Tell me about your routine!

[MitchyInge]

Feeling more positive about our change to DIY (although have not worked out transport solution, it's 8 country miles) and mentally running through what it might look like.

Am thinking morning: water, feed, feet, rugs off, check and back on - and same at night? Cannot see self poo picking more than once a week but sharer might.

Am I overlooking anything obvious?

In our out?

Sorry, out! Really hope it will be ok for the old boy, think might just squeeze a duvet under his NZ. Won't be working him much, he loses so much weight though. New prices put stable utterly out of reach so no choice for now anyway. Try not to think about it.

I'm sure he will fine. Where are you?

Unless you are worried about him I wouldn't bother taking his rugs off in a morning unless the weather is fine. I used to stable on a yard where we had to poo pick every day - twas purgatory. Presume the water will be available all day? Not just morning and night.

Poo-picking so much easier if you can do a bit every day otherwise it becomes soul-destroying. We usually give them their feeds and then clear the field while they are eating (we have a fenced-off bit to let shetland through to stop arguments), then it's just one barrow (15 mins or so) between the three of them a day rather than a marathon clean-up. Then assuming everything is 'normal' and you haven't got frozen pipes to contend with all that's left to do is a quick check of rugs and feet then leave them with hay. Obviously that's on days you are short of time, otherwise you need to add in cuddles and grooming!

I used to love poo picking other people's fields, leisurely, in summer, chain smoke and enjoy the sun. Am not massively fond of this current weather and do feel some shame at what an utterly lazy bastard I am! But maybe every day is good, those 34 seconds it takes them to inhale their food. Do you tie them for feeds? Trying to imagine them eating companionably, it probably won't happen.

Have severe and unremitting wither anxiety with rugs, he had bad problems before he was mine and I was told he just couldn't wear them. Think have found a style and size he can tolerate but by spring he gets twitchy and sensitive there - poor Quasimodo thing.

Our old boys had a definite pecking-order where the big one would take the others' feeds but only when he had finished and as he had the most it never happened. The middle one would bully the small one and the small one was scared of both the others. So, I only had to tie up the middle one and they were all fine.

The ones we have now are already separated (otherwise, yes we would have to tie them up) so it's just a case of knowing which order to give buckets. Welshie is most grumpy so has to have his first, then we let shetland through into her summer 'laminitis pen' so she can eat in peace away from Welshie. Then big cob gets his next-door (I just put it over the partition). He is the youngest so has to know his place! I usually rush to get his paddock poo-picked first as he has a habit of finishing his feed and then 'appearing' behind me with no warning which gives me a terrible shock as he is very tall and I'm not!.

I'm glad you managed to find a style of rug that suits B as I remember all the trouble you were having. Still, you might find that this spring he will be a little hardier than normal and you can start taking the rugs off during the daytime sooner than you think to give his withers a rest?

Do you want any more time-saving tips or have you had enough?

I want more!

Well...If you are feeding morning and evening you can save loads of time by having enough buckets (with covers) to mix up the whole day's feeds in one go. It won't go off in this weather even if it's got beet in. Same if you have to take hay down to the field, take some for the evening too and leave it somewhere the horses can't get it. (Ours goes under the upturned wheelbarrow round the side of the shelter where it is fenced off).
If you have a shelter or somewhere out of the wind, don't faff around with haynets, you will be cursing when it is dark and your hands are cold, unless of course you want to have several and fill them all up together in daylight so they are ready to grab. We have a rack to just chuck hay in or feed off the floor.

If you decide that you can't manage poo-picking as part of your daily routine then have a container (big bucket/plastic laundry basket, whatever) and some rubber gloves so you can at least give the shelter a quick skip out if it needs it. My boy never poos in his shelter - I love him.

Not much to add but if you are going to use a duvet under your turnout, please make sure it is well secured. Some horses really panic when things get caught up round their back legs if it slips back when he has a buck and a fart around or a roll.

Ooh I agree, I wouldn't use an actual duvet. Properly fitting rug of some sort much safer.

pity can't get cordless electric blankets for them :(

You could invent one and make your fortune.

With the ground currently as hard as it is, I've given up with haynets and just chuck the hay in random piles so that they can all decide which is best. Obviously when it gets warm (ha) then you'll waste too much in the mud, but for the time being it's ok. I poo pick every morning, as the others have said I find little and often less tedious, and again the poos are frozen solid if left too long and won't come off the ground.

I've had enough of being cold now, -13 last week, -9 this morning and I'm running out of hay.

We've no snow left here as we had a night of wind and rain that got rid of it all but we've had freezing fog today and it's bitter cold, even the electric fencing has ice hanging from it and the troughs are solid again.

Last night some nasty lowlife came and stole our two heavyweight rugs so our boys won't be so warm tonight. They broke the locks on the haystore too so we've had to fork out for new padlocks as well today.

bastards

do you have spares?

We've got some other rugs but they aren't nearly as good. They were cheap ones bought as stopgaps when we realised dhorse was growing alarmingly fast! The stolen ones were originally bought for a TB we had on loan to live out and for my elderly pony so they were really warm (in fact old pony only ever wore his twice as he was too warm). And they matched and were smart . The other day dhorse had icicles hanging from his rug (pic on profile) but he was still toasty underneath! Now I suppose I'm going to have to spend my birthday money getting him another one and sis will have to sort something out for dpony. It's the wrong time of year for all this and I've got to insure the car yet. Arrgh!

We've put postcodes all over the other rugs with marker pen in case they come back tonight. Dsis wanted me to put "keep your hands off you thieving scumbags" but I didn't think there'd be room.

Frostyfingers, steel toe-capped boots are great for getting frozen poo off the ground. One sharp tap and up they come in one lump.

I'm sorry to hear about your rugs, some people really are buggers aren't they.

It's -14 here this morning, and I've just spent a happy half hour mining poo, I am at least warm for now! One compensation is that it is absolutely stunning outside - blue sky and sunshine and everything white. Horses are cross and keep begging for hay though they are warm and plump. Actually it's a good thing for the Welshie as I can let him out more than normal as he can't get the grass down as quickly as he would like. It's the weather he was made for!

Luckily they have access to a stream so I don't have to spend hours breaking ice,that would really piss me off.

I would cry and cry if our rugs got stolen. Even the scabbier ones (they don't take long to get scabby do they?). It's such a scummy thing to do, you'd have to be desperate or heartless?