Transitioning horse to 24/7 outdoor turnout

[Gwyneth]

I’m thinking about transitioning one of my horses to stay outside 24/7 (in a 40x80ft dry lot). She lives at my place and tends to get stiff staying in a stall overnight (right now she’s turned out for 12hrs/ day). Do I have to “transition” her to staying out 24/7? Or do I just not bring her inside for dinner one day?

This horse does not like other horses (at all) and needs to be kept in a separate paddock away from other horses, so I don’t think she’ll mind being the only horse outside at night (when she had to be on stall rest in the past, she was very happy being the only horse in the barn, and would only get cranky when the other horses were brought inside). But she does know and like her daily routine of coming inside for dinner, so I want to make the transitioning process as least stressful for her as possible.

[mmeqcenter]

I’ve never had a problem just tossing them out when changing to 24/7 turnout on a dry lot. I’ve only done a slow transition when they were going out on grass.

[js]

Is your barn set up where you can make a paddock off her stall that opens into her turnout and let her have access to her stall either at certain times or 24/7?

[Gwyneth]

Unfortunately not.
There are two shelters in her paddock though (12x12ft each). One is 3-sided and the other is 3 1/2 sided

[eightpondfarm]

assuming you aren’t in a frigid zone, i’d just do it. Grass is the problem when turning out a stall-horse. But you’re just putting her on drylot. With shelter. Stick a haynet in her shed and let her go. Sounds like her life is going to get a BIG IMPROVEMENT!!! Congratulations and Well done you!

[QHEventer]

I transitioned mine from being in stalls overnight staying out all night last year and would never go back! It’s made a huge difference for my senior horse, so I think you’re making a great decision! Like your horse, my old guy also loved coming in for dinner, so much so that he’d be pacing the fenceline an hour or two before I would feed so I was unsure how the transition would go.

I still bring him for dinner, but 15 mins later, he’s back out. Turns out it was dinner he wanted to come inside for, NOT his stall. He had absolutely no issues going straight back out overnight after eating. I do feed free choice hay, so they are never without food.

When mine come in for breakfast, I do leave them in for 2-3 hours because that tends to be the time they all lay down and sleep. So, especially if your horse is moving to a dry lot full-time, I’d definitely give his old joints time to lay down in a well bedded stall otherwise he may not get the sleep he needs outside.

ETA - Just re-read and saw you have a shelter, if it’s bedded you may not need to bring him in for naps like I do! Mine prefer to sleep in stalls versus outside on the ground

[Tarlo_Farm]

Just do it. And depending on the quality of your soil, you may not have to worry about Spring grass because it comes up slowly and they acclimate as they graze. In sandy loamy Michigan, I’ve never worried about it.

[RedHorses]

@QHEventer

I still bring him for dinner, but 15 mins later, he’s back out.

This is where I would start. Bring in, feed, turn back out. No hay in the stall, and then eliminate the shavings in the stall (bed a shelter for sleeping if needed).

If it’s not much of a hassle I would keep bringing in to feed and turning back out just to force yourself to have the daily check on how she’s moving and eating.

[candyappy]

As long as she has shelter I would put her out and leave her out.

[Bebe_Falcon1]

@RedHorses

This is where I would start. Bring in, feed, turn back out. No hay in the stall, and then eliminate the shavings in the stall (bed a shelter for sleeping if needed).

Ditto this.

[Bogie]

I have several times just transitioned a horse from being stalled overnight to being out with shelter. I took my mare to a full service barn for the winter this year and she adapted pretty well to having a stall, but she also did just fine when I tossed her back outside 2 weeks ago with a friend. I’ve never had trouble with horses being out, but have had one that hated being in a stall. It really limited where I could keep him and when I retired him, I sent him to virginia where he can live out in a herd.

[walktrot]

My horse was outside for 19 years and hated stalls. I had to move him and now we have everything we need. He has the prime real estate. His runout is double the size as the rest of them. He has been there for 18 months. Once he remembered there was a door on the back side of the stall he started using it like a shed. The window in the grill is for tracking delivery of meals. He is so happy people enjoy watching him. He can meditate, observe activity such as the parking lot and contemplate life. The latest addition is a pile of hay in the middle. It’s the mound from the delivery of hay a couple of weeks ago. They were going to remove it but he is using it for naps.

He is 28 and I am going to lose him to a deteriorating knee joint. He uses the stall like a shed now. He does more pooping and peeing inside. There is a Nelson heated waterer. Also some shavings. He arranges his hay in a heap along the wall and pushes some outside.

They do unlimited blanket changes. Each horse has their own recipe for grain- he loves the soup. I’m 73 and there are times I’d rather not drive over there. I don’t have to worry about his care. I did at our prior barn. He has gained back a couple of hundred pounds and maintains his normal body weight. His teeth are still okay, but I see some changes. Dentist comes on 3/21. Last time he said don’t bother with the halter. They stood in the middle of the runout for a hand float, no halter, no drugs.

He was the alpha with a herd between 6 and 12. They had a shed and an acre of pine trees Make sure your horse gets enough hay.

[Gwyneth]

I took the plunge and started to leave her out at night over the weekend, and she seems totally fine with it! I think I was definitely more worried about it than she was.

So far she hasn’t had any morning stiffness either, so it appears to be working well for her!