Most barn owners turn out horses for at least a few hours each day, weather permitting. It’s like therapy for the animals, and it can also help them work off excess energy. But should you use individual or group turn-out for your horses?
Benefits of Individual Turn-Out
Individual turn-out means each horse is turned out in his own specific paddock or pasture. He is separated from other horses by some sort of fence—be it wood, vinyl, electric wire, or something else entirely—and he might go into the same exact paddock every day.
There are numerous benefits of individual turn-out, the most important of which is that horses separated by fences are less likely to hurt one another. Kicking, biting, and striking can all take place even with a few panels of wood between animals, but it’s more difficult for them to inflict serious injury.
When horses have their own private space in individual turn-out, you don’t have to worry about the problems sometimes caused by the pecking order. In other words, you won’t have an alpha mare keeping all the other horses away from the hay pile.
There is also less confusion with individual turn-out. When someone wants to bring in one horse for a ride, for example, he doesn’t have to worry about the other horses intervening. And you don’t have a stampede at the gate that could result in loose horses.
Benefits of Group Turn-Out
Conversely, group turn-out is generally a more social experience. The horses are allowed to form a pecking order just as they do in the wild, and this “herd approach” is considered by some to be more natural.
Horses involved in group turn-out might play better with others on trail rides or in the show ring because they are used to communal activities. Your mileage may vary on this one, but it’s something to think about.
And finally, group turn-out for horses is more cost-effective. It takes less fence and less overall space, which means you keep your overhead low. Not only can you avoid buying and installing all that fence, but you have less material to fix over time.
Personal Horses versus Client Horses
One of the things you have to consider in the horse business is what your clients would prefer. As mentioned above, group turn-out is slightly more dangerous than individual turn-out because horses have more access to one another. This means more injuries.
The liability issue alone is sometimes sufficient to convince a horse business owner that individual turn-out is best. If a client’s horse is seriously injured in the pasture, who is responsible? And how will you deal with potential legal disputes?
On the other hand, of course, you might work primarily with clients who want their horses socialized as much as possible. In this case, group turn-out is going to win because your clients want their horses to engage with one another for a few hours every day. Polling your clients will help you determine where their opinions lie.
The Danger of Co-Dependence
We used to turn out two of our lesson horses together because they got along famously. Over time, however, they became so dependent on one another that separating them was a hassle of monumental proportions. If you tried to catch one in the paddock, the other would intervene so they could stay together. And they would call to one another when separated.
Just like people, horses can form both healthy and unhealthy attachments. And believe me, it isn’t always easy to pinpoint which horses might present a problem. So consider this when pairing up animals in turn-out.
Giving Clients the Option
You can solve the whole problem of individual versus group turn-out by letting your clients choose individually how they want their horses pastured. If they prefer individual turn-out, they get their own space, and vice versa.
This can seriously complicate your life, but it’s entirely up to you. If you want your clients to have as many choices as possible, and if you have the space in which to set this type of operation up, go forth and provide options. Otherwise, you’ll want to stick to your guns on whichever decision you make.
Image by Planetka
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About the Author: Laura Jane Thompson is the Chief Equestrian Officer of Riding Instructor University and the Feature writer for the horses section at Suite101. She believes that any horse business can succeed provided its owner practices smart strategy.
