leaving horses unattended at home

[katarine]

You cannot control the universe. You just manage what you CAN manage.

If you want a tree lined pasture - install flex-fence since boards just shatter. Damn what if a car runs off the road? Double fence. Ok. There goes the budget.

If you freak about dogs in the field cutting through…then you need a fence that keeps them out, like woven wire. OK so that’s a different fence. darn.

If you worry about them pawing and getting hung - you install offset hot wire to keep 'em off whatever fence you install. uh oh, is solar reliable enough? what if the power goes out??

Water? Hudson Valves to keep the tank fill. What if the water goes out? or the valve fails??? EEEEEEEEEEee

Do you see where I’m going with this? LOL. Just do what you can, as you aren’t really in charge of what happens next.

If you EVER intend to leave the property to go to dinner and a movie, that’s 4hrs, minimum, away from home. Plus the drive and stopping to pick up a Rx on the way. FIVE hours away! Eeek. Whatever shall I do?

Go. Breathe. Live. It’s going to be ok.

[jump4me]

Mine live out 24/7 with their stall doors open to come and go. The only time they are “monitored” at all during the day is possibly on weekends, if my parents are around. I feed in AM, and they are left alone until I come in the afternoon (if riding) or evening/night, to feed. Then left alone again overnight. So they are basically left to their own devices for about 18-22 hours a day most of the time. They do just fine, and honestly, I think I’d rather NOT see what they do the rest of the time, when I’m not there :lol:

[deltawave]

At this stage of my life/career, I have the option of living somewhere where I do NOT have a 1-2 hour commute. I realize that’s not a luxury everyone enjoys, but it was part of the thought process for me. Back when we lived in suburbia, I would not have even contemplated having my horses at home, even if we’d had the property and finances. I know that sounds odd–my commute when we lived in suburbia was 45 minutes. Hateful. Now we live out in the sticks and my commute is 10 minutes! Go figure. But we do not live in a big, happening town. That’s A-OK with me!

Having the farm was a long-term goal, carefully planned for, and simply NOT something I did the moment I was barely able. I did it when I was ready. Hence the name of the place: Finally Farm.

Definitely good fences make good neighbors. Being a good neighbor also makes good neighbors. None of our neighbors are even remotely horsey, but they have brought it to my attention very quickly the two times I’ve had loose foals racing up the driveway! :lol: (actually I was already in hot pursuit both times, but the neighbors sure came in handy herding the silly things)

Do I worry about theft? I guess I did at first–we locked up EVERYTHING. Now, not so much. It’s all insured, we’re fairly remote, we have a dog, my husband is actually home quite a lot, and if someone really wants to steal my ancient saddles, well, go right ahead. The horses? They will load themselves in any trailer for anyone. (well, maybe not the Appy) Nothing is going to prevent a determined horse thief, but I"m not sure who would want mine, really. They’re microchipped. It’s not something I lose sleep over, to be honest.

Worrying over them is normal, and a lot of it fades with time. What is more important (IMO) is having a workable and realistic plan so you can actually take care of the animals and the property and not feel enslaved. It’s a combination of actually WANTING that lifestyle (I did, still do) and making it realistically workable (which is why I was 40 before it happened for me).

Good luck!

[danceronice]

[QUOTE=katarine;5330359]
You cannot control the universe. You just manage what you CAN manage.

If you want a tree lined pasture - install flex-fence since boards just shatter. Damn what if a car runs off the road? Double fence. Ok. There goes the budget.

If you freak about dogs in the field cutting through…then you need a fence that keeps them out, like woven wire. OK so that’s a different fence. darn.

If you worry about them pawing and getting hung - you install offset hot wire to keep 'em off whatever fence you install. uh oh, is solar reliable enough? what if the power goes out??

Water? Hudson Valves to keep the tank fill. What if the water goes out? or the valve fails??? EEEEEEEEEEee

Do you see where I’m going with this? LOL. Just do what you can, as you aren’t really in charge of what happens next.

If you EVER intend to leave the property to go to dinner and a movie, that’s 4hrs, minimum, away from home. Plus the drive and stopping to pick up a Rx on the way. FIVE hours away! Eeek. Whatever shall I do?

Go. Breathe. Live. It’s going to be ok.[/QUOTE]

LOL, this. When we had my old horse at my parents, if we were gone for the day, we were gone for the day! The road gate was padlocked, he was out with water, the electric fence was on, and it was assumed he could take care of himself. Freak accidents COULD happen, sure, but they could happen if you were home. I don’t assume my BO is watching my horse every instant he’s outside–why would I be checking every ten minutes or afraid to leave the property?

[jazzrider]

[QUOTE=appaloosalady;5329720]
The one precaution I have to offer is to make sure that all of your horses aren’t in the same pasture if at all possible. All of mine are in groups of 2 or more in several different pastures/paddocks. If I have an escape it is limited and the horses that get out are much more interested in visiting their buddies than they are in wandering around and off of the property.[/QUOTE]

See, now I found the opposite. I work PT and consult here and there while hubby works FT, so it’s normal for us to be gone all day. I have four pastures, and in the first year we were here I found my horses were much more likely to get into trouble trying to get to eachother and playing on the fence line than if I just let them be all together (once the initial rabble was over). So now they’re all together (five of them) and I’ve had no issues in over six years. That is, unless the round bales are gone in the middle of winter – then they will seek out trouble and mischief to make me pay for their suffering and starvation. If all else fails, they’ll torture my primary riding horse. :no: So they’ve trained me well. I monitor the bales and have the hay guy scheduled to come out the minute the last strand is eaten. :lol:

[cyndi]

I have had my horses at home (in one place or another) for close to 30 years. I have a long commute and am gone 6 a.m. - 5 p.m. M-F and have had so just about the entire time.

Have had no mishaps while I was gone. Amazingly enough, the only life-threatening colic I ever had was on a Friday night (into Saturday a.m.) that did require surgery. And fortunately, the time hubby left TWO gates open so my horses could get out - was also in the evening.

Good fences, two sources of water, with automatic float valve and run-in shed are essential. Also giving the neighbors your work # in case they see anything awry.

Once, for about 8 months, I had a horse with a tendon injury and had to leave one stall-bound during the day - I worried about that, but she was a sensible horse, and I situated her in a stall in the barn with a view of the pasture and she was fine.

[cowgirljenn]

I am a professional worrier. I have great worrying skills. BUT this was not one thing I worried about. I guess I missed it, right?

I do work from home, but often I don’t see the horses from the time I feed in the morning until late in the day when I go out to feed again or ride. I might look out and check on them, but if I get really busy and focused I don’t. And we leave to go out to eat, go see friends, go do stuff, and we go away for weekends (farm sitter comes in to feed).

We can only control so much - and I don’t want to give up stuff I enjoy (eating out, movies, vacations) to baby sit the ponies…

[PRS]

I have lots of horse friends…None of whom board their horses. Everyone I know keeps their horses at home and most of them have jobs. It never occured to me that I should stay home and watch my horses all day :winkgrin:. My pastures and fencing are as safe as I can make them. All of my horses have been together for years and get along very well. My husband and I both work regular jobs so are gone for a significant part of every day. I am in a position where I can go home at lunch time and do most days just to check on things and allow the dogs a quick romp and a poop. I promise that most horses do just fine as long as you have made the effort to make sure any horses turned out together get along and the enclosures and run-ins are safe. Before I got horses and built my barn I listened and learned from others on what works. I also learned what not to do or things to avoid by listening to others’ stories of pasture or barn accidents and built my barn accordingly.

[Kate66]

We even go away on vacation!

Horses out 24/7 with good water supply and someone comes over once a day to feed them. In the other 23.5 hours a day it’s possible that something could happen to them. We have 4’ horsemesh fencing around the perimeter and then horseguard hot tape crossfencing inside.

I don’t worry about them at all, ever.

[millerra]

When we first moved our horses home, every time I drove home I expected to find a dead or catastrophically injured horse.

Now, after 10 yrs I don’t worry SO much (just a little) but its a fact of life of having horses at home. Work is necessary to pay for them as we are not independently wealthy.

However, living in a rural area, people driving by are even apt to be helpful. 3 different people stopped by one day to tell us our cow was out. Umh. We don’t have cows. So, we shoo’d the offending cow towards home and called the neighbor that his cow was out. Cow was rounded up and safely arrived back home.

Good fences and helpful neighbors are a very good thing! I also do keep my horse “herd” in 3 different “mini groups” so if 2 do get out (and they have :o), they tend to stay home instead of heading for the hills as one big herd…

[Trevelyan96]

I have my 2 at home and work full time with an hour commute. They get 24/7 turnout mostly, with access to their stalls. I leave around 9 AM, DH gets home between 4-5 PM most days, and DD works part time, so she’s around, but my guess is she probably doesn’t bother to check them unless she has a reason to go out to the barn like chores or to ride.

Neighbors all know how to reach us, emergency phone numbers for family, vet, and farrier are also written on a board in the tack room. My next door neighbors are like family and know how to throw feed and hay if for some reason we can’t make it home in a reasonable time for feeding.

I also keep lead ropes hanging right by the outside doors to their stalls, halters on on their stalls, and I never lock them in when we’re not home unless I have one one stall rest, which has only happened twice in 11 years.

[katarine]

Yeah umm, well, by the way…do not EVER hang a metal pipe gate incorrectly thinking you’ll remember later that you need to fix it.

We left for St Lucia on a Friday AM.

Friday PM my horsesitter got to my place to find a gate down and horses GONE GONE GONE. And it was dark dark dark. Seems Mr Kat had slapped a gate up in a hurry, leaving both ‘pins’ pointing up, so he could bush hog, instead of turning the top pin to face down, thus securing the gate from simply being lifted off the pins. Years later he met me and my horses so that gate had more than a decorative purpose. Said gate held said horses from October 1999 to February whateverdayweleft, 2000. Asshats. I mean horses.

They were finally found SUNDAY, a few miles from home, having blazed quite the trail in their wake. Asshats. I mean horses.

Yeah, um, hang your gates correctly.

And yes, I still go on vacation LOL But now I may have scared five years off the OP’s life

[morganpony86]

[QUOTE=Kate66;5330817]

I don’t worry about them at all, ever.[/QUOTE]

Oh. How I wish I was you. I wish I was you SO BAD. I worry about them all. the. time. And I still board them!

[QUOTE=katarine;5330860]
But now I may have scared five years off the OP’s life ;)[/QUOTE]

No. Just scared me from ever having gates on my property. Because hanging a gate upside-down is definitely something I would do.

These posts are great- keep 'em coming! It’s actually making me feel a lot better about bringing them home in the future. I do also have the potential opportunity to move all 3 “home” while I’m finishing my schooling for the next year or two (rent-free on my dad’s weekend hobby farm), but what was holding me back was leaving them unattended. That, and the 2 hour commute both ways to work every day. :eek:

[Janet]

@morganpony86;5329248

Do you guys then leave them inside (stalls) or out (paddocks/pastures)?

Yes, I have been leaving them at home while I commute to work for at least 20 years.

I think I have had more “problems” that happened at night while I was in bed than happened while I was at work.

Usually they have free access in and out. But sometimes I have one that is shut in the stall for one reason or another.

[Pennywell_Bay]

Yes, I have been leaving them at home while I commute to work for at least 20 years.

I think I have had more “problems” that happened at night while I was in bed than happened while I was at work.

Usually they have free access in and out. But sometimes I have one that is shut in the stall for one reason or another.

^^^^^^^^^^ YEs,

Mine are out alone while I work. 7-4. They have a round bale, good fences, water and gates at the driveway. Only issue I had was them loose on my lawn but not anywhere else.

[Lieslot]

@jump4me

They do just fine, and honestly, I think I’d rather NOT see what they do the rest of the time, when I’m not there

Indeed, you’d rather not see it. I have to re-train myself to stop looking out of my kitchen window.
Mine play ROUGH, they rear up to each other, they buck, kick, bite, gallop, spin. Last weekend again they were going a little crazy and one lost his footing and fell as I was watching them. Luckily it was the sturdy one.
Nevertheless I freaked out, ran out to stop them and check him out. He seemed fine, then again if they strain a hip, the SI, you may not know instantly.
I think horses bang themselves or fall more often then we realize because we don’t watch them 24/7. And watching them doesn’t mean you’ll necessary prevent them from injuring themselves.
I worry less about them in summer, coz they are out at night, when I sleep.
In the end horses shall be horses, unless you decide to keep them like a petdog in a stall or tiny pen.
So my advice, get good fencing, provide adequate water (and hay) and for the rest, do not worry, it’s normal for them to be alone daytime or nighttime, as long as they are checked over once a day, even better twice a day.
Also during daytime turnout, better to UNDERBLANKET then overblanket, when you are not going to be there, ensure they are blanketed in such a way if the forecast is off a few degrees or they forecasted clouds, but the sun did come out, make sure they won’t be sweating, coz you won’t be there to change blankets.
Often I need to do a blanket change, coz temps in the am vs pm fluctuated too much and they sweat. When I know I will not be there all day, I underblanket to be safe. Rather a slightly chilly horse that seeks shelter, than a sweaty horse.

The only time it was beneficial to watch them constantly was a week ago, when one of mine started to paw and occasionally look at his belly. I noticed it from the very first paw and realized ‘damn’ colic. Brought them in, called the vet and yes early very mild impaction. But I’m sure had I caught it a few hours later with prompt vet attention he would have been fine too.

Other than that, you seriously rather not be watching them, especially if they are the active playful type.

[rugbygirl]

I think I have had more “problems” that happened at night while I was in bed than happened while I was at work.

YES.

I’ve also had the horses “get out”…while I was there, holding the halter of the boss mare, and the other two decided to make a break for it. :mad: That was the first time most of our neighbors even knew there were horses in the neighborhood! They went about two houses down, each direction, with me in hot pursuit until a friendly neighbor (who grew up on a Belgian breeding farm) pulled on some gloves and made friends with Spooky, who sedately stood while he picked up her lead rope and gave her a pat. #$@#$^#^$ mare. :lol: I took her back and the others followed dejectedly.

The drama definitely seems to happen while we’re around, not while we’re at work. On weekends I tend to spend a lot of time with the horses, or watching them…they are lazy buggers all day long. Mostly eat a leisurely breakfast, find a sunny patch and nap. When they see the car come up the drive, they race it all the way in, and the filly stands in her feed trough until it is filled.

I’ve definitely had worried moments of horsekeeping at home, but if the basics are there, it’s pretty simple to deal with. Very rewarding to have morning coffee sitting on the porch watching the horses contentedly munch on hay.

[Belg]

I can either trailer 30 horses to the coast guard every day, send all 30 of them off to other farms with my wife when she gives lessons, or we can make sure the electric fences will deter and the hard fences & farm gates prevent

[jazzrider]

[QUOTE=katarine;5330860]
Yeah umm, well, by the way…do not EVER hang a metal pipe gate incorrectly thinking you’ll remember later that you need to fix it…Mr Kat had slapped a gate up in a hurry, leaving both ‘pins’ pointing up, so he could bush hog, instead of turning the top pin to face down, thus securing the gate from simply being lifted off the pins. [/QUOTE]

Ok Kat, you’ve just made me nervous. We’ve done this with both sets of driveway gates so that if we get bigs snows, we can just lift them off rather than having to shovel to open them, then plow. We have gates all over the place, connecting four pastures and assorted paddocks. Now I’ll be out there tonight making sure that only interier gates are done that way – so if our boys suddenly got the urge to lift a gate (they’ve never shown any interest) they’ll still be contained.

Not that they’d go very far. Neighbor has 12 unfenced acres of beautiful grass.

[WildBlue]

Mine normally live out, with shelter, lots of pasture and free choice hay (round bales in feeders inside the shelter). They also have a big water tank and a stream for backup water. They’re only stalled for graining or injury layup.

I’m gone 13-14 hours most weekdays (longer if I actually stay in town for drinks or dinner after work) and travel a lot for work.

A few things to consider:

-If you get hit by a bus and it takes a day or two or three for someone to come check on the horses (dogs, cats, etc), do they have enough water (and, hopefully, food and shelter) to survive?

-If something ‘bad’ happens while you’re gone (power goes out, major snow storm, fire, etc) and someone else is there checking on your horses, have you done what you can to make it easy for that person to give the horses food and water? Ditto emergency vet (good lights and vehicle access, at minimum).

-Did you make it as hard as possble for the horses to leave your property (such as double-fencing at least the road frontage) or someone else to steal them/your tack/other stuff (even a manual gate and padlock at the end of your drive–attached to a fence–helps keep the riff-raff out)? Do your horses have some kind of permanent ID, such as a microchip?

-Finally, have at least two separate professionals (one as a backup to the other) you can call if you need someone to feed on nights you’re running late, medicate a horse on lay up, etc. Family, friends, and neighbors are a great informal safety net, but it ends up being worth every penny you spend to hire someone who is actually running a horse/pet sitting business (some BMs are willing to do this on the side for extra cash, as are horse-savvy students). If only because you can specify exactly how and when you want things done, even fire them, and no hurt feelings…