Trying to get back to blogging regularly but totally didn’t post yesterday (oops that day ran away from me fast) so you get a Tuesday post instead.
I rode Remus Saturday morning very early like around 7 am I was already on board. Yay. But I haven’t ridden since because the bugs have arrived big time. I could ride early in the morning but during the week I really can’t due to work schedule. And Sunday morning it was raining…soooo…. Trying to figure things out so I can ride a couple times a week even if it is hacking up and down the road some and the fields. I do have some emails out to lesson instructors so hope to firm up a haul out soon maybe even this week.
But Remus is not worried about the lack of riding.
So how do you do your summer turnout? I realize I am lucky as shit to actually work at home and be able to do this turnout plan but my current routine is I feed him as early as 6 am so I can let him out in the field for a few hours. Usually I have been able to let him out around 7 and bring him in by 11 or so but today is going to be pushing 90 and you can just tell the humidity is creeping in and when humidity creeps in bugs creep too. He just flew by my window this morning around 830 am to tell me this so when I went out to check on him he was at the gate saying bring me in woman.
I put him in his stall but leave the door open to the paddock if there is still a breeze. Not that he goes out there. He has the big fan on in the aisle and the one on his stall so he is cool enough. Unfortunately the barn gets the late afternoon sun so it gets warmer in there by 2-3 pm in the afternoon but I have been turning him back out up front with all his fly sheet apparel on since that field is shady by then. Bugs are still bad but the shade helps. And the grass definitely helps him he says! Usually he is out by 4-5 in the afternoon and then I bring him up at night about 630-7 where he then has his dinner and is tucked in for the night. I am not leaving him out to go in and out overnight due to I want to monitor his grass intake. As it is now he probably gets 4-5 hours of grass time which is plenty for Fat Buckskin! I have added some electrolytes to his Smartpaks this month as well since I don’t think he is drinking as much as he should be (I also give him beetpulp or soak some hay to make sure he is hydrated enough. He seems to drink more when it is cooler out? Odd horse!)
However Remus is by himself again (the neighbor horses went back to their field about a block away with the barn due to the bugs) and he is pitiful looking for them. Otherwise he is okay but I think he needs a friend. And we have so much grass too much for one buckskin!
My neighbor offered us Donut (Yes the horse is called that too funny right?) his Paso Fino palomino gelding (he has the four horses he and his wife trail rode they had Appaloosas first then as they got older they bought the Pasos). His wife died a few years ago so he just kept them. Donut is 16 (the same age as Remus) and gorgeous. He is ridable but not sure how quiet he would be. He seems like a handful to me. If he has good ground manners I would be fine with him since Mark has to be able to handle him. Doc (he is a small animal vet) offered for us to try him. The other three are 20 and above so he is trying to place the youngest one. The good thing is that I can return him if he doesn’t work out.
By the way Doc also has a nice horse gooseneck trailer with living quarters he is restoring. I told him I would post on here once he is done. No idea what he will ask but I will get photos and post in case anyone is looking. It is older but he is restoring and we know how much the new ones cost. I think it is a three horse but will get the details soon.
So what is your turnout routine like in the summer with the heat and bugs upon us (Those that have heat and bugs that is)? Again I know I am so lucky to be hands on with my horse right out my door. Anyone else this crazy about their horses not being out in the bugs and heat? 🙂
Fat Buckskin in a Little Suit 
I think you should get Weemus a mini. Either donkey or horse. Or cow. Any of those.
At the current barn ours are out basically anytime that it’s not raining and over 35 degrees/under 95 degrees. Henry of course is the special case, he’s inside with his fans on if it’s over 85 or so. For him that means he’s usually out all night, goes back out after breakfast, and if it’s hot he comes in midday. On hotter days he might not go back out at all after breakfast. Then he goes back out around 5 or 6 in the evening, depending on temperature. At the new barn they’ll be out at night during the summer (so like 6pm-7/8am), in during the day, and out during the day in the winter, in at night.
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oh that is right.NEW PLACE I keep forgetting you are moving. I would love to leave Remus out all night but we do have so much grass (and other shit like wild pigs) so I don’t. Henry is special so is Remus. He doesn’t like bugs. We have mosquitos AND horseflies often at the same time. ICK. also the gnats are especially gnarly this year 🙂 Henry would not like it here.
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Ummm you skipped over my suggestion of a mini friend, wtf.
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i saw that. LOL. we may go that way.i am afraid Remus will either be scared of a mini or be in LOVE with a mini. I dont want a cow. Or any pigs. 🙂
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If you came and stole bob and dudley in the middle of night, I wouldn’t tell anyone.
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I’m pretty sure she’d take a bay roan mini by the name of Jiminy if I shipped him down via FedEx…
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Well I guess you know my barns routine 😂. They go out at night all year round. In during the day with the big fans on. It’s actually super pleasant during the day.
I would say, get Remus a muzzle and turn him out at night. It also means less stall cleaning. 😜
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Our turnout scenario is they’re out from the crack of dawn until 3 pm, and the other horses swap with them at night. Poor city horses, there is no grass in their turnout so it’s really just a larger area for them to mill around in
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Get a donkey or a mini so we can follow along with their adventures. My friend has a mini donkey who is just the FUNNIEST- and her 4 horses all adore him. Donkey (that’s his name) has free reign over her farm and the horses get jealous when he leaves one to play with another. My trainer has a mini pony to keep his retired 4*/5* horse company and the thing is so cute it’ll melt your face right off. The mini isn’t as entertaining as Donkey is, though, so my vote is for Donkey 2.0.
My barn does overnight turnout during the summer because it’s just SO hot here in NC. They get turned out between 3-4 PM (still hot but they deal), and then brought back inside between 8-9 AM to chill in front of their stall fans and eat hay. The ones who need to limit their food intake (a couple older horses, one who is insulin resistant and one draft who will get monstrously fat) all go in grazing muzzles. There are a couple horses that aren’t heavy drinkers on their own and for those, BO puts a powder called Aqua Aid in their buckets.
An, uh, cover you and your horse in fly spray and GO RIDE 🙂
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I think it would be easiest just to get Remus a muzzle so he can be out longer. P wore the greenguard during his transition to spring grass and didn’t mind it at all (although he did come right over for me to take it off as we were phasing it out, lol). My boys go out around 7am and come in around 9pm or later in the summer. They wear fly gear and have access to the barn at all times to get out of the sun. Where I live when the flies go away for the day the mosquitoes seem to be coming out so it doesn’t seem to matter when I have them out. I’m not brave enough to do overnight turnout and honestly I don’t think Stampede is either, lol.
Would be nice if the neighbor horse situation worked out!
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I’d like to eventually switch to night turnout but I’m not sure how I’d manage it… I’m still used to the boys being out 24/7. I thought about keeping them out for the summer but Subi revolts on the occasional day that he doesn’t get to come in… Lol. I think he just likes sleeping in his stall. Since I don’t have fans or electric and and I’m not crazy about keeping fans on when I’m not home, they’re probably better off out during the day anyway….
Currently they eat around 6:15, turnout at 7:30, turnout on grass at 5:45, turn in and dinner between 7:30 and 9.
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All mine go outside. I’m mean. They are outdoor animals and I much prefer the constant motion that grazing, napping and sleeping provide outside than being cooped up in a stall. They come in twice a day for their handful of balancer and then right back out they go! Fortunately, they have plenty of access to natural shade throughout the day in all pastures. Why not use a muzzle and kick him outside? I agree with KC too – spray yourself and your horse and ride!!! If you go fast enough you can out run the bugs LOL!
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The issue here is horseflies and mosquitos. When one is not as bad the other is intense. The horse flies WILL Get better they are only usually here a few weeks. I can ride first thing on weekend just not workdays unless my work days slow down sometime in the near future I am going to haul out for a lesson at least once a week in the evening if I can figure it out. He runs and paces if outside and the bugs are bad. He came in the other evening a sweaty mess. The late afternoons are the best for the shade. it doesnt help we have a pond and a lake nearby (On our property) they seem to breed it….the water. I will figure it out. Just worried about him getting too obese too. Even with the muzzle he can eat AL lot.
You are mean 🙂
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I’m also thinking a donkey! We are actually adopting one from the BLM in Reno 😀 We’ll be bringing her back by Sunday so fingers crossed she and Whisper love each other lol
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OMG i can’t wait to read all about this. 🙂
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I second all the votes for mini donkey. Mostly because I want one for myself. My goal is for my horses to be out 24/7 in the summer. We’ll see if it ever dries out enough for that to happen (right now the field barn is flooded and the other pastures don’t have run-ins).
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You need a mini donkey for sure!! And I wish I had run ins in my fields. UGH on the field barn being flooded. that sucks!!
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Most everything here is flooded. It just will not stop raining.
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ugh that was us earlier this spring. Of course it is raining today but one of those unusual soft rains we never get in TN!
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Mine are out on the back 40 all summer and don’t even come into the barn. I think our climate is a lot more moderate than yours though!
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24/7 turn out 365 days a year
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Another vote for a greenguard muzzle. Gwyn is an air fern too and her soles get thin on too much grass. She has a muzzle and has grass access 24/7. She chooses when to use the barn.
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thanks! He is out in the pasture with RAIN LOVELY RAIN and cool temps so no real bugs. It won’t last but an hour or so but I tossed him out 🙂 I will look up the muzzles. Maybe they will stay on better than the old kind. UGH (Nothing like traipsing through looking for a muzzle every damn day) ! HA HA
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My turnout situation is poop. I can’t leave them out unattended because I live on a pretty busy road. And my delicate flowers don’t love being out generally. (Remains to be seen with princess Shiny…) So they go out in the mornings for about 3 hours and are in the rest of the time. After work, I either ride/graze, or give them an extra hour out. I wish they could be out more. Thankfully they cope okay.
Remus definitely needs a buddy! Nice that the neighbor will loan you Donut. But I agree with Amanda… a mini would be way cuter.
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In Cali the turnout situation is non existent or at least in the way places with adequate amounts of cheap land are used to it. Dante goes out a couple days a week for about 45minutes to an hour in a dry lot and that works pretty well for us!
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