Turnout Guidelines



Turnout Guidelines
By: Cheryl McNamee-Sutor
Contact Today's Horse
pictures of horses

Separate The Sexes
Let the girls play with the girls and the boys with the boys. Mares get PMS coming in and out of heat. Keep stallions turned out either alone or with the mares that they breed to (as long as they get along). Never turn out stallions together with other males! If you must mix mares and geldings, only allow one gelding per herd of mares. Geldings will become aggressive if they think another gelding or stallion might steal their mares.

No Feed
Don't offer grain in pastures with more than one horse. Horses get aggressive and protective of thier food. If hay must be fed, keep piles well away from corners where horses might get cornered off by a bully. Also, keep the piles far enough apart that one horse cannot hog two piles. Always leave an extra pile to help prevent any fighting.

No Borium or Hind Shoes
Any horse with borium shoes should be turned out alone. Borium can do a massive amount of damage. Be careful of horses with hind shoes. If a horse has hind shoes, it is better off turning him out alone (unless he is extremely humble).

Broodmares and Foals
Be very careful who you turnout your pregnant mares and foals with. Some horses will beat-up on a new foal. Also, you don't want pregnant broodmares fighting with other horses while they are pregnant (to reduce chances of injury to the fetus), so don't turn them out with other aggressive mares. Mares and stallions generally stay pretty content when in each-other's company, however, after foaling it is not recommended to keep your mare and foal turned out with the stallion (to prevent injury to your foal).


About the author:

Cheryl's goal is to educate horse owners on how to develop a trusting and respectful partnership with their horses. The training methods she uses and teaches are ones that promote a horse's confidence and willingness to please.

As the President of Equusite.com (The Ultimate Horse Resource), Cheryl teaches her methods of horsemanship online in a simple step-by-step fashion to ensure that horsemen and women of all ages and disciplines are able to understand and use her methods easily.

For more information, see Cheryl' bio page or contact her:

Cheryl McNamee-Sutor
President, Equusite.com
cheryl@equusite.com
(630) 267-9397

 



Back To Top

© 2001 TodaysHorse.com - all Rights Reserved.