23/07/2023
The idea of keeping horses stalled for much of their daily time budget is a common one amongst the horse world. It is arguably more common for people to stall their horses than not, oftentimes even being depicted in the media as the ideal living situation for the horse when we're viewing equestrian movies and TV shows.
The beliefs pertaining to stalling in the horse world are largely outdated with many horse people seeing absolutely no concern with horses spending the majority of their daily time budget (12+ hours) isolated in a stall that averages in size at about 12x12ft. The lack of awareness of the costs of such living environments contributes to many behavioural and physical health problems we see in horses today.
For decades, there has been a known correlation between stereotypic behaviours or "vices" and time spent stalled. Stereotypic behaviours are repetitive and largely functionless behaviours that serve the purpose of relieving stress. They are not seen in wild and feral horses. They are seen at a far greater prevalence in horses who spend more time stalled and isolated and studies have found a very clear link between stalled live and such behaviours.
On top of this, there is also a demonstrated link between extensive time spent stalled and risk of colic. Colic is every horse person's worst nightmare, the #1 cause of mortality outside of old age related death with a ~10% rate of death in horses who suffer from it. Increased risk of colic is directly correlated with stalling due to stalled horses exhibiting a greater degree of stress and having a lowered ability to move about and practice natural behaviours. Movement is crucial for proper digestion for the horse in addition to living in a low stress state, stress increases risk of digestive upset.
Despite there being such a clear link between these rather substantial health issues and stalls, there has been very little movement in the horse world to adapt the architecture of stalls and discuss ways we can modernize horse husbandry to make it more horse friendly.
While urbanization and lack of space does complicate things, I don't believe this is a sufficient excuse for not even making the effort to try to improve lives of horses and utilize modern research to do the best we can to emulate the most natural lifestyle and avoid substantial physical and mental health issues.
Many behavioural issues that disrupt horses use as riding horses are also correlated with time spent stalled due to there being a decreased ability to self exercise on the part of the horse. Horses who are stalled more are more likely to exhibit excitatory behaviours and respond with flight to novel stimuli. Improving living conditions could not only improve the wellbeing of horses, but also the safety of their humans.
Structured and controlled exercise also does not sufficiently replace the autonomous exercise that horses need for optimal wellbeing. While riding and working horses who have limited capacity to self exercise is better than nothing, it doesn't allow for autonomous movement on the part of the horse. Autonomy is highly reinforcing and imperative to adequate welfare. Horses need to be given the opportunity to explore and exercise of their own accord, not just only when they're being piloted by a human.
In addition to limited movement in the stalled environment, the isolation aspect of the traditional stabled lifestyle is incredibly damaging to equine welfare. As social herd animals, horses need to be able to socialize. Many of the problem behaviours we see, such as aggression to other horses, stem from environmental frustration and lack of development of social skills due to chronic isolation.
The ability to interact and socialize with other horses should not be viewed as an optional aspect of horse care. It is a standard the industry absolutely MUST move towards achieving on a global scale.
We can do better by horses. The common nature of these care practices does not mean it is healthy or ideal care for horses and despite the decades worth of replicated research depicting the same problems, it is not uncommon to see horse people deny the existence of such facts and make up excuses for why these aspects of care do not apply to their horses.
It is a difficult thing to accept, but once we start the conversation and start creating realistic solutions to improve the lives of horses, we will all benefit, but mostly, the horses will.
This is not a topic that is up for debate as there is substantial evidence behind it. We either accept the facts surrounding horse management or reject factual evidence to appeal to our own comfort. The latter is much more detrimental for horses and is, at its core, a selfish decision.
Most of the horse world loves their horses and means well, but we need to develop a more selfless love for them and do better by them. Love isn't always easy and convenient, sometimes it requires difficult self reflection and sacrifice.
Demonstrate your love for the horse by doing the difficult work that is undoing of personal biases and accepting the merit of information that may challenge the beliefs you held before. You and horse horse will both be better for it.
Shareable blog post link: https://milestoneequestrian.ca/blog/2023/7/23/the-industry-perception-of-stalls-needs-a-massive-overhaul
Supporting Evidence:
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