I have recently started looking after a horse and need to know when I should put him in the stables at night, as its starting to get a bit chilly at night now.
I live on the South coast of the UK
2006-10-08 08:03:38 · 15 answers · asked by Dave L 1 in Pets ➔ Other - Pets
i think the first frost is a good time.
2006-10-08 08:05:28 · answer #1 · answered by john paul jones 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Depends on his breeding/your facilities/how he copes with cold/what his winter coat is like. Horses gen prefer to be out & can cope lot better with the cold than we might think. If its just cold should be no problem being out - if cold and wet then need some shelter or coat to protect from the rain. My horse has open stable and can choose -- usually she chooses to go out. But depends on type of horse as well - for example we had connemara who was happy out all year round with no rug on and would just shelter if weather really horrible, a TB cross who would shiver in the rain even if it wasn't that cold and an ISH who keeps quite warm and we just rug up when wet. I think most people would now stable at night and turn out in the day but listen to your horse and see what he is happy doing. If you can leave stable open they can make the choice or if there is good shelter in the field you might be able to leave him out (but if not a large area then your field will quickly turn to mud so this in itself would be a reason to stable for part the day )- then you can check them and see how warm they are when its cold (feel under shoulder/behind the ear) and decide if a rug is needed as well.
2006-10-10 05:26:40 · answer #2 · answered by jumpace321 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Shouldn't they be stabled every night? Do you have blankets? There should be one to fit the horse. Stable it when it gets dark outside. Horses play in 5 inches of snow here so i'm sure a blanket is ok for those chilly nights.
2006-10-08 15:10:08 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
We don't stable our horses unless it is bad weather. We have several shelters built throughout the pasture and they go into these and if it is real cold we might throw a blanket on them but they love being out and bale to move much more than being confined in a 12x12 stall. You have to judge this more by the horse as I know ours would tear the stall down if confined very long.
2006-10-08 17:28:00 · answer #4 · answered by Martha S 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hi - I have 4 horses, all of them are in at the minute due to all the rain we have been having - not that im worried about them getting wet I'm just trying to preserve the grazing from getting poached. If I had a spare field to be honest I would love to be able to winter them out because they are so much happier outside. It's just a personal thing - bring him in when you think it is best - just remember it's a long winter and a lot of hard work when they are in!
2006-10-10 08:54:07 · answer #5 · answered by YeeHaa! 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have one stabled already and Ill bring my other one in in the middle of this month. As its quite cold here in Ireland and I presume in the UK also - the horse should be rugged up from now in - do you have a new zealand type rug to throw on him? If so - do.
2006-10-09 03:43:44 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I live in Scotland, and there is a field outside my house where horses are not stabled at all for Winter. I thought this was quite cruel, they look really miserable on snowy and icy days. There isn't even adequate shelter for them from the elements. A few skinny hawthorn bushes in patches, and that is it.
2006-10-08 15:12:12 · answer #7 · answered by Princess415 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i live on the south coast in the UK my horses were stabled September as they were clipped and rugged for the winter it depends what breed of horse you have i have a Thoroughbred and a thoroughbred cross new forest and they always come in September is your horse rugged at the moment if so you can leave your horse out longer if not rugged you could rug him and bring him in later a lot of my friends who don't clip there horses bring them in the beginning of November
2006-10-08 15:19:52 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
well the best time to put the horse in his stall is when the sun is starting to set. or you can leave him outside at night but just cover him with a meduim sized blanket before night falls and make sure him have access to water and feed. but i live in north america and don't know anything about the other countries. but thats what i would do with the horse.
2006-10-08 15:11:10 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If your horse isn't going to grow a winter coat buy a horse blanket. If he is growing a winter coat he can happily live how he is now just let him have access to a shelter in any type of weather.
2006-10-08 15:18:18 · answer #10 · answered by Natalie Rose 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it depends on the weather, if it is raining i would put i light weight on to keep her clean cos she has a habit of rollin and is grey so all the dirt shows up but i tend to judge it on how the weather is and how cold they are. Have u just finished ridin and r threy really hot cos if yes put a rug on to make sure they dnt catch a cold. If you have 2 put ur coat on cos ur freezin thens the time to put on a medium/heavyweight
2006-10-11 17:02:28 · answer #11 · answered by loopyloz 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋