Is it ok to keep horse this way?

DragonSlayer said:
What about it? Afraid they might melt in the rain? I'm betting they stick to the same rountine. In during the day, out at night.
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Except OP said:
Horsesgalore said:
It hasn't bothered me much until I found out today that in a month or so they'll be in all the time.
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And reiterated this in a later post

Horsesgalore said:
I'd started worrying about the way they're kept, especially when I was told they will be in those stalls most of the day and all night soon. :(
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And again

Horsesgalore said:
He said they'll be coming in in a month or so, and I asked do they get stables and he said no, they stay in their stalls.

Someone who's been going there longer told me the horses usually get to wander about the farmyard a bit each day, but not go out into the fields during the winter.
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:confused:
 
The op has said that in winter they will be turned out for a leg stretch and ridden once a day, which is as much as some horses in loose boxes get tbh; and considering that there are fewer stereotypical behaviours in stalled horses I don't think that stalling is the evil that some seem to think. In some ways I feel it may well be better for certain horses than isolated stabling.

A surfaced track system would be expensive for the farmer to install and would still leave the ponies wet if they needed to be worked. I think that the majority of horses thrive on routine and providing they have their needs of being fed, watered, exercised with regular turnout and companionship I think they will probably be quite happy.

As I have previously said, I've seen stalled working horses that are apparently very healthy, happy and content.
 
rhino said:
Except OP said:


And reiterated this in a later post



And again




:confused:
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Ah yes, I missed that...apologies, should have gone back to read again, but just sat down from work with a cuppa!

I still don't see the wrong in it. I was brought up with horses in stalls. We offered them water regulalry, and they had hay as well, but NOT a full net all day, just small amounts to keep something in their stomachs.

This way of stabling has been used for 100's of years......are we now to suddenly decide it is wrong?
 
Well we also used to send children up chimneys and cane them in school...

We also used to use the same saddle on all the horses because it was the comfiest to ride in and break them in just by sitting on them one day out of the blue (well that was before my time!).

My grandfather used to keep the cows in these stalls all winter and they had to take it in turns with the neighbouring cow to lie down as there wasn't the space for two. They stayed chained up all winter, day and night and just had the milking machine on them twice daily. Cows are still often kept this way. Is it right?
 
Horses used to be worked HARD, and needed their rest in either a stall or loosebox with concentrated feed in preference to an open field and having to forage for themselves. Horses nowadays are very rarely worked, or even exercised adequately, at all, are overfed huge amounts of highly starchy, sugary food and often have a chronic build up of excess energy which leads to illnessness, uncontrollable excitement.....and frightened riders. That is the diference between "long ago" and nowadays. Different job; different management practices and ideas of what is acceptable.
 
Really???

There are people on here who think it's ok to keep horses in a stall, tied so they cannot turn around, for the winter?

And your reasoning is because we used to keep horses like this 100 years ago (when horses were out working ALL day and had a much shorter lifespan because of their lifestyle)

Wow. Unbelieveable.
 
Oh my lord.....

If the horses are getting exercised, fed, watered and all their needs attended to....then I think they are doing a bit better than some of the poor buggers you see left in a field starving, with not a blade of grass to be seen, or so fat, they can hardly move....
 
foxy1 said:
Really???

There are people on here who think it's ok to keep horses in a stall, tied so they cannot turn around, for the winter?

And your reasoning is because we used to keep horses like this 100 years ago (when horses were out working ALL day and had a much shorter lifespan because of their lifestyle)

Wow. Unbelieveable.
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But they have shiny coats so they must be okay ;)

Personally I wouldn't want my horse kept like this, the same way I wouldn't choose to not turn him out for at least a few hours a day, even if he had a huge stable :)
 
DragonSlayer said:
Oh my lord.....

If the horses are getting exercised, fed, watered and all their needs attended to....then I think they are doing a bit better than some of the poor buggers you see left in a field starving, with not a blade of grass to be seen, or so fat, they can hardly move....
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I don't think anyone is arguing otherwise! Just because it's not the worst way to keep a horse doesn't mean it's the best way either :) I think it is good that people question things and don't automatically accept them just because they are traditional.
 
rhino said:
I don't think anyone is arguing otherwise! Just because it's not the worst way to keep a horse doesn't mean it's the best way either :) I think it is good that people question things and don't automatically accept them just because they are traditional.
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The OP isn't asking "is this the best way?" though, he/she is asking "is it okay?". I think most people would think the method described isn't ideal otherwise most horses would still be kept that way!

What most here seem to be saying is that there's not much evidence to say horses are any less content. The OP can enjoy his/her rides with an easy conscience!
 
FionaM12 said:
The OP isn't asking "is this the best way?" though, he/she is asking "is it okay?". I think most people would think the method described isn't ideal otherwise most horses would still be kept that way!

What most here seem to be saying is that there's not much evidence to say horses are any less content. The OP can enjoy his/her rides with an easy conscience!
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One of the most sensible replies on here I reckon...
 
Mmmmmm, let me think, mentally and physically designed by nature or God to wander about in open spaces in a herd, graze regularly for their complicated digestive system, so I know what's a good idea, lets tie them up inside in a small area on hard ground with no water and chuck some food in now and again, brilliant idea, I'm a uman beeeen, I'm fik as chit arr am..........
 
FionaM12 said:
The OP isn't asking "is this the best way?" though, he/she is asking "is it okay?". I think most people would think the method described isn't ideal otherwise most horses would still be kept that way!

What most here seem to be saying is that there's not much evidence to say horses are any less content. The OP can enjoy his/her rides with an easy conscience!
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I absolutely agree! But I do think the 'oh my lord...' comment was OTT. I'm sure the OP can decide for herself (and with information she has been given) if it is 'ok'; that doesn't mean the discussion that followed is not justified. Just because a horse is not 'at death's door' with neglect doesn't mean improvements can't be made and different opinions given:)
 
rhino said:
I absolutely agree! But I do think the 'oh my lord...' comment was OTT. I'm sure the OP can decide for herself (and with information she has been given) if it is 'ok'; that doesn't mean the discussion that followed is not justified. Just because a horse is not 'at death's door' with neglect doesn't mean improvements can't be made and different opinions given:)
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....and I think the 'Wow. Unbelievable' comment was also OTT. However, we could go round in circles all night, so I'll go with Fionas comment....:D
 
DragonSlayer said:
Oh my lord.....

If the horses are getting exercised, fed, watered and all their needs attended to....then I think they are doing a bit better than some of the poor buggers you see left in a field starving, with not a blade of grass to be seen, or so fat, they can hardly move....
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My thoughts exactly, not ideal but they are obviously cared about & given what they need, and that's much more than a lot of horses get. And not just abroad, for example the Amersham horses *Starved To Death* in what should have been a very comfortable barn system did they not.
 
I think many are also reacting to the opinion that it was 'horrifically cruel' to keep a horse this way, and as the evidence also suggests that loose box stabling can be worse mentally for a horse because of the lack of equine contact, looking at stalling from the horses point of view rather than ours, then perhaps we should all be questioning how happy our stabled horses are?
 
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