Schedule for Horses with Minimal/No Turnout

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Imperini
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Schedule for Horses with Minimal/No Turnout

Postby Imperini » Wed Dec 19, 2018 10:37 pm

Not sure quite if this topic belongs here but it's the best fit I can think of.

Having moved my horse from Ontario where they offer abundant pasture/turnout options to (southern) Nevada where it seems pretty much unheard of in a boarding situation I'm looking for input on managing a horse and their work/life balance when there's little to no turnout. I would love to be in a situation where lots of turnout was possible but short of having horses at home, which is unfortunately not likely since horse properties tend to come with a hefty price tag around here, I haven't found many options.

Right now I'm doing a 5 day a week work schedule with around an hour of turnout on days off. The rest of the time she's in a 12 x 24 run. She mostly doesn't do anything other than stand around or walk a little bit during her turnout time.

Would it be unreasonable to add a bit of lunging to the days off or even just one of the days off? I feel like it's not fair to ask her to work every single day but then again I also feel like it's not good for her to stand around barely moving for entire days. Hacking is not really an option as the trails around here scare me. They're super hard and rocky with big drop offs, and the way she spooks scares me in that environment (not that she's super spooky but when she does spook she tends to tuck her bum and run without much thought as to where we're going except away from whatever was scary). Also I've heard people say the trails I would have easiest access to aren't for the faint of heart because they're multi-use trails so while I am maybe being a chicken it's not totally unreasonable for me to feel that way.

Is there anything else I'm not thinking of that people do to keep their horses active when they don't have a lot turnout options?

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Re: Schedule for Horses with Minimal/No Turnout

Postby blob » Wed Dec 19, 2018 11:21 pm

This is a tough one, Imperini, and I'm curious to see how others respond as well.

But my thinking is that day's off are important not just physically, but also mentally, so I'd worry that lunging on days off might not really give your gal a 'break'. Having said that, a lot of horses work 6 days a week and are perfectly happy. So, perhaps you can do 6 days of work, mixing in some light days--either just walking (even if it's just in the ring) or lunging and not riding. And then on day 7 she can get that hour of turnout and a full break.

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Re: Schedule for Horses with Minimal/No Turnout

Postby demi » Thu Dec 20, 2018 12:11 am

If I remember right, she isn’t a high energy horse so that might make it easier for her. She may be just fine on 5 days a week working and the one hour turnout on the other days. Could you play some games with her, like clicker training when she’s on her turn out? I was in a situation very similar to yours for a while in California and on my horse’s turnout day I hung around, sitting on the fence and just being there. I would bring a book and settle in (way before e-readers!) He was an OTTB and very personable. Loved to give me hugs and poke me every once in a while when I was on the fence. I also brought my dog out to visit on turnout days.

Can you “trail” ride around the barn yard? Just walking and enjoying watching the other people and horses?

I recently took in my close friend’s new horse (she was very unhappy in her boarding situation and the barn where she used to be has a 5 horse waiting list). He is a layed back boy and until I get him acclimated to turn out with our ancient rescue gelding, he is in a stall with a 24x24 paddock. It rained and was yucky weather today, so my horses were in. I opened his paddock up so he could go out where he will eventually be turned out, and he wouldn’t leave! He likes the companionship of the other horses so much that he just hung close by eating sparse grass.

We give him a lot of coastal hay in a 1x1 inch hay bag to keep him occupied. If he were going to stay in the small paddock, I would have her get him one of those slow hay feeders. It seems more like grazing to me than a hay bag.

One more thing, maybe you could make trail riding a LONG LONG term goal. Maybe just taking her to the trail head and standing around with her there eventually working to sitting on her at the trailhead. Just a thought.

Good luck and keep us posted.

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Re: Schedule for Horses with Minimal/No Turnout

Postby Chisamba » Thu Dec 20, 2018 1:20 am

when my horse was confined for soundness reasons i taught her to touch a cone and then rewarded her, then i taught her to walk away from me and touch the cone, and so on, just to keep her mind working and puzzling things out to prevent boredom. i did use the clicker. would you consider this type of thing something to keep her occupied on her day off? I would try to walk the trail in hand, if she is quiter in hand, or see if i could go with some really quiet stable relaxed companions

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Re: Schedule for Horses with Minimal/No Turnout

Postby piedmontfields » Thu Dec 20, 2018 12:55 pm

If you can reduce to 1 day fully off, that would probably be helpful. Many, many western horses deal with the kind of environment Pal is now in, so it does depend on the horse. Being in a run-in pen is a lot better than being in a stall.

Is it safe enough to do trail walking? (maybe with a rope halter/something with more control and a long whip) That can be a way to mix things up and introduce the new terrain.

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Re: Schedule for Horses with Minimal/No Turnout

Postby AmityBee » Thu Dec 20, 2018 1:56 pm

This is just me it seems, but for me horses need to move. If there is no turnout (or if she's just standing around during turnout) I would at least hand walk or lunge a little on a halter on her days off, just to get her going a little.

Your horse and mine seem to be very similar (from what you wrote in the progress threads). Mine is very "energy efficient", needs a long warm up and a reason to do things. I work a lot with cones, poles, exercises from working equitation and usually don't ride more than 3-4 times a week, but he hardly ever has a true day off (even though he does have 4h of turnout during the winter months). Thankfully we have a walker. I put him in there for about 30 min on some days or I hand walk on the property or down the road, I do trick training, in hand work, I lunge on the halter and sometimes let him free jump.

Horses are made to move, a day off means almost 48h of just standing around. That can't be healthy for them. Yes, I get that they need days off from work that is physically and mentally challenging, but to me a day off is a day where I do something that includes at least 30 min of walking...
Last edited by AmityBee on Thu Dec 20, 2018 7:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Schedule for Horses with Minimal/No Turnout

Postby Imperini » Thu Dec 20, 2018 4:50 pm

Thanks for the input so far everyone. She may in fact be less distressed about all this than I am. But like AmityBee I've always been of the mind that horses should be moving around. Also the naughty behaviors under saddle she's never exhibited to this extreme before make me wonder if she's a bit unhappy. Or maybe she just tried something new and found it interesting so she's going with it.

I really wish having a place where I could keep her at home was more likely. Then I'd have to have at least one more horse too :D I should mention I'm happy with the barn we've ended up at it's just a total difference in the way that horses are kept here versus what I grew up with. The barn itself is good, reliable, and full of nice people.

Walking with her on the trails could be an option however she's barefoot and I think the terrain is such that I think she'd need shoes or boots to protect her feet. I could definitely try to teach her some tricks/play games with her, that's a great idea to keep her mind busy. She also gets a slow feed hay net mid day so her tummy is not totally unoccupied between morning and evening feedings.

There's really nowhere on property to do anything other than walk from the barns to the grooming area or turnouts and to the arena. Most of the boarding barns here are only a couple of acres in size. I think if people in Michigan or Ontario tried to keep horses like they do here they'd be buried up to their elbows in mud.

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Re: Schedule for Horses with Minimal/No Turnout

Postby Ryeissa » Thu Dec 20, 2018 4:58 pm

buy her boots and trail ride, however, that isn't really a day off if you ask me. I would hand walk on a true day off for at least 20 min.

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Re: Schedule for Horses with Minimal/No Turnout

Postby Srhorselady » Thu Dec 20, 2018 5:45 pm

The southwest desert can be hard on bare feet. I would definitely get boots to use on the trails. Then start slowly hand walking the trails if she can do it safely. Then find a riding partner and start short trail rides. Mixed use trails can be hard but MOST (unfortunately not all) ATV etc users know horse etiquette and the horses do get used to them. Any chance you could do all night turnout? How about arena turnout? Watch her feet when lounging in sand arenas too if she’s not used to sand. It can be very drying.

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Re: Schedule for Horses with Minimal/No Turnout

Postby tlkidding » Fri Dec 21, 2018 4:21 pm

If her behavior has changed, besides trying to increase her time out of the stall/run, make sure she has hay as close to 100% of the time, maybe provide a treat puzzle toy, and I'd go ahead and treat for ulcers for a month.

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Re: Schedule for Horses with Minimal/No Turnout

Postby Chisamba » Fri Dec 21, 2018 5:30 pm

I dont think they need a day off as much as they need a variety of activities.

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Re: Schedule for Horses with Minimal/No Turnout

Postby Koolkat » Fri Dec 21, 2018 9:15 pm

What's your arena situation? Can you "free lunge" her over small jumps/jump chute (cavaletti, etc)? Some horses really enjoy that and it's good for hind end development. Clicker type training is very useful, your horse will come to understand when you are asking it a question, and will learn to experiment for an answer. Teach her to walk on tarps, other scary things, little obstacles, etc. You will probably find it increases your "in tuneness" with each other, may even help with the spook issue. Hand walking is also a viable alternative, even if you limit it to the "safe" property, is there a place when you walk her (behind the barn, etc) on the circuit that is off the main path? You could put down a row of poles there, or some sort of "challenge, just to engage her mind a bit. Hand walking is good for you, too!

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Re: Schedule for Horses with Minimal/No Turnout

Postby Imperini » Sat Dec 22, 2018 12:39 am

I think Chisamba has the right idea, she really needs more variety.

Today was one of her days off, I did lunge her briefly (10 mins) with a fair bit of walking included then hand walked in the arena for a few and walked over a cavaletti which was interesting to watch because she banged her toes on the way over at first and then finally after a few tries got super careful. She's more used to trotting or cantering over than walking. We also played some games where I was teaching her to touch the end of a sweat scraper (I didn't have anything better at the time :lol:) and she's picking it up really well, I can actually see her thinking. We worked on that one yesterday as well. She did yawn up a storm about it so I'm not sure if she finds that much thinking stressful or what but she's definitely starting to understand what I want. Her next day off I'll give her the whole thing to herself aside from perhaps a bit of walking and/or games but no lunging for sure.

We're not allowed to lunge or turn out in the arena and none of the other areas would be ideal for setting up jumps or cavaletti and night time turnout wouldn't be an option either. I could perhaps see about setting up a jumping lesson (which would really just be poles and/or tiny crossrails) every couple of weeks for a change of pace.

Her under saddle behavior was pretty good yesterday too, she offered a bit of an argument about walking away from the mounting block but that was the extent of it and she didn't even try to turn into a wobbly pretzel when I picked up the reins at the walk which is our other big challenge lately.


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