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Living out 24/7 and as
part of the herd
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 My
shire x cob has a touch of rain scald. After he got three spots
of it on his bottom I was advised by the yard owner to put a
lightweight waterproof on him. It only exacerbated the situation
and he has now been stabled for three days, the poor boy. After
being bathed twice with Hibiscrub on the advice of my vet the
scabs are now dropping off, and I planned to put him out
unrugged as he was before. I have been met with nothing but
scorn.
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 You
are absolutely right to turn your horse out unrugged: rain scald
has nothing to do with the rain, but is due to a lack of optimum
circulation to certain areas allowing bacteria to breed. This
may be indicative of muscle tightness in those areas, but
without a doubt the rug will have worsened the situation.
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I
am trying to naturalise my horse and am not sure whether I
should be chopping and changing rugs or whether I should just
let him rough off and encourage him to grow more coat by leaving
the thin rug on. ******* I have a 15.2hh standard-bred x TB
mare, and I wanted to know does she need to be rugged up during
the winter? At the moment I have rugged her, and have just
realised how heavy the rug. I worry that she would feel the cold
if I suddenly decided to take it off.
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The
fineness of a horse is not a problem as far as living without
rugs is concerned. My previously stabled warmbloods and
thoroughbreds are as comfortable and weather-resistant in the
winter as my native pony, Bobby. However, the middle of the
winter is not the time to remove a horse’s rugs. Be patient and
wait until spring, then spend the summer working to revitalise
the coat and the skin to improve sensitivity, in preparation for
a rugless winter next year.
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In
winter we use one of the sloping fields that also has a shelter
in. By the fence and gate it’s really muddy. Most of the
liveries have decided not to put their horses out due to this
but I don't want to keep mine cooped up in a stable. It was
suggested that we 'change fields' but this will also get muddy
and would be ruined for spring - is there anything that you
would suggest? ******* If my horse should find herself to be the
only horse out at night do I need to provide any entertainment
beyond some hay? ******* I know you have your horses out 24/7,
but do you have outdoor shelters for them to go in voluntarily,
or do they have trees to shelter under? I want to manage mine
naturally, but it isn’t really natural in the wild for a horse
to be limited to only one field with no ability to move to
shelter? ******* All my horses can live out 24/7, but the TBx is
old now, and he seems to be quite tired out in the fields, and
sometimes longs to go to his stable. I know he enjoys being
turned out, but should I bring him in more?
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Field-management
in the winter can be very hard, and experience has taught me
several useful tips. Hard-core pads around the gateways in
particular and on high ground give the horses a choice for
getting out of the mud (if their circulation is working
effectively, mud fever should not be a problem). At Brackenhill
Stud I did have shelters in the fields: just a roof backing onto
a hedge with the minimum of upright supports, to avoid
potentially dangerous corners. If a shelter has walls it causes
the air within to become static, and therefore colder. Here at
Bowhayes I have not yet installed shelters, and my horses have
wintered without any problems. However, the key to this system
of management is choice: if your horse wants to come in, see if
you can arrange the stabling and fields so that he has permanent
access to both. This is not about forcing horses to live
outside! However, no horse should be expected to live alone;
they are herd animals and need at least one companion, maybe
retired or a youngster. Our system is as natural as possible but
not truly natural where horses would roam until they found
better conditions. Necessary paddocking means that we must try
to make up for the shortfalls.
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What
I should I do about a really 'good doer' who will live out on
year round grass. We will have access to a stable but that will
really only be for emergencies. ******* The field may have to be
fenced off though because I don't want my cob getting laminitis
or even just fat.
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Obviously
you have to maintain your horse’s condition, and the quality of
the grazing is instrumental in this, but if his metabolism is
working well he will not get laminitis. The fact is that horses
prone to laminitis need a lot of exercise so try to take plenty
of time for this and if necessary break it into several sessions
each day. Free-schooling in the field can be useful to encourage
him to use his field for exercise as well as eating. Stabling
for long periods of time will disrupt the gut bacteria which can
contribute to laminitis and encourage him to gorge when he does
go out.
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Do
you always let your mares foal outside within the herd and do
you ever have any problems with other mares being jealous of the
foal? My TB mare is very much the dominant mare and she foaled
last year outside with no problems and the foal integrated into
the herd quite happily. However, my Arab who is about to foal is
not dominant and I am worried about her being either frightened
off her foal or being bullied by the dominant mare. My second
question is, do you wean your foals? ******* Do you have any
thoughts on the best way to keep a stallion naturally? He would
obviously need to be separated from the herd in some way but I'm
wondering whether it would be better to split the herd
male/female, or to have him and a gelding companion separately
and the leave the rest of the herd mixed in a more natural way.
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The
herd is remarkable at maintaining its pecking order and
relationships. I have personally never had any problems with
foaling my mares within the herd. However, although I do not
tend to wean my foals, when the next year's foal arrives, last
year's foal tend to go from the top of the pecking order to the
bottom. If this happens it can be fairer to remove the yearling,
and with minimum stress if you split the herd. As far as
stallions are concerned, if he is not running with the mares to
breed, why not either vasectomise or geld him? Otherwise, run
him with geldings, as you suggest yourself. Marthe
Kylie-Worthington's books give good advice on this. She has been
breeding with herds for several decades and has enormous
experience.
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bowhayesfarm@btconnect.com
