Why do you chose for your horse to be stabled overnight?

Mary Poppins

Mary Poppins

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Oct 10, 2004
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Ben lives on a yard with a total of 23 horses. There is loads of land and each owner has the choice of how to keep their horse. Ben has always lived out so I opted to have him out during the night and come in for about 6 hours during the day so he can have some hay and feed (they don't hay the fields). From May to September he will live out 24/7.

However, as from this weekend I am the only one who has opted for this routine, everyone else is bringing their horse in overnight. Ben has one other horse for company who stays out. He is a retired TB (who is rugged to the eyeballs but lives out all year round very happily).

I don't understand why everyone else brings their horses in, when they have the option of leaving them out. It isn't freezing cold at the moment (I live in the South of England), the fields are not trashed and there is plenty of room. I feel like the 'odd one out' and part of me feels inclined to just do what everyone else does and to bring him in. I always thought that a natural lifestyle and time in the field was the best way, but I am missing something? If having your horse in the field is the ideal, why doesn't everyone else do it? It's not a time saving thing, because the whole yard is full livery and the staff will bring your horse in if you wanted to ride.
 
I think it's to do with the temperature, MP. In winter the nights get very cold so people bring their horses in to protect them from the elements... and also for their hooves to dry out for a few hours as they are generally standing on wet ground, possibly in mud too (as they do tend to congregate around the gate!) Grass obviously stops growing in winter and the quality of that which remains is poor so by bringing in, you can monitor what feed and hay your horse is getting as well. However, not all horses cope with being in overnight - some are conditioned to it and do well, others stress about being out and it can actually be detrimental. I actually believe that given the choice, horses would prefer to live out all winter and only come in during the day in the summer months to escape the heat and flies. If you have a field shelter you will see that they are far more likely to use it when it's hot and the flies are about than if it is cold, wet and windy.

Having said all that, I've just started bringing Jack in overnight as they don't hay the fields and he's a big lad so I need to ensure he gets enough to eat over winter *sigh*
 
domane said:
I think it's to do with the temperature, MP. In winter the nights get very cold so people bring their horses in to protect them from the elements... and also for their hooves to dry out for a few hours as they are generally standing on wet ground, possibly in mud too (as they do tend to congregate around the gate!)
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But the temp. in a stable isn't that different to the temp. outside. Plus, when he is outside he can move around to keep warm. I do agree that he needs to come in from the mud, but he gets 6 hours in his stable which i think is enough - esp as our fields are not really muddy. I can understand keeping him in when it is pouring with rain or blowing a gale, but the weather we have had down here has been very mild with not much rain at all.

In an ideal world he would have ad lib hay in the field, but he gets a 6 hour window to eat and is maintaining his weight well - he has actually put on weight since he has got here under this routine.
 
I'm with you MP and wish I had the choices you've got. Prince is on part livery as there was no option for grass livery - he is out at night which is my preference. My thinking is that he would rather be out than in so by choosing night turn out, he is only ever in the stable from 8am until 3pm. If I chose day turn out then he would only be out between those hours and much more time shut inside. It's never felt right to me.

I feel that, if he must be in at all, then I would prefer it to be while there are people around so that someone would know if there was a problem - no one is around at night so if anything was going to happen it would be best for him to be outside in his natural environment to have the best chance of being ok.


When he moves to a small DIY yard in January I am worrying about what will happen as all the other horses come in at night - which means about 3pm in reality! I am desperately hoping that one owner will change her mind and leave her horse out at night so that I can have my boy out coz I wouldn't leave him out alone.

I am really concerned about him being shut inside from late pm until morning :unsure:
 
Its really horses for courses! I would have loved tokeep Joe out full time, but he simply would not stayout! Even with his lovely rugs on. There was plenty of food out there, he simply wouldn't tolerate it. I think mainly because in his past life (he may have raced we never were sure) he had led a very "indoor" life and to be turned out for just a few hours was what he preferred. He would sweat up and generally injure himself if left. He chewed the fences and got into a right lather! So, we had to bring him in.
Storm I feel will cope very well next spring when we turnout 24/7 - as will her new friend Chloe (she's lived out this past year I am told). However, I think its just what they can cope with and what they get used to also - as in, what they "think" you should be doing. For example yesterday when the wind was at its peak (60mph gusts) our girls demanded to come in. We tried to leave them but they ran up and down trashing the field and doing sliding stops at the gate until we caved in and brought them in around 3pm!!!!!
So, I guess its just what your horse is happiest doing - if he likes to be out and about and has a pal then fine, if not, I think you can do more damage than good. Yes, they are meant to be out, but sometimes you have to just use your instinct and do what needs to be done. If I thought either of ours was going to pull tendons etc by hoolying and simply would not settle then I'd have to bring in.
 
My 2 are still out 24/7 at the moment and come in for an hour to have some hay and a feed. They come in for 24 hours every couple of weeks basically just to recharge there batteries. I have poor grazing (now! Usually very rich!) and no natural shelter, one fully clipped pone in a rain sheet and one nakey pone an with no shelter I feel it's important they come in for a day to have a good sleep, dry off and chill out. Both are happy to come in for this but keen to get themselfs back out!
 
Humm I have had horses that have done both. I have justed started bring in this week for the winter but he is out from 0615 until 1745 all day every day no matter what the weather. He is brought in for a couple of reasons:

- There is no and I mean no natural shelter in the field not even a hedge
- He is in a field with one other the field is not large and very, very muddy I think the field needs the rest
- So his feet dry off

He will be back out 24/7 at the end of Feb so only in for 2 1/2 months tops.
 
Mary Poppins said:
But the temp. in a stable isn't that different to the temp. outside.
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But indoors they don't get rained on or subjected to cold winds. Yes, I will agree that outdoors they can move around but don't forget that food generates heat too so if they are standing in they are generally munching on a haynet so that should also help them keep warm. If they are running around in a field, they can't eat at the same time. And I always think that if they want to lie down, it must be slightly warmer to sleep on a bed of straw than the cold old frozen ground, even with a rug on the cold would seep through, surely?

I'm all for horses living out, personally, in the right environment with shelter and ad lib hay. Ours ARE allowed hay in the field, but you have to put it out yourself. Unfortunately Jack's field is a good half-mile walk from the yard, the last part being uphill too and he shares a field with 3 others so it's just not possible for me to get enough hay into the field for them all, especially since my frozen shoulder flared up again a couple of weeks ago.
 
I have one in at night and two out 24/7

Harvey comes in at night as he didn't do well living out last winter and was grumpy and miserable. This year he is in at night and not grumpy and a much better weight.

SO he comes in at night - he also has a large amount of hay at night and his feed. He doesn't like the wet and the wind and will stand at the gate from about 1pm if he thinks it's too cold to be out! (he is out anytime from 6am/9am to 2.30pm/5.30pm

Ellie is out 24/7 but if given the choice would bring her in at night as she doesn't have a lot of excess weight. She comes in during the day for a few hours to eat some hay.

Piccolo loves living out, only has a balancer, loves to be out and really doesn't notice the rain or the cold.
 
1. Because he's prone to mud fever and I want his legs to dry out overnight
2. Because he needs good quality eating time, without having to fight over it with someone else!
3. Because over winter I want to see him easily to check him over and dragging him out of a field in the dark, having to hose him off and then putting him back is just a pain in the backside
4. Because he needs a break from his girlfriend! :D
5. Because if he gets soaked during the day his rugs will dry off overnight
6. So I can change his rugs over night which IMHO helps prevent rubs
7. Because I can chuck him in the stable on Friday night and the mud is dry and easy to remove when I come to ride on Saturday morning
8. Easy to monitor his weeing, pooing, drinking and eating levels
9. Because the conditions that we have at the yard aren't ideal for living out 24/7, we need more grass and shelter and they get muddy in winter.
10. Because it's easier for me! :D
 
I have 4 horses on the yard, Heathcliff (my part arab) lives out with his girlfriend, a WB, 24/7, both part clipped and warmly rugged, but neither of them want's to be in a stable overnight... they will take about 2 hrs of confinment and then start kicking the door.

However, Frank my WB will be waiting by the gate at 3pm at this time of year, only has to hear you in the yard and he start shouting for bed. If I try to leave him out, he simply jumps the fence (and it's over 5ft high!) and take himself to bed...:stomp::stomp:

My other livery would stay out, but his Mum likes him tucked up in bed too, so he comes in with Frank.

Ideally, I would have all 4 out 24/7 but have to work around Frank and my livery, so 2 out of 4 ain't bad.

As someone else said, it's horses for courses.
 
Last year it was just friend and I and the horses stayed out 24/7, during snow, frozen ground etc. Then Toby lamed himself badly on the frozen ground, I couldn't get him across the village back to the stables because the roads were sheet ice, he was miserable, I was miserable!

This year, in a bigger yard, they HAVE to come in at night.

There is not that much grass, mud everywhere and I think he needs to properly dry out and that includes his feet and legs.

He seems happy enough. Eager to get out in the morning, but quite happy tucking into a huge pile of hay with his pyjamas on having been groomed and fussed over in the evening.. And I am happier when I wake up in the night and it is freezing cold and lashing down with rain that he is warm and dry!
 
For us it is partly land management - 5 on 25 acres.. We bring 3 in from November onwards but the two that stay out have hay from the beginning of December to give the field they stay in a bit of a break..

And partly, like the others have said its convenient to me too. I only see my horse in the dark in the week so I want to get her in a stable to groom and check her over etc, her field friend is an old TB who would drop too much weight living out so we also come in to keep her company, and I think there is some benefit to giving them a break from the weather, my horse lies down every night in her stable in the winter and seems to be a lot less tired when she is out 24/7 in the summer.

We have ours out at 6am and in at 6pm ish which is better than previously when they came in as it got dark which meant they could be stood in for about 18 hours in the depths of winter.
 
Mary Poppins said:
I don't understand why everyone else brings their horses in, when they have the option of leaving them out. It isn't freezing cold at the moment .
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To be fair I think its really difficult for the likes of us MP to understand why some people would be motivated to have their horse stabled overnight or 24/7 in the worst weather. But I'd say this is purely because we have horses that live out so happily and don't show the signs of wanting to be in. (that and we are safe in the knowledge that this is how they've been kept before and the memory of seeing how unhappy they seem when confined to a stable).

Friend's horse is a difficult one. He could really do with being stabled in rain. He's fine with the cold and heat, but he doesn't cope well with rainy weather and if left unrugged even during summer, he will be shivering manically whenever I get there and is at risk of colicking apparently. The unfortunate thing is that he's claustraphobic and actually injured himself a few years back trying to escape from his stable while being rested for lameness - he ended up speared between his back legs.
People must have their reasons for stabling - my horse never shows any signs of being unhappy with his set up that would make me think 'oh I need to stable him' but I have faith in the fact that he's always lived out before I had him and having seen him in all weathers (and yesterday is a case in point) I know he's ok. Yes he did some hoolling around but who am I to say when he can't have a run about. If he was hoolling looking very stressed and upset then I'd have thought twice, but that comes from having seen how he looks when he's stressed galloping around.
Sorry, this was a bit long winded and wittery, but all I'm saying is that people know their own horses and its difficult to imagine how it could be for other situations - which I guess is primarily why you've posted this thread! So I've contributed pretty much zilch to the conversation - why am I even saying anything lol. :redface:
 
Mine only come in overnight when we get to the point that they want to be in all day, otherwise I operate a similar routine, in for a few hours during the day and back out again. All depends on the state of the grass rather than the weather.
 
ETA: My friend has a horse that when he first arrived found it hard to be out in the field for more than about half an hour, she gradually built him up so he could do around eight hours out in the field but if I hadn't of seen it with my own eyes I wouldn't have believed it. He loved being in and was perfectly happy to be in 24 hours a day so building him up to 8 hours was a huge deal. He could never have stayed out 24/7 as he found it really stressful (even with food, company etc he just used to go into mega stress mode).
 
How does Ben seem to be coping? Is he waiting at the gate after the others have come in? Is he happily grazing in the morning when he is fetched in? If he isn't gate lingering then I would keep to the routine u have chosen, if however he is at the gate, trying to get through, calling, pacing, etc then I would swap him to match the others.

Mine are always out 24/7. I dont have the time to muck two stables and I like them out for longer than being in at night so its easier for me if they are out. Mine don't have any natural shelter at all, but don't lose weight and don't get stressed...generally 5 days a week they come in for 2-3 hours but other than that they are out with hay at night. Tbh I would never knowingly buy a horse who had to live in at night, it's doesn't suit me or my current herd!
 
My horse has always lived out 24/7 in summer and when on livery was stabled Nov-April with limited daily turnout. She has now been out 24/7 since 2010 and is loving it!

I do not agree with horses being stabled for the majority of the winter without daily turnout, no matter what people say i cant see how an horse can be happy confined to a stable for days or ever weeks on end only getting out to be ridden or put on a walker! i would never subject my horses to it & wouldnt have them if it was my only option.
 
Mary P my share horse has always lived out nights (rugged according to temperature) and come in for a few hours each day, just as you describe.
But the field is heavily grazed and when she went to the field in the late afternoon there was hay -
Living out 24/7 in retirement suited her so well. The whole point is that, like Ben, she has a stable available for shelter if the weather turns really bitter or she is unwell. Having a stable doesnt mean you have to use it if you have bought a horse used to living out.
Not every horse on a livery yard has to be treated the same. The livery horses are different - they have stables in the main yard and get turned out for a couple of hours a day. But they are exercised every day.
To have the turn out you enjoy is a luxury. There is a shortage of turn out here and I share a horse that is turned out, rather than own one which would have to live stabled.
 
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