Ridecamp: Re: [RC] Do Pastured Horses Come In Out of the Rain? AND BUNNY!

I have to laugh when I pass Cardiff Stud--- used to be a BIG race 
training/breeding facility and is now owed by Alex Trebeck (which 
explains why Jeopardy contestants only win hundreds while Wheel of 
Fortune contestants win thousands!). Anywho, each shelter (and there are 
MANY) can accommodate up to ten horses (huge--- made of brick) and the 
beveled glass that goes in the towers alone costs $20,000!! Each shelter 
cost $100,000 I am told (cannot even imagine how much each brick barn 
cost)!
Anywho, during the WORST rains here I have NEVER even seen ONE horse in 
any of the shelters--- and we lived just down the road and passed it 
frequently! This is in central coast CA so when it rains, it is 
generally mild temps--- but there is wind.
So far as my own horses, I have a few wusses who LOVE the stalls during 
rain, but most of mine would rather stand outside in the herd with their 
butts all facing the same direction. I make the babies come in and my 33 
year old gelding, but my thin haired stallions (always looking slick for 
the ladies) NEVER want to go inside and scream at me when I make them (I 
guess they feel they are going to miss out on something).
I agree with whoever said, "barns are for people." My pastures have 
trees, though, and they can get shelter if they choose--- and a few do.
I still like to have a few stalls, though for foaling out and sick 
horses (but my babies go outside within 2 days, as soon as they can 
visually discern their mammas) as it cuts down on the pneumonia risk, as 
Heidi pointed out.
Guess it all depends on weather and your horses' preferences--- but I 
would make an effort to discover the latter before building an expensive 
barn or elaborate shelter.
Bette and Bunny (who was VERY upset when I tried to put him in a stall 
during the rain--- he's had his fill of barns and wanted to be in the 
paddock with the tree instead-- go figure! BTW he was in the hilly 
pasture with my new baby (just weaned) who ran along the ledge of the 
hill with Bunny in hot pursuit. My heart was in my mouth, thinking, one 
bad step and he would topple--- what an irony it would be to survive so 
much and then break his neck after recovery--- BUT he ran just fine 
until the baby went down the steep part of the hill. Bunny stood there-- 
half committed-- too far to go back up but scared to go the rest of the 
way down. While I was running towards him, the baby ran up and down the 
hill twice to him, as if to say, "Come-on, you can do it!" so before I 
got to him, he slowly made his way down and was SOOOO PROUD when he got 
to the bottom! The boy has come a long way!!!!

Cocomix3@xxxxxxx wrote:
> Well, I live in southern California like a mile off of the beach, and my 
> two boys are in a nice big pasture. I have a great shelter and mats for 
> them,,,, but sadly for me, they perfer the rain. It is cold of course , 
> but they grow coats. I feed them under the shelter but they really like 
> the rain.
>
> Michelle schifman


--
Bette Lamore
Whispering Oaks Arabians
Home of 16.2h TLA Halynov
who lives on through his legacy
Hal's Riverdance!
http://www.arabiansporthorse.com


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