How long do you leave horses in for?

[kirktonhouse]

I'm lucky to be able to turnout 24/7 but how long can they actually stay in for if the weather is really vile? How long does yours stay in without leaving the stable? Are all stabled horses taken out everyday? ridden, turned out or just walked around a bit? Or can they stay in the stable for a few days? I don't mean box rest, that's something different, but can they stay in Monday - Friday?

I wouldn't be on a yard that didnt have year round turnout. And for the past 10 years have had all of mine living out 24/7 all year. All with access to field shelter, open stables, and rugged if necessary. All much happier for it, including the elderly thorobred. The tiny laminitis prone pony has a turnout area he can access from his stable, no grass, rubber mats.

No I wouldn’t either. My fields are clay and boggy. The horses got mud rash and we ended up having to keep them in a lot. While they coped, I saw a huge difference in their morale when we built the hard standing turnout and they could go out whatever the weather.

Ours are out from 8am until 4pm in the winter, one hates the rain and will just stand in the mud looking miserable, she loves her stable. I feel awful sometimes turning her out in the rain!

Mine is currently out all day and in at night. We are on clay but I'm lucky enough to keep him at home. Grazing must be getting short as I've had 3 people ask if we'd take them on as liveries in the past month ( we don't,we are a working farm and mine are the only equines). There is a field next to our land for sale,9 acres,terrible land,ridge and furrow,with huge hollows in it,it floods and the only access,is on a dip on a busy unlit B road which is incredibly dangerous. So much so that a previous owner was refused pp for stables as the access was deemed too dangerous. Asking price is £110k

My 3 have been stuck in since November after being out 24/7 since march. My winter girls is at the bottom of a long track and has had a giant puddle in nonstop. We're on heavy clay and the risk is just too great. Once it dries out they'll be able to enjoy it but not at the moment, They'd trash the grass and break their necks bombing around for the first 10 minutes then stand at the gate looking sad while the 16.2 fence walks....

*winter field not girls

Hardstanding turnout would be THE DREAM. Our two are out 24/7, 4 acre field, the middle of the field is holding up OK but the gateways are trashed. They have adlib hay. Mine wouldn't cope with being stabled (neurotic idiot) and friends horse is arthritic so doesn't do well standing in. In a few weeks we'll turn them round into the summer field, can't wait!! I think the way forward for a lot of places will be all weather turnout areas - I'm sure that ours would be happy mooching about in an area the size of a school on wet days as long as they had hay.

I love our hard standing. It’s the first thing I’d build if we moved. We have pretty boggy fields so it’s a life saver. It doesn’t flood, isn’t slippery in snow or ice and so useful for horses coming off boxrest etc. We made it into a circular track, but it leads onto the yard too so they can shelter whichever way the wind blows. It can also be divided up with electric fencing gates if we need to add a new horse or isolate something.

Only downside is it takes a lot of poo picking and raking- if you let it get hay or droppings everywhere it soon stops draining and turns to mud. But it’s still easier than poo picking a field or mucking out a stable.

Mine have been in since November. I have a large concrete yard that they have access to 24/7 with ad-lib hay, so not shut in their stables at all plus an all weather wood chip area for them to have a buck and roll if they wanted.

We are on clay, on the side of a hill with no shelter that gets hammered with rain so grazing is pretty much non-existent in the winter unless if gets frozen hard or miraculously dries out.

The most mine have stayed in a stable for was 48 hours due to a horrendous storm last year and while I'm sure they appreciated it, I didn't like it as it felt so unnatural to keep them shut in for so long. I normally only like to keep them in for a 12 hour period max.