If this sort of thing is likely to be a problem for the OP keeping their horses at home then bringing the horses into a stall at night is unlikely to affect the OP’s quality of horse care.
It would be really easy to list a bunch of reasons why keeping horses in stalls part of the day creates more problems than keeping them out, but the reality is that most horses in each type of care do just fine without any major issues due to their turnout/stall time.
I know of plenty of situations where stall-boarded horses - turned out for some part of or all day, stalled at night - get blanket rubs and unattended wounds and don’t drink enough because of dirty buckets and lose weight because they get 5lb of hay at their 6pm 'bedtime".
It’s about the quality of care, not whether they’re in a field or stall.
Many blanketed horses get rain rot. It’s almost always a nutritional value, not blankets though blankets may exacerbate the situation.
Wow, so many helpful responses! Thanks guys!!
I spoke with my farm helper guy this morning about building me some winter paddocks right against the barn since we have an abundance of leftover fencing. The horse’s current pasture is in the “back 40” and I turn them out ponying them off the 4-wheeler. Among other things, hauling hay and water will be a pain this winter unless I move them closer to the barn. So, I’m thinking if he can make winter paddocks with some type of lean-to for them (assuming he can do it on a tight budget!), they could stay out pretty much 24/7, and if they needed to come in for bad weather at least they’d be right by the barn.
My barn is a 24X60 shed row, with four 12X12 stalls, a 12X12 tack/feed room, and a 12X60 front overhang. The back of the barn faces north, and stalls have six foot gates on the inside, four foot gates on the back (for confining them in good weather) and solid sliding doors on the back as well, for bad weather/wind block. The barn is in a smaller, L-shaped paddock type area (we call it the barnyard, it’s a couple of acres in size and next to the house), that also opens to both pastures. With this set up and some cross-fencing, I can allow them access to the entire property (about 12 acres), or have them confined to one of the two pastures, a pasture and the barn, just the barnyard and barn, or a stall in the barn. Both pastures and the barnyard have a water trough, and each stall has a water bucket. They are all kept filled and fresh.
I leave the stalls with both gates secured open in good weather, but in bad I close them up. They still have room to gather under the overhang, if they choose to use it, and with the sliding back doors closed the front of the barn stays dry and windless. Both pastures also have plenty of trees, and they often just stay out under them instead. They are confined to their stalls for each feeding regardless, but are turned out once they are done. If the weather is really nasty, I’ll just leave them in their stalls with some hay until they can go out again.
The routine is always the same though, regardless of the season. They are out during the day, but confined to at least the barnyard at night - and that’s for safety’s sake. My property backs up to a curvy road, and there is a risk that a careless driver, going too fast around one of those curves, could lose control and plow right through my fence. It could happen in daylight as well, but I feel like the risk is even higher at night, since the road is completely dark. We also tend to have our worse storms at night and I have woken up to a tree down on the perimeter fence more than once. So, they come up at night, every night. Then in the morning, while they have their breakfast, the dogs and I check the fences. If all is well, which it normally is, then the gates are opened and the girls are free to roam about the place all day. If not, I can restrict them from getting to the damaged area, but still give them turn out, until the fence is fixed.
It’s a flexible system that works well for me, and I like letting the horses have as much turn out as possible. There are times when they might be comfortable staying up during the day (all the stalls have fans) and being out at night, but I doubt I would sleep! It’s just safer to have them closer to the house and out of (possible) harm’s way. When it’s hot, with the stalls open and the fans running, they often spend time dozing underneath them, coming and going as they please.
If the weather is nice, mine are out. They do not have a set schedule for anything actually. I like to sleep in on my days off from my FT job, and not worry about them causing a fuss that I’m late. If they are in overnight, I get to the barn earlier, but now that I do not have to worry about stinkin’ gnats, on the weekends I might not bring them in until 10, and sometimes even then I have to go retrieve them rather than them come to the gate. Heck sometimes they just stay out and I check them for wounds and make sure their water is good. If they’re happy out, I’m happy to not need to clean stalls (and the horses really do move better being out)! It’s a nice break after our horrible summers… weather is nice, but the horses are getting attacked by gnats by 6 AM, so I’m always up by 5.
Oi. Don’t let people guilt trip you about stalls either way, OP. If you want yours in or out for whatever reason, go for it.
For me, one of the best things about having the horses at home is that I can be more flexible about scheduling than a big boarding facility can be. In fact, I try to build a certain amount of variation into the day on purpose, just so the horses don’t have a nervous breakdown if their routine is disturbed.
It takes a while to get them used to this if they’ve come from some place running on military style precision, but they’ll adapt quickly enough - especially once they realize that the new schedule contributes to their comfort according to the season.
Things are very unscheduled here. When I was working full time in an office, the days were much more structured. Breakfast had to be fed before work, obviously. There is no dinner. But weekends could vary 2-3 hours later than the week days. Once I worked from home most of the time, things became less structured - I fed breakfast and rode when I felt like it.
Less regimented time makes less stressed and happier horses and people.
I think that’s very true.
Many barns seem to pride themselves on running an extremely tight ship, but I don’t see the point at all. All you get then is an anxious horse that has a meltdown every time dinner is four minutes late. I’d much rather build in the variables and cut us all some slack.
:yes:
This is what we do. When nights start getting cold, or worse, cold and wet, horses go from night turnout to day. We might even do 24-hr turnout a few days here and there if weather stays mild. But once fall/winter are settled, the horses go out first thing, and then come in about dark. They always settle into the new routines in a day or three.
We do have a big run-in shed, so if I misjudge what the weather is going to do, they do have shelter. But with appropriate waterproof clothing, you can happily operate without a run-in.
And I agree with @JB – our horses are deliberately NOT on a strict routine, and that makes life easier for all of us.
I love hearing this, because this is exactly what is making me guilty/anxious every day that I change their routine! So, I’m happy to hear it’s actually a positive thing for them. Without an indoor, my riding routine is so weather dependent this time of year that they are on no set work schedule. I am pretty consistent about their feeding times, but turnout varies based on weather too. So, they have some variability in their daily routine, but hopefully it’ll be the better for them 
This is what I’m thinking I want to do with mine, but like you said, when weather is mild I do like to keep them out overnight as well. I just don’t see the point of locking them in their stalls…so I think unless it’s super cold/windy/wet they’ll stay out. I do love having them in the barn at night, but it’s for selfish reasons. Nice to see them in deeply bedded stalls and full hay nets looking all cozy!
Well, I think it’s better, for sure.
Schedules are made for the convenience of humans, who pay for lessons of exactly 60 minutes each, and need to go to work and make money to buy carrots.
Horses don’t care what time it is. They’d much rather just come in when the bugs are out, or go for a gallop when the mood strikes them.
My horses hate cold rain, so I would never want mine out in it and have no way to get under shelter if they wanted it. Sounds like some kind of field shelter is worth saving up for.
Until then then you do what you have to so they are comfortable.
Exactly. If horses have access to forage, either pasture or hay or roundbales, they don’t care what time of day other stuff happens at. If they are genuinely hungry and waiting for hay in a stall or in a winter field, they will anticipate the feed, of course.
Good point.
Flexibility won’t work for a horse on restricted rations, because access to food is key to a relaxed system. A fat laminitic pony, for example, would be much better off with small feedings of not-so-wonderful hay at regular intervals than with the free choice hay a healthy horse can handle. The same with scheduling meds - you really can’t be super casual about those either.
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