05/21/2025
Interesting read! There are many benefits to having turnout for your horses.
🌾 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞? 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉 𝑻𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝑼𝒔 𝑨𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝑯𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝑻𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆
Every day, we make choices for our horses—what to feed, when to ride, and where they spend their time.
Some horses sleep in stalls with soft bedding and controlled routines, while others spend their days under open skies, moving, and interacting with a herd.
Both options come with good intentions. Both reflect care.
But beyond tradition and habit, what does research reveal about how these choices affect our horses—inside and out? The answers go deeper than you might think.
🦴 𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐞
Research has found that stalling—even over short periods of time—can lead to a loss of bone mineral content and increased bone resorption (loss) compared to horses with pasture access, regardless of age.
📚 Hoekstra et al., 1999; Logan et al., 2019
🏇 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠
A study evaluating 2-year-old Arabians beginning training found that pastured horses adapted to training quicker, required less time to reach training objectives, and had fewer undesirable behaviors under saddle compared to stalled horses.
📚 Rivera et al., 2002
💪 𝐅𝐢𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬
When comparing pastured horses to those stalled with and without exercise, the stalled horses without exercise lost fitness, while the pastured and exercised horses maintained their fitness.
📚 Graham-Thiers and Bowen., 2013
🧠 𝐁𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐬
When weanlings housed in paddocks or stalls were compared, paddock-housed weanlings had time budgets similar to feral horses, while stall-housed weanlings displayed more aberrant behaviors, including licking, chewing, pawing, bucking, and rearing.
📚 Heleski et al., 2002
🔁 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐨𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐬
Horses were more likely to develop stereotypies—such as pawing, weaving, wall kicking, cribbing, and prancing—when stabled or housed in a corral compared to those kept on pastures.
📚 Kádár et al., 2023
🦠 𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞
Horses moved into single-housing experienced a decrease in white blood cells, indicating that social isolation is a stressor that can weaken immune function.
📚 Schmucker et al., 2023
🤕 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡
In a study of 327 horses in Sweden, stall-kept horses had higher incidences of respiratory problems, colic, and skin injuries compared to group-housed horses.
📚 Yngvesson et al., 2019
💡 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬
We all want what’s best for our horses—but when it comes to choosing between stalling and pasturing, the science offers a clear perspective: 𝑯𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆, 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒛𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕—𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒔.
At the end of the day, stalls offer us convenience, structure, and control—but they were built for our lives, not theirs.
This isn’t about blame. It’s about awareness and reflection.
I will update to add that as with any managerment practice, there are always exceptions. While turnout is generally healthier for most horses, some individuals may require stall time due to medical needs, safety concerns, or management of specific conditions. Good horsemanship means recognizing and adapting to the unique needs of each horse.
𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞?
𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒊𝒇 𝒘𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈?
— Dr. DeBoer
Hoekstra KE, Nielsen BD, Orth MW, Rosenstein DS, Ii HS, Shelle JE. Comparison of bone mineral content and biochemical markers of bone metabolism in stall‐vs. pasture‐reared horses. Equine Veterinary Journal. 1999 Jul;31(S30):601-4.
Logan AA, Nielsen BD, Sehl R, Jones E, Robison CI, Pease AP. Short-term stall housing of horses results in changes of markers of bone metabolism. Comparative Exercise Physiology. 2019 Oct 9;15(4):283-90.
Rivera E, Benjamin S, Nielsen B, Shelle J, Zanella AJ. Behavioral and physiological responses of horses to initial training: the comparison between pastured versus stalled horses. Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 2002 Sep 10;78(2-4):235-52.
Graham-Thiers PM, Bowen LK. Improved ability to maintain fitness in horses during large pasture turnout. Journal of equine veterinary science. 2013 Aug 1;33(8):581-5.
Heleski CR, Shelle AC, Nielsen BD, Zanella AJ. Influence of housing on weanling horse behavior and subsequent welfare. Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 2002 Sep 10;78(2-4):291-302.
Kádár R, Maros K, Drégelyi Z, Szedenik Á, Lukácsi A, Pesti A, Besenyei M, Egri B. Incidence of compulsive behavior (stereotypies/abnormal repetitive behaviors) in populations of sport and race horses in Hungary. Journal of Veterinary Behavior. 2023 Mar 1;61:37-49.
Schmucker S, Preisler V, Marr I, Krüger K, Stefanski V. Single housing but not changes in group composition causes stress-related immunomodulations in horses. PLoS One. 2022 Aug 17;17(8):e0272445.
Yngvesson J, Rey Torres JC, Lindholm J, Pättiniemi A, Andersson P, Sassner H. Health and body conditions of riding school horses housed in groups or kept in conventional tie-stall/box housing. Animals. 2019 Feb 26;9(3):73.
