Are we too soft .... ?

[horsey2]

Leave him out Agree so long as no wind and rain lack of shelter won't matter as much He'll be lovely and snug

[cinnypony]

Cinny - who's an arab is out tonight, like she's been every other night. Though she's got a MW on.

All the others are out nekked and happy

[daisysp8]

Lol thanks so much guys ... i will re-read this tomorrow for support .... i caved tonight and brought him in ... i am too soft .. !!

Found out all the others were going to be in, and couldn`t bear the thought of being wrapped up in my nice warm bed and laid there thinking of him being out there in the cold, on his own .... So OH came up with me, we had a fair bit of pushyness and barging but he`s in. And when i get the video uploaded onto here tomorrow you`ll understand why i`m sat here grinning like a looney lol !!

I have a friend who`s going to be up there in the morning with me, and we`ll take him out one at each side of him, and once he`s out tomorrow in his big shires rug he`ll be staying out, its only because we are due the coldest night (-9) here this week that i let him in ..... (and the fact that he has me very well trained already) !!

He will be out as of tomorrow ..... honest

[highlanderpony2002]

Mine are out on the airfield no shelter no rugs refuse to touch the hay and are as warm as toast

[Susan]

If we had water in the field Flynn would be out again. He is only in a mac no filling as clip grown out and I dont want him keeping weight on, so not cosy but if enough to eat that is what helps keep them warm. I only brought him in last night due to water situation.
I would say your horse will be fine.

[nich]

mine is out, no shelter in field but plenty of hay. she is fine, enjoys coming in for 4 or 5 hours in the daytime, but I think being in for 12 hours at night is too long to be in a small stable where they can't walk around to keep warm, and keep joints moving.
btw, aren't people in v cold areas finding water freezes in the stable too?

[julz]

if there's nothing wrong with him, joints etc, then he'll be fine out, with a good rug on, plenty hay etc...

Seamsu has advanced ringbone, and the ground up here has been solid and rutted for a few days now, so i made the decision to bring him in last night. My joints are sore, and are worse now, the weather is even colder, If i can feel it with clothes on, how would he feel??

I dont pamper him and bring him in everytime the weathers bad, but now and again for respite... (and my piece of mind). Yesterday i LL him up the track, and it took everything to stop him from eating... he must have been starving (not starving, like not eaten for day, just moderately hungry).. they had not much hay left, and what was there was bad, they were on the hill eating what little grass there is....

[julz]

Jan 7, 2009 8:49:07 GMT 1 nich said:

btw, aren't people in v cold areas finding water freezes in the stable too?

Yes, our automatic water drinkers are frozen... I put water in for Seamus last night, in a bucket, in a bigger buckets that had poo in it, to insulate.. i topped it up with some boiling water, just to make sure.. have no idea if it worked!

[Yann]

Mine are both out, well rugged, no hay in the field but still a little worthwhile grass. There is shelter of sorts if you count hedges and stands of leafless trees, but nothing more. They both come in for a bit during the day at the moment to top up on haylage but are both more than happy to go back out. Wet and windy is much more of a problem than cold

[gingerloon]

Seren coped very well out last night, in fact better than in the stable. she was toast warm and was down the far end of the field this morning. wandered up to get her breakfast and pulled faces if I dared to interrupt to check she was warm enough and couldn't have cared less .

am very pleased I made the decison to keep her out and avoid the ice on the route to and from the field

[Amanda (S Yorks)]

My girl is out at night still (amazingly!). If she doesn't want to go out she makes her feelings very clear by refusing to come out of the stable, but she's coming straight out at the moment so I take it that means she wants to be out. She certainly looks very happy and contented when I check her in the mornings (5.30am so still freezing!).

She is very well rugged up and comes in for the afternoon to fill up on hay and have a snooze on a soft bed. She's not really eating that much hay whilst in though and it seems silly to keep her in for longer if she doesn't need the time for eating, especially as she's arthritic and does get stiff from being stood in.

I have a suspicion that if the weather turns wet she'll change her mind about being out as she's not keen on mud, so if that happens and she expresses a preference I'll bring her in overnight. Same goes for if she starts clearing her hay and needs more than she can eat in the afternoon.