How do you keep your horse?

• In a box 24/7, except for the time you go to visit and either ride or do whatever it is you do with your horse? (0 points)
• Stabled in a box most of the day, with a few hours of turn out in a small paddock by himself? (2 points)
• Stabled in a box most of the day, with a few hours of turn out in a big open space with other horses? ((7 points)
• Out in an open space, most of the day, with other horses, with only a few hours day of box time during the day? (15 points)
• Out in an open space all day, with other horses and shelter from the weather? (17 points)
• Out in an open space all day, with other horses, shelter from the weather and enrichment? (30 points!)

(Note: for the sake of this comparison I have not included access to forage when giving points.  The more access to forage they have, the more points your set up gets.)

Looking back….

Back in the 1990, the mare I shared lived in a box 24/7…. It was common practice.  I was oblivious to the life she was enduring.  It was “the way it was done”.  When I started keeping horses at livery for other people,  I did the 24/7 with no turnout version, as well.

In my eyes, the yard was a lovely yard near one of the gates of Richmond Park, London.  An American Barn with spacious 12×12 stables with automatic water drinkers,  bars between the stables “so horses could socialize” and antiweave bars over the doors.  I offered 7-day full livery that included: grooming, exercising and tack cleaning 5 of those days; plus mucking out and skipping out and, of course, feeding throughout the day 7 days a week;  deep beds with high banks;  automatic water drinkers, secure tack room. Fed 3 times a day. Heaven, right?

That set up got me almost £600 a month per horse (back then!) and I had a long waiting list.  I felt successful and accomplished.

For humans:  a dream.  For horses: I now see it was a nightmare.

The craziest thing is that, at that time, and with what I knew then, I was absolutely convinced the horses in my care were well,  safe,  OK, and “happy”.  If anybody had tried to tell me that the horses needed more than they were getting, I would have gotten very defensive (Hint: that defensiveness, by the way,  was the red flag that came up many, many times over the next few years letting me know that deep down somewhere I knew it wasn’t really, really OK!)

Now, 30 years later, (yes, still providing livery for other people’s horses!) I offer a 9000 m2 paddock of rugged terrain, trees and natural shelter from sun and wind, stable herd, forage available all day long.  I also offer bigger flat paddocks for group livery, with optional day use of a stable for those that like to bring their horses in for a few hours a day to pamper and feed and fuss about and stare at.  Human facilities include sand school, secure tack room, and social area, good access and parking.

This set up gets me €275-€330 a month per horse, and there are a couple of places still available.  Go figure!

For horses:  a dream.  For Humans:  slightly inconvenient.

And there-in lays the quandary:  how do we navigate “human needs” whilst still honouring the horses’ most basic needs?  Humans, on the whole, like it practical, easy and convenient. 

• Trepsing out into a big, rugged, open space, with a slight incline, to fetch a horse that may have rolled in some dirt or mud,  and is out enjoying himself out in a big paddock with other equines,  … just isn’t convenient, is it?
• Having to deal with other horses on the way… just isn’t convenient, is it?
• Spreading hay out on the paddocks, isn’t that convenient, is it?
• Having to fill individual needs a horse might have by bringing him him for a little while, just isn’t convenient, is it?

(Note:  I am referring to healthy horses.  I realize there are exceptions…. But very few!)

And yes, there are many limitating factors:  space, land, time, weather…. But is it fair to our horses to blatantly ignore their needs whilst making sure ours are met?

Not to mention the consequences to our horses to be living a life so out of sync with their evolution:

1. Behaviour issues (biting, kicking, bolting, napping, pawing the ground, fidgeting, crib bitting, wood chewing…)
2. Emotional distress (we call them behaviour issues – but it is just the horse communication his emotional distress)
3. Physical unwellness (lameness issues, stiffness, ulcers, sore bodies, stress induced symptoms…)

You just need to look inside some stables that have been occupied by horses that lived in those boxes for more hours that horse cared to live in them.  The teeth marks, the kick marks, the chewed doors….  When I see marks like that I can’t help going back in my mind to a visit I made to Alcatraz, the high level security prison in the San Francisco area, and the marks on the walls by the men going bat crazy in those cells…. and some might argue those men “deserved” to be there.   But horses?  What have they done to deserve a life where their every move it regulate, determined, decided for them?

What choices is your horse able to make for himself on a daily basis?

Does your horse deserve to be locked in a box for more hours that he is out,  without having the basic needs of being in an open space, able to move at free will, hang out with other equines, nibble at forage, meet around water and, as a super bonus, be able to choose to lay down in a different place that he has to poo? (Bad news: Stable Stain Removals products would go out out business!)

For those of you that care about meeting these needs as best as possible, this is for you:

Stop paying for your horses to be living in sub-par conditions.  These places only exist because we pay for them to exist.  Get informed, be convinced and then go choose wisely for your horse.  Support the livery places that that do their best to meet the basic needs of horses.  The places where the horses are allowed out with other horses, at the very least, most of the day!  The places that give priority to making sure the horses that arrive are there for the long run to create a more stable (not stabled!) environment for your horse.

They might not have the best arena, or the best “human facilities”… but are you prepared to go without so that your horse can have what it needs?

The next time time you are out there looking for a place to keep your horse – do your horse a favour: make sure you send him somewhere where his most basic needs are met.

Good places for horses exist… go find them, then let others know where they are and take care of the people that run them!  Make it worth their while.  They, too, have bills to pay and groceries to buy!

As long as we don’t “think outside the box” and keep paying top dollar to keep a horse “inside a box”, more stabled horses will continue to live less that optimal lives.

Let’s Stand up for our Horses,  “Think Outside the Box” and make the domestic world more tolerable for our beloved horses. 

Before I close off:  a big shout out to those of you that have taken that extra step, that do drive the extra mile (or 200), that do go out of their way and do take the big leap of deciding to trust their horse knows  how to be a horse and sets them free.  I know many of you.  I see you.  I honour you!  I thank you in the name of your horses.

Stay soft,

The Southern Grey Mare

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