Are stables just horse Cages?

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popsicle

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Just being a bit contravertial here!
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I read once of a study. where owners were told to substitute the word stable with CAGE.
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The outcome was that the horse spent much less time in their cage than previously when it was thought of as a stable. Personally i do think the stable is no better than a cage and that 24/7 confinement is cruelty!
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Think rabbits etc, who have little room to move in commercially built cages, but the ratio of animal to cage is probably more than horse to stable. What do others think?
 
my horses are only ever in 24/7 for box rest. they come in in the winter at night and are out all the time any other time so i dont really feel like i confine them unessasarily (sp) i would never keep my horses in 24/7 with no good reason

dunno if i would call in a cage with plenty of room to move about, big comfy bed, loadsa nice hay???
 
If it is a cage and 'unkind' please can you tell me why, even in the middle of summer, my ponies are queing at the gate in the evenings asking to be put in their cages!!!!!
 
Mine are only actually shut in theirs for about 20 mins a day at the most, the rest of the time they are turned out on concrete with access to the stable too, so to them they are definitely a stable. Some rarely go in theirs while one of mine prefers to be inside most of the time.

Similarly I have a dog who has a cage with his bed in - he has never been shut in it yet he chose from a very young age to stay in the cage rather than the rest of the room he had access to. He is still the same 4 years on.
 
Mine agrees he won't stable so he lives out.

But does not mean all horses dislike being stabled.
 
Substitute the word cage with shelter and you would get a different perspective. It could be shelter from bad weather or from hot weather and flies. Ultimately to give them the choice has to be the best option.
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My cages are huge 4.4 mts by 6.6 mts each. fresh air, can see and touch each other, although not american barn style - once had to free a cast horse whos hoof had got caught between the bars- horrific experiance for me, horse and owner. Horses are in for 10 hours a night in the spring and summer, and upto 16 hours in a day in the winter. My old girl "chooses" to be in for 23 1/2 hours in the worst of winter and will just about go out whilst i much out. she stands at the gate and calls and calls and calls till she is allowed back in again with smug look on face. Come a nice day in the summer ~(not too hot, not too many flies, not to wet) and she will stay out for 12 to 14 hours. Her nickname is Hammy the hamster in the winter and Goldilocks in the summer as it has "to be just right".
 
I think aslong as horses are well excercised and go out for a few hours, they do actually quite like their cages!

In the summer mine have a choice wether they want to go in or not, on wednesday in that awful prolonged rain, i filled a big haynet up, and they stayed in virtually all day of their own free will!

I think people who seldom turn out are very mean.
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Interesting study into people and how our minds work but the horses haven't read it
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The ponio I rode in London was such a city boy, had tantrums at the thought of leaving his lovely warm stable to go outside in the rain - I mean, it would have spolit his hairdo
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Personally, I think that you should tailor your management to the horse as an individual but that all horses need time to be horses - which the London pony did get and was happy to get when it was nice weather and he didn't have to worry about frizzy manes and tails
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I suppose they are if you think of it like that, but mine only comes in, in the winter and he walkes in there him self and stands with the door open whilst he has all his rugs changed etc, so im sure he likes it, so im happy.
 
My girl is happy in her cage because she feels safe so she can chill out and there's always a cosy shavings bed and yummy haylage with carrots hidden in it.
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She also likes the field but only for a few hours and not if it's cold or raining.

She's certainly not stupid!
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my fat pony is better in her cage for 8 hours than out 24/7 eating and getting laminitis. so cages are sometimes actually good for them !!
on the other hand other pony with sweet-itch cannot go in his cage as he'll itch so he's confined to an electric fenced cage (paddock)
Jesus Christ horses have come a long way from being able to roam free !!!! unfortunately that's impossible to do these days LOL.

in-fact the native pony shivers when its raining !!!! bless!!
 
Sunny has special grazing privileges at my fabulous yard. YO always tells people that he is on the staff and his jd is keeping the verges down! He is now known as a free range horse lol. The point of this ramble is that when he's having a wander round checking that everything is ok and welcoming any new neds, I leave his stable door open and clipped back. I often find he's boxed himself for a chew on his haynet or a nap or to get out of the sun/rain for a bit. He sees it as his refuge and is a very happy boy. I think some stables can be viewed as cages but not in well run yards that put the welfare of the horse first.
 
I leave my stallion roaming in his paddock with his stable door clipped open and any rain or too hot in he goes to his nice bed and lays down and waits for better weather.
So no i dont see them as cages as some of mine love their stables but then other hate them.
But i do not like the idea of horses being stabled 24/7, as i would not want to be stuck in my house 24/7 and i have plenty to do
 
yes, they are cages.

if you lock any animal into an enclosed space it is a cage by definition.

it doesn't mean i don't do it, but i think people should be realistic and not think of it as a cosy little home if the horse has no choice in it.

mine all live out 24/7 all year round unless they need to come in-
one of mine needs to come in as before i bought him he was conditioned to being stabled in the winter and will weave at the gate if you let him out.

all of the horses i have had since foals are happy out 24/7 including tbs and lightweight types
 
Mine loves his cage to the point you have to drag him out of there hes usually out all summer in at night all winter but flies this summer have mutated into monsters so if its really hot i will put him in all day out all night or he gets eaten alive and is out of hot sun
 
Mine only comes in in winter to get some feed into him or he loses weight, if we were rich or lucky enough to have our own field he would stay out 24/7 rugged accordingly and hay put in the field, I see a stable as a neccesary evil, finer breeds I'm sure enjoy a break from the weather for a "short" while, but at the end of the day and with all the talk of "natural" horesmanship they were designed to be out in the open in a herd not couped up in a stable/cage.
 
My YO's showjumper won't leave his - if you turn him out, he'll jump out of his field (whichever one she tries) and trot back to his stable.

My girls think of it as a cage if they can't see/touch any other horses. We now have a half height wall between their stables and they're v happy to be in together. Especially if it's raining! Pony hides at the back of her stable then (if mummy doesn't see me maybe she won't put me out!!).
 
A stable is another word for a cage for horses, and a cage is something that is sometimes necessary for the management of a domestic animal. A stable/cage sometimes used to confine an animal for longer than is good for the animal.

Got that?
 
Cage or not two of our horses in particular love being in theirs, it's all we can do to fish them out in winter. The others are much happier out full stop.
 
Our neds prefer to be out, but come in over night for various reasons; LL is in for a day and a night and out for a day and a night to manage the laminitis - he'd definately rather be out though. Foalie likes to come and have a snooze on a deep straw bed
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. Dizz would prefer to be out all the time - she definately views a stable as a cage, even thought it's big and airy and she can see and sniff others
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I like to see horses in their stables, all warm and rugged (as applicable), everything nice and tidy, etc. etc. etc., but the horses would rather be out, rolling in mud - so, the horses are all out and covered in mud. Ho hum.
 
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