As horse owners we have certain responsibilities, these are stated in various guidance documents available from (for example) the Horse Sport Ireland website or the Farm Animal Welfare Advisory Council. This Guidance documents are based up on the 5 Freedoms:

1. Freedom from thirst, hunger and malnutrition
2. Freedom from discomfort
3. Freedom from pain, injury and disease
4. Freedom to express normal patterns of behaviour
5. Freedom from fear and distress

All of these are a minimum requirement we as horse owners need to address and comply to when keeping horses (or any animal for that matter). However, I find point No. 4 very much open to interpretation. And this is the one I would like to take a closer look at in this write up.

I am in contact with horses since I was 6 years old though my older sister, and I started riding at a local riding school at the age of 10, this is 30 years ago. At that time the school ponies in that riding school were kept in tie up stalls. Meaning they were tied up with a rope to the wall long enough to lye down, but they could not turn around in these stalls! The only exercise they got was when they were ridden for the riding lessons. Back then as a child I saw nothing wrong with that as it was common practice.

Since then, the method on how we keep our horses has come a long way, but there is still no laws in place in relation to turn out of our horses or what the minimum is a horse owner need to comply with when owning horses. The ANIMAL HEALTH AND WELFARE ACT 2013 states: “A person who has a protected animal in his or her possession or under his or her control shall, having regard to the animal’s nature, type, species, breed, development, adaptation, domestication, physiological and behavioral needs and environment…” this again is very much open to individual interpretation. 

What do you think is the minimum we need to offer our horses?

Is 1-2 hours turnout and exercise enough?

Should all horse live in a large herd with access to 24/7 hay or grass?

Is a Paddock box (stable with balcony) enough?

Here is my opinion:

It is not that easy to say one option fits all! You probably would have thought I say herd life and out 24/7 out is what I would void for, but to be honest that does not work for all horse I have found over the years.

However, keeping a horse 23 hr of the day in a stable to just pull them out to get exercised is never enough, in this case the horse would not be allowed to “express normal patterns of behaviour”!

I believe 4 hr per day in a paddock area where the horse is able to walk/trot and canter freely together with at least one other horse is the minimum we should allow our horses. This would not include the hour of exercising the horse. And I mean this should be the absolute minimum!

I am loving the new methods of activity stable or track livery and it is great to see this become more comment here in Ireland as well, but be aware it is not just as easy as changing your horses method of keeping them from one day to another, horses that have not received proper social contact with other horses since their where young (1-3) could find it difficult to fit in suddenly into a larger herd, some struggle with the social rules a herd life has and could end up being bullied. 

Some horses don’t find proper rest in a herd and could lose condition and become stressed, these horses might be better of in a stable at night-time and out in a small group with other horse during the day.

Mixed herds can also cause friction and it might be considered to have all gelding or all mare groups.

In Germany there is a regulation every livery yard needs to comply with and that is to make everyday turnout available for all horses, meaning if they don’t want to wreck their summer fields, they need to provide all weather paddock, but it is down to the customer/horse owner to avail of this. So just because the owner of the stable is providing turn out opportunities does not mean all the horses stable in the yard come out every day. 

In Germany the FN has a guidance document stating that a minimum of 2 hr out of the stable needs to be provided to the horse if the horse is free of injury. But there is no way of monitoring something like this.

I believe rules and regulations are great, but in the end, it should be the love to the animal that should make us horse owners what to give our horses to best life we can and take care of their individual needs!

How do you keep your horses? And do you think your horse can “express normal patterns of behaviour” in his environment?