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brychens mum
Bronze Member
99 Posts |
 Posted - 27 Apr 2012 : 1:04:06 PM
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I am dithering about buying a youngster, heart says yes, head says no. OH reckons I would be mad to and better with a native such as a fell, he also hates endurance which is the one equine sport I have enjoyed. Current yard and most yards where I live have extremly restricted t/o over winter. On my curent yard you can turnout onto two small quarry fields which are basically steep and bare earth over winter so the summer fields are saved for summer grazing. it looks like ours wont go out till the end of may for summer unless this constant rain lets up. I am not sure if an Arab would deal with being kept in so much.
I am also concerned that if I get something flightly I might come a cropper as I ride on my own.
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Arachnid
Platinum Member
England
1872 Posts |
Posted - 27 Apr 2012 : 1:12:23 PM
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Would any horse like to be kept in all winter? I'd say probably not though I guess some might deal with it better than others. Mine certainly wouldnt deal with it at all well, but then I expect it depends what they are used to.
Are you sure you cant find another yard? They are so expensive to keep it seems a shame not to have the horse you really want.
Why does your OH hate endurance? (Just curious) |
   
West Sussex |
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Callisto
Platinum Member
6905 Posts |
Posted - 27 Apr 2012 : 1:26:04 PM
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When I was a teenager we did not have any winter turnout, so whatever the weather etc. we had to exercise them every day. They did have a small yard outside the stables but that was it. It is not ideal, but they did cope (in the summer we had 24/7 turnout but no stables), so even the winter turnout that you describe would be an improvement on that. We had an Arab, a Welsh x Connemara x TB and an Arab x New Forest (and they were very fit). I don't think it matters what breed you buy, it is the individual horse who is steady/flighty/bombproof/traffic shy etc. etc.
If your heart is set on an Arab then I think you would rather regret getting something like a Fell (they are so very different), and it won't be any happier about being kept in than any other horse.
As Arachnid says - are you sure you can't find another yard offering better facilities? |
  Zahkira (GR Amaretto x Taffetta)
Linda
East Sussex |
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glo
Gold Member
England
1297 Posts |
Posted - 27 Apr 2012 : 1:40:09 PM
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I try to have my horses out as much as possible, but it gets very wet here and we are on red clay and on a hill so if the horses have a funny 5 minutes the field would just be mud so I have an arena that I divide with electric tape in to 2 or 3 bits and depending on how many horses I have 2 horses go in each bit, they are given plenty of hay. I have done this for 13 years with out any problems. All my horses are fine its just what they get used to. what I don't like to see is horses standing in deep mud you get more problems with that than standing on hard standing.
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Mags
Silver Member
354 Posts |
Posted - 27 Apr 2012 : 2:33:19 PM
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We have all year turnout but when the snow was bad this year I kept them in as jack refuses point blank to go out and mia likes to be with jack and I didnt have any issues. Jack was fresher than mia (the arab) I think if she had to be in all winter i would have exercises her straight off in the morning and then again later so at least she would be burning off energy and settle in between
Depends what work the horse is doing I guess, if it was in I would want to 'work' it rather than a quiet hack |
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Callisto
Platinum Member
6905 Posts |
Posted - 27 Apr 2012 : 2:43:51 PM
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By exercise (see my post above) I mean an hour at the absolute minimum, mainly at trot with cantering - not ambling around at a walk - the horses were clipped and hunting fit. We had to hack to the meets because we had no transport, and after a day's hunting we would hack home again (sometimes 15 miles). Obviously you wouldn't need to keep your horse this fit, although it would give you a very good start to the endurance season  |
Zahkira (GR Amaretto x Taffetta)
Linda
East Sussex |
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Quarabian
Platinum Member
Wales
4340 Posts |
Posted - 27 Apr 2012 : 4:27:30 PM
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| I think a native would be just as unhappy with no turn out. Find another yard and have the horse of your dreams. Also an arab is not necessarily as flighty as a fell, just that they are more agile when they bounce!! but my 3/4 arab was rock steady in traffic, safe on open fields, never ever pulled and was happy to go at any pace I dictated. The fact that she sometimes shied at things didn't bother me because she 'took me with her' her shies were not unseating at all. |
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Kes
Platinum Member
England
1819 Posts |
Posted - 27 Apr 2012 : 4:29:33 PM
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Good God Callisto, endurance must be a good rest for you now!!!!
We have limited t/o here but as liveries we seem to be lucky but we do have to look after our fields. There are horses here who have gone through the entire Winter only getting 4-6 hours t/o once a week and they coped fine. |
    
Carole & Kes, West Sussex. |
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cmj
Silver Member
France
383 Posts |
Posted - 27 Apr 2012 : 6:07:46 PM
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Really don't agree with keeping them "in prison" but appreciate that some have to be kept in at night, and might like it. I don't think it is right for any youngster to be kept so restricted, they need to exercise themselves to get rid of energy, stress and to build up their bodies and socialise. I think there are, however, older horses who actually enjoy being in a lot. My 18 yr old does seem to prefer to be in, like his sire, apparently - AK El Sennari. If you could find such a horse and be able to work him every day then maybe things would be fine.
Personally I think your livery yard absolutely sucks. How can anyone take money for livery when the horses have nowhere to be turned out. There should be a sacrificial field, even if horribly muddy. JMO |
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FullCircle
Gold Member
Scotland
554 Posts |
Posted - 27 Apr 2012 : 7:05:43 PM
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My partbred would contact ILPH if I dared to leave him out at night, winter or summer!  |
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brack369
Gold Member
559 Posts |
Posted - 27 Apr 2012 : 7:44:11 PM
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Definitely go for your Arab if that's what your heart is set on. Even though Arabs are considered flighty I find them so much easier to handle than heavier breeds. They may have a dance around on the end of a lead rein but the majority are not bolshy or bargy.
In the area I live you tend to either get a yard with great facilities, lights, ménage etc but limited turnout or no facilities but all year turnout. I opted for the turnout option and although at times the lack if ménage really annoys me, I know my horses are happy. Even tho during the winter they only like to stay out 4 hours max |
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cmj
Silver Member
France
383 Posts |
Posted - 27 Apr 2012 : 8:48:27 PM
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| FullCircle - that was funny :) My old boy does not move out of his comfy, rubber floored, ad- lib hay, view of French rolling countryside, muck-collecting-slave-equipped field shelter if it is raining/windy/too sunny/too many flies His friend sticks with him. So basically much of the time I have 24 hrs of mucking out a day unless I am cruel and force them to go out to do the grazing thing! |
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hazelcat74
Silver Member
472 Posts |
Posted - 27 Apr 2012 : 10:57:14 PM
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| Totally agree brack369, my girl can prance around but never pulls or barges unlike some of the cobs on the yard. She would hate being in but then there are a lot of yards round here that only have 2-3 hours turnout in winter and many people seem to say their horses cope fine, personally I dont agree with it and would do all I could to avoid such a yard but I know its not always possible to find what you would like. |
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LadyLuck1
Gold Member
England
730 Posts |
Posted - 28 Apr 2012 : 12:31:58 AM
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| Kirstie hates going out in winter, if its cold and wet then she screams till I bring her back in. I want her out so she can stretch her legs but she stands by the gate calling till I get her in. Bless she thinks she will melt if she has to be out. No matter how long she stays in she never gets fizzy or stupid. If she see someting scary its like flying a kite she never pulls or barges. Good luck |
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Vik1
Platinum Member
1711 Posts |
Posted - 28 Apr 2012 : 1:14:10 PM
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I think it depends on the horses personality tbh how well it copes being in. Having had an arab x, a tb and a highland at the same time, the highland was by far the worst for keeping in. She hated it, even if it was for one day and with an hours turnout in the school.
My current 3yo pba is not too bad at staying in. He will always get a runaround the indoor school for at least half an hour and he seems to be fine with this for a few days. Not sure howd hed be if it was the case all winter tho. |
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brychens mum
Bronze Member
99 Posts |
Posted - 28 Apr 2012 : 3:06:01 PM
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I scanned through the majority of replies with a sense of bafflement. I didn't say the horses on my yard don't go out at all in winter. Around here you have the choice of no facilities and no winter t/out, or facilities and no winter t/out.it took me ages to find a yard that at least had restricted t/out.
They go out into 2 sacrifice fields (the quarry fields) They go out in 2 shifts morning lot then after noon lot when morning lot come in. I spent ages finding this yard as its one of only a handful where I live that has any winter turnout. Summer they are out 24/7.I live up in between the peaks and saddleworth moor. Its heavy clay and grass just peels of if you step on it on winter. As its up in the hills the fields are invariably waterlogged through winter.
I was somewhat cross to read cmjs post saying the yard sucks. Read the original post please! How can you say a yard sucks if you have never been there?
My current horse is happy with the arrangement! But like some of the posters horses he likes his creature comforts and to be in if its wet or cold!
My comments re OH hating endurance stem from when he used to crew for me many years ago. He didn't like crewing, how obsessed I got with it and some of the things he saw going on. |
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alison
Platinum Member
Wales
1810 Posts |
Posted - 28 Apr 2012 : 3:34:23 PM
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Hi, please check as I have sent you a pm.
Alison |
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Callisto
Platinum Member
6905 Posts |
Posted - 28 Apr 2012 : 4:05:28 PM
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Brychens_mum, I think an arab will cope with the regime you describe as well as any breed of horse, you have obviously done your best to get the best possible solution. I would get the horse of your dreams if I were you, and try and find someone else to crew for you when the time comes. My Aunt does it for us and she is completely un-horsey, but a very efficient crew. My husband professes to hate horses altogether, but will occasionally crew and he is very good at it too, and you might not get so obsessive if you are dealing with someone who is not your OH (I know I've been pretty horrid to mine in the past when I was hyped up at a ride, wouldn't dare do it to my Aunt ).
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Zahkira (GR Amaretto x Taffetta)
Linda
East Sussex |
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cmj
Silver Member
France
383 Posts |
Posted - 28 Apr 2012 : 6:51:21 PM
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Oops, sorry!
The bit of your post that made me think yours wouldn't be going out at all was
"it looks like ours won't go out till the end of may for summer......". I thought you had rejected their steep bare earth field, maybe too dangerous?
Each to his own, fair play. Can only say that I wouldn't feel good offering my liveries steep mud fields. |
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Liz100
Silver Member
United Kingdom
370 Posts |
Posted - 28 Apr 2012 : 7:57:33 PM
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Just wanted to say I'm on a yard with limited winter turnout. I wouldn't want to move yards as everything else is perfect, I like the people (no bitchiness, jealousy etc) and I trust the YO to look after my horse as if he was her own, which counts for a lot!
But then, luckily, that suits my horse. Raf hates cold/rain/mud/puddles and he'd much rather stay in the comfort of his stable, even when all the other horses go out - if he has to go out he spends all his time shouting at the gate to come back in. But I bought him from a large stud where he was an entire colt and kept stabled most of the time, so I suppose his stable is his comfort zone.
I would have thought an Arab could cope with this sort of regime as well as any other breed and that it would depend on the individual horse as to whether they would be ok with it. I don't have any experience of real youngsters though. Raf was 4 when I bought him, he's 6 now. |
East Yorkshire |
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Would an Arab by happy living like this?
