Turning out on their own

adeline

New Member
Jan 8, 2009
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Just wondering if anybody else would happily turn their horse out on its own if there are no other horses out in the field? Iv just started sharing a horse and nobody on the yard will turn out until somebody else is ready to. Today I rode early and was desperate to turn out, but instead had to tie him up outside his stable while I mucked out, did his feeds etc... with him banging the stable door, tipping over the wheelburrow, biting me every 5 mins, just being a right nuisance!. Finally at 11.30, someone else wanted to turn out, so i took him to the field too. All the horses seem to get turned out quite late at this yard - if he was my horse, id just turn him out when it suited me - tough luck if he's the first out on his own!. Am i being mean thinking the poor soul wouldnt be able to survive an hour in the field by himself? Of course he's not my horse so I would never go against his owners wishes...
 
I'd rather turn a horse out on their own for an hour or two than keep them cooped up indoors just to satisfy the whim of other liveries, especially if they were getting agitated with being kept in (but i wouldn't expect you go go against the owner's wishes either). Have you spoken to the owner about it or is it something they specifically stated they wanted doing?

ETA: If the horse has real seperation issues and can't stand to be alone under any circumstances then that's obviously a bit different ;), but in general i would rather they were out and alone for a bit than in and stressed out.
 
Both Bronson and Bounty are in fields by themselves...
They can see other horses, but Bronson get's agitated if the other horses from the other paddocks that he can see are brought in before him in the winter when he comes in at night (Bounty doesn't care as she lives out all year round, as does the horse in the paddock next to her), but he is absolutely fine if he's turned out first out of them all.
Check with the owner of the horse, and maybe give them a bit of hay in the field to keep them occupied?
 
I'd rather turn a horse out on their own for an hour or two than keep them cooped up indoors just to satisfy the whim of other liveries, especially if they were getting agitated with being kept in (but i wouldn't expect you go go against the owner's wishes either).

my thoughts too! The owner did specifically say not to turn out on his own so I guess I shoudnt! Some of the horses seem to get really stresssed in the morning - loads of them weave and bang their doors - But I guess, if I was left in till 11.30-12 with no hay, Id do the same! ( if I was a horse that is)
 
My two are permanently out on their own. I've got a slightly crazed elderly mare, which doesn't mix well with a rising 15 year old who still tries to suckle on her :eek: Keeping them apart means no one gets kicked, plus the mare leads loads of feed while the gelding definitely doesn't.

My mare frankly doesn't care :eek: Tally's fine paddocked by himself also.
 
It's a tricky situation when you can see exactly what you would do if the horse was yours but can't. You could give the owner a text and say 'so-and-so seemed a bit worked up this morning, has s/he been doing it with you at all?' or something along those lines to try and ease into the conversation that maybe not enough turnout, even if alone, is the issue. Not really sure what else to suggest, it can be a bit like treading on eggshells because obviously it's their horse, but hopefully you can come to some sort of agreement :).
 
Gracie (my little mare) is happy to be out on her own, i think she sees it as more grass for her! :rolleyes: she even lived by herself for a week and was more than happy with that.
the foals are always out together but we do take them out one at a time and bring in one at a time so they do get used to being alone if only for a few minutes.
Finn goes out with the whole yard in the morning, but in the evenings he is normally the last one to come in and he's fine with it as he knows i'm going to get him once i'm ready!
 
I think it depends on the horse. There are some horses who will happily go out on their own and others (like mine :rolleyes: ) who won't want to be out on their own.

I know my horse will get a strop on him in his stable and be dying to get out in the field, but if he found himself out there on his own he wouldn't be happy. So if none of the others are out then he stays in until they are, he might make a fuss but then he's a horse, he doesn't know that there are no other horses out yet. If I put him out on his own he would quickly go into a blind panic.

Saying that though he has to stay in until 7am when the others go out, not until 11:30/12.. that's not really ideal? Why do none of the other liveries turn out until then? :confused:
 
Although I really don't like individual turnout as a long-term thing and much prefer my horses to be out with others, I'm quite happy for mine to go out alone for a few hours as he finds stabling stressful and I like him to be in for as little time as possible. Ultimately, although some other owners are able to show up at the yard whenever they like throughout the day, I work full time and have to fit my visits to the yard around my job, so I turnout early on a morning, and bring in late afternoon.
Although Salsa will have a bit of a tantrum at first, usually if he's the last one out, he always settles down again. I did have some problems at a previous yard where another owner brought her horse in at 3pm and insisted on bringing Salsa in so he wasn't alone, which meant he was stressing out in his stable potentially for three hours if I had a late meeting. I was a bit baffled, as I didn't even know who she was, and was quite furious that someone was messing my horse around without my permission and getting him wound up. I finally tracked her down after a few days, as I managed to get up to the yard early. I almost had a heart attack, as he wasn't in the field and wasn't in his stable - the other owner had fetched him in and was standing at the back of the yard talking to someone! :rolleyes: I tried my hardest to be polite, as she was only trying to be considerate, but I had to tell her to leave him in the field, as I'd rather he was out by himself than in his stable weaving and stressing until I got there.

It sounds like your share horse is maybe one who is liable to stress if they're alone in the field, so there's not really much you can do about it, especially since the owner doesn't want him out alone. Maybe one way around it would be to offer to top up hay and water for some of his fieldmates on a morning if one of their owners could turn out for you when they're ready? Or see if someone wouldn't mind you turning out their horse with him (you never know, you might be giving someone a sleep in by offering ;) )

It's one of the reasons I now have two - they always have each other for company!
 
Mine pretty much gets turned out every morning on her own. To be honest she's an unsociable cow and will avoid being part of a herd. She's never had an issue being on her own but I suppose it really does depend on the individual horse.
 
Molly can't go out first if there is nothing within sight - she charges around and neighs and gets vey upset. But she goes in her field by herself - as long as she can see others in the distance.

Best bet is to ask one of the other liveries if you can turn out for them, then you can out out 2 together :)
 
A couple of months ago I would have said just turn him out alone! But my newest arrival hates being on her own! Climbed out of a stable, so someone shut top door, broke down top door and climbed out again! More recently she jumped a 4 foot live electric fence when someone else took next door play mate in! So depends on the horse.

As long as the owner agrees I would try turning out and staying for 10 mins, if he is fine leave him! You never know you might break the habit and everyone might just start turning out!
 
You see, if that was my horse he would become so distressed alone that eventually he may well do some damage to himself (my horses live at home though). So, I can see why the owner may not want him turned out alone if he's the same. How come all the others are going out so late though? I'd have thought - with office hours and the like - that they would have already turned out.
 
I think it depends on the horse. :

Echo this.

Mine aren't bothered (Stan is used to being alone as Trigger comes in daily for about 6hrs atm due to our vast grass :rolleyes:) and Triggy is used to being left alone when Stan going places/hacking etc .. Either of these two can be turned out or left alone when the other is caught but it does depend on the horse..

TheG could be turned out alone, be brought in alone/leave others fine and would happily be alone all day but god forbid you brought other horses in and left him alone in the field.. all hell broke loose!
 
I am a horse abusing monster. My horse lives by himself!!:p

No problems with anxiety or when he meets othr horses he couldnt care less.

I do get stick for it but it falls on deaf ears. Horses need to learn that it is ok to be by themselves.

Nikki xxx:)
 
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