THE confinement of horses in stables has evolved over centuries to allow our animals to receive individual attention – for example, for the feeding of hard feed and forage without competition, for training, grooming and tacking up. In the case of illness or injury, it provides a safe space for nursing care and the administration of medications.
But horses are a normally free-ranging and highly social species. Confinement in a small space, often for up to 23 hours a day, could be perceived by them as a form of imprisonment. Unsurprisingly, many horses adapt poorly to this situation, and their maladaptation is reflected in various stress responses, such as restlessness, stereotypic behaviour (stable vices), aggression, gastric ulceration and colic.
Much recent research has focused on improving the stable environment for the horse’s physical health and psychological wellbeing. We now know many ways to modify this environment, but it must be accepted that for a normally free-ranging animal, confinement will never replicate the freedom to graze and interact
