To think a lot of horse owners don't deserve their animals?

[Goodnurseorgremlin]

I keep my horse on a DIY livery yard. We have access to daily turnout with no time restrictions throughout the entire winter.

For the last three months the vast majority of the horses on the yard have had little to no turnout. Some literally stand in their stables for days/weeks at a time, with the owners mucking out around them. I could count on one hand the horses that are regularly turned out aside from my own

It just makes me so so sad. These poor animals being imprisoned for months at a time for no good reason. The owners basically can't be arsed to turn out and bring in because they don't want to walk to the fields or get themselves/their horses muddy.

AIBU to think these people don't deserve the privilege of caring for these amazing animals if they can't even be arsed to meet their basic need for freedom?

YANBU. Where I am the fashion very much seems to be individual turnout and lots of "duvet days " in winter. It makes me so sad to see it. Mine spends his winter looking like some sort of bog dwelling creature but he's happy and relaxed.

I've never been on a yard where that was the norm & don't know anyone who does keep their horses like that.
Mine are either out 24/7 or in for a few hours in the daytime to dry off & get their feet out of the mud.

Mine come in at night in winter. If it’s really wild weather we have a hard standing turnout and they go out on that all day with hay. In summer we flip it round and bring them in during the day (away from the heat and flies). We may turnout 24/7 for a month or two in spring before the flies start if we get a nice spell.

Completely agree about clipping and rugging. When I was young you only ever had trace clips. And nobody clipped their own. That’s why people only do full clips, they can’t do lines! Most people shouldn’t be allowed near a pair of clippers.

The yard I'm on turns out whatever the weather, we'll perhaps bring in early if they're stood at the gate looking miserable but they're out every day.
My boy comes in through the day in the summer, keeps him out of the flies and heat and he always has a nice lie down.

Mine are in work, so they come in a couple of hours before it gets dark so I can ride and groom. I am retired and spend several hours a day in the yard so they aren't left alone in a stable. They have ad lib hay. 5 hours winter turnout for a horse in work is plenty. As soon as our ground dries enough in spring they live out.

That's so awful OP. YANBU.

Is there not a minimum turn out requirement? Surely less than minimum would be considered neglect or cruelty.

in some cases the idea of having a horse vs the reality of going out in all harsh weathers twice a day is quite different. Youve got to be completely dedicated to the animal!

This used to drive me crazy on livery.

I would be up at 6am to turn out and bring back in at 4/5pm (only because mine was left alone or it would have been longer!)

The yard owner would complain all the time that the fields were trashed and would regularly stop us putting out. We also weren’t allowed to hay fields so they would just argue, rip rugs and bicker all day. This happened on multiple yards not just one!

As it happens I no longer have horses because I find lots of owning them unethical, unless you have the funds to do as you please.

Medical needs and genuine bad weather aside, I think it's cruel to keep horses cooped up in a stable and I think it'll be one of those things we look back on as animal neglect in years to come.

Horses are designed to roam and move and graze - they're not designed to stand in a stall with no means of moving around or socialising.

All the yards around here offer 24/7 turnout and I don't know anyone who keeps their horse in a stable unless medically necessary (or if they're just being kept in for the farrier etc.) And we're in Cumbria so there's no shortage of mud or rain!

Well, some dogs are treated better. There are plenty of lazy and irresponsible dog owners about.

Five hours of turnout is pretty pitiful though - I know you say you're there daily for exercise and company but that's still a lot of time stuck in a stable.

We have 24/7 365 days of the year turnout available. And mine are on their own track and winter paddock, divided by electric fencing.

Currently they are a bunch of mud monsters, but they are very happy about it too. They have a movable field shelter so it can be repositioned and strip graze the middle section of the track/winter paddock currently.

Hell my only concern is that temps are going to reach 12+ by the end of the week so we may have a sudden spurt of grass/lami risk.

In winter we have to bring them on by 4. Yo turns them out at 7. Once the mud gets better they'll be out full time

I can’t understand why anyone would want to keep their horses in 24/7, for their own sanity, completely aside from the horses’.

Having had to do a very long period of box rest due to soft tissue injury several years ago, I can say it made me (and the horse!) completely miserable. On a practical level it was v difficult to manage too- I was going to the yard three times per day (645am/ 1pm/ 7pm) for at least an hour at a time, usually more, to much out, change water, do hay. And then increasing amounts of walking in hand, (rehab for the injury) starting at 5 min 2x per day, up to 45min 2x per day. It completely took over my life (horses always take over your life but this was even more so).

I just don’t understand why anyone would do it voluntarily (yard rules aside).

I've always been on yards with all year turnout. I wouldn't go to one without.

100% OP. It is getting more and more common in modern horse ownership for horses to have very little turnout during the winter, or even none at all. Then those same owners then over tack their horses because they believe they need to fix their "behaviour problems".

Yards need more regulation to prevent this practice of fit and healthy horses being stabled for several months of the year.

So many yard owners are too concerned with their grass to the detriment of the horses. They should either have fewer horses on their yard or suck it up. Horse owners need to stop putting up with it, too.

I've only ever been at one place, in 40 years of having horses, that insisted on them being in all winter and I moved from there very quickly

We are very lucky to have extremely generous and good winter grazing in well sheltered and protected fields and of course a full rug wardrobe. I only bring ours in overnight if we are going out the next day or in really extreme weather and have been persistently made to feel guilty for this over the years. Endless comments about poor horses out in the wind and cold.

I know horses who get no turnout over the winter and it makes me very very sad.

And this is why I hate livery yards... Turning out first thing in winter and bringing your horses in a couple of hours before it gets dark so you can ride and groom ( might even be more than 5 hours depending on the light) isn't a crime. They are fit, well and chilled. I can lead all of them out together without any problems as they aren't going mad to get out in the morning and they are usually waiting by the gate to come in by mid afternoon. They get more hay than they can eat at night so never stand hungry. Of course I would love ad lib grazing but it's just too wet here. You might do things differently, but it doesn't make me cruel.

I have a rule on my yard that (aside for medical reasons or ice making the paths dangerous) all horses must be out by 9:30 every day. I turn my lot out at 6am and the livery I share the field with brings them in after 5pm.

In the summer months they are out 24/7 unless its extremely hot weather, in which they are brought in for showers and to stand in their cool stables for the worst hours.

I have stable space for more liveries, but I'd rather allow better turnout without everything turning to mud.

I have 6 horses, kept at home. They do not want out. I am doing every other day turnout around work (WFH) and they want in every day at 12pm noon. They go out at 8. They stand at the gate kicking each other. Happy as Larry once in!!! Every horse is different but I do disagree with them being in weeks at a time. Different if they are being ridden? I don’t turn out on days that I ride.

Mine live at home and are out 24/7 unless the weather is really wet or wild, then they come in and mooch around between their stables and the yard until we all get fed up and then back out they go!!
It's a cold sunny morning today and twatty Cob has the zoomies. Just watching him fart buck his way across 3 acres with his big fat feet leaving more divots than surface of the moon....🤦 Guess he's feeling happy though.

Do the horses not go crazy stuck in for months on end ? An under exercised dog would become destructive, would a horse be the same? Do indoor spaces for them to walk about like a big shed not exist?

@LammasEve I completely agree but the yard owners around here are squeezing in as many as possible because a) demand b) cost of everything has gone up and they are trying to keep their business going. So many livery yards and riding schools went under during/just after covid.
The only person I know who isn’t operating this way is one yard owner for whom it’s effectively a side hustle, she has to cover costs/break even but she doesn’t need to make a living from it