Large Herd Turnout

Turnout: what’s your preference?

There is so much debate on how to set up a farm for turnout and how to create the best environment for your horse. Some advocate for solo or pair turnout, others for large herd turn out. Some so a sex divide by mares and geldings.

I am a huge proponent of large herd turnout. I feel that the benefits of a large herd with ample space far outweigh the risks and drawbacks. Here is why…

Pros:

• Increased socialization. The horses have more and more complex relationships with one another in a large herd, providing them the much needed comfort, desensitization, education and support system they need to function both in the field and on the job.
• Mixing mares and geldings works best in very large herds with lots of space. The herd will naturally break up into their groupings, usually with one overarching gelding leader and head mare, but a bunch of other sub-groups within. Geldings often find themselves a nice little harem or even more often mares and geldings pair up into couples within larger groups of friends (yes, couples. Surprising!)

• Exercise happens in large herds as they play and run from one “lunch table” to another. With the bigger space and more reason to go from here to there horses keep themselves self-exercised and have more topline, better balance and improved stamina.

• Less mud. In such a large space horses will rotate their location congregating in places throughout the field. There’s much reduced foot traffic and footing stress on fence lines and gateways greatly reducing mud.
• Good role models. Being surrounded by others gives horses new to jobs, or especially young horses, good role models to emulate.
• Disciplinary action comes not just from humans but the herd at large.

Cons:

• Horses are horses. They kick and bite and do dumb things. Eventually a herd will settle into a hierarchy and routine and will become very stable – but the addition of new members can always shake things up and cause waves and potential conflict.
• Hard to catch horses in a big field with a lot of other horses. Horses have each other and don’t necessarily need you anymore and they have more space to evade you.
• Added hormone moments. When mares come in heat they tend to either make some of the geldings stupid and pair off with another mare in head and be ridiculous.