For me, the worst we humans do to animals is take away their autonomy, their freedom. Stick them in a cage, a crate, a tank, or, in the case of racehorses, a tiny 12×12 stall for the vast majority of their day(s). It is cruelty defined, all the more so for being done to social animals like horses. And, it is profoundly sad.
As part of an ongoing effort to educate the public, I have asked various equine experts to weigh in on confinement. Here are two more (past ones here).
“As a longtime horse owner and equine manager, I believe prolonged stall confinement is inconsistent with a horse’s biological and behavioral needs. Horses evolved to live in herds, graze for 14 to 18 hours each day, and travel many miles across open ground. Restricting these natural behaviors has significant consequences for both physical and psychological health.
“Veterinary research has shown that limited turnout and prolonged confinement reduces normal bone loading and musculoskeletal conditioning, which contributes to weaker bone, tendon, and ligament adaptation and increases the risk of injury in athletic horses. Studies have also linked stall confinement to a higher incidence of gastric ulcers, respiratory disease, and behavioral disorders.
“The mental effects of isolation are equally concerning. Horses are highly social animals who form strong bonds with other horses. Depriving them of companionship and free movement frequently leads to chronic stress and the development of stereotypic behaviors such as cribbing, weaving, stall walking, and wood chewing. These behaviors are widely recognized by equine veterinarians and animal welfare scientists as indicators of compromised welfare. Some horses remain anxious or continue these behaviors long after leaving the racetrack.
“Horses are grazing animals designed to forage almost continuously. Restricting access to forage and confining them to small stalls frustrate natural behaviors and can contribute to digestive disorders, including gastric ulcers and colic. Long-term confinement has also been associated with depression and apathy. While stalls have an important role for medical treatment, injury recovery, or short-term management, they should not be a horse’s permanent living environment.
“In my view, prolonged solitary confinement is an unacceptable management practice. I for one would never choose a boarding facility that failed to provide ample daily turnout, social interaction with other horses, and sufficient pasture. My minimum standard is at least two acres for the first horse and one additional acre for each additional horse, allowing horses the freedom to move, graze, and express the natural behaviors that are essential to their health and welfare.” – Elizabeth Van Dusen
“As a former owner/breeder, I had the opportunity to experience horseracing firsthand. I spent numerous hours in the stable area and met many trainers. I’m no longer involved with racing because I saw so much abuse and realized that I could no longer reconcile being a horse lover with my involvement. Racing is cruel and corrupt. The way these magnificent animals are treated is absolutely appalling.
“Perhaps the most cruel is confining the horses 23 hours a day. Horses are social animals, and I’ve seen the effects of this confinement. Sometimes horses will develop the habit of cribbing. Cribbing happens when a horse will grasp a wooden object (like a stable door) with his teeth. He will then suck in a big gulp of air, causing a grunting sound. Causes of cribbing include stress, boredom, confinement, and lack of social contact. It’s not uncommon to see horses wear away their top teeth, making it difficult to eat rough forage. Cribbers are also prone to colic, an often fatal digestive disorder. I’ve seen horses euthanized because the pain is so excruciating.
“Weaving is another vice caused by confinement. Weaving involves constantly shifting weight from one leg to the other when standing still. This wear and tear can cause painful hoof and joint problems in older horses. Stall kicking is another fairly common problem. The causes are the same as the aforementioned. Broken legs can occur, often resulting in the horse being euthanized. Stall accidents happen more often than many realize.
“Even in the morning workouts, we see the negative consequences of confinement. Recently, a horse threw his rider, started running the wrong way, and collided head-on with another horse. I can’t help but believe that the atypical behavior often seen in morning training is a direct result of the horses being confined for the previous 23 hours.
“Many times these behaviors disappear in a few weeks once the horse is retired and turned out. I know because I’ve seen this with my own. Horses just need to be horses. Racing doesn’t allow this to happen. These beautiful animals deserve nothing less than the opportunity to just be a horse.” – Rick Bowman
There is a highly respected equine ethologist, Lucy Rees, who compares domestic horses who are confined to humans in psychiatric hospitals. Cribbing, weaving, stall walking, self-mutilation, believe it or not, release endorphines—these are self-soothing motions–and are the result of living in constant frustration and deprivation. I highly recommend her YouTube videos—they are very short and very enlightening.
There are studies showing that many horses that crib are also suffering from ulcers. We already know that racing sets horses up for both issues. It’s a vicious cycle.
There is a video on Twitter showing the currently hot race filly, Nitrogen. Sadly, she is just head-bobbing away in her stall. Hopefully some day, if she ever gets to be a horse, she will get over her obsessive habit.
Humanity will be better off when we stop trying to put animals in cages, and people in boxes.
I watched a short video yesterday of a beautiful Thoroughbred gelding racehorse sired by LORD NELSON being offered for sale and I believe retirement from racing. There was a row of stalls with horses in most of them in the background of the video.
There were two different horses that were weaving their heads constantly back and forth and shifting their weight from left to right, right to left, left to right, right to left, left to right, non-stop to infinity. They stand at the door of their stalls with their heads outside wanting to go outside the stall but are confined to endless suffering instead of being turned out to pasture to live a normal life for a horse. It is so disturbing to watch horses weaving and not have the authority to let them out of their solitary confinement!!!!!
The picture above is the epitome of a cheap track or stable. Crummy sawdust or shavings used for bedding. It is well known that horses kept on such types of bedding have a much higher incidence of colic. A local vet here in Oregon discovered that the hard way for his horses & clients. He tried to use sawdust / shavings as bedding for newly foaled out mares with their foals in an attempt to cut labor & bedding costs. He lost several due to colic! When we have foals we allow them to be foaled in a natural herd environment out in the pasture. Better for the foal & the mares. Usually we get notified by the herd when the new member has arrived by a fair amount of neighs & nickers. Of course we don`t force wean them either & don`t manipulate their natural way of being foaled by lights or artificial means. Have had dozens of foals successfully in the past 30 years.