they are fine. Mud fever is a potential problem, I leave the mud on and don't wash their legs. I found it helpful to get my horses used to me wearing a head torch so I can check them in the dark.
 
I think it depends on the horse. I wintered four out last year. 3 did very well on adlib hay, despite the mud. One was skinny, only really wanted to eat hay and when I bought her in October last year she had raging mudfever. The mudfever, which she had had the whole of the previous year, improved over the winter despite the horrendous conditions (work that one out:mad:). The fields recovered, almost...

This year I am growing the winter fields into standing grass, unfortunately the drought is making that a bit slow.

They have adlib hay and I have a pond heater in a very large trough (its for cattle and sheep too) which I fill from the house tap with a hose if its frozen outside and from the outside tap if not. I keep a hose in the house all winter so I always have one that works.
 
Our ponies have lived out all year for several years, until last winter, when they were stabled overnight for the first time. We had limited grazing which had come through the very wet spring, summer and autumn quite badly and by winter had turned into a mudbath. We wanted to give the ponies' legs/hooves a chance to dry out, so last winter they were out during the day for 6-8 hours and in overnight. We now have an additional 4 acres, most of which has never been grazed but was cut & baled earlier this month. We're now letting it all grow for winter grazing, and we're hopeful that it will feed the ponies for a good part of winter.
Pros:
- No mucking out, the time spent with ponies in limited daylight can be quality time
- Ponies keep themselves much fitter living out than being stabled as they're constantly on the move so riding weekends only isn't a problem
- Ponies are happier and healthier living together in their little herd - I've never had a case of colic, stable vice or rispiratory disease
Cons:
- Finding/checking them in winter can be harder in limited light. I'm lucky as I have someone else to check them during the daylight on weekdays when I'm working but I've struggled in the past
- Our new winter field is a hike from the yard - we have a very long hose, but I don't expect it to be much use if we have a big freeze, so we'll have to resort to carrying water
- Ponies get muddy! We do keep ridden ones rugged, but that leads to its own issues of under/over rugging. I always worry far less about unrugged youngsters with their natural protection than about the ridden rugged ponies, but veer towards under rather than over rugging.

I always like the ponies to lose some condition through winter. With a couple of laminitics in the herd it means they are in a much better state to handle the richer spring grass than if they come out of winter looking too well.

We're lucky to have the yard and stables next to our grazing, so it's not a problem to bring ponies in when needed. And if the weather gets particularly extreme we have the option of leaving the yard gate and stable doors open so they have free access to all the fields and stables.
 
I find that mine do much better out 24/7. I have a mix of arabs, an anglo, and an older tb/shire. We have found in the 6 six years they have lived out that they come through the winter better, this year we chucked a bale of haylage in the field around once a week, and hard fed from Jan. My friends ponies wander in and out of a field shelter, and get hay twice a day, and a small feed once a day, (mainly for the cushings drugs 2 of the require) and look brill. She had 3 on about 2 acres, all smaller than 13hh, and 2 on about 1 1/2 acres. Hers share a fieldshelter when they are all together, and seem to get on well. If you can have them wandering on and off the yard it will help with the mud.
I have found it saves me a huge amount of time and money, mine are all clipped, and if they are damp post exercise I use a thermatex under the turnout rug whilst I ride the next one! I did 4 years without anywhere under cover, and am loving having somewhere to tack up in the rain, but if you have stables near that's a real bonus!
 
Mine live out, I have a stable block (6 stables) that doesn't get used, I do however make them up a giant bed in the barn and hang their hay nets in it, they come and go as they please and all sleep in the barn together when they decided they want to be in.
I've never stabled I just think the horses are better off doing as they please.
 
how many horses will you have on the 3 acres? will you have it divided up to save for the winter?

I used to have 2x 15'2 out on a 3 acre field, 2 acres for the winter 1 for the summer but it got trashed, I ended up having to let them out on the other side, I moved there in the Oct and left by the following May as it was too small for 2 that live out

but where possible I would let a horse live out, most are much happier, as long as they have shelter and decent rugs, I try to have 2 of each weight, in case one gets wet through!

however, this winter im doing the opposite and having to have them in a night, will be a massive shock to the system for all of us!
 
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