just a question from a newbie

[dreamcatcher]

I hope this is the right place to post this.

I have read many people saying that they do not stable their horses at all usually, even in bad weather. They said that it was healthier for them to be out where they can move. I can see this. But then I got to wondering something and I figured I might as well ask since I am sure there is a reason. Why do you have a barn if they are not going to use it? I understand a place to hold feed and everything but why do you need stalls and such if they are never really used? Thanks for helping me out. (Never owned horses. Can you tell. )

 

[mydakota]

Well, just because you don't "stable" them doesn't mean they don't need shelter. I don't stable mine, but they do have access to a 3 sided run-in shed 24/7. This allows them to stay out of the wind and to stay dry as they see fit. They do need to be able to have a windbreak and to stay dry. Plus, if you have horses very long, sooner or later you are going to have an illness or injury that requires "stall rest". This actually does require a stall, because it means they need their movement limited, and that can be difficult with a larger enclosure. You also sometimes need to separate the slow eaters from the fast ones, or the aggressive horses from the meek ones--especially at feeding time. All of this is much better accomplished with a barn. And then there is the horse "stuff". Don't even get me started on how much "stuff" you accumulate when you have a horse.

 

[dreamcatcher]

ah that makes sense. I guess I wasn't thinking in more broader terms. I bet there is alot of stuff that is acquired for them.

 

[Cruz&Walker]

I keep my horses roughboard 24/7, even in the coldest of cold winter storms in Wisconsin. Just let them grow out their coats, provide a windbreak, and they'll be fine. The only reason people stall horses is because PEOPLE think that it is nicer for the horse. Ok, ok, yes, it can be for food reason or sickness reasons, but just stalling the horses at night really doesn't make sense. Let horses be horses.

And yes, you will need a stall for an injured horse, or if you need to separate them for grain. And the barn space is great for grooming, tacking up, ect. However, I know plenty of people that have a shed to keep the tack/supplies in, and the horses stay on pasture 24/7, with only a run in shed. No barn necessary.

 

[goodhors]

I am one who stalls horses daily. Horses are in half a day, nights in winter, days in summer. We consider our stalls as a tool,
teaching horse to be comfortable when restrained, accepting of things done behind and around them with no reaction
from horses. Our horses get handled twice a day, which seems to keep horse remembering WHO is the leader of the
herd, gives directions that horse follows! It is not an argument like I commonly see with quite a few "pasture kept"
equines. My horse accepts that we will do things when WE say they need doing, doesn't get upset about it.

Since we have a number of horses, stalling allows horse to get fed alone and get all his/her hay and grain with no fights,
lay down to sleep. Sometimes a bully in the group makes a tired horse too wary to lay down around the other equines, so
horses get leg-weary. A dry bed in their stall encourages laying down safely. The horses go out daily in all weather except
sleet and sheet ice. Not hothouse flowers, they work for a living here. Being out in fields exercising is good for them, socially,
physically in the groups. But ours are ready to come inside when the nasty flies come up with the sun, or as nightime temps
drop severely in winter.

We seldom blanket, horses wear their long hair. But on those nasty, icy days, stalling for the night allows horse to dry out
their legs, hooves, melt the ice chunks off and get fluffy again. I do usually groom horses to keep them fluffy, they are much warmer
if they can fluff or flatten the hair. Along with grooming, I do a daily once-over to check for injuries, rocks or ice in hooves, lost a shoe.
This "laying on of the hands" will tell me who is getting fat under the long hair, who is thin, so feed needs adjustment. Can't tell
that by looking! Fingers digging thru the hair to find or attempt-to-find the ribs is the only way to tell that. Even more important is
tracking how much water they take in, both winter and summer. I have to know what is normal for that horse, to know when
drinking is not meeting that level. Horses colic when they don't drink well. Would be real hard to do this with only pasture tanks and a herd
of horses outside.

Cleaning those stalls daily allows me to see that each horse has been pooping and peeing, eating their meal, to insure the food is moving
thru the animals. No poop or wet spots means big problems, I MUST be doing something about problem NOW!!

I know a lot of the outside keeping is to not have to clean stalls. So the sheds get filled with frozen poop balls, hard to walk on, hard to lay on,
cleaned (maybe) in the spring. Flooring is often uneven, flooded or muddy in warm weather, not bedded, poop attracting flies to bite horses inside.

I think my methods are set for pretty low standards, but there are plenty of folks who have an even lower minimum for horse keeping.
Guess that is their priviledge, but it does bother me when they tell me their horse chores only take 20 minutes total each day. Yeah, horses
"manage" with sheds, no barns, they are designed for outside living. Just always surprises those folks when horse gets sick, hurt, and
has been that way for DAYS! Old wounds can't be stitched, maybe infected, or horse is breathing badly, takes a lot of Vet attention to get him
healthy or usable again. They don't understand how that problem happens!!

Kept outside with sheds is just not how I keep my horses, not how I was brought up. In our Michigan location animals need
weather protection. If I haven't got a place to put them inside in bad weather, time to handle them each daily, then I don't need
to own them. Includes the sheep and cattle having stalls, no dogs outside overnight. Guess that makes us a bunch of sissies!

 

[2468herdsrgr8]

We have three horses and we only have a shelter which is in a mud paddock with pastures surronding it . They are taken off the pasture during the evening hours . They do not get blanketed during the winter months ...well my daughters horse maybe on a cold cold night as she's the diva and alot slimmer than the other two ...but the blanket only goes on once she has grown a thick winter coat ...there fed morning and night there feed in the mud paddock and have acsess to the pasture and have the shelter for protection ...Hay feeders are in the mud paddock ..... I have so many pictures of them standing in the pasture with a couple inches of snow on there backs and there shelter is completely dry.... When we have to stall rest one horse we have it set up that we can ad some wood planks to divide the shelter and we have a steel gate that closes off the front .. Its been working out good for us ...the shelter has long windows on each side ...during the winter months we put plexy glass on the windows to stop a draft ...also hubby has ran some electricity out to the shelter so during the dark months when the sun goes down at 5 pm we have a light to turn on to groom them etc.We have two tie downs on each side of the shelter set up to groom them and work around them and teach them manners ... We added a section to the back for a tack/feed room .oh I forgot to mention the mud paddock/shelter are cleaned daily or every other day ....we use a small dump wagon that attach's to either the lawn tractor or the ATV so we dont have to go to the manure pile everyday ...and their main waterer is in the mud paddock .