How long do I turn the horses out?

Question

We are moving in our own place next year and I will be in charge of turn out. I just don't know how long to turn them out for. I know how to slowly introduce them to grass in the spring, but I don't want them to founder. My mom wants them to be turned out all day once possible, but how do I get them to that point? I know of horses who are turned out 24/7 and haven't foundered. How do I avoid it?

Sorry I know this is a noob question but I've always boarded and our barn doesn't have any grass so I never had this problem. One of the ponies too will be a pony. Because of his size does he have a bigger chance of founder?

Answer 1

Okay so in the spring, we start by hand grazing the horses for 15-20 minutes for about a week to start them with switching to grass, we then turn them out on the pasture for about 45 minutes, then leave them out longer and longer until they are worked up to being out in the pasture all day---we do it over the span of about 2-3 weeks--my sisters horse is prone to gas colic and so are 2 of the boarder horses...so we need to introduce grass slowly...i suggest this to everyone though, because who wants to lead a colicky horse around for an hour until they pass the gas build up or end up having to call the vet out and spend over $100 on a needless vet bill when you could've just slowly introduced them to grass pasture--also dont throw them out as soon as the grass is appearing- you need to give it time to grow up into longer chutes--or it will not grow in very thick and the horses will have it chewed down long before it can grow back...your pasture will turn to dust and you'll have to hay feed all summer--its not ideal...



So introduce the pasture/grass over a span of 2-3 weeks, slowly increasing the time they are on the grass each day (start at about 15 minutes and work up to 3 or 4 hours and then from there they can just be turned out all day) and wait until the grass has grown in to about 3 or 4 inches before starting pasture turn-out--otherwise it will not last the summer...



Good Luck!

BB

Answer 2

I am always in favor of horses going out as much as possible. It is better for their bodies and their minds to live outdoors close to the way they evolved.



The way you introduce turnout slowly is to let them out for ever increasing amounts each day. On day 1, they might only go out an hour. Day 2 - two hours. Day 3 - three hours. Once you get up to 11 or 12 hours, you can probably go up by two or three hours per day since that is a smaller percentage change.



Horses that are used to being out all the time do not need to be reintroduced to grass slowly in the spring unless they are especially prone to founder. Since the grass grows in slowly, their guts will have time to adapt. It's horses that aren't used to grass that need to be careful in the spring.

Answer 3

When you turn them out in the spring either:



1. limit the amount of time they are on the grass



2. limit the amount of grass they can get



Our horses are out all year round, 24 hours a day. What we do when we rotate pastures in the spring is use temporary fencing to fence of a small portion of the pasture near the gait, then, as the grass begins to disappear, we move the fence out farther, until they are on most of the pasture then we take the fence out. If you wont be there to move horses around a lot or if you have horses that dont do well with long periods in a stall, that's a good option.



If you are going to be there to shuffle horses in and out a few times a day and your horses can handle being indoors alot, you can limit the time they spend by bringing them in after a few hours of play and grass. Then slowly increase the amount of time they spend out until they are out all day.



Ponies are much more likely to founder and need special attention. Carefully monitor his poop- if it gets very runny or very green (or if he balloons in weight) you might want to cut his time back or get him a grazing muzzle.

Answer 4

Horses founder when they get seriously overweight. Of course, the horses who are not used to so much freedom & grass will take advantage of it at first. If it's quite lush, start off slowly as if they get a taste and then have the chance to calm down from the excitement. Just build up the time until they've adjusted to constantly having it. Pretend you can get into their brains. Most will be thinking, "Yes! Food! I better eat it before it gets taken away again." but sooner or later they will realize it's always there.



If you think they are gaining too much weight, don't prohibit them as this makes them more eager. Just work your horses more often and for longer periods/harder work. They need to burn the extra energy from the extra feeding. In the wild, horses travel from very droughted places to lush fields and do the same things.



If possible, try to alternate the paddocks that they're in. At our agistment, we have a few smaller paddocks called "lock up" and it's practically worn down with very small amount of grass. This is mainly for the piglets and obese but it's good for managing.



Hope that gives you insight. (:

Answer 5

How many horses do you have, and how many pastures? Will you have a dry lot or arena that could serve for turnout at all? Keeping them stalled continuously is potentially worse for them than being out. Grazing muzzles might be an option if you can afford them,,,,,they are a great solution when you want the horses out for exercise, but with limited grazing.

Answer 6

for the first week about an hour at a time then next week 2 then gradually increase the time. After about a month they should be fine to stay out all the time. don't feed them too much grain though, that could cause foundering too.

Answer 7

it's quite hard for a horse to founder just on grass...they have to be on rich rich rich grass 24/7 365 days of the year. if you turn them out during the day and in at night, it should be just fine for them

Answer 8

Go for an hour or tw oand then progress from there

Answer 9

I would start with a hour aday