Question About Stall Runs

[King_s_Ransom]

It’s easy for me to get a family member to come check on the horses while DH and I take brief vacations. But no one in my family is “horsey” so, they really are limited to just checking, filling the water trough and calling me if something seems “wrong.” This week another trip was cut short by somebody getting hurt or sick while we were gone. Horses are fine the day we leave, then someone is either in respiratory distress, has an eye infection, an abscess or has otherwise tried to commit to suicide two days later.

First question: would it be a good idea to leave the horses in their stalls with attached runs, to hopefully prevent these attempted suicides? We have about 20 acres and some of it is pretty rough … so I guess they dive right into the rough spots as soon as we are gone hoping to find a jagged rock or an abandoned landmine (just kidding on that one).

Second question: if that seems like a good idea, where horses would have in/out privileges from their stalls to an attached run and someone could just walk down the aisle to fill water buckets and throw hay – would a 12 ft. x 31 ft. run be sufficient for them for a week at a time?

We currently board Parker whenever we leave because he has to be on a dry lot and get a pill every day. I worry that he might outwit my non-horsey family members and escape out into the big pasture and get out into unlimited grass … another clever suicide attempt. The attached runs would definitely resolve that issue for him.

But, is it unrealistic to expect the horses to live for a week with just in/out of a stall and a run?

Thanks.

[Bluey]

Many, many people keep horses in a backyard barely the size you are talking about.

Not ideal, not good for more than some days, but for that, once in a while, it would be fine with most horses, especially older, settled ones.

I would try to make the runs large, like the ends ones can be made past the barn, the middle one wider by taking a bit from those on the sides.
Runs don’t have to be rectangles either, you can make them more pie shape, narrower by the barn, somewhat wider on the other end, just so you don’t have too sharp acute angles anywhere where you may put two horses in.

If that is all you can make them, that will have to do.

That is the eternal question, are horses happier in their own little space, or where they can push each other around?

Answers depend on the horses and the rest of the answers, like getting exercised and entertained by humans regularly.

I think that, in your situation, some times, horses comfort have to give a bit to be managed better.
They will have plenty of turnout most of the time anyway.

For a pie pen set-up, imagine these pens with the horse barn in the middle for wider pens and second picture, pens that stick past the barn, giving the horses more room:

[js]

With a 12x31’ run I think they would be fine, that’s still room enough for them to get some limited exercise. I’m sure they would be fine for a week. I would think you would still need your stalls cleaned, unless your horses “go” only in their paddocks.

[Cluck]

The stalls and runs would be a horrible mess after a week, but your horses would likely still be alive and probably unhurt. The latter depends on how your run-outs are set up. What kind of fencing? Hot-wire to stop the horses playing over the fencing?

Why not hire a local horse-person to supplement your family, muck out a couple of times, and check on those precious horses now and then?

[King_s_Ransom]

I think I can get someone to muck. It seems like it would be easy enough to put out some grain in their buckets inside the stalls, they all run inside, and then the relatively non-horsey person could shut their gates and muck out the runs. Letting everyone out when finished.

The biggest problem I have is that no one in my family can (or should) halter and lead folks around. I mean, if they had some instruction and practice of course they could – these guys are mostly easy – but you know how it is when you say, “Oh my horses are very easy,” and then they run away from someone, kick out at a friend while the non-horsey person is standing right in the way, and so on. My horses are easy for anyone who knows what they are doing, but dang they ARE horses and if you think they are big stuffed animals you can get hurt!

For example – my son claims that Rocky bit him last week. Well, he still has all of his fingers, so I guess he didn’t bite very hard. Now, for the rest of the story, Dear Son was handing out cookies while out in the pasture. He was giving a cookie to Cooper and looks to me like Rocky tried to steal it. And I am on the other end of the phone line thinking, “Why the heck are you walking out to the pasture and handing out cookies???” He was just supposed to fill the water trough and make sure no one had committed suicide.

[King_s_Ransom]

Bluey, I really like the look of that second photo. That is exactly what I would like to do. Thanks!

[Bluey]

I think that having runs out of stalls is wonderful, as you can have the horses use them all the time you don’t have them out to pasture.
Also makes keeping the stalls clean much easier, plus the horses get to move around more.
You can also turn others and keep one in if you have one to rehab or to ride later, helps manage them better than just in a stall when put up.

[OTTBs]

If you had a larger paddock attached to the 12x31 runs, your helper could change which horse had access to the paddock while they are eating. Not sure how many horses we’re talking about, but for 3-4 horses, they could get out in the paddock for at least 8 hrs every 2 days. (If fed twice a day 8 hrs apart, some would get out 8 hrs, some 16 hrs.)