Horse Barn Questions

[miss_thenorth]

My horses live in a barn, but we rigged it so that it can be used as a run-in year round. We can close it off if needed, and section it off while we are grooming one horse, to keep the other one out. It is a perfect setup as far as that is concerned.

Even in eastern Canada, horses can be left out 24/7/365 if they have a place to get out of the elements. but it is wise to have another area (as in enclosed stall) in case of illness, and for vet work etc.

 

[patandchickens]

I read a lot of people keep the horses out 24/7 365, however we live in eastern Canada and it gets crazy cold here and the winters are brutal.

Uh, I live an hour north of Toronto, in a very open windy location with lows down to -35 C. My two TBs (one elderly) and elderly LipizzanerX gelding live outside 24/7/365 -- except there are usually two or three days a year when I bring them in for a few hours or overnight because it is too nasty, usually it's not from cold so much as a warm wet snow with hard winds from the south, which their shed does not protect them very well from. With turnout sheet or blanket, even the elderly TB does FINE. He is actually much much healthier and sounder than before we moved here, when I had to board him and thus he was only out during the daytime.

(edited to clarify -- they do have a big shed, of course, which gives them excellent shelter from N and W winds, and they can tuck inside the little bit of E wall when there is an E wind)

I guess we will just have to see how he gets along. Maybe come winter we will just leave his barn open so he can come and go.

Do. See what happens Get a GOOD QUALITY waterproof turnout sheet (not blanket, or at least *in addition* to a turnout blanket) and make an ample and deep shed with good footing around it, and you will be surprised

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[freemotion]

Thanks for the tarp tip, Pat, I will be using one this fall. I am guessing that the tarp goes directly on the ground, pallets on top of it?

MissDanni, if you blanket or sheet turned-out horses, be sure to check for dampness along their SPINES daily by running your hand up inside the blanket. A common newbie mistake is to check the chest or armpit for dampness and not the back. If they get a bit warm during the day and sweat a bit, it can steam up under the blanket and make them wet UP HIGH and when you check on them, they can be completely dry lower down.

Also, no blanket is completely waterproof, really. Be sure to have spares for the rainy season if you get days and days of rain. I prefer to leave turned-out horses naked, and don't over-groom. A bit of "dirt" is very water-proofing, and you will see a wet winter coat that is quite dry near the skin.

I kept horses (Arabians, no less) in a turn-out situation in Northern Maine for years, with winter temps often at -40F and wind chills even lower. It was a rare occasion that anyone had to be brought into the indoor arena overnight....only when the wind was coming from an unusual direction, like south or east, and making it into their sheds. On extremely rare occasions, a horse had to be brought in to be scraped and dried with a couple of layers of good polar fleece and a cotton sheet to wick water and keep them warm while they dried. Then right back outside after a quick fluffing. By rare I mean once every year or two.

 

[patandchickens]

I am guessing that the tarp goes directly on the ground, pallets on top of it?

Yup!

Also, no blanket is completely waterproof, really. Be sure to have spares for the rainy season if you get days and days of rain. I prefer to leave turned-out horses naked, and don't over-groom.

I find that the hardest weather for the horses is a) strong wind they can't get out of, accompanied by cold rain or wet snow; b) soaking rain when they have started shedding out their winter coat (e.g. nowadays); and c) rain that lasts long enough to wet the haircoat to the roots.

Mine wear their turnouts more for wind than for precipitation. The fields are pretty open and windy, and with low-body-fat older TBs they really need some sort of windbreak in order to keep their weight on them. Without turnout sheets they'd pretty much spend all their time inside the shed; with them, they spend most of their time roaming around the paddocks, grazing or just foolin' around and sightseeing.

I find that having a turnout sheet plus (for the TBs) turnout blanket works very well for me, because the blanket is useful when it is a windy snowy -30 C out there and can also double as a spare if the turnout sheet gets soaked thru after days of rain as Free says. THey don't mind half a day or a day of wearing the warmer garment while the other one dries out.

BTW I am a big, big fan of Schneiders' turnout sheets/blankets (www.sstack.com), although they can be expensive to obtain in Canada unless you can have them mailed to someone in the States and pick 'em up when you visit down there which is what I do

JME, good luck, have fun,

Pat