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I would much rather err on the side of too much turnout than not enough even in bad weather. Most horses do not mind rain and wind. yes, some shelter would be ideal, but I would rather be at a barn where the horse is out in bad weather than a barn where horrses are brought in at a drizzle (and I’ve been at both types of barns).
I also fall in the category that I think it is safer for horses to be outside than in a barn in a bad lightening storm. Yes, I’ve heard of lightening hitting a pasture and killing everything, but I’ve also heard of enough barn fires from lightening. Of course both are extremes, but I would rather give my horse the chance to escape damage than get trapped in a falling barn.
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Mixed feelings here. First, I do envy those of you who have access to 24/7 turnout. It just doesn’t exist in boarding barns in my area, at least not without compromising on a lot of other things. I’d just like a barn that would do night turnout instead of days in the hot, buggy summers, but apparently horses can’t survive outside at night…
OK, that isn’t quite fair. The mare did live in a paddock with a nice shed for 3 years, but there were other drawbacks. In any case, unless it was a really bad storm, she did not go into the shed except to use it as a toilet. She spent the “Snowmaggedon” winter of 2014-2015 outside standing on a big pile of snow, ice, and hay, and was happy as a clam. A couple of my fellow boarders there considered her living situation neglectful. She grew up in an open pasture in a herd with trees for shelter, is pretty sensible about weather, and definitely prefers being outside.
I would much rather have horses turned out “too much” than “not enough.” I have been at 2 barns where they went out, period, unless it was very icy. And two where they don’t go out if it’s raining much harder than a shower. None of these barns had much, if any, shelter in the paddocks. Current barn was in the former category, but over time they’ve become more likely to keep the horses in… I am not really sure why. There maty be a few more boarders who want the horses kept in, and developing a list of who goes out in the rain and who stays in… is that too complicated? Or is it just not that simple?
But yes… they can look pretty miserable when they are sopping wet, but for the most part they seem to manage (insert comments about blankets here…) I wouldn’t get too upset about it.
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I think it depends of the horse.
My current gelding loves 24/7 turnout and has his own 1+ well maintained pasture now. My former mare HATED 24/7 turnout with other mares. She was at the bottom of the pecking order, I think, and seemed miserable. I had to bring her in to stalling, which she loved (evidenced by her actual laying down and OK with me entering when she was laying down) with daily turnout into a private paddock. That is what she liked. Fine. My current gelding tolerates stalls even though he was raised in 12/12 stall/turnout. He loves being out in his own 1+ acre pasture with buddies on either side and a shared solid run-in with fans in the summer.
Horses are so different.
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I thought of this thread this morning. I put the horses out and then the skies opened up, raining like crazy, temperature is 32degF, while I was in the barn cleaning stalls. I look out and they are still eating hay. No one went into the shelter.
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Nope. I’d rather mine stayed in for 24 hours straight in high winds. Luckily my current barn owners understand their winds. If they didn’t we would have had a pasture full of dead horses when power lines came down into their field this time last year. That field used to have a shelter until high winds threw it across the laneway and into the neighbouring pasture.
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No. I would expect my stall boarded horses to be inside happily munching on hay in wind, rain.
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If only the horses could talk…
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They do! You just have to listen! Then you have to remember that they don’t always know what is best or safest for themselves and take that under advisement when catering to their every whim.
Were the horses pissed to have to stay inside that day the power lines came down? Yup! If they had been allowed to make their own choice on turnout or stay in that day would they be alive? Nope!
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This pretty much sums up my feelings on this stuff.
Horses are certainly expressive, but they’re not really good at thinking ahead. So just because they “ask” to be let out in the morning, and “like” galloping around in an ice storm for fifteen exhilarating minutes, doesn’t mean they they’ll be “happy” (or safe!) standing out there for 14 solid hours.
At some point you have to take the human leadership role and exercise some common sense.
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Ice storms aren’t generally a problem for the outdoor horses. They’re out as the footing is changing. They’re walking their paths and breaking up the ice. They’re not inclined to go tearing around. Given food, water and shelter they’re fine. I much prefer to have them out.
I didn’t even own a horse blanket during the great ice storm(s) of 1998. My horse lived out with a number of others and they all did well. Now there weren’t any power lines to come down on them or anything like that. And we did have to rotate them through the barn to keep the water from freezing. Mucking out by headlamp is not something I recommend! 
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My mare is at a barn that turns out almost every day for ~10 hours on average. They are in grass turnouts and have no shelter. During very hot weather, they come in during the day and go out at night. During winter, they are out in the day and in at night. Fall/spring they only bring them in to feed 2x a day. If it is muddy (which only happens with a lot of rain), they don’t go out as they want to keep the turnout from being destroyed. They are also accommodating to those of us who want something somewhat different (I wanted my girl brought in at night earlier than some others). I would NOT be ok with her being out in a big storm, or super cold/hot weather. Where we used to be, our last mare was happy out 24/7, but they had a shelter and she was HBIC.
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Not all ice storms and not all icy footing (which a couple of years ago lasted for something like 8 weeks up here) and not all horses are created equal.
I personally knew of a busted hip and a shattered leg due to ice in my area. I have heard of many more but that information was second hand so I will not include those additional 4.
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Oh, hell, yes. This is a huge issue in New England - sometimes involving special shoes for ice, which cause a whole slew of problems of their own, especially for horses turned out in groups.
So much depends on where you live, and on the horse culture you were brought up with.
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Well, it turns out the arena has a flooding issue in the winter when it rains a lot. Anyone who lives in the PNW knows we’ve had an exceptionally wet November and now December. I thought when we received several days of pouring down rain and one end was a little damp, that was the extent. No, not at all. The center of the arena has standing water in it and half is unusable. So we have half of a very small indoor (think small court dressage arena) for 6-7 boarders to use while the owners try to work up a solution. I heard this is common every winter so not like this was an unknown phenomenon. I’m currently shopping.
However, the good news is that I can perfect my 20 meter circles.
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Indeed. The perpetual hurricane question here in FL.
Damn. I feel for you and for the barn owners. That is probably not going to be a cheap fix because it was probably caused by bad installation. I’ve known a couple that have flood in my area (an area that certainly doesn’t have the issues of the PNW) and people that have been there forever are all amazed when they visit indoors that aren’t under water in the spring. Um, proper grading and French drains - installation things.
Good luck on your search!
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Count your blessings. I was at one barn that had the arena flood during a heavy, mid winter rain. And then the weather reverted to normal and the water froze into ice. I had a 8-9m circle in one corner, and the other long side was okay in a block that was half the arena width at one end and barely over a quarter at the other. It was a very small (17x30m) arena to begin with. We pretty much just walked until spring thaw several weeks later.
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When the arena was installed they chose the wrong spot, it’s in a low spot on the property so of course the water is going to flow that way. I don’t think the current owners installed it, I think it was there already. There is a better spot that is on high ground that should have been where they put it but too late now. I don’t think they have any plans to do any different because most of the boarders have been there for a while and know this is how it is during the winter.
