How many hours of turnout do your horses get a day?

Mine have free choice of their stalls or pasture 24/7 (except when being fed or on stall rest).I have about 15 acres of pasture, cross-fenced for rotation. Their activity has ranged from actively competing (3’6"jumpers, Training level eventing, second level dressage) to retired, green, or just growing up.

They do come into the stalls (with fans) when it is hot, and to get away from insects. They rarely come in for rain.

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Workload was 5 days a week. Usually 3 lessons for me, one pro ride and one hack.

Turnout 7 days a week. In good weather the indoor horses at our barn are out 6-8 hours/ day. When it’s really hot or really cold, they may come in an hour or two early. All are competitive dressage horses ranging from 3 year olds to Grand Prix.

Mine are turned out in a dry lot with a round bale for around 10 hours a day. One retired pony and one in full 5/6 a week work.
The rest of the time they are in walk in walk out stables… Probably 12M X 10M.

I have 2 jumpers; a 21yr WB mare and a 27yr WB gelding. Both are in work 5-6 days a week. Both are on 24/7 pasture turnout.

When they are at one of my farms, they are out as close to 24/7/365 as possible (Florida in winter, Vermont in the summer). This includes my AA circuit hunter, equitation horse, and my jumpers. When they are at the boarding barn in Mass or with my trainer in Florida, they’re typically out 6-8 hours a day.

Out 24/7.

My retired horse has a stall that opens to a run area which then opens to his pasture. Most of the time he opts to be outside but always has the option to come inside if he wants. If the weather is really bad in the winter, they’ll close the stall door so he stays inside, but that doesn’t happen often.

My young(er) horse is out 24/7 for most of the year. This year it was so relentlessly hot and dry all summer that he was miserable being out, even with two sheds and his fly sheet. I switched him to staying in his stall during the day and doing nighttime turnout. He would come in between 8-9am and I’d put him out between 6-7pm. I’m going to do that every summer now, he seems happier coming into his stall with his fan. We do the jumpers.

The last years we had few horses.
Maybe one younger horse in training, others were older ranch horses and some retired.
They were all turned out to pasture and came to the pens to water and for alfalfa twice a day.
We could pick who we wanted to ride, keep them up and then turn back out when thru.

Now one older Cushing’s retired horse is kept in large drylot pens.
He can’t eat green grass, he founders on it, and is happy like that.
A younger one is in training but not here right now.

Most of our horses, other than those decades ago in race horse training, have always been kept outside 24/7.
Is what works in our semi-desert area.
May not in other places with grasses that may founder horses unless grazing time is restricted.

My horse is out 24 hours a day unless the weather is horrible (heavy, prolonged rain/snow, too many bugs). She’s not doing any real work right now, as she’s been recovering from a few injuries. If she comes in at night, she’s normally turned in around 7 and is out by 9 the next morning.

Mine is boarded where I work part time and he is in dry lot part day and pasture rest of it. Two others over there are same as him, elderly horse in pasture 24/7. They all have fans in their run in sheds.

24/7 turnout unless the pasture conditions or weather doesn’t permit it. 3 year old Rez Mustang and a 19 year old AQHA/FQHA.

I bring in at night in the winter here because I live in the Mudwest… ahem. I meant Midwest. They would be outside from 7am(ish) to 5pm(ish).

I’m in Ontario Canada, we have 7 horses on the property. All of them go out at 5:30/6am and come in around 6pm, sometimes later if I don’t rider after work.

There are 6 TBs, all in regular work (4/5 days a week) as event horses or dressage. 1 Appaloosa that is my dads that gets worked here and there, he gets ridden more in the winter.

We have 10 acre pastures for grazing for each split (3 in one field, 4 in the other) and feed round bales as well and hay nets in shelters.

Our horses thrive in this routine. They love to go out but they are waiting to come in at night. They all let themselves right into their stalls every night :slight_smile:

Down to just my mare of my personal horses, though I have six boarders.

My dressage mare is out 24/7. When preparing for competition we ride six days per week, one of which is an hour walk. Right now we’re about 4-5 days per week. We were schooling 2nd/3rd, right now kind of just hacking around.

Boarding stable. I ride dressage, usually 5-6 days/week. Horse has paddock turnout either all day or all night. Night turnout in the warmer months is usually 12+ hours. Daytime turnout is more like 6-8 hours. Suburban area so large pastures are pretty rare and that may be just as well for an easy keeper Morgan!

BO with 14 personal and 14 boarders. Eighteen come in to stalls from 8am - 2pm (4pm if hot) and the rest are out 24/7. Right now the temps are beautiful here in SEPA so they are out as much as possible. Four fields with run ins and hay rings in each for winter.

During the winter on day turnout, they go out 8am - 6pm every day, regardless of weather, unless it’s icy.

We have 8 horses, mostly WBs and including a mini, some youngsters, a semi-retired mare, and some semi-competitive H/J/dressage types. They live with me. Most are ridden just 2 times a week due to my current work schedule.

I like them out as much as possible. In summer, they’re out all night (go out about 7 or 8pm when it cools down, and then back in the following morning when it starts to get hot, so between 8-noon), in winter they’re out all day (out between 7-10 and in between 5-8pm, and if it’s cold and raining during the day, they stay in). In spring/fall they may come in to eat and then go right back out.

When they’re out they have grass (in winter, we have winter rye and supplement with large bale timothy/alfalfa), and hay is fed in stalls.

I used to have a couple of horses live out full time, but have reduced the herd a bit, so now have a stall for everyone. Most of my turnout areas have access to a matted run-in with fans, so they do have shelter from the elements and the sun).

One mare is a princess and she may come in earlier than others, and obviously if one is on stall rest, I try to rotate the others so it has company. But in general, I really think my horses are happy when they’re out as much as possible. They have suitable outerwear, and we rotate the pastures to keep the grass healthy.

I keep my horses at home, 3 are mine and 2 are boarders. I have a retiree, a cushings pony in light work, and an OTTB who I’m legging up for eventing, dressage, and trail riding. I board a 2 year old and a dressage horse on layup at the moment. I’m in the northeast with out 7-8ish acres of pasture for those 5. Our horses go out during the day in winter and out during the night in summer, so their turn out time varies by weather, daylight, and bugs. They’re out for a minimum of 8 hours a day, and up to 12 hours a day.

24/7. Horses have been at home with me for 6.5 yrs. I’ll never go back to stalling horses. I didn’t even build stalls when I built this farm. Horses have access to a matted shelter with windbreak walls that is rated for 120 mph wind. We get a few winter snowstorms, occasional hurricanes. I have 10 acres, about 5-6 of which is in pasture/sacrifice paddocks, the rest I manage for native wildlife.

Horses have included retired gelding and actively competing eventer.

Trail riding- My horse lives outside 24/7. He has a shleter and 24/7 hay, auto waterer and is fed pellets 2x daily.

I have 3 in their early 20’s. All go out at night year-round on grass, from 5-6pm until 8am. Two are Cushings/IR so 24/7 turnout is just not an option. They are in during the daytime due to heat & flies.

Age 26, boarded outside with barn’s geldings for lessons since he arrived in 2001. We enjoy 5-6 days a week for light work, Century ride in 2021. He is semi-retired as alpha. Last winter BO put him in a stall overnight (treatment of a cut) and he lost his mind.

A couple of acres to move around, lots of company, a new buddy, free choice round bales, heated waterer, nice winter wardrobe. Grain and supplements after I ride.

He’s not ready to retire and kick up his feet in a Lazy Boy recliner. Outside it is.