leaving horses unattended at home

[cutter99]

My three gelding live out 24/7 with a 40’ X 10’ run in shed. We have gone away for up to 6 days at a time and left at least 2 at home. We have a 13 acre pasture that they have access to, as well as 2 acres of dry lot. We have a spring with a 400 gallon concrete tank to hold water plus another 100 gallon Rubbermaid trough in a different area for easy water access. I have a neighbor who stops once a day to check on them. When we are gone in cold weather, I put out a round bale in a feeder that will easily last them 2-3 weeks.

I’ve owned horses for close to 40 years and I have honestly had more injuries and issues when my horses were boarded and stall bound with limited turnout. As I sit here thinking about it, the only really major problem I have had since having horses at home for the last 20+ years was with a horse I got in from my ex-husband in my divorce, who had been twice foundered when I got him. Dry lot and muzzle have resolved that issue nicely, although I do watch him carefully during spring and fall.

[DressageChic2]

mine are unattended 7am-3.30pm mon-fri.

3 geldings and a stallion, all in individual paddocks. in winter their fields back on to crops and sheep, in summer they are on the boundary fence. The stallion has post and rail to 5’5 and another 2 foot of electric above it but tbh he barely looks up even if 5/6 horses clatter down the road next to him. He would never be inclined to try and get out for no good reason, so unless a heard of 10+ mares all in season storm the fence line…he’s good

my parents live on site but my mum has Alzheimers and my dad is her full time carer, he would only notice a problem if they ended up in the garden or rampaged out the gateway next to the kitchen window… he would not notice horses in the wrong field, or fighting or a slipped rug or colic etc, he isnt savvy enough.

never had a problem, like others say make sure you fence is up to scratch, gates all lock securely and the electric works.

[DMK]

I actually work at home, BUT mine are at a leased farm, so while someone is there every AM and PM, that’s it. I generally would not assume the owners of the property to have a clue about horses unless it was Really Obvious like a loose horse (also there is a line of trees between house and barn/pastures so I am not even sure they would see anything about the condition of the horses even if they could discern anything but a serious injury). Pretty much everyone has survived. Don’t get me wrong, there have been colics and owies, but the one colic that was Very Bad actually started while I was there, and probably broke records for the speed the horse went from happy to vet school and it still didn’t end well, so having people around is not much of a guarantee of anything (the previous old horse I lost was also a colic, at a farm with someone around 24/7 and he colicked late at night in the pasture and by the AM it was obvious what our choices were, so again, never any guarantees with colic).

I do have a hot wire on 100% of fencing, which eliminates casual contact and over the fence shenanigans, and that goes a long way to reducing problems (and repairing fences).

[beau159]

@morganpony86

How many of you keep horses at home and have a “regular” 9-5 job, thereby leaving the horses unattended during the day?

… Everyone I know?? Maybe it’s area-related but this seems like an odd question to me. (And I don’t mean that in a snotty way.)

I live in North Dakota. We’re pretty rural. There’s one “real” boarding barn in the area, but that’s kinda it. If you own horses, you either have your own place, or you board with someone who has their own place.

Most people around here don’t make a living with horses. They have a regular job and the horses are just a hobby. So of course, the horses are at home during the day, while you are working at your normal job. I don’t know what else you would do??

They get left “unattended” while you sleep at night anyway; even if at a full care facility. You can’t possibly watch them 24/7.

[Beethoven]

Yup, it freaked me out at first. My husband works from 5am-3pm and I leave the house around 7:30 am and get back around 5 or 6 pm depending on my day. If I am in the area for a call then I may drive past my house to make sure all is well, but so far so good. They are out 24/7 until we finish the barn. Then they will be in their stall run during the day and out at night. We keep all the gates to the outside padlocked which helps with peace of mind.