[QUOTE=Mango20;8037986]
I think the BO’s weird explanation would be more of a dealbreaker for me than the lack of sheds. Sounds nutty.[/QUOTE]
“I can’t put in run-in sheds, because the horses will just go in them and make a mess”
=
“I’m too cheap to install run-in sheds and too lazy to clean them even if I did have the money”.
It would be a deal breaker for me too. What an awful sounding BO.
It’s illegal in Maryland not to have some kind of shelter available (trees/ shed/ access to barn) but this would be a dealbreaker anyway.
I’ll admit, I skipped through some of the replies.
I would say for me, it completely depends on the horse. My mare is on pasture board and ADORES her run-in. Year-round, she spends the majority of her day in there. She thinks it’s cozy. If it starts raining, she will come GALLOPING in from the pasture immediately. She is just a princess.
Then we have horses at the barn on pasture board that NEVER EVER use the shelters. They will graze in the rain, sleep outside in a snowstorm and brave the flies all summer long. If my mare was like them, I would have NO PROBLEM boarding at a place like you are describing.
In some states, that’s not even legal.
No way.
My horse is in there a few hours a day, especially to sleep. The run in may be the only dry spot in a pasture for the horses to lay down after a big rainfall. No fair to them to have no shelter/a place to rest.
Deal breaker for me too. My two horses have been tough and don’t care much about the weather. (Though what about hail? Are they going to have to stand in hail?)
But my little donkey is tender. He needs shade in the summer and to be dry and out of the wind in the winter. He would suffer terribly without a shelter.
Even if you think your horse never goes in, I think when we fence them in, we’re obliged to provide some sort of shelter for them.
I wouldn’t board without some kind of sun/rain protection.
My horses do not have a run-in shed where my horses are at now. They have a small group of trees they use for their shelter. Yes I would like to have one but it was between a private pasture just for my horses or being with 10 other ones in a pasture. The place I board at is a local down the road for 100 bucks a month. All I did was look around a little and found two different people who wouldnt mind my horses being in their pasture. We’re happy and the horses are happy. He even said I could build a run-in on his property. I don’t like that they don’t have one but I can like the fact that I make minimum wage and pay for them a place to stay.
Next thing on my list will be a run-in shelter now. No way that them not having a place would be temporary.
All my info is second-hand from my friend, but supposedly the BO did say that about not liking run-in sheds. My friend decided right then she wasn’t going to move her horse there, but it just boggled my mind to imagine a place where horses had no choice but to stand out in the weather whether they wanted to or not. To me, that’s almost borderline abuse and/or neglect.
[QUOTE=Real Rush;8039338]
All my info is second-hand from my friend, but supposedly the BO did say that about not liking run-in sheds. My friend decided right then she wasn’t going to move her horse there, but it just boggled my mind to imagine a place where horses had no choice but to stand out in the weather whether they wanted to or not. To me, that’s almost borderline abuse and/or neglect.[/QUOTE]
Horses evolved on the open steppe. How many “run ins” were found there? If these are essential to equine health, safety, and welfare why didn’t the horse go extinct without them?
It’s pure anthropomorphism to claim that lack of a “run in” is any form of neglect, abuse, or cruelty. As long as there is protection from wind when it’s cold and the Sun when it’s hot then you are good to go.
If you have a horse with issues the equation changes.
G.
My horses are TBs. They have several thousand years of evolution between them and the steppes. I’m sure they would survive just like I would survive living in a yurt but why should they?
[QUOTE=Real Rush;8039338]
All my info is second-hand from my friend, but supposedly the BO did say that about not liking run-in sheds. My friend decided right then she wasn’t going to move her horse there, but it just boggled my mind to imagine a place where horses had no choice but to stand out in the weather whether they wanted to or not. To me, that’s almost borderline abuse and/or neglect.[/QUOTE]
I think the warning bell is not that the horses have no choice but that the barn owner’s reason seemed based on increased work on her part.
Guilherme-- Even if you take the wild mustangs as an example, there are still trees, bluffs, rocky overhangs etc, that they can seek shelter in if they so choose. My point is the not even having that option. My friend told me she personally observed 2 paddocks without even a single tree for shade or wind break, one of which the BO told her was occupied by an elderly retired horse that was out 24/7 because he didn’t like being stalled. Would you want your horse kept like that?
My current farm does not have any runs and there are horses that were pasture boarded (I cut back on my numbers in anticipation of my move in the next few months).
Now with that said, all my horses (and boarders) wear waterproof turnouts. There are trees in the pastures, and the horses hang out there in inclement weather, in addition our weather overall is very mild here, rarely dipping below 40.
Now with that said, we do get some winter nor’easters with the hard drenching rain, and when that happens my stall boarded horses stay in (of course) and the pasture boarded horses switch off in the stalls. That allows them to come in and let their blankets dry, while others hang out in the pastures. If its really really bad, I’ll put everyone inside, then open up the aisle and the others hang out in there (which has only happened 2 or 3x in the 8 years I’ve been there).
Now I only have 4 horses, and access to 6 stalls so for instance the weather tomorrow with rain/sleet all day and 23 degrees…they will all be in.
New farm will have shelters in 2 pastures to start, with additional pastures as we can afford it, plus a 6 stall barn.
[QUOTE=Highflyer;8038454]
It’s illegal in Maryland not to have some kind of shelter available (trees/ shed/ access to barn) but this would be a dealbreaker anyway.[/QUOTE]
Same here in Maine. My horse is out 24/7 with a group of geldings, and they primarily use the run in shed, but have a little wooded area they seem to like in the summer. Sort of inaccessible now, as we have had 94" of snow and they haven’t tramped down a path.
Living it 
If you come across a place that meets your needs in every other way, but doesn’t have run ins, I would not cross it off.
My current location has pasture board without run-ins due to zoning restrictions or some mess.
We do have a relatively mild climate, although these last two winters have been a bit rough! But, quite frankly, our situation works far better than I could have imagined because of the diligent care provided by the staff. We’ve moved a lot over the years and I’ve never seen higher quality pasture board. The horses are pulled out individually, every morning, fed along the fence row, and checked over. They get appropriate blanket changes in winter, fly masks and spray, etc, in summer. This arrangement does require owners to be willing to provide an adequate wardrobe for their horse and keep it in good repair. The barn owner quietly provides additional layers when necessary bc an uninvolved owner doesn’t maintain good blankets or when a blanket has been ripped or needs re-weatherproofing.
This also requires that the horse owner and barn manager be realistic about which horses are well-suited to living out, but I’ve been very impressed at how well even relatively vulnerable types have done (older individuals and TBs who want to be lean, for example). I didn’t expect this set up to work as well as it did.
If it’s a nice place, it’s worth looking into. Go look at the horses living out; they’ll tell you if it’s working or not. Good care shows.
Yes deal-breaker ~ would not board there ~
Yes, a deal-breaker ~ would NOT board there ~
The fields at the place where I board do not have any shelters or any trees. But Western Washington is kind of a unique climate. There’s nothing but sun in the summer and there’s nothing but rain in the winter. Pastures are only available for use between April 1 and November 1 – and April and October are pretty iffy! My horses are out 24/7 in the summer but there aren’t wild temperature extremes. Or terrible humidity or bugs. Would it be cool to have run-in sheds? Of course it would. but obviously it wasn’t a dealbreaker for me. I’ve rarely seen our horses look uncomfortable. I keep an eye on them and will hose them down and/or bring them into the arena if we have an uncharacteristically hot spell.
It’s the BO that would be the deal-breaker.
A lot depends on location, too. In many parts of the US, no run-in or just trees for shelter are the norm.
My mare spent the first 9 1/2 years of her life in Maryland at a farm that had two stalls if needed; other than that the horses had trees for shelter. Most of them (easy keeping Morgans) thrived, year-round.
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