Taking a show horse from stall life to pasture board

I haven't a clue how this is going to work.

I am finally letting my precious, well bred, prissy showmanship horse live outside. I know a lot of people think that all horses need to go outside every day to be happy and healthy. That's not true, not in my experience. As long as a stalled show horse is exercised regularly and given plenty of attention, they really don't want for anything.

The other concerns are that they are likely to colic, develop bad habits, develop ulcers. Correct feeding and GOOD exercise and plenty of attention prevents this. They shouldn't have a very fatty diet, they should probably be on something like oats rather than, say, sweet feed. But a horse can be totally happy and healthy being in a stall. They should be allowed to go out in a round pen or an arena once or twice a week to stretch their legs on their own a little bit. Most want to come back in after about 15 minutes.

A lot of the show horses, the way they are bred these days, don't even like to be outside. They miss their fly spray and their toys and the comfort of their stall. Hell, my horse loves to TRAILER and will pace back and forth in front of the gate wanting to come back in when she goes outside.

So, she's being turned out with about 15 other horses which has never happened. She's been turned out with some other mares and with a single gelding before. She has no social skills. Apparently, her 18 year old mother has been mainly outside for about 5+ years and still hasn't developed much social skills and still would rather be in. It's just the way these guys are bred.

But, putting a horse on pasture saves money. And when they're like mine and not showing and recovering from a ligament injury, I would rather she be outside stretching her legs than in a stall. All that needs to happen with that ligament now is it needs to strengthen itself. I am tired of paying people to rehab her (since I'm pregnant and not riding) when they're just walk/jogging and it's not getting anywhere. Also, they don't seem to want to turn her out because of her aversion to it.

Well, the owner (me!) says that she needs to get over it. And she does. I honestly don't want to put too much more money into her than I have, except for the necessities. I want to be looking for something a little more competitive, probably in 2012, so I would like to introduce her to what I call "real horse" lifestyle. She's 12 now, and she's been pretty adaptable, so I think she will do alright. She's been a wonderful teacher and a loyal companion, and I want to make sure she's taken care of for the rest of her life, so I do not plan on selling her.

This is going to be interesting. I have never done anything like this before. I'm a little scared, to be honest! She just got show clipped for maintenance before I made this excutive decision, so I hope she does okay on pasture. It's hot out so it wouldn't be as bad as if it were cold. I just hope she doesn't scrape herself up! I also hope she will develop social skills.

We shall see...should be interesting!