03/25/2026
A peer-reviewed pilot study published in Animal (Elsevier, 2026) is the first to investigate whether active stable housing influences fear responses and human oriented behaviour in horses, relative to traditional individual box stabling.
Growing awareness of equine behavioural needs has led to increasing adoption of the 3Fs welfare framework, centred on Friends, Forage, and Freedom of movement.
Active stables, characterised by automatic feeding systems, distributed resources, and unrestricted movement across shared space, represent a structured attempt to meet these needs within a managed environment.
Despite this, the behavioural implications of such housing, particularly with regard to manageability and fear reactivity, had not previously been examined empirically.
The study tested 46 horses across two facilities, 24 housed in an active stable in the Czech Republic and 22 in a traditional box stable at a riding school in Poland, using a standardised battery of fear and handling assessments including a tarpaulin bridge test, static and mobile novel object tests, a human approach test, and a Qualitative Behaviour Assessment based on the validated AWIN protocol.
Horses from the active stable were faster to engage with novel stimuli and to re-engage following a startle event.
Traditional-stable horses showed notably greater handler-seeking behaviour when confronted with potentially threatening stimuli, which the authors identify as a meaningful indicator of fearfulness in handling contexts.
No horse from either group avoided the approaching experimenter, a finding that challenges the assumption that reduced daily human contact leads to increased avoidance of people.
The innate startle response did not differ between housing groups, consistent with established understanding that immediate fear reactivity reflects temperament and is largely resistant to environmental influence.
Age and ridden workload also moderated responses, with older horses and those subject to higher workloads showing greater hesitancy upon re-engagement, a pattern consistent with both developmental changes in curiosity and learned avoidance associated with inconsistent handling.
The study concludes that active stabling does not diminish innate fearfulness but appears to support greater calmness, curiosity, and cooperative behaviour, qualities the authors identify as stronger predictors of safe and manageable horses than fear reactivity alone.
Given the pilot scope of the research, the authors call for larger, controlled replication before definitive conclusions can be drawn.
📖 Jastrzębska et al. (2026). "Do active stables affect the response to novelty and attitude toward humans in horses? A pilot study." Animal. DOI: 10.1016/j.animal.2026.101797
