equine
Stable Life
Kathie Gregory outlines the impact on horses of being stabled for the majority of the time,
whether alone or in groups, and the potential issues that arise when they are unable to
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engage in species-specific behaviors
roviding a stable as the main living space has become a natural way for many people to keep horses these days and while some people keep horses in large groups that still have the freedom to move as they wish within their environment, many horses do end up spending very long periods of the day in a stable. While keeping horses alone in a stable might be commonplace, if we look at this from the perspective of say a cat or a dog, horses that are stabled in this way are essentially living in the equivalent of a kennel or cattery. While this is an acceptable short-term solution for some cats and dogs when their owners go away on holiday, for example, it is less so for those in long-term situations, such as those in rescue. Within the pet industry, there is increasing awareness amongst professionals of the impact short- and long-term stays may have on cats and dogs. As such, good establishments provide both mental and physical stimulation, incorporating extra enrichment activities and plenty of exercise opportunities to compensate for each individual animal’s small living area and the changes to their usual routines. By the same token, those in long-term stays will have more strategies put in place to compensate for their circumstances. In the equine world, I would say it is widely accepted that a horse may live the majority of his life in a stable, and, in my opinion, there is far less awareness concerning the impact this may have on his wellbeing. People may consider it “normal” for a horse to spend most of his time in the stable and only be brought out to do his job or to be given specific exercise subject to people’s requirements. Broadly speaking, there is far less focus on the impact of horses living in containment, compared to cats and dogs, and often there is no awareness of, or compensating for, the lack of meeting basic needs, let alone considerations for enrichment. Of course, this is a generalization and some people put in a huge amount of time and effort to alleviate the impact if their horse has to spend most of his time in a stable. There are also establishments where horses get to live in groups in a stable. However, the way our relationship with horses has developed since domestication, in many cultures and professions, often no one really questions or analyzes what it actually means for a horse to live out his life in a stable. We must also remember that the physiology and psychology of the horse have not changed through domestication. In other words, despite however many generations of horses have only known stable life, the species has not adapted for this circumstance. This can result in various physiological and psychological issues and consequences for the individual horse.
There are numerous studies on the adverse effects of keeping horses in isolation. Horses are a social species and form complex relationships and need friendships. Depending on the management system employed, stabled horses may have little or no opportunities to interact and form friendships, thus may become lonely. 46
BARKS from the Guild/May 2019
© Can Stock Photo/Zuzule
Horses are tactile, herd animals who rely on each other for safety; being separated from their group can cause stress and feelings of vulnerability
The Impact of Long-Term Stabling
Let’s, then, take a look at the impact stable life has on the horse:
#1. It takes away the horse’s ability to roam: The equine species has evolved to live on open grasslands. They are active for much of the time, wandering as they graze, and engaging in locomotory activities. Horses need to move about. They have a motivational need to do so, and naturally they can cover vast areas each day. The stabled horse “may be protected from predation provided with sufficient food and sheltered from climatic extremes but may not realize that these environmental challenges have been controlled.” (Cooper & Albentosa, 2005).
#2. It takes away the horse’s ability to graze and eat a natural diet: Feeding behavior occupies “roughly half of the daily time budget of feral horses and usually entails grazing…Also, horses move as they graze; therefore, as long as the horse is feeding while he is moving, it should be considered as feeding rather than locomotion.” (Ransom & Cade, 2009). There has been no evolutionary change resulting from domestication, so the horse needs to eat a diet of complex plant materials high in fiber and rich in cellulose, requiring extensive fermentation. The horse’s digestive system is designed to have a constant trickle of food passing through it, and in order to achieve this, horses need constant access to food so they are able to graze. Stabled horses often have some or most of their diet in the form of concentrated feed which is designed to provide adequate nutritional needs by way of individual meals, but the horse is not designed to eat meals several hours apart. The problem is alleviated somewhat if ad hoc