Who keeps their horse on grass livery?

Mary Poppins

Mary Poppins

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Oct 10, 2004
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I have been offered a grass livery space at my ideal yard. Hopefully a stable will come available before next winter but if not my future horsey will just have to live outside.

I'm interested in any tips from people who keep their horses at grass all year round. I'm slightly concerned about catching in the dark (will have to do this both morning and evening in the darkest winter) and what I would do in an emergency (ie the horse needed box rest). I am hoping that there would be the option of limited grazing if required and that the fields would be rested on a regular basis, but these are questions I will ask the YO in due course.

What are your best tips about keeping a horse at grass?
 
Work out what you top priorities are and ask before you move in.

We have 24/7 all year turn out, that is my top priority. My youngster has the freedom to be out and she is in a herd.

Our fields are rested, and depending on grass growth as to when and where and for how long.

I do not rent a stable but when Jack was poorly everyone had a shuffle to find him one. He also "borrowed" someone's paddock for his limited recovery turnout. Now there are empty stables so i could rent a stable for the night. (Although they have a lovely purpose built barn I'm meaning if ill or something)
 
Personally it's not for me. I like the security of knowing I have a stable if I need it in an emergency. If there's not a lot of natural shelter in your fields then standing out in driving rain and wind, even if suitably rugged, can be exhausting for the horses. Also, there are many things that could happen that would require the use of a stable - cuts that need keeping clean for risk of infection, pulls/strains, bruises, laminitis, chills....the list goes on.
Many, many people keep their horses at grass 24/7 365 days a year but it's just not for me. Mine are stabled overnight from about beginning of October - end of May. Usually mid November - early April they don't go out at all; they are loose schooled, lunged or ridden.
 
I've done both on diffent yards and there's pro's and cons to both. 24/7 grass is so much easier though all rou d and much less expensive... My ideal scenario is out 24/7/365, but with a stable for extremely bad weather, tacking up/grooming in shelter, emergencies...
 
I keep mine out 24/7/365 but there are stables available if I need one.

Difference is that i rent land and have control.

I'd want to know about the herd, pop picking duties, use of facilities and tying up on the yard, hay in the field, feeding in the field (youd be amazed at how many think thats ok!) if there will always be company.

I've never had issues with catching my 2 as they catch me, mind you there isn't a field bully keeping them out of the way.
 
Joyscarer said:
I keep mine out 24/7/365 but there are stables available if I need one.

Difference is that i rent land and have control.

I'd want to know about the herd, pop picking duties, use of facilities and tying up on the yard, hay in the field, feeding in the field (youd be amazed at how many think thats ok!) if there will always be company.

I've never had issues with catching my 2 as they catch me, mind you there isn't a field bullas a b them out of the way.
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Good points JC, particularly for a first time owner. I had an individual paddock with neighbours all around for first 18 months - worked very well (feed/hay/poo pick as you wish, no fear at gate etc). And, as it was a big yard there were always loads f horses/ponies in sight - none seemed bothered about being left, leaving yard, separating etc... All useful during those first few months ...
 
I have my boy on grass livery for past six months and I thought I would never do anything else until now. My boy is a field with a 4 year old and a yearling, unfortunately the girl that owns the youngster does nothing with him and he is getting bigger and stronger so when I try to get my boy out I have to run the gauntlet of this pony trying to escape too. This resulted in the girl who loans the four old being run over by the baby and breaking her arm.:hot: so some of the things I would check before committing would be:
*Are they keep in specific herds
*do they move them without asking
*are the herds mixed
*what is the arrangement for poo picking checking water etc.
*if you want to give hay in the field is that ok and how is that arranged if you have other peoples horses with you.
*is there some field shelter natural or manmade

So seems like a bit of a lecture but this is stuff I didn't get clear and I am now in a situation where I am generally the only owner poo picking and checking water etc. My boy also got moved in with three mares at one point:help:
If field livery with a shelter is organised and managed properly then I think it can be good for the native types but if it's not well managed it can cause resentment between owners re: chores. Hope this helps.
 
Yep, on grass livery. Only way to go imo - but thats cause my horse is suited to it. Its cheaper and less maintainence/ cleaning is required for the most part.
Things I couldn't live without for grass livery -
Penned off area at the gate for tacking up in safe zone away from other horses.
Multiple tie up points to avoid bits getting too poached.
Watch out for herd politics. My horse is lowest in the herd of two, other one tries half heartedly to block entry/exit, will chase my horse away so he can spend time with me instead - but he's good natured and takes a telling.
Agree poo picking/ feeding regimes with others. More people involved, more bother imo.

Most importantly, don't worry about what hasn't happened yet. You can't control for every eventuality, you just have to trust that whatever goes wrong, you'll cope - you'll find a way, and like newforest suggests, there's always someone willing to help out by offering up space. My horse got an abscess a month after arrival. Others might have stabled him. I didn't have access to one. He wore a canvas boot and we coped in mud. Yeah its not ideal sometimes but you know what, having horses to me isn't about having all the facilities for everything, its about slumming it a bit and loving every minute - the dark nights, the flies, the mud, all of it. Just one Flipo hug makes it all worthwhile.
I think most importantly, choose your horse to suit the time and effort you can provide.
 
I am on grass livery and love it. It is ideal for my two, except obviously that the grass is a bit lush for Ziggy (says she whose pony is currently box resting with laminitis).

There is no shelter in the field but I have provided my own shelter (a 2 - 3 horse shelter) and it acts as a wonderful, big, airy stable for sick horses, as you will know I have tested over the summer.

I don't even have water in the paddock. We have 2 big water butts but when it's dry for a long time I have to carry water.

It's important to:

  • have a dry, safe, secure place to keep stuff like hay and feed;
  • have shelter for the horses;
  • have full agreement with any other liveries using the same field as you on horse movements, grazing restrictions, how you use electric fencing, and when and where you feed.

An "airlock" at the gate to take out one horse and not another is also very useful.
 
Thanks everyone. I am meeting the YO next week so am going to write down a list of questions. There are only 3 grass livery spaces so there are not hundreds of people to deal with. I might try and meet them over the next few weeks. The good thing from living very near the yard is that I can just pop in and say hello.

There is a hard standing tie up area that I could use. I know that people feed directly outside the field, but not actually in it. I think that I personally would always go to the yard to feed so I could groom and check at the same time.

I will need to ask about hay in the field in winter. The YO said that this happens, but I don't know who decides how much goes out and and if restricted grazing is possible over summer.

Poo picking the responsibility of the people who share the field, but I'm more than happy to do my fair share - I actually enjoy it and can see my son enjoying it as well.

I am pretty sure that there is a field shelter there as well.

I feel so much better now that I have a confirmed place on this yard. I can't wait to keep my horse here. All I have to do now is find one to buy. I did have a good look on the web last night and although there are lots of nice horses I didn't see any that I liked enough to call up about. I know exactly what I want and I want to make sure that I get the right one. I will keep looking.
 
We have a field with two stables in for two of the horses and the other 2 ponies live out (well will be 3 this winter). The two that are out have to have hay in the winter because despite 25 acres we want to make sure we have grazing in the summer for them all to be out 24/7 and the two that come in are resting their section of the field over night so the hay takes some of the strain off the guys that are out 24/7.

We poo pick daily and there is no running water to the winter end of the field so that has to be brought in every couple of days. I don't think the owner of the ponies in the driving rain wind or snow would ever say that keeping a horse out in the winter is easier than being in!

But on the plus side we have 5 very content horses that all get along well and seem to be a lot happier than back when they were in livery yards with no or very limited winter turnout and for every wet morning there is a lovely crunchy frosty one!!

Get yourself a good headlamp for catching them as then you are hands free!!

We are continually "modifying systems" all winter to make things easier for ourselves and we seem to have got it fairly well sorted, I think you will just find it takes a bit of time to work those out for yourself!
 
mine are in grass but there are stables for emergencies (although my yard prefers paddock rest to boxrest, anyways!).

I would check if they offer a restricted option if needed eg could you fence off/stripgraze if required? how do they feel about muzzling (some yards interfere something chronic!)? have they got a 'no back shoes' policy? how big are the groups? how do they introduce new horses? are the herds quite stable? mixed groups? will they be hayed in winter if required? how secure are said fields?

Julia
x
 
Roxy's Mum said:
Buy a horse with a bright white blaze so they can be easily found in the dark! (I kid you not I can always find Roxy by walking towards a bright white vertical stripe!)
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Yes you can spot that one galloping towards you through the mist as well.:giggle:
 
From what I remember last winter.

Train them to come to a whistle, saves stumbling around in the dark.
Snow makes the dark not so dark if you know what I mean.
Horses didn't like the head torch I was wearing but were OK with the LED lantern.
Horses with a white face are easy to spot when facing you.Their eyes reflect green from a torch if you don't have the white face.
You can see in the dark better than you think, horses can see better than you.
Become a clock watcher and know when the sun goes down.
Save up time off so you can finish an hour early on cloudy days or ones with no moon.
Put hay at one end of the field and water at the other, keeps the horses moving.
During the winter water can freeze, even fairly deep water. Don't kick this.

Although we have 24/7/365 grass livery there is an enclosed area where we can take the horses to tack up and they can stay in (at extra cost) if they have a problem that means they must be kept in.
 
Tomas said:
Become a clock watcher and know when the sun goes down.
During the winter water can freeze, even fairly deep water. Don't kick this.
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Oh so true I can quote sun set and sun rise times all winter - did you know that while the days start getting longer after the 21st December the mornings continue to get darker until into January?! it's all going on the other end of the day!
 
i'd also find out where their winter fields are!! i used to be at a yard where said field was about a MILE DOWN THE ROAD! after work, in the dark it was impossible to safely get one's horse back to the yard!
 
Rambo rugs have the hi viz reflector strips in them as well. Forgot about training them to come to a whistle, this works, I use my gundog whistle as the noise carries further. 3 peeps like I do for the dogs when they were working and I have two horses cantering up for their dinner - brilliant.
 
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