Do some horses REALLY like to be in a stable the majority of the time?

[springer1021]

One of mine loves being in, she would quite happily stay in 24/7 if I let her. Quite often she is actually scowling and her ears are flat back when you take her out. I'm not on a yard but rent grazing/stabling from a private house so it's not as if she gets bullied by another horse.

 

[humblepie]

I like mine to go out every day for as long as possible but my old horse who was usually very keen to go out, would when it was raining hard fix himself to his haynet as if to say "not here, hiding, not going out today". Didn't work very often.

 

[SS.89]

In summer my TB is more than happy to be out for as long as possible however in the winter he's always out by 8am and come 1/2 pm he's rearing at the gate to come in !! He has no problem even being in on his own but as an ex racer i'd expect him to like the comfort of his stable

SS x

 

[Miss L Toe]

Im not complaining when they do have a natural life - however natural doesnt exist of badly drained too small paddocks with too many horses churning it into a bog etc.

Im not entirely sure what the point about the racing industry was about so il leave that.

So owners that leave their horses out are cruel? Horses living in are far more likely to develop gastric ulcers and stress related behaviours - dont sling stones from a glass house.

You make a good point about the riding, save iv never seen anything race on a loose rein and that horses are sprint animals not long distance which is what racing makes them do.

Do I really think you'd work in an industry where horses get thrashed - well if you work in racing you do, whether they do it at your yard or not - however my point was that life instinct had been thrashed as in schooled/trained out of them from a young age, not beaten with a stick.

I suggest you go to work at a good racing stable, they often employ people who can muck our and handle horses quietly.
I don't suppose they will let you ride out, but you won't see many with gadgets in their mouths, tied down with this that and the other, also you will see they are well fed, very few have ulcers, or crib, most are well handled and well behaved, they don't have all the problems people on here complain about because they are regularly exercised by professional riders.
A few are trained "out of the field", but most are stabled. I would prefer if you read my posts instead of adding your own [extreme ] viewpoints and presenting them as mine.
"Life instincts" is a strange expression, but the instinct of a prey animal is to flee, not to stand still and wait to be eaten.
Predators run fast for a short time, but tend to be outrun by the prey animal in most instances, have a look at some wildlife programs.