Horses only in for meals?

[SugarCubes]

I just had two new dry lots installed behind my barn for winter turnout and am planning on pulling my horses off of the pasture today to let it rest until spring. With the dry lots being so conveniently accessible to the barn, I’m contemplating keeping the horses out and only bringing them in for their meals and/or inclement weather.

I worry how my senior gelding will adjust, however. He is always pacing the fence line ready to come in for dinner (which I wonder is more about food and less about wanting to be in his stall?) and he definitely likes to lay down and nap in his stall.

The dry lots are made of screenings, so not a good place for them to lay down and nap. I’m thinking if I bring them in for breakfast I could leave them in a couple of hours so they could lay down if they wanted to?

Does this seem like a good plan? My other thought was to still bring them in at night, but not until 10pm or so, and that way they could sleep in their stalls? My barn is around 20 degrees warmer when the main door is shut, so I’m not sure if they’d be happier in or out when we have temps under 20 degrees or so…too many decisions!

[Posting_Trot]

Horses need to be able to lie down for at least an hour every day (every 24 hours) to be able to get some sound sleep. If the turnout isn’t going to be comfortable for them to lie down, then it probably makes sense to schedule some time every day in their stalls to give them an opportunity to lie down and really sleep.

The timing of that may not matter so much as it just being on a set schedule. So, if it’s more convenient for you to bring them in during the day for a few hours, you can do that every day; if it’s more convenient to bring them in at 10 pm and leave them in until the next morning, just do that every day. The consistency of the schedule is probably most important.

Sleep requirements of horses

[katyb]

Can you just leave the stalls open, so they can choose? How big is the dry lot? You could add a sand pile or something for naps.

[Weezer]

I agree with this suggestion. The only problem being if two horses get into one stall. Do they get along well enough to sort that out calmly? My barn is open concept so the horses flow through two of the three stalls. The three are often napping in the shavings early in the morning and again in the afternoon, regardless of the weather. Maybe you could put shavings in the aisle and let them have that area? I think letting them come and go as they please is preferable to closing them in for designated sleeping time. It’s my understanding that horses don’t tend to sleep much at night.

[SugarCubes]

Perfect, thank you! As far as keeping things consistent, it would be easier to bring them in for breakfast and keep them in a few hours each morning, ride, then turn them out again.

@katyb One stall will open to it’s own dry lot, but I won’t have the door installed for a few months still. Given my layout, the other dry lot won’t be able to open to a stall, unfortunately.

[2DogsFarm]

I am on my 3rd pair - well, since 2016, +1mini, so now 3 - geldings that have free access to stalls from the drylot & pastures 24/7/365. This over the last 16yrs.
They bring themselves in for grain feeds 2X daily (when they see me heading to the barn) & hay in stalls 3-4X.
I never had a problem with 2 in a single 12X12 stall.
Including 16h TB sharing with 17+h TWH.
Even now, I find all 3 (16h Walker, 13h pony & 34" mini - sharing one.
Mini routinely shares hay in the same stall as the Walker. Even though he has the same hay in his own stall
Just Lucky? Maybe.

As for uncomfy napping/sleeping, my drylot is 9" roadbase gravel over geotex. Rocks from an inch or so to fist-sized. Bedding dragged out & combined with dirt, has created a shallow base over the gravel for an area about 20’ behind the stalls
I find imprints in the drylot there showing where they clearly spent some downtime. I see them napping there on sunny days.
In all sorts of weather. Even overnight, as a wet hip proves.
Right outside stalls bedded with nice, fluffy, dry pellets.
Go figure.
February:
(This side of drylot does not open to stalls)

[Libby2563]

Four years ago I added 8 tons of masonry sand to my stonedust dry lot so the horses could nap and roll out there. (My preference is to not stall them at all except during the day in the summer. I feed grain outside, with nose bags.) They loved it! However, after a couple years the sand had mixed into the stonedust in that area (which was very well-compacted when the sand arrived), which makes the footing softer and slower to drain. Someone rolls in it occasionally but I haven’t seen them napping there in over a year, I think because it’s no longer as soft and cushy. Just something to consider if you are thinking about adding sand.

[candyappy]

@SugarCubes

@katyb One stall will open to it’s own dry lot, but I won’t have the door installed for a few months still. Given my layout, the other dry lot won’t be able to open to a stall, unfortunately.

So they are out and exposed to the elements with no way to get shelter ? Personally I would rather they have access to the pasture if they can get to shelter that way, until you can get them access to their stalls from the dry lot. A lean- to off the barn to add shelter to the dry lot isn’t a bad option.

[SugarCubes]

I totally hear that! We recently moved to this property and run in shelters are on the list, but I’ve spent a small fortune setting up the barn, arena, fencing, etc so for now they make due with the windbreak and trees that they have in their pasture and dry lots I’m home most of the time, so luckily I can always bring them in if the weather gets bad.

[eightpondfarm]

I do not understand why not allow them in and out privileges at-will. Is it so you don’t have so much cleaning the stalls to do? There must be a reason… Do you physically have to halter them and move them into the barn by hand, or are they able to just walk in on their own from their drylots? Even if they (drylot and barn) are not attached, it couldn’t be that hard to connect them with some panels or something?

[TheJenners]

Because they aren’t both attached to stalls, and the one that is doesn’t have a door yet. She explained this upthread.

[Texarkana]

A few thoughts:

My ancient TBs (approaching 35 and 27), are only in at meals. They prefer to be out.

I agree with the suggestions that you could add a sand or shavings pile to make a nice area for recumbent naps.

Re: free access to stalls. My only shelter is stalls with Dutch doors. For years I left the doors open and let my horses have free access to their stalls with no issue… until I had an issue.

Two horses were injured so badly they almost needed to be euthanized. This was in a herd that had lived with each other in this same setup for many years. I always knew there was a risk allowing free access to stalls, but I kind of figured the risk was very low in a stable, peaceful herd of friends.

[Equisis]

Mine like to be out, and I like them out. In the summer they are in from about 9am-4pm (Central FL, due to heat and afternoon storms) but all other times they come in for breakfast, spend a couple hours in for nap time, then go back out. They learn the routine and can lay down to sleep if they want. I generally only feed a second meal to the horses that work, so while I might throw evening hay in the winter, they understand that they’re not coming in again until the next morning. Everyone is pretty chilled out on this routine.

I would suggest making a sand pile in the dry lots anyway- it is my opinion that you should give horses the opportunity to lay down somewhere comfortable when they like, otherwise you set yourself up to deal with sleep deprivation or hock sores. I would also recommend, at minimum, a good wind break and preferably a shelter in the dry lots if they are out overnight in winter. Precipitation is easier to plan around and bring them in if necessary, but wind is pretty much a constant in many areas. They will likely do fine outside if they are protected from the wind with hay available.

[2DogsFarm]

@Texarkana Sorry to hear of your bad experience with free access to stalls.
May I ask how many were in your herd when that happened?

Until I added the mini 4yrs ago, my “herd” was 2 geldings.
Originally TB & big (17h) TWH.
These 2 routinely shared a single 12X12 stall. Separated themselves to be fed grain.
2nd pair was 13h pony & 17+h WB.
They also hung out in 1 stall & separated for grain.
Current 3 - 13h pony, 16h TWH & 34" mini also share a stall on occasion & go to their own for grain.

[trubandloki]

My herd is two. I could never leave them with access to stalls. I wish I could.
If you can, or can not, depends totally on the individual horses.
If you even slightly think being cornered is going to lead to a disagreement then leaving stalls is a no go.

[2DogsFarm]

@trubandloki Agreed 100%
I monitored those first 2 & those that followed.
If there had been even a hint of aggression I would have kept them differently.

[Texarkana]

@2DogsFarm

May I ask how many were in your herd when that happened?

5 stalls, 3 horses, 2 small donkeys. This herd had been routinely accessing the stalls freely without problems. Then in a span of one week the alpha mare trapped and attacked both aged horses, whom she had previously been living with peacefully for YEARS. One of the horses severely injured was the alpha horse’s best friend. She fractured ribs, perforated lungs, caused internal bleeding and hematomas-- it was bad. Really bad.

I am sure there is a “reason” it happened. Yet to this day, I still have no idea what that reason may have been. I have kept horses with free access to stalls for upwards of 30 years with only minor incidents prior to this. This came out of the blue and completely shocked me, especially since it was such a well established herd.

Allowing horses free access to stalls works out fine most of the time. Many people will never have an incident. Yet I feel compelled to share my story because the accidents took me by surprise. The living situation was working completely fine… until one day it wasn’t.

[Incantation]

I don’t know what your set up is like, but I build my stalls to be somewhat convertible, so I can remove the center dividers. I took out some stall dividers, so each paddock had one run-in which was the size of two stalls, with two exits. There were two horses per paddock when I did it. Now I have only two and one large paddock, so they have two double stalls.

[Texarkana]

@Incantation

I don’t know what your set up is like, but I build my stalls to be somewhat convertible, so I can remove the center dividers. I took out some stall dividers, so each paddock had one run-in which was the size of two stalls, with two exits. There were two horses per paddock when I did it. Now I have only two and one large paddock, so they have two double stalls.

I am a renter at my current farm. But this is definitely something I would like to do when we finally purchase and build our own barn. I have worked at a lot of breeding farms with really unique methods to easily add and remove dividers between stalls. One of my favorite designs was a well-built swing wall. You could open up two stalls to make a double stall as easily as it is to open a door. The only challenge is the craftsmanship part. A cheaply built swing wall can cause more headaches than benefits.

[B_and_B]

Can you describe the swing wall, what works or doesn’t? I’m trying to figure out how to convert a run in that is currently split in half with a permanent partition to one with easily movable partitions…but also not have something that is ‘the perfect rubbing post’ when it is swung open. and I’m stumped…Half seriously contemplating roll up walls!