Adjusting to night turnout: drama queen edition

[pompeiii]

I’m going to preface this by saying it’s only been a few days and I’m not actually planning to change anything at the moment. But I have a VERY dramatic thoroughbred gelding who thinks the world is ending. I think he’ll likely adjust.

Anyway, I’m down to 2 horses: my thoroughbred gelding and his mini. I decided this year I’d try overnight turnout so that they could be in their stalls under their fans during the day and out at night when it’s less buggy. Drama queen hates bugs. He also likes dinner to be served on time. And routine. And he hates camping. Camping are the nights when I keep them out overnight for whatever reason.

This week I swapped them over. He stood by the gate staring at my window/house from 6pm until 9pm the first night or whenever he heard us outside but I did catch him sharing a hay net with his mini so he clearly didn’t spend all his time that way. The other nights have been similar.

In the morning he is very dramatic about heading to his stall (the drama. He could win an Oscar) and dives in to his breakfast like he’s been starved (he hasn’t. But again, he goes out in the evening with no issue until he realizes he’s staying out. I’m not sure he loves being in during the day.

Time wise? It’s about 12-14 out and 10-12 in. Similar to before just swapped day for night. Again, he needs time to adjust. But he will, right? I figure I should give it a month before I call this experiment a failure.

• they are currently on a dry lot with hay which doesn’t help, but my mini had a founder scare and I needed to cut off grass access for the time being. I’m hoping to reintroduce at least a couple of hours/day either in the morning or night in the next couple of weeks.

[2DogsFarm]

Maybe you’re misinterpreting his Drama?

My 3 - horse, pony & mini - are out 24/7.
They have free access to stalls, but rarely take advantage.
Evidenced by not a single pile in any stall each morning.
Even Friday, when we had rain all day long, there was a single pile in 2 stalls, mini stayed out in the rain
But, I digress…
I feed on a variable schedule, dependent on when I get up, where I’ve been all day, etc.
But Every.Single.Morning. & Every.Single.Evening. , when I go toward the barn, 9 times out of 10, all 3 are in the pasture nearest the house.
They see me & head for the barn.

BUT: horse - the Herd Boss - always turns, walks toward me, then very pointedly turns & walks away.
Pony is his minion & follows after obediently.
I get the message.
He’s in charge.
I need to hustle.
Mini will nicker for me & accompany me to the door. He’s his own man
They separate into their stalls & wait for me to dispense hay.
Been on pasture all day or overnight, but starving!
Horse will sometimes bang on the stall door to hurry my delivery
Performance repeated for evening feed & again for my 10P nightcheck.

Your guy should get with the new program once he figures out food will still appear & being out at night did not change that.

ETA:
My mini considered laminitis about 4yrs ago.
He’s now muzzled for most of the day & evening (comes off at 10P, back on at 7A) & on Thyro-L.

[S1969]

Does he have any shelter in the pasture? It could be that the drama has more to do with feeling vulnerable in the dark than anything else. My horses love night turnout, but they can always return to their stalls as they are set up with Dutch Doors. So in the event they had bad weather or certain bugs were biting, or they felt vulnerable to perceived predator, they have a safe place to go. Even a run-in could serve as a safe place.

(Are there actual predators where you live that might truly be a threat?)

[pompeiii]

@2DogsFarm

ETA:
My mini considered laminitis about 4yrs ago.
He’s now muzzled for most of the day & evening (comes off at 10P, back on at 7A) & on Thyro-L.

Yeah he’s muzzled all year when turned out even on hay. He foundered a couple of years ago so I get extra cautious when he gets ouchy. He’s not fat so he’s a tricky one to manage.

@S1969

(Are there actual predators where you live that might truly be a threat?)

My neighbors? But otherwise, not really. Honestly they can be loud but he hears them from his stall too so no real change.

He has a shed and spends most of his time pacing back and forth between the shed and the gate (there are new tack marks worn into the ground). He likes (loves) routine so changes suck. That’s the biggest thing. Again he’ll get over it, but that’s mostly how I can tell he’s not settled.

They both get soaked cubes (small amount) when the go out which they love. I feed within a couple of hours of one time so some days it might be 5pm, some days 7pm. Same in the morning. But within that window he is always waiting.

Anyway, it sounds like I just need to give it time.

[MissCrawford]

I think we have the same TB I just switched mine to summer 24/7 turnout and it was followed by 48 hours of high drama. Standing at the gate calling, refusing to eat at the new time, disgust at the horror of having to wear a fly mask during the day, anger over her other herd mates refusing to follow her to their stalls at her 3 pm nap time, lol. I would give it another few days to settle in. TBs sure do love their preferred routines.

[2DogsFarm]

My Prima Donna is a TWH gelding.
But he’s the King of 'Tude

Friend who gave him to me said he always used to Go Walkabout when she fed their herd.
Horses were fed from mangers in a 3-sided shed, all were haltered & tied while they ate grain & then untied to eat hay from a feeder & off the ground outside the shed.
This guy was always the last to be haltered & tied. Had to do his pre-feed stroll

[2DogsFarm]

@pompeiii

He’s not fat so he’s a tricky one to manage.

Same.
Before he got ouchy the 1st time he was a chonk.
My shoer asked “When are you planning on butchering him?”
Now he has a waistline, but, like you, taking no chances

[pompeiii]

Yep! My farrier even told me once if I kept him even thinner, someone would report me. That said, he’s a good weight for a mini, but you wouldn’t want him lighter. And he’s not really cresty. But he just gets sore especially when the ground is hard. Combine that with too much grass (little bugger broke my interior fence —since fixed—but unlike my rule following TB who will not step foot onto the grass unless the gate is open, my mini doesn’t care about rules) and it’s a recipe for disaster.

Anyway, they boys are happy enough in during the day. I interrupted a mid afternoon nap to ride (TB was out cold covered in shavings) and was difficult to keep moving. Lol. He has no issue going back to his stall after either.

[OverandOnward]

I have nothing to add re horse adjusting to CHANGE except this: .

Just that it never ceases to amaze me the degree that this basic plains grazing animal is capable of grasping the behavior, even expressions, that have an affect on us humans. In an attempt to manipulate their food or something else about their situation.

Such as staring at the house. Staring at us, period. Giving a little nudge with the edge of his nose. In the case of one of my horses, ripping hay out of the hay net and slinging it around to show his disapproval of hay nets. Etc.

Things they rarely, if ever, do with each other. Behavior confined solely to - us.

At one board barn in Colorado, if the horses were turned out and the winter morning was exceptionally cold, overcast, gray, windy, icy and miserable, the horses would gather at the gate and all 4 stare at the BO’s house. Huddled together, staring, until the BO felt sorry for them enough to bring them back inside. It was the only time they did that. There was nothing really to see that way … except the BO coming to rescue them from the weather.

[2DogsFarm]

@pompeiii

my mini doesn’t care about rules

They make their own Rules!
#1 - 34" = 18H

@OverandOnward My TB would snatch the flake of hay I was - in his opinion - late delivering.
He plainly said: “Good Help, so hard to find.”

[pompeiii]

@2DogsFarm

They make their own Rules!
#1 - 34" = 18H

Rules are simply guidelines left open for interpretation. Minis would make great politicians.

This morning was the first morning I didn’t find the boys waiting by the gate when I got up. Instead, they were in the shed stuffing their faces. Well, my TB was stuffing his face, the mini was behind him, being kept out of the hay bag (he was right next to the hay feeder so he had plenty of other hay but they both prefer to first eat from this hay bag). They didn’t make their way to the gate until I walked outside carrying their breakfast out to the barn (my feed room is my walkout basement). Both were still STARVING, but a lot less drama than the other days. It was also gorgeous weather last night which helped.

[Libby2563]

It sounds like he’s starting to adjust, but could you feed breakfast outside before bringing them in, to make the barn less immediately rewarding? If your morning routine allows you might even let him be bored in the stall for 15-30 min before you give him hay. Or bring him in, ride him, then feed breakfast (that’s what I do in the summer when it’s very unpleasant here in the afternoons).

[trubandloki]

@2DogsFarm

Evidenced by not a single pile in any stall each morning.

Can you have your herd send my herd a note and explain the fine art of not using your stall as a litter box, please and thank you.

Mine do not hang out in their stalls, But they most certainly think they are the right place to manure and pee.

[pompeiii]

@Libby2563

It sounds like he’s starting to adjust, but could you feed breakfast outside before bringing them in, to make the barn less immediately rewarding? If your morning routine allows you might even let him be bored in the stall for 15-30 min before you give him hay. Or bring him in, ride him, then feed breakfast (that’s what I do in the summer when it’s very unpleasant here in the afternoons).

He is the world’s slowest eater. And generally eats his grain over the course of 4 hours and his mash is finished before he goes out. He eats some of each, eats/dunks hay, repeat. After the feed is gone, he alternates between his mash, hay, window, and a nap. Lol. Anyway, even giving him a little feed outside really isn’t an option without giving my mini something and I’d prefer not to (my mini will find a way into his bucket or they’d swap. Both are terrible options. Sugar for the mini and soy for the tb—he has a horrible intolerance).

Riding isn’t an option at 6am (logistics and time), but if necessary I can always try some grooming before tossing him in his stall. We’ll see. I have more time on weekends when I’m not trying to get the horses settled, dogs/cats fed, and get ready for work.

[2DogsFarm]

While they have decided that manure mostly belongs outside, peeing is an indoor sport.
Add in that they like to Assume the Position along one wall, facing the open door.
So nothing can sneak up on them?
Meaning I do need to dig out wet spots & admit to not keeping up with that as I should
Resulting in a buildup of soaked bedding that needs digging up.
No smell, but a lot more work.
For me.