Evolution VS Management: Stablekeeping

I have no idea, she didn't say. Call the vet or ask around.

I've also heard that aloe vera can help, I agree, best to stick with one treatment for now though, especially as your current treatment contains some.

Please let us know how you get on with it

Super and informative topic.

As soon as we take a horse and put up a fence, unless we have 10,000 acres, how can we be sure they have acces to the broad spectrum of geology for plants to gain mineral uptake or allow a wide availablity of vitamins. Fences mean we become responsible. I think it was Peter Laidley who made this a fairly clear point in a talk I went to. He calls English turn out "frog ponds".

I have kept horses both stabled and out 24/7. Although even when my old horse was in race training, ( he only had a couple of races as most were cancelled due to frost or flooding and I ran out of racehorse funding), he still had a couple of hours liberty with friends every day.

It is easier for me to have the horses out 24/7 with access in the home field to their barn and field shelter. Although I am currently reviewing as we have 8.5 acres, some wooded areas, a small river as one boundary, some steep banks but far too much grass for just a yearling shire, a 3 year pony cob and a 5 year section b welsh pony.

I will have to consider cutting down their wonderful exercise gallops and strip grazing them. Bringing them in on hay instead of grass for some hours of the day or night.

Even Paddock Paradise systems have drawbacks, if the horses have to stick to a track of e.g. 16 feet around the field perimeter and a rabbit digs a hole, or there is a steep dip in part of the track, without the fencing the horses tend to fan out and can race and gallop unrestricted, turn, change direction etc.

For my yearling, Arthur, turnout with a lot of grazing is fine, he is converting everything into growth, for Ben the section b as a 5 year old he is worryingly showing signs of laminitis, although the farrier can find no laminal bruising or indications in his hooves. Better safe than sorry. He is in a restricted non electrified paddock presently where he can get into the barn without being shut in a stable.

Dan has been gelded during his 3 year old year and again is much fatter than I would like him to be. I am itching to begin riding him, he will benefit if I can be patient a little while longer, do more in hand, incorporate some long reining and begin in the Spring, but I do climb on and sit on him sometimes while he is grazing.

Previously I have used electric fence and kept horses from the centre of the field to reduce their grass availability.
We seem to be targeted by theives and have had several fence energisers stolen from our field.
Our other problem is the lower part of the field is subject to flooding, which can be a bonus as we still have grass when other people are feeding hay through a dry spell in summer. Nevertheless, we also suffer deep mud and have some clay.
Nothing a lot of money, stone and time cannot fix.

Dan and Arthur are currently out 24/7 in old pasture in a local nature reserve, shelter on every side, dips, hills, woodland and a lot of pasture. This field never becomes boggy and is free draining even after torrential rain.

(Due to the trust having a new official in paid employment drawing up grazing contracts, a reduction in the number of sheep we keep, plus costs for various insurances when grazing off our home field, it is not cost effective with just the two of them out and I may relinquish my paradise winter grazing and stick to just the home field. Since I don't need extra with enough at home.
There are rules coming in that animals may not be offered supplementary feed on Wildlife Trust Reserves, in case seeds contaminate, even though oats would be rolled not whole and sugar beet is hardly going to grow after shredding.
I may not need to offer more than a vitamin/mineral block but if I think they need extra then I will want to feed as I see fit, so I am not good at agreeing to rules.)

My old horses liked to come into their stables, daytime through Summer, night time through Winter. It meant I knew they had a dry bed and would properly lie flat out and get REM sleep. They were offered ad lib hay and I like sugar beet in a feed for the length of time it works in the gut.
I have quite often turned up after work to find horses have put themselves into individual stables ready for bed in the past.
I suppose it depends on the horses work load too.

I would like, if I am fit enough and if I put the work into fittening my pony, to do some drag hunts and longer cross country rides when Dan is a little more mature, (and I may be too mature) he may then require to be clipped but that is something for consideration in a year or two, there may be alternatives.

So many angles to consider in this thread. I need to reread from the beginning.

Love Susie xx PiePony

Sounds like you have a wonderful setup for your horses.

"frog ponds".

lol! I couldn't agree more! At a boarding stable it's a little hard for all the horses in the barn to get along so small turnout is a necessity.

And about ponies eating grass. The other week I was with the local carriage club on a drive and one of the passengers in my carriage and I were talking about ponies. He remarks "Theres only two types of ponies, foundered and gonna" I LOLed hard. Very true with a lot of owners considering ponies evolved in places where they might have to travel for hours or days to find a single patch of grass and here we go throwing them hay each day.

Good point about the sleep PP - I read an interesting article a year or so ago about how many horses are suffering through lack of proper sleep. Noisy stables, too small stables, lights left on etc. I have Z in at night for the few worst months of the year - usually Dec - March. Ideally (and one day I will) it would be in a barn but at the moment its in a stable. But I know that he has eaten and slept all night and is ready for another wet and windy day!

How funny about your passengers quote Sydney. I see people looking at my horse askance if he goes carefully over stoney ground. Then watch their shod horses doing the same, only they are get kicked and chivvied on. But no-one worries about founder, lami, sensitivity etc if their horses are year round shod... as the symptoms are masked.