wintering out

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nickyb

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do any of you do this? my boy is currantly still out, he seems very happy and the most chilled he's ever been, we bring them in for a while in the day, they get 3 feeds and hay in the field but i seem to be struggling with the whole thing. usually you see i would have had him in since october, but as the weather up untill now had been ok and they were happy we left them. i'm just starting to feel sorry for them when the weather is so bad overnight, i have sleepless nights, rush down in the morning to find them grazing!!! just wondered what your views were?????
 
Would happily do it if I could - when I bought my boy at 5 and a half he'd never been stabled.

If you have the land and grazing to do it, and the horses are happy with it as yours seem to be, then why spend out on bedding, spend time mucking out etc etc etc?!
 
I did it with Rags last year he was clipped but well rugged and competing. I found him far more chilled with this set up. I think I brought him in for abut 3 nights the whole winter and he was fit and ready to start eventing in March.
 
Personally dosnt suit my horse, she wont even go out int he day for more than an hour without tearing round the field or standing shouting and calling. So she is in and fed three time a day!
 
Mine is wintering out having been in at night all summer to limit her grass intake (she is a pig and needed to be fit for eventing!) She is MUCH happier living out 24/7 - I left her in one night last week as it had poured down all day and had a dressage lesson in the rain, so didn't want to turn her out in the rain, wet, with wet turnout rug, apparently the next morning she was desperate to be out again. She copes fine with the weather despite being full TB, and is fed and has hay in the field. As SpottedCat says, as long as the horse is happy why spend money and time on bedding, mucking out etc (especially as mine is FILTHY!!!!)
 
Hils is out at night and in for several hours during the day. We have done it because we need him to keep moving and mobile.

He is really settled and is enjoying being out. I hate the thought of him on the wind and the rain but he seems oblivious!

He comes in has a change of rug and leg wraps on, two feed and ad lib hay, then goes back out well-rugged with high neck cover and under-rug under his HW NZ.
 
sarah-jane...... did you struggle yourself when the weather got really bad, if i had my way i'd have him in, but to be honest with you i've never seen him so happy so this is why i'm trying hard to leave him. if i had a field shelter i would feel better (not that i'm sure he would use it) but at present i cannot afford one.
 
My full TB is out 24/7 as we've got 5 horses at home but only 4 stables! He's the most chilled he's ever been and is thriving. He gets very attached to other horses so it's done him the world of good being out by himself with a few cows for company. He's been rugged at night since September but has only had rug on in day this week and that's only because I got him clean last weekend and want to try and keep him that way! His owner is a bit concerned that he's still out but horse never looks sad or grumpy even in the pouring rain. Unfortunately he's going to have to come in soon (once Dad has made him a stable in one of our sheds) as our fields are getting too wet.
 
My 2 have been out up until last week one is fully clipped and one is a hairy cob, (both fully rugged up) they seem much happy out it's only me that has a problem with keeping them out all the time for example was woken up saturday night (4am) with the Cornish wind and rain howling and had to go out and bring them in my husband thinks I'm barmy!!. I think they are probably better off out as my cob does suffer from arthritis(djd),probably will do a mixture of in and out during the winter, my mare is also a bugger to catch
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which is not much fun in the peeing rain!!
 
V interested in this...mine usually come in early oct onwards at night. This year, as we have moved, no stables as yet, so bought new Rambo Supremes for them and they are out. I don't think that they are much amused by this living out under the stars business to be honest....

They are warm and have 2 buckets a day and ad lib hay and have loads of really quality grass (not much goodness in it now but it looks tasty!) and still they are looking hopefully at me to bring them in....

Our shelters should be finished in the next week or so, so that will be great news as I don't think my mamby pamby boys are very happy. My old horse, whom I lost nearly a year ago, just thrived on outdoors loving, but the big ones are such wimps...
 
Out! I've always wintered mine out - in the past, thats included things like Anglo Arabs / Warmbloods etc. Right now, it consists of my Luso x TB (imported from Portugal so not exactly used to the cold NE of Scotland!) and 2 natives. The Luso & one of the natives are hunter clipped as well! :P I do bring 1 native in every night as she's not allowed any grass (so health reasons).

All winter out fine, nobody loses any weight at all. They are all well rugged, have permanent access to a shelter / stable, decent feeds and access to hay. The Luso I compete all winter at BSJA no probs.

Yes, I do worry they might be a bit miserable on a blizzard of a night but whenever I go outside to check on them they're all huddling together munching hay and all cosy in their rugs. They have the choice of using shelters / stables but choose not to. I think that says it all! It's only US who like them all cooped up in stables!
 
For the first time since i've been an owner mine are out 24/7 and they are thriving, its me that doesn't like it when the weather is really bad. One is an old arthritic who is best kept on the move, the other is a stress head warmblood who will weave in a stable, and then there's the section D foal. They have been rugged since Oct and have ad-lib hay and two feeds per day. Its only since buying my own yard Iv'e been able to do this though and I do love having no mucking out.
 
mine has always been out 24/7 all year round - he much prefers it to being stabled when he weaves and box walks. i've competed him off the field every year and he gets his best results in winter. i fully clipe and rug him and just feed plenty of fibre to keep his guts going to keep him warm and he does really well on that routine.
 
I would love to leave mine out, and would do it tomorrow if I had enough land.

Unfortunately, I have limited grazing on a rented yard, so I'm conscious of them churning up the fields and a) not having enough grass for the summer and b) pxxing the farmer off!

So I bring them in overnight from October to March, then they live out 24/7.

However, if I had acres of lovely fields with natural and/or field shelters, they would stay out with big rugs on, and I'm sure they would be much, much happier.

One day, when I get my own place....
 
My two are out 24/7, chaser clipped, and happy as larry. They have a field shelter and the only time they use it is in the summer to get out of the sun! I was told when I bought the bigger one that she has always struggled to keep her condition through winter, so I was a bit concerned the first winter I got her, but don't know why I worried - have more problem keeping the weight OFF her! If its really awfull I bring them in for a couple of hours but all they want to do is go back out again.
 
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