Home alone

Can enriching a horse’s stable environment help him cope with indoor life? Andrea Oakes investigates

- Andrea Oakes

WE know that a lifestyle spent largely indoors, and alone, is a long way from what’s natural and healthy for horses. If a stabled horse looks happy and seems well, however, can we assume that he is satisfied with his surroundings?

According to equine behaviour expert Dr Orla Doherty MRCVS, a horse’s outward appearance may not be as revealing as we imagine.

“He may seem absolutely fine – looking over the stable door, apparently interested, with a shiny coat,” she says. “But we should ask ourselves, ‘What must it be like for him?’ Horses have a very high motivational drive to carry out certain behaviours, so denying them the opportunity to do so will have a big impact.”

Horses have evolved to do three things in particular: to eat, move and socialise.

“A horse would naturally spend at least 60% of his day grazing, rising to 90% on sparse pasture,” Orla says. “It is well established in scientific research that a horse would not voluntarily ‘fast’ for more than three to four hours. While we can satisfy his nutritional requirements in concentrated feed, we cannot bypass his instinct to be chewing and swallowing – yet many stabled horses finish their forage by late evening and are not fed again until the next morning.

“Naturally, a horse would be in almost continual locomotion, grazing and stepping forwards,” adds Orla. “He would move in a group and engage in interactions such as mutual grooming, but by stabling a horse we prevent these social behaviours. Ideally, a window or a low wall will allow nose-to-nose interaction; simply seeing a neighbouring horse from 12ft away is not thought to be of much value.”