Keeping Your Horse in a Stable

Most people prefer to keep their horse in a stable.

Stables don’t have to be fancy; you can easily convert an old garage or an old gardening shed to a small stable if you want to keep your horse on your property.

Whether you keep your horse in a stable that you have on your property or you keep your horse in a boarding stable, there are some general guidelines that you should always follow when keeping your horse in a stable.

There are lots of different kinds of stalls but no matter what the design of the stall is you need to make sure that there are no gaps in the stall that a horse could get a hoof or a leg stuck in.

Horses will sometimes kick or bang at their stall walls and if there are any gaps anywhere in the walls or door of the stall, a horse could get stuck and could get seriously injured.

A standard horse stall is about twelve feet by twelve feet. If you are building a barn for your horse make sure that the stalls are at least that large and if you’re going to keep your horse in a boarding stable you should bring a tape measure when you go to visit the stable to make sure that the stalls are at least twelve by twelve. Most horses will not feel comfortable in a stall that is smaller than that.

Horses that are being kept in stables will need access to clean water at all times so a water bucket should be hung in the stall in a place that is easily accessible.

Buckets should always be hung up so that the horse doesn’t tip them over. If you are going to feed your horse grain then you will need to put a feed bucket in the stall and that also should be hung up.

Horses kept indoors also will need salt blocks or salt licks so that they can get the extra minerals that they need to stay healthy. A salt block placed in the grain bucket is usually fine, although you can install a special salt block holder in the corner of the stall if you want.

Horses kept in stables can develop behavioral problems if they are not exercised every day or if they don’t get enough interaction with people or other horses. Horses are social creatures and they need company.

Horses can become “barn sour” when they are kept isolated or if they are bored and may start displaying bad behaviors like biting at people or other horses, cribbing, pacing, or kicking.

A good way to give your horse the social time it needs and also give it some fresh air is to have the horse turned out for part of the day and kept in the barn for part of the day.

Most boarding stables will turn your horse out every day for an extra fee so that the horse can spend time outside with other horses. If you won’t be able to ride your horse every day, it’s worth paying the extra fee to have your horse turned out every day.