Wwyd re stable or living out

brightmount

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I’m going to go against the consensus here and say I would go for the stable. I had two living out last year. Granted the conditions were exceptionally bad, and this year is nothing like as bad yet, and granted their fields were effectively underwater, but I spent the whole winter dealing daily with abscesses. They had mud fever too but this was no problem compared to the abscesses. Eventually it turned to laminitis in my older mare and she was PTS. The other horse is still dealing with the after effects of all the abscess blowholes one year later, although she is now stabled overnight, and my life seems so much easier in comparison. So I’m going to take your vet’s position, although I’m sorry if it makes the decision more complicated.
 

Equi

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If the vet says no then you have to go with that because if she then does get worse he can say well you didn’t listen to me I’m not touching her again. Idk.
 

splashgirl45

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although i think turning away with 2 quiet horses is the best option, i was thinking of my mare who was pretty calm living out all of the time but when stabled at night was explosive when first turned out even though i grazed her in hand in the field first until i thought she was calm... i think you must listen to your vet in your case but you will need to be careful when you first turn her out as she could damage herself if she starts leaping about.....hope all goes well for you,good luck
 

Leo Walker

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I'd turn away. Vets are very quick to recommend box rest and quite often a period turned away would have the same effect. What has she done to her leg that requires it to be rested but only for half the day? surely its a box rest situation or its not. I'm not sure if there really is any sort of halfway house.
 

Theocat

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I'd turn away. Vets are very quick to recommend box rest and quite often a period turned away would have the same effect. What has she done to her leg that requires it to be rested but only for half the day? surely its a box rest situation or its not. I'm not sure if there really is any sort of halfway house.

I agree (not that I am a fan of box rest for anything except gaping wounds) - and hooleying around when they first go out is far worse than an extra twelve hours moving very slowly round a field. And at this time of year they are just as likely to be standing still with hay whether in or out.
 

Dufus

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I'd turn away. Vets are very quick to recommend box rest and quite often a period turned away would have the same effect. What has she done to her leg that requires it to be rested but only for half the day? surely its a box rest situation or its not. I'm not sure if there really is any sort of halfway house.

Yes thats true, unfortunately i have made the decision to take the stable for now and then if she's better away from the land she's currently on then to move her and let her live out, the vet thought this was the best option as she can be stabld over night and out of the mud for her skin conditions and then come summer she will be living out 24/7 anyway.

the thing is the vet didn't want her out at all and wanted her on box rest for further tests and i've said no and that she's had enough and further tests and scans etc i don't feel will help her heal or make any difference other than the vet making more money and my poor horse being poked and prodded whilst imprisoned in her stable.

However now i've made the decision and read all of your comments again i'm feeling like i've made the wrong decisiona dn should have just turned out from now 24/7 and hoped for the best for her skin :(
 

splashgirl45

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i dont think there is a wrong or right so dont beat yourself up, your vet has said he didnt want her out at all and you have gone against that (good for you) , why not see how it goes with her in at night and if she is looney when you turn out you may have to bite the bullet and either ignore your vet and leave her out 24/7 (which i wouid do) or keep her in all of the time and maybe graze her in hand so she gets some gentle exercise.....its a very difficult decision ,hope all goes ok
 

Jellymoon

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I am in a very similar situation. Mine has a tendon injury and has been on 8 wks box rest. Vet has just said he’s happy for him to go out now in a tiny paddock so he can’t get going too much. I did this, but after a few days the paddock was getting muddy and slippy, and horse was gallivanting around in it. I was giving hay out there, but what they really want is grass isn’t it! Plus, the bringing in/out was causing much excitement.
So, I thought I’d try a bigger paddock, with more grass, and leave out 24/7. Much calmer, just seen eating all the time. Occasionally bucks across the field, but not the constant up and down and spinning about in a small area.
My point being, sometimes you can make your own decisions based on your knowledge of the horse. I’m sure if I’d ring the vet and told him the small paddock situation was worse, he would hand agreed with me.
Re. 24/7 turnout all year round: I’m a huge fan of this and do it with all of mine, including clipped out hunters. BUT you must have enough land so they are not standing in mud, have enough grass to eat to keep them happy plus extra hay if needed, and some sort of shelter, trees and hedges perfect. From experience, it’s a nightmare if you don’t have enough land.
 

Pinkvboots

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I’m going to go against the consensus here and say I would go for the stable. I had two living out last year. Granted the conditions were exceptionally bad, and this year is nothing like as bad yet, and granted their fields were effectively underwater, but I spent the whole winter dealing daily with abscesses. They had mud fever too but this was no problem compared to the abscesses. Eventually it turned to laminitis in my older mare and she was PTS. The other horse is still dealing with the after effects of all the abscess blowholes one year later, although she is now stabled overnight, and my life seems so much easier in comparison. So I’m going to take your vet’s position, although I’m sorry if it makes the decision more complicated.

I am sorry you lost your horse to laminitis it's an awful condition I have lost a horse to it myself, I just wanted to say if a horse has reoccurring foot abscesses it's often a sign something's not right, and is quite often caused by low grade laminitis and can be a sign of Cushings not the other way round, my mare used to get them she had cushings and eventually she got a bad bout of laminitis which she didn't recover from:(
 

Antw23uk

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I've just seen that were expecting another "beast from the east" with temperatures feeling like minus 17, how do you cope with extreme weather like that? I hope it's doesn't come right when my poor horse is about to be turned away , that would be a shock to the system for her

Oooh I just saw your reply, sorry. We didnt really get a beast from the east, we got snow on the 22nd so I put lightweights on them but come the next morning they were boiling hot so have been naked ever since. My plan was to rug when it got to 0 degrees but that's changed and now it will need to be -5 and below and raining/ snowing before i attempt to rug again but again that might change. There coats are doing just as they should, they have standing foggage, shelter they havent used (brick built double garage) and a warm breakfast and they seem to be thriving.

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Dufus

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I am in a very similar situation. Mine has a tendon injury and has been on 8 wks box rest. Vet has just said he’s happy for him to go out now in a tiny paddock so he can’t get going too much. I did this, but after a few days the paddock was getting muddy and slippy, and horse was gallivanting around in it. I was giving hay out there, but what they really want is grass isn’t it! Plus, the bringing in/out was causing much excitement.
So, I thought I’d try a bigger paddock, with more grass, and leave out 24/7. Much calmer, just seen eating all the time. Occasionally bucks across the field, but not the constant up and down and spinning about in a small area.
My point being, sometimes you can make your own decisions based on your knowledge of the horse. I’m sure if I’d ring the vet and told him the small paddock situation was worse, he would hand agreed with me.
Re. 24/7 turnout all year round: I’m a huge fan of this and do it with all of mine, including clipped out hunters. BUT you must have enough land so they are not standing in mud, have enough grass to eat to keep them happy plus extra hay if needed, and some sort of shelter, trees and hedges perfect. From experience, it’s a nightmare if you don’t have enough land.


Hi I'm sorry your horse is injured too :( i'm completly with you on that one and i think my concern is the grass livery option i have doesn't have any shelter although she would be rugged up and there are some hedges but she can't get right up to them as a track runs round the outside of the fields, there would also be 3 horses on around 3 acres so not a mega amount of land. however after reading all of the comments and experiences from other posters i have looked into 24/7 living alot more and agree it's 100% better for the horse however i turned my mare out yesterday on our current yard with the horses she has lived witht for the last 4 years and she just turned round at the gate and wanted to beback in straight away, there is grass on the field and more than what would be on the grass livery field and that is what swayed me to take the stable yesterday but then i slept on t and ideally wouldlike 24/7 turnout but limited to places that offer that near me and i don't have my oen land unfortunatley and finding fields to rent around here are like hens teeth!

I must admit my girl is very placid ( when not on 5 months of box rest) so i do think she is not that likely to gallop off every morning as she doesn't normally if she is stabled over night however i know she will when she moves to the new yard (which ever one that may be)
 

Dufus

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i dont think there is a wrong or right so dont beat yourself up, your vet has said he didnt want her out at all and you have gone against that (good for you) , why not see how it goes with her in at night and if she is looney when you turn out you may have to bite the bullet and either ignore your vet and leave her out 24/7 (which i wouid do) or keep her in all of the time and maybe graze her in hand so she gets some gentle exercise.....its a very difficult decision ,hope all goes ok


Thank you , i struggle to make decisions at the best of times!! your right though there is no right answer without being able to look into the future ( which if i could od that i would definatly put tomorrow lottery on!) and knowing how her skin will cope at a different yard on different soil that is a good 80% less muddy than our current yard
 

windand rain

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Its your horse but I think the vet is wrong a horse with a non open injury is far less likely to injure itself turned out than it is by going nuts either to go into or on first leaving its stable Mud fever is different If the ground is not muddy on sandy soil and you keep the legs protected then it is again less likely to reoccur as the bugs are often shed into bedding so she is being repeatedly reinfected by the bedding. However as I said at the start it depends on your modus operandum if you are not a 24/7 out person you will be happier with your horse in at night regardless of which is actually better for a horse. I prefer out many will advise in so it really is just what makes you personally happier
 

MagicMelon

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Personally I would 100% choose the grass livery. As you say the soil may be totally different, and do they have any hard standing at all at the grass livery? Even just some hardcore round the hay ring feeder is extremely useful especially if its a decent size so the horses stand up out of the mud. Either way, I firmly believe being turned away is the best thing to do with an injury like this.
 

Jellymoon

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3 acres and 3 horses could get very muddy over winter, and we’ve been lucky so far, there’s sure to be some proper weather coming soon. And no shelter is a bit of an issue, but with big rugs the horses should be fine, it’s whether you can cope with seeing her out in the driving rain/snow!
 
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