We Need to Talk About Stalls
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There is a fundamental problem in equine management that has resulted in the normalization of horses spending much of their time isolated and indoors. We see this depicted in movies and TV shows, in barn tours of fancy stables with upper level riders and with what certain boarding facilities offer in terms of amenities for the horses. I cannot count the number of times where people have shared beautiful barns to ooh and aah over and the barns were aesthetically beautiful. But, all I could see was the high, boarded up walls of the stalls, the lack of space left for turnout and much of the space being used to appease human aesthetic and cater to the needs of the boarders, rather than the horses who actually have to live there. There was a time where I would look at these upscale barns with envy and gush about how fancy they are, but now, whenever I see a place that hasn’t factored turnout and socialization as a necessity, I just feel sad.
It is funny to me, also, to watch the sheer number of horse people who will petition against zoos or places like SeaWorld due to viewing them as morally abhorrent, but then condone leaving their horse utterly isolated from other horses with little room to roam and self exercise outside of their stall. The level of cognitive dissonance that is associated with this is startling, to be able to acknowledge the lack of space and denial of species specific needs in one type of animal, but utterly indifferent to it when the animal in question is in your care. I don’t deny that these people love their horses but such love is so misguided. Sometimes, love for an animal requires taking a hard look at the situation you offer them and acknowledging where it needs improvement. Not being able to offer the perfect ideal isn’t a crime, but if you cannot even acknowledge where potential shortcomings are in care, how can you try to enrich the horse’s life within the confines of the situations you have access to?
It’s uncomfortable to see how many experienced horse people balk at the idea of horses not being stalled at night and truly believe that there is something negligent about 24/7 turnout. That their show horses some how have evolved past the point of needing the base level needs: socialization, forage and room to roam. Too often is the excuse of the horse’s value used as an excuse to why they cannot “risk” turnout or socialization. This is a piss poor excuse, to be frank. Horses do not get to decide how valuable they are and value should not be an excuse to deprive an animal of basic necessities. First off, expensive horses can be insured. Secondly, if you’re willing to put your animal at risk of injury for sport but won’t do it for their mental and physical wellbeing, you really need to re-evaluate whether you’re in this sport for the love of horses or if it is the competition that you actually love. There is something so absurd about people willingly risking injuring their horses in sport, for the human’s own personal enjoyment, but for whatever reason believing it to be acceptable to deprive a social herd animal of one of the bare minimum basics due to “risk”.
Ironically, in studies done on competition horses who were housed in stalls, they found that the horses with access to turnout and socialization were less stress throughout the day and did not find there to be any additional risk of injury. In fact, the hypothesis was that horses with access to turnout are less prone to injury due to having to navigate an environment that isn’t as controlled as a stall. Keeping their joints and muscles moving kept them fitter and didn’t come with the circulatory and respiratory repercussions that can come with stalling. So, the excuse that so many use isn’t even founded on any actual basis aside from the fact that horses who are forced to stand most of the day tend to have excitatory movement when released into open space due to pent up, unused energy from being stalled. This is an easy fix by, you guessed it, turning the horse out.
The risk of injury in turnout climbs when horses are not allowed access to it or are only allowed very limited access. It becomes a novelty, a source of stress or the one place where they can actually freely exercise themselves without being in the confines of a ridden training program or attached to a lunge line. Horses that run until they are lathered in sweat if turned out or pace the fence line incessantly are a result of poor management. Horses have evolved to be social animals that move upwards of 20km per day. A horse, being a flight animal, does not naturally prefer an isolated, confined area where they are vulnerable and it is the ultimate travesty when we create such anxious horses that being let out into an open space is overwhelming. I also cannot get on board with people using said turnout anxiety as an excuse to never allow the horse access to turnout or claim that they “love” their stall. Equestrians will happily address and train away behavioural issues when they get in the way of their riding of the horse. They don’t just have a horse say “no” to the saddle or to a jump or to a lead change and go “oh, welp, they don’t like it. time to give up!” They train through it because if they didn’t, they wouldn’t be able to enjoy the ride or meet whatever goals they have set. If you are willing to train away anxiety and behavioural issues when they interrupt your riding, you should be twice as willing to do this when the issue is one that affects the mental and physical health and wellbeing of your horse.
Here are the 5 freedoms for Animal Welfare as described by Humane Canada:
Freedom from Hunger and Thirst by ready access to fresh water and a diet to maintain full health and vigour.
Freedom from Hunger and Thirst by ready access to fresh water and a diet to maintain full health and vigour.
Freedom from Discomfort by providing an appropriate environment, including shelter and a comfortable resting area.
Freedom from Pain, Injury or Disease by prevention or rapid diagnosis and treatment.
Freedom to Express Normal Behaviour by providing sufficient space, proper facilities and company of the animal’s own kind.
Freedom from Fear and Distress by ensuring conditions and treatment which avoid mental suffering.
By this definition of welfare necessities, many horses are not meeting the standards for good animal welfare. All of the stall vices we commonly see in barns are signs of distress that are often downplayed and ignored. While horses may still partake in said behaviours after their environment is enriched, these behaviours begin due to distress and they serve the purpose of trying to relieve said stress. They do not exist in natural roaming feral horses and have been heavily linked to amount of time spent stalled and limited access to forage. So many of the undesirable behaviours we deal with in our horses from handling on the ground to riding could be lessened or, in some cases, completely eradicated if we met more of their species specific needs. Even something as simple as providing a horse with a mirror in their stall has been shown to lessen stress behaviours like weaving. If we have a greater awareness of equine needs, we can also reform how the typical barn is built. No boarded up walls, let the horses be able to see and interact with each other. This minor change could bring some real positives to the welfare of stalled horses. Similarly, just making it known that horses are not made to stand still for extended periods of time or have no friends outside of their human handlers. Allow all horse owners to be so aware of this that they start to consider ways to enrich their horses’ lives in their current living situations. If you’re in denial, you’re not going to make an effort to enact change. If you’re aware, you will.
Social turnout is not the scary and risky endeavour so many view it to be. The aggressive behaviours we often see in traditionally kept horses exist due to our lack of effort to properly socialize them or lack of space, lack of forage, among other issues. The point is, we create many of these behaviours in how we manage horses and they are atypical behaviours, it is not normal for a herd animal to resent socialization from other horses. Stalling is also not without risks. Aside from death by old age, colic is the number one cause of death in horses. Guess what immensely increases colic risk? You guessed it, stalling! The more time a horse spends stalled, the more at risk they are of colicking. This is a scary concept even without factoring in the other risk factors that come with too much stalling. Colic is pretty much every horse person’s worst nightmare and we could dramatically reduce the risk factors if we start to reform the typical keeping practices of horses.
I am truly not trying to guilt trip anyone. I just want everyone to know that it is a fallacy to believe that turnout is inherently more risky that depriving your horse of one of their most basic biological needs. It is risky to your horses’ mental health to disallow space to move and socialization. We have an abundance of studies showing all of the negative repercussions following lack of ability to engage in natural behaviours. I understand that in the modern age, it isn’t realistic for everyone to have hundreds of acres of turnout, but heck, even an in/out paddock with a shared fence line or stalls that are more open concept is a really excellent start. The more aware people get, the better stable practices become and we can start valuing barn set ups that take the needs of the horse into account more than the human’s enjoyment of the horse.
Studies referenced in this post (there are a lot more out there than this, highly recommend further reading):
https://www-sciencedirect-com.subzero.lib.uoguelph.ca/science/article/pii/S0737080611004187?via%3Dihub
https://beva-onlinelibrary-wiley-com.subzero.lib.uoguelph.ca/doi/full/10.1111/j.2042-3292.2011.00296.x
https://www-sciencedirect-com.subzero.lib.uoguelph.ca/science/article/pii/S0168159102000916?via%3Dihub