Maximizing Turnout For Our Horses
It has become increasingly common to see horses spending most, if not all, of their time confined to their stalls. Horses, who were designed to be walking, foraging, and socializing 24/7, are now spending their lives isolated in their stalls with little to no interaction with other horses, given no freedom to wander, and often going hours without forage.
There are many reasons why one might find it necessary to stall their horse for a period of time – weather, metabolic issues, and fear of injury are reasons I hear frequently.
My goal is to breakdown these common reasons for stalling, educate on the negative impacts of prolonged confinement, and provide alternative options to increase the time your horse can stay outside.
Weather
Some horses do not have adequate shelter in their fields or cannot protect themselves from the elements due to being body clipped, age, or other health conditions. In that case, short term stalling may be necessary. However, the bottom line is that most horses are perfectly capable of being outside in all weather conditions, especially when some sort of shelter is provided so that they can escape the wind, rain, and intense sun.
While I know it’s temping to start stalling your horse as soon as the weather becomes undesirable to us humans, I encourage everyone to pause and listen to you horse instead. If they are healthy, have food, water, and shelter they are likely just fine staying outside with their friends. It comes down to knowing your horse, their health, their shelter availability, and being informed and educated so that you can make the best decision for your horse.
Metabolic horses
Metabolic issues are something I am very familiar with living in the southeast where we often have an abundance of rich grass, sometimes all year around. In order to keep your metabolic horses happy and healthy, it is important to limit their availability to the short, rich, green grass. Sometimes it may seem like stalling your metabolic horses is the only option; however, there are a few options we can consider to prolong the amount of time our metabolic horses can spend outside
1. Grazing muzzle
Grazing muzzles can be a great option for metabolic horses. While it may appear to be “sad” or “unfair” to put a grazing muzzle on a horse, it is a wonderful way to allow your horse to remain outside while limiting the risk of metabolic flares. The grazing muzzles allow them to drink and to eat the longer blades of grass (which contain the least amount of sugar), while limiting their access to the short grasses (containing the most sugar). Below are links to a couple different types of grazing muzzles.
The GreenGuard grazing muzzle
The Tough 1 Easy Breathe grazing muzzle is a basic, affordable option.
The Thin Line grazing muzzle was designed to be lightweight and have greater airflow for your horse. I personally own this one and while I do like the design, I have had a difficult time fitting it for my pony.
The GreenGuard grazing muzzle is considered one of the most comfortable and lightweight muzzles on the market. The design is also made to be a bit more restrictive than other muzzles.
2. Dry lot
Another option for metabolic horses is to create a dry lot – a dirt paddock with no access to grass. This option allows you to have full control over your horses diet while eliminating their risk of a metabolic flare up due to grass. However it is imperative to ensure that your horse still has access to some sort of forage for their time in the dry lot. A round bale, several hay nets, or a slow feeder could be good options for this type of set up.
Paddock Paradise Track System. Image: Total Contact Equine Solutions
3. Track system
A track system is a paddock designed to increase physical activity, limit access to rich grasses, while also preserving your pastures and prevent over grazing. The basic set up is to put up additional fencing to form an alleyway along the perimeter of your fence — wide enough to allow horses to safely move around and within, but narrow enough to encourage them to continuously move. Hay and other enrichment are placed along the track to ensure horses still have abundant forage opportunities and encourage them to keep moving. I will attach a link here to read more and find additional resources.
Image: AdobeStock
Fear of injury
Another common excuse I hear for limiting or not allowing turnout is fear of horses injuring themselves. This reason in particular puts human desire first and blatantly ignores basic equine needs. Horses don’t have the need to be show horses or compete… these are all human desires and expectations. Is it really fair for us to expect so much of our horses and risk injury during performance while depriving them of their basic needs and desires as grazing, herd animals?
Limiting turnout also means limiting physical activity, which has shown to pose its own risks. One study done by Hoekstra, K.E. et.al showed that yearling and 2-year-old horses who were stalled without access to free exercise had impaired normal bone development compared to horses maintained on pasture. Therefore, horses without access to pasture needed modified training plans (1999). Prolonged stalling can also lead to undesirable behaviors such as cribbing, weaving, and wood chewing– all of which are coping mechanisms for horses that are kept in inadequate environments. Stalling horses for extended periods of time also increases their risk of colic. A study at the University of Nottingham showed that when horses are stalled their intestinal and gut movement significantly lowers. The researchers noted that low level exercise and fluid intake from pasture forage is an important factor in preventing colic.
A Hay Ball is a great way to provide forage while keeping your horse occupied. Image: Horses and Heels
If you must stall – increase enrichment
There are situations when stalling is necessary. When this is the case, there are adjustments we can make to ensure that the stall is a less isolating and more enriching environment for our horses.
Here are a few options:
1. Hay
Providing constant access to quality hay is a must for our horses while they are stalled. Horses who have to go hours without access to forage may develop digestive upset, ulcers, and/ or colic. Using a slow feeder will help reduce waste while managing intake and ensuring your horse can stay munching on hay during their time in the stall.
2. Adjust stall for maximum interaction with others
There are hundreds of different stall set ups for horses, some more ideal than others. For horses that will be stalled for long periods of times I would recommend providing them with a stall that is very open and airy and provides them as much interaction with other horses as possible. Taking boards down between adjacent stalls to allow the horses to touch and interact would be ideal. Using a stall guard rather than closing a big wooden stall door would be a great way to allow them to hang out in more of the “action” of the barn.
3. Interactive toys
The Hay Ball is a great option for keeping your horse occupied and proving additional forage options for their time in their stalls! Click here to view.
Interactive treat dispensers such as The Amazing Graze or the Snak-A-Ball are other options to keep your horse moving around their stall, mimicking a natural grazing position, while receiving reward. Fill the snack ball with healthy, low sugar snacks.
Stalls have their place and function in many barns and I am not here to say that any stalling is bad. My goal is to discuss common reasons for stalling, educate owners on the negative impacts of prolonged confinement, and provide alternative options.
I like to believe that we are all doing our best with the knowledge that we have. I encourage everyone to educate yourselves on basic equine needs, and try to provide your horse with the most natural life possible.