Rain day turnout policy

[findeight]

It doesn’t really matter what anybody who boards thinks about turnout, it’s about what that boarding barn does. Barns all do what works for them for a variety of good reasons, like they don’t have any space, tearing up the ground or lack of staff to turn them out and put them back in. Some lame reasons too, crackpot theories or just lazy. But it is their business and possibly their property as well. They don’t change to suit individual boarders.

Boarding is compromise, pick one you can live with based on what you see on your first visit. Don’t wait until it becomes a problem and then research it.

[Libera]

We live in the PNW, my horses go out during the day and in at night. The only times they stayed inside this past winter was during some snow storms which dumped about 3ft of snow in their paddocks. But even on those days they have their little runs off their stalls.

Stalls are 16x16 with 16x32 runs attached so they are never really locked in. I usually pick one pasture to tear up for winter and keep the other 3 closed for Spring. By summer, the winter pasture has usually recovered enough to open it back up into the rotation.

But when you are boarding… not much choice but to go with what the barn owner decides…

[winter]

I, like Eclipse, turn out in all weather. We turn ours out in rain and extreme cold in winter. On really cold days they do come in a bit early but they still go out. Some of the A barns here do not turn out in the cold and I feel bad for those horses. I know it’s more for staff, but we all know how to dress here so I don’t really see the need to leave them in. We actually will be more inclined to leave horses in at my place for extreme rain rather than extreme cold.
I agree that the main concern is ruining the footing in the paddocks. Even a few days in a grass paddock in wet weather can totally destroy the ground and turn it to mud then dirt. The grass never really recovers. Even where we live where there is very little rain, I installed all weather paddocks and they are amazing. Even with the little rain we get, the paddocks would get muddy many days year due to snow and the constant freeze thaw we have here.