How many hours turnout in acceptable for you in winter?

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lauren123

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Feb 3, 2007
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East Yorkshire
There is a thread on another forum that is causing quite a stare. In short how many hours turn out do you feel is acceptable in the winter?
Is in in 24/7 stabled due to the livery yard rules or the fields are 'closed'?
is it a morning only?
Up to you as the owners? And if the fields get trashed they get trashed?
Or are they out full time 24/7?
Personally I would rather my horse go out as much as he can. However I only have a one acre field, can only put hay out generally when it is dry and there is no shelter in the field. At present the horses ( he shares a field ) are ready to come in depending on weather after around 7 hours or so.
At present ours are in 3 days a week mainly due to my long working patterns ( 13 hours) and its a LONG day when they ready to come in after 8 hours but have to stay out for 12... Also the field are just pure mud aswell and we only have the one field to do as we please ( With in reason) Ideally I like to get them out everyday for atleast an hour even if its just while I do my jobs. But as I come down twice a day I would take him for a in hand walk twice a day push comes to shove :)
 
I'm very very lucky. Mine is out on a huge well drained field with no mud, doesn't need hay and has both natural shelter and a railway bridge to stand under. He's out 24/7.

I really wouldn't be happy if he was kept in for most of the time. He's a hardy little cobby type and hasn't been stabled since we had him, nearly 18 years ago.

When we were breeding the welshies they too lived out, until the mares were ready to drop, and even then they often fooled us and gave birth in the fields.

So basically the answer is as much turnout as possible, although I realise it's not always easy with trashed fields and yard policies on winter turnout.
 
Mine has been on box rest for 4 weeks but went out yesteday. He can stay out 24 hours but I like him to come in for about 4 to 6 hours for a good sleep and some hay. He is in w huge field with very little mud.
 
I'm quite lucky my horses haven't had one day in all winter so far. I have a small paddock to my self but it seems to be holding up pretty well only mud around the gateway. They go out at 6.30am and come in about 2ish when the yard brings them in. They seem happy with this as it seems long enough that they're ready to come in. At the weekend if I'm competing they either go out early (5am) back in about 11am or go out when we get back.

I wouldn't stable my horse on a yard where there was no turnout throughout winter, mine love being out and I really don't think they'd be happy. My older horse needs regular turnout for his arthritis as well. I understand in parts of the country the ground is really wet and it's not possible for horses to go out everyday, there also seems a big problem of too many horses on too little ground.
 
Ale used to go out from about 6 until 3 but now he's out 24/7 and I love it :D as does he :)
 
The more the better for me, appreciate it's not always easy on some yards, personally I think all horses should be out unless injury or ill health forces box rest. I have only ever been on yards where winter turn out is allowed, personally I wouldn't keep my horse on a yard that didn't allow at least 12 hrs turnout a day in winter, I know though that I'm very lucky, my current yard allows 24 hour turnout 365 days of the year.
 
I think it's so variable and a very individual to each horse thing.
For example - our J being a soft tb was more than happy being stabled more or less 24/7 over the winter - now before everyone gasps lol let me say how he was stabled: he was on a huge yard with an outdoor open box and could see a hive of activity going on. At this point he was ridden by OH every evening for an hour in the indoor school. During the day he was mucked out and turned out into a sand arena outside for half an hour at both ends of the day. At weekends he was walked in hand as much as possible by both of us as well as being ridden / lunged.
Now this horse came to us from exactly the same routine and did not know any different. I begged the YO to give me some winter turnout for him. She relented and we gained access to a field for a few hours each day. One day they forgot to bring him in. He went down with colic and was ill for days afterwards. I realised then that he was not the sort of horse to need turnout in a field EVERY single day during the winter so long as he was ridden and had lots of company and things going on. To be honest when he was turned out in the winter field he rolled and then stood at the gate waiting to come back in.
When we moved them home I tried soooo hard to accustom him to winter turnout but failed miserably and once again learnt the hard way at his expense. He damaged his suspensory which eventually a few years later led to him being pts. He was not old - he was just a very delicate flower and instead of trying to change him I wish I had let him be. But there you go.
Now Storm and Chloe on the otherhand would not cope being in 24/7 - both are sensible when the weather is foul and will stay in their byre. But most days they need to be out and about. I am lucky being able to free range them. I think if that wasn't an option probably four hours field turnout on good days would suit them. At the old place they did want back in after about four hours.
Sorry for the very long reply but as you can see if you didn't fall asleep!lol they are all different and there is no right or wrong way with winter turnout. Some horses love it and love rolling and mud. Others are happy with the minimum.
 
Just wanted to add - Storm needs to be moving around for her stiff hocks and I'd not be happy keeping her on a yard nowadays, it would just about finish her off. But I guess like anything with horse keeping we do our best on the day / week and work with what is available. Sometimes there simply isn't another yard to move to or a place so we have to wait and make the best of a bad situation.
 
For me no less than 10 hours per day turn out (this does not necessarily mean grazing, time in a large sand paddock/on hard standing would be perfectly acceptable as turn out). I would not see my horses stood in for 36 hours at a time (night, day, night) and I work an 8-10 hour day so being allowed 3 hours would be the same as none to me.
 
Jessey said:
For me no less than 10 hours per day turn out (this does not necessarily mean grazing, time in a large sand paddock/on hard standing would be perfectly acceptable as turn out). I would not see my horses stood in for 36 hours at a time (night, day, night) and I work an 8-10 hour day so being allowed 3 hours would be the same as none to me.
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Yes it's good to have hard standing - ours would be lost without having the yard to wander in winter. It just keeps them ticking over nicely.
 
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I think the biggest issue is that livery yards like to pack horses in like sardines.
One acre is not sufficient to keep one horse all year from a grass aspect. I had horse on one acre and had to stable over the winter and feed a hay net all year round. The most expensive experience in for a first time owner!
My friends individual turnout is about half an acre. Even she is having to stable all year round as she gets no grass either.
It does depend on whether it was looked after by the previous livery though.

There are twelve in the herd on about 30 acres split up here. No one comes in. Stabling is for illness/lameness only. We only pop out token hay from January. Mine doesn't need it but that's how it is, my hay bill is £15 for the whole winter.

Horses do adapt to their routine though. If I started bringing mine in she would be fine. She has been on box rest twice. Fill my net I am fine. To be honest she isn't overly keen on the muddy gateway. I am not putting a carpet down for her. ( though if I have just spent an hour doing her feathers it is tempting:D) We just changed sides:rolleyes:
 
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I'm on one of those yards where winter turnout is restricted. No-one lives out 24/7 in winter and only the horses that most need it are out all day - this is one youngster, two oldies, one pony with locking stifles and one stresshead. They're in muddy paddocks with a large round bale in each. Two others are on box rest anyway. Our Jack goes out for the morning on 'the lane' - a temporarily roped off section of land that is used for accessing all the paddocks. There is actually the most grass on this bit, but it's only for sensible old horses that won't try to get through the fencing. After a few hours Jack stands by the 'gate' and shouts to anyone he can see moving about on the yard that he's ready for in. The others have to take turns to go out in the remaining winter paddock, apart from a couple - Raf is one - who go into the indoor school for a leg stretch. Raf because he dislikes mud and wet and is quite content in his stable (like @Trewswer's Joe, this is how he was brought up and what he is used to) and one because he is a fairly new livery who once his stress trigger has been activated gets more and more wound up to the point of needing mild sedation. Turning out then coming back in seems to be a trigger, but he's fine going in the indoor school for a couple of hours then coming in, I'm not sure what the difference is!

YO does her very best to accommodate the different needs of all the horses and I'd rather be on a livery under her care than somewhere where I didn't have the same confidence in the YO, so it's a compromise I'm willing to make.
 
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I keep mine at home and can do as I please. I have 5 acres but it can get very wet and muddy in the winter so I bring both of mine in at night and they get turned out every day no matter what the weather throws at us. It would need to be very very bad for me not to turn them out. If I am not riding they get put out at 8am and brought in before it gets dark. If I am riding it might be 12 noon before they are turned out. I know I am very fortunate to have my own place as most of the livery yards in my area don't allow turnout in the winter months, I would hate the thoughts of mine not getting any turn out. My fields get chain harrowed and rolled in the spring when they start to dry out and they always bounce back nice and green and flat again..:D
 
We have the option to leave out or bring in. If the weather gets really bad - like weeks of rain, then YM might say that they all have to come in at night but never 24/7. Jack prefers to be out 24/7 but he's not a good doer and fares better in overnight so that's what I do. He's not 100 % happy but tolerates it.
 
My horses are home. One is seriously insulin resistant therefore has limited pasture time; he went from 16 hours of turnout to seven, five years ago. He is in his own 4-1/2 acres due to some old injuries and my other horse is a bully that won't leave him alone.

The other horse gets the real pasture which is 20 acres; I used to have four horses but have laid my two elders to rest in the last 30 months. The bully horse is also an easy keeper so he gets the same amount of pasture time as the IR horse.

I liked it better when my horses ran in/out at will. When dealing with metabolic issues, micromanaging is a necessity. My horses are 21 & 22, and are ok with more barn time. I'm not ok with it ----- it means I have to buy more hay and bushog the pastures more often because one horse can't eat all that grass down, even if he never came up for air.

I should add that we retired to a mild climate. Harsh winters are a thing of the past. We still get below freezing nights but they are so few I actually now look forward to them:)
 
Kia is out from 8-4 every day in winter and 24/7 from May to Nov. Field isn't over stocked and is well drained. This is my ideal and I wouldn't tolerate much less, it is my compromise for not having an arena :)
 
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Libby is out 24/7. She isn't a hardly type but prefers being in a herd than being isolated in a stable alone. She's better off out 24/7 with arthritis in her hock but have noticed this winter the cold seems to have set into her bones and she's stiffer but don't think stabing would help
 
HorseHelen said:
Libby is out 24/7. She isn't a hardly type but prefers being in a herd than being isolated in a stable alone. She's better off out 24/7 with arthritis in her hock but have noticed this winter the cold seems to have set into her bones and she's stiffer but don't think stabing would help
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I know what you mean about the stiff hocks, my Storm is the same, she seems much better for free ranging in and out, but this winter has seemed stiffer of late - I wondered if it were the damp?? She is definitely stiffer when she elects to stay indoors of her own free will tho.
 
Ours are out as early as you want them (within reason obviously) in the morning and have to be in before it's pitch black. I'm regularly the last to get mine in because everyone brings in at 2pm whereas I don't get him in until 4pm unless it's pouring because then he hates being out alone in the rain and will literally gallop up and down until someone gets him in but if there's no rain, he's out until I get there. It doesn't get dark until quarter past 5 now, why on earth would I want him in at 2? He's much better off in the field. If the field gets trashed, no matter. We have seperate summer and winter paddocks.

I personally wouldn't entertain the idea of a yard with no (or next to no) winter turnout. I think horses need field time and unless there is a really good reason why (injury or suchlike), I want him out.
 
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