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The tack room

Discuss horse riding and ownership on our Horse forum.

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Original poster

Stabled Horses

48 replies

snoringnightmare · 09/01/2009 21:46

Just wondered what time do you bed them down for the night and what time you turn out in the morning in the winter months? Also, do you or somebody else check again in the meantime?

Something somebody said to me the other day had me thinking.

OP posts:

Yurtgirl · 09/01/2009 23:55

Doh - I thought the thread title said Stabbed horses - How stoopid am I

mysterymoniker · 09/01/2009 23:55

do you think they appreciate what we do for them?

KingCanuteIAm · 10/01/2009 00:00

Yurtgirl

MM, No - have you noticed the faces they pull if you decide you desperatly need a wee just before you drop a bucket of feed into the stable... The face that says a thousand words, daggers at dawn as you hightail it across the yard

mysterymoniker · 10/01/2009 10:08

heh!

he is alive, thank goodness

Original poster

snoringnightmare · 10/01/2009 10:36

Yep they've survived another night

No chance of riding though. Lanes icy and fields like concrete. Oh for a manege.......

OP posts:

mysterymoniker · 10/01/2009 10:51

well even they get frozen, ours has been unusable for most of the week unless anyone felt like playing 'dunces on ice'

(which I have been playing in various water troughs/streams/ditches)

KingCanuteIAm · 10/01/2009 12:23

Glad they all survived the night

tengreenbottles · 10/01/2009 16:08

ours are out at night ,but can go in the barn if they choose ,then we shut them in for about five hours during the day ,with hard feed and hay ,and then let out again . when its warmer ,they are out all day but have a small feed in the morning ,but no hay .Two of them wear rugs and the other two dont need them . The worst part of winter ,other than the tap freezing is mining for frozen horse poo in the fields i had a bit flick up and hit me in the eye today !

Pixel · 10/01/2009 17:01

Lol, I was being lazy yesterday and only undid the bottom strand of the electric fencing. As I was ducking under with a full wheelbarrow after poo-picking, the top of the pile caught the fence and a big lump of frozen poo flew off and clonked me on the knee. It really hurt!

Original poster

snoringnightmare · 10/01/2009 21:33

Caught up on thread.

Menage not manege duurrr.

Well all tucked up for the night and it's freezing out there. DH braved the frozen poo picking today bless him. He's now slumped on the sofa recovering.

lol at Yurtgirl's misreading of title. Then thought nooooo something else to worry about.

Monika, how long have you had your horse? (sorry if I've missed you saying)

Hello to everyone else and just a thought - how much longer until we can actually ride again?!

OP posts:

mysterymoniker · 10/01/2009 22:07

I've only just finished paying for him, but had him on loan for most of last year - from late spring on. Had a trial loan of another horse first, but otherwise he is my first and I can't believe how neurotic he's made me!

Rug is a good fit but now worrying about the hard seam that goes right across his withers - there's a patch of white hair where's he's had problems before. Debating whether to try a shoulder saver or just sew a bit of lambskin inside rug?

Original poster

snoringnightmare · 10/01/2009 22:19

I've tried shoulder saver before but never made that much difference tbh. Does he really need a rug? What breed is he?

OP posts:

mysterymoniker · 10/01/2009 22:30

he is 'undefined' is that the polite term for it? those high withers make me wonder (wishful thinking?) if there isn't some thoroughbred in him tho

he probably doesn't need a stable rug all that desperately but it's been unusually cold lately - might be a bit late now but in future he'll be fully clipped in the winter (he's such a sweaty mess otherwise) so rugs won't be optional then. the new zealand rug has changed my life though, it's so quick and easy to tidy him up now the mud can only get on his legs and face

KingCanuteIAm · 11/01/2009 19:23

I would sew a patch on it MM, a shoulder saver is expensive and won't be any better. You could also add a thin pad of high density foam (perhaps 1/2cm thick) under the sheepskin to make sure that the seam does not rub (check there is enough room for it first - ie it does not make the rug pull too tight over the top).

Does he have particularly thin skin? Thin, twitchy skin is a classic sign of thoroughbred background!

Loshad · 11/01/2009 21:55

Mine come in about 6.30/7 pm - does no-one else work then or how do you get yours in by 4.30?
I turn them out at 6.30am. I do an in the dark check at about 10pm - walk up to yard, don't put lights on so i don't disturb them and listen carefully - for contented munching usually

Pixel · 12/01/2009 00:19

We had to leave a yard because the owner decided she wanted all the horses in by 4pm and we just couldn't do it as we were all working. Besides, unless the weather was really foul, ours weren't happy being in that early.

KingCanuteIAm · 12/01/2009 20:34

I prefer to have them out all year round myself - but then I do also prefer huge great hairy natives...

If they are not up to it I always took them in after school, but then I have always been lucky enough to be able to work school hours.

Butkin · 14/01/2009 10:19

I turn ours out at 7am - to give time to do school run.

We get them in around 6pm as it takes about an hour depending on if we've mucked out in the morning or not.

The 3 M&Ms wear their new zealands in the stables unless they are wet when we change them into the stable rugs.

The hunter gets changed every night because he's clipped and wears two stable rugs.

We're feeding the M&Ms a mug of nuts whilst the hunter gets 2 scoops of mix plus alfalfa chop, honeychaff and cod liver oil.

Tickle · 15/01/2009 19:17

Ours go out when it gets light and come in just before it gets dark So at the mo that is about 8am and 4.30-5ish (we're in DK)

I sometimes check on them, but once or twice my Fell has been lying down - then I fell all guilty as he struggles to his feet. We've only had him a month or 2, maybe next winter he'll be chilled enough to stay lying down?

Tickle · 15/01/2009 19:18

feel - one too many fells in there!

roddersb · 18/01/2009 16:40

Hi there

Just caught this thread.....
I keep mine out in the day as long as I can unless the weather is really wet.

I go up to the yard at about 6am and turnout and then go back anything between 8 and 10pm and bring in.

alicecrail · 19/01/2009 11:55

Ours are put to bed about 3.30pm in winter and turned out about 9am on good days. No one does specific checks but as its a livery yard there are people there til about 6pm and someone lives in a chalet right next to stables and can hear everything (poor sod!)

elastamum · 20/01/2009 20:50

Hi all,

I was just wondering about this as mine go out at about 6.30am and stay out until about 3.30pm. I get up at 5.30am and feed, turn out and muck out aqnd do beds feeds etc for evening for 2 horses in about 45 minutes. Feel a bit guilty about putting them out so early but my old horse never eats her breakfast anyway and they both look really good.

They wear Fal dual purpose winter rugs with neck covers and shoulder bibs underneath so I dont change rugs. Although these rugs are really expensive they are a great investment, they never leak and never slip.

They have huge nets of haylage and huge hard feeds to last untl morning and always have a little bit of haylage and water left in the morning so I know they get enought to eat drink. There are lost of people around late at night and mine are on the front so everyone gets to look at them as they pass by!

I sometimes feel bad about putting them out in bsd weather but they raise hell if I leave them in

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