Mockingbird Hill Stables

21/05/2025

I will ALWAYS choose turn out over stall here. (Unless medically necessary)

🌾 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.

28/04/2025

We would like to send out a huge Thank you to Wolf Creek Equine. Our farm had the annual Vaccine & Dental day yesterday. To say it went smoothly would be an understatement. It was an absolute amazing enjoyable day. Was great to meet the new vet on the team Dr Larkin, she’s Amazing! Awesome assistant Dana, we all just love her! Outstanding work by Morteci on all the dentals, he’s an absolute joy. Dr Mende was able to stop by for a pizza break during her busy day to share some great news 💪 and show off her new ride! She’s THE BEST EVER! Every boarder had nothing but great things to say and how happy they all were about how the day ran so smoothly with 13 horses done. I am one proud barn manager of all our excellent behaved horses and great boarders.

10/03/2025

If anyone knows of a good boarder that wants to get to Pasadena. The co-op barn next to us has a spot for one boarder available. I know I am always receiving messages about boarding because people want to get to Pasadena. Well here is a rare opening. It is Co-op so call to inquire on details.

07/01/2025

Snow Day! I didn’t get many pics since I was doing all the work. 😆 But all horses did great. Oh and the kittens loved the snow!

05/01/2025

Can’t wait! 😩

23/12/2024

Merry Christmas from the 13 reasons I wake up every morning and head back out at night 2x365 unless I pop a disc! 😂

13/12/2024

Happy National Horse Day!!

09/12/2024

Just watch me! 🥶

27/11/2024

All 3 boys laying in the sun this morning. This makes me so happy! RJ is being a very good boy to Sylvester & Arnold.

27/11/2024

Feed them the salt! Everyone receives salt daily at both feedings, loose with their feed. It’s so simple and less than $9 for a 50lb bag!

Not just a grain of salt – why is it so important to add salt to your horse’s diet?

By now, I am sure many of you are aware that it is important to provide adequate salt to your horse or herd. But why is this specific nutrient so vital to their health? First, I want to cover the physiological role of salt and what it does in the body, and then we will discuss the best ways to add it to the diet!

When I was teaching Anatomy and Physiology to pre-vet students, we talked a lot about ions in the body including sodium, chloride, calcium, and potassium. These ions are present in bodily fluids and need to be available in appropriate amounts to maintain proper neuronal signaling, muscle contractions, transport, and digestion, among other important physiological processes. Additionally, these ions play a critical role in the fluid balance of the body specifically related to thirst, sweat, and urination. Considering salt is 40% sodium and 60% chloride, it provides two of these important ions that allow these functions to take place.

One of the most helpful ways I have found to explain the physiological role of salt is with the saying, “Water follows salt.” Let's simplify the physiological process that accompany this relationship:

💧 Increased salt consumption in the diet increases the thirst response and thus we drink more water and can become more hydrated.

💧 When we sweat, we not only lose water but other electrolytes, with sodium and chloride being the main culprits that contribute to the composition of sweat. This is because sodium is needed to facilitate the loss of water when we sweat and thus needs to be replenished in addition to water during exercise.

💧 Decreased salt intake encourages our bodies to retain the salt we already have. To do this, our kidneys decrease salt in the urine which subsequently decreases the amount of the water in the urine. This is because our body needs to tightly regulate the balance between ions (such as sodium) and the bodily fluids they reside in for many physiological processes to occur The result is a much more concentrated urine which is why you may hear yellow urine (which is more concentrated) is a sign of dehydration while a more clear urine suggests we are more hydrated.

So how is this connected to supplying salt in the diet? Unfortunately, salt will not be found in adequate amounts in most forages or horse feeds. While many commercially manufactured feeds provide adequate vitamins and minerals for horses when fed at the appropriate feeding rate, the exception here is sodium. This decision is intentional as sodium in a feed has been shown to reduce palatability. As a result, we as horse owners must add salt to the diet to ensure our horses meet their requirements.

This is an important feeding habit because when salt is consumed, the water will follow due to an increased thirst response. A hydrated state is critical in maintaining gut motility, which is the movement of feedstuff throughout the GI tract. Gut motility is very important to prevent digestive upset including conditions such as colic. Additionally, salt, water, and other electrolytes, are lost in the sweat of a hot or exercising animal. Providing salt in their diet encourages them to drink and replenish water and electrolytes lost during this process.

So how can we provide adequate salt to the horse? When I am in the field, I most frequently see salt blocks placed in the living areas of the horse. Unfortunately, these blocks were designed for other livestock and horses’ tongues are typically not rough enough to consume adequate amounts of salt from a block on a daily basis. While I still provide these blocks for my horses to allow voluntary intake, I also choose to top dress salt on their daily feed at a rate of 2 tablespoons (~30 grams) per 1,000-lb horse per day. This is often enough to meet sodium requirements of an average horse that is not in intense work.

What about the other forms of salt? I choose to feed my horses a loose iodized salt and you can often get a big bag of livestock salt at your local feed store! I choose iodized salt as iodine is an important nutrient that is not included on common forage analyses and can often be deficient in the diet (for humans as well which is why it was added to salt in the first place). The amount of iodine present in the salt is not enough to cause a toxicity but can help ensure your horse has adequate amounts of the nutrient.

Another common option I get asked about is Himalayan salt. While there may be some great claims on the label, this product is still 98% salt (with a few extra minerals) and often much more expensive. So if your horse is bougie or you want to create a certain ‘vibe’ in their stall, go for it! But it is by no means better or necessary to use Himalayan salts when compared to your average salt product. This is similar to the colored mineral blocks at many feed stores, which are essentially just pretty salt blocks. While they are not harmful, they can be misleading as they will not supply adequate minerals to the horse, such as zinc and copper, and therefore cannot replace certain feeds in the diet.

But while we may have favorites, feeding horses is just as much of an art as it is a science, and the main goal is to ensure the horse is consuming adequate amounts of sodium. As Dr. Rachel Mottet says, “The best kind of salt is the one your horse will eat!” If that means you have to provide Himalayan salt, go for it! But as always, consult with your equine nutritionist or veterinarian if you have any questions about your specific situation.

Happy Holidays!
Dr. DeBoer

25/11/2024

The boys have been released and are thoroughly enjoying barn life!

10/11/2024

Today we welcomed 2 new mouse assassins to the barn. 5 month old brothers. It fell into place just right for them to come live on the farm. They will have to live in the cat condo for a few weeks to become accustomed to barn life. So far they are seeming very content and interested in everything that goes on in the barn. Sylvester & Arnold are their names currently unless something changes.