Season changes

Its definitely feeling very autumnal the last few weeks and this means there is soon to be a big change in routine for many. Autumn can be a challenging time for horse owners with the flush in grass and often being forced to change our management due to yard rules.

Many people are having to take their horses from being out 24/7 to being stabled overnight, this can be a risky changeover as sometimes horses are going from just grass and movement 24/7 to much less movement and hay added back in to the diet. Being suddenly stabled again can cause horses a lot of stress and potential health issues.

Here are some ideas that could help the changeover be easier on your horse

🐴 If your horse hasn’t been given hay all summer, start to introduce some hay daily and slowly build up the amount

🐴 Start to bring your horse into the stable for short periods of time slowly increasing so its not such a shock to the system when they have to stay in overnight

🐴 Make the stable a nice place to be by using lots of enrichment

🐴 Get any mud management in place now before it gets muddy, its much easier to prevent mud than to stop it once its taken hold

🐴 Some nights are getting very cold and some horses haven’t grown in much winter coat yet, be careful with your older or compromised horses and rug them where appropriate. On the same token some days are getting very warm so make sure you're not leaving your horse cooking under his rugs just because it felt cold firsth thing in the morning.

My horses live out 24/7 so their management doesn’t change hugely. They have shelter and mud mat hard standing and we’ve just moved to a place that seems to have sandy soil so I’m quietly optimistic that the mud situation won’t be horrendous. I also have plenty of grass (which I don’t want sorry 🥲) so I will be strip grazing probably for the rest of the winter to create a track ready for the spring.

What changes occur for you during the autumn? Do you have to switch to overnight stabling? Do you have to worry less about restricting grass? How do your horses cope with it? 🐴