Benefits to horses from stalling at night?

[fordtraktor]

To add to this, I have a sensitive yearling I recently took along to a horse show. He had been brought in to a stall for more than a month ahead of time because I know change is hard for him. I also put him on Ulcerguard.

He still wasn’t very happy in a stall at the show!

This, and he lost like 50 lbs. This was on the third day…sigh.

So much of it is individual temperament. His yearling buddy has an easy temperament, and he settled right in and acted like he’d been showing since birth.

Both will be great horses, but mine will require a lot more time to get the same level of relaxation. It is what it is.

(No horses were injured as a result of this stupidity!). And he was really good on his walks with his buddy, loaded a dream. It was overall a good experience for him, but it was completely nerve-wracking.

[Montanas_Girl]

Poor little guy! @fordtraktor, I bet he would have been much less anxious in a stall where he could see out/the other horses (like the one in my photo) than in those solid walls. I’ve had even experienced campaigners become nervous wrecks when they were stalled where they couldn’t see other horses.

[fordtraktor]

@Montanas_Girl

Poor little guy! @fordtraktor, I bet he would have been much less anxious in a stall where he could see out/the other horses (like the one in my photo) than in those solid walls. I’ve had even experienced campaigners become nervous wrecks when they were stalled where they couldn’t see other horses

I totally agree. He spent so much time rearing and peering over the stalls on every side! I couldn’t trust him with a stall guard, that would have helped too. Luckily the show was in front of us so he could at least see other horses. I was so pleased he let me handle him even though I knew he was having a difficult time. I was even able to give him 2 baths, and graze some by himself. He grew up a lot during those 4 days! Even if it was stressful for us both.

[fivestrideline]

Yep, I’ve had both types! One that was a nervous wreck in ANY stall until we started stalling at home on the regular, and plenty who surprisingly never cared. Or, only cared when you took their trailer friend away (despite them being strangers before loading up ).

Sometimes all the homework in the world doesn’t translate, and you just have to take the horse to shows for a while. This is why there’s no One Size Fits All!

[fordtraktor]

@fivestrideline

Sometimes all the homework in the world doesn’t translate, and you just have to take the horse to shows for a while. This is why there’s no One Size Fits All!

Precisely. My older (9) show horse lives outside 24/7 and loves shows. At home I care for 15 and have a job, at shows I have so much time to dote on him!

I do think it is important to know which kind of horse you have. If I hadn’t done the pre-work on this baby, he might have been truly frantic and injured himself.

I have a new FEI boarder who is 12 and has never been turned out. !!! He loves it when conditions are good, but I don’t yet leave him out in the fields with others unless someone is around to watch him. I have a little medical-type paddock I put him in solo when the weather is good, or he goes in the stall. He doesn’t know how to horse and annoys the others, then they will chase him. He’ll figure it out with time, but until then we are handholding him. He’s a sweetie and will learn. It takes time.

[candyappy]

I don’t see any benefits to stalling horses overnight unless they need to eat more away from the others or for certain health reasons.

I do know that some horses feel safer, eat better and are happier in a stall overnight ( or during the day) so if you have one of those horses why not use the stall.

[Peggy]

Grady used to do a sort-of meerkat move where he’d stand on his hind legs and peer over the stall walls. When I had him at the training barn where stalls were the “only” option I moved him around until I found a stall where he was better—could see friends but away from the cross ties.

Now he lives out 24/7. No issues at shows. Less herd bound in general though there’s still a bit in there.

I see no reason to stable a horse overnight unless that’s what’s available or the horse is better or there’s a lot of mud or something.

This is him at home yesterday: four hours earlier he was in the show ring and then trailered home.

[Painted_Magic]

I agree that it really depends on the horse and the situation. I keep my horse in at night because he has a history of getting out of fencing at night and he doesn’t tend to mess with the fence during the day. It doesn’t matter what kind of fencing it is either. He can pretty much get out of anything. In the summer I also like that being in a stall at night limits his access to grass.

[MorganMaresVT]

Not to hijack, but I’ve been looking for training strategies to help a stall-resistant horse relax and not act like a danger to self and others when even short periods of stalling are required (e.g., routine vet appt). I’ve had several horses born, raised, and kept on large pastures in a herd, and trying to get them to accept being in stalls is one of the most stressful experiences I’ve been through. I’ve generally gotten them to where they can sort of tolerate it, but being comfortable enough to eat and lay down-definitely not.

[Simkie]

@MorganMaresVT

I’ve been looking for training strategies to help a stall-resistant horse relax and not act like a danger to self and others when even short periods of stalling are required

Drugs.

Or routine. Bringing them in every day makes a huge difference.

[ParadoxFarm]

@Simkie

Having a routine where they’re handled is also helpful in keeping horses that otherwise don’t have much of one from going feral.

Yes, definitely this. It makes a difference. Plus, if you’re not riding them every day, you may not notice a lump or bump if you’re not bringing them in and out. It’s easy to just “eyeball” them in the field and think all is well.

ETA, I also do the stalls during the day in summer because our bugs here are really bad. They get out of the bugs and have fans on them. I think that’s a benefit for my herd.

[George_T_Mule]

@Simkie

Or routine. Bringing them in every day makes a huge difference.

@MorganMaresVT, this is what I would suggest; start bringing them in for the day, or overnight, a couple of times a week. Be sure they have water, and hay, and just let 'em grump.
They will probably kick and bang for awhile, but they’ll get over it, and eventually they will simply resign themselves to waiting to be set free at the end of their sentence. (Be sure you do so consistently.) It shouldn’t take long for this to become the norm, and it probably won’t be much of an issue thereafter.
Or not, but that’s where I would start, anyway :-D.

[GraceLikeRain]

@MorganMaresVT

I’ve had several horses born, raised, and kept on large pastures in a herd, and trying to get them to accept being in stalls is one of the most stressful experiences I’ve been through. I’ve generally gotten them to where they can sort of tolerate it, but being comfortable enough to eat and lay down-definitely not.

I’d break it down into super small components:
Being able to calmly walk partially through the stall entrance, stop, and calmly back
Walk fully through and back
Walk in, turn around, exit
Walk in, turn around, pause, exit
Stand calmly in stall on lead for 1-2 minutes
Calmly stand and eat grain on lead
Calmly eat a flake of hay on lead
Stand calmly while door is closed and then opened
Etc etc

Some of these may be super easy to chain together but I think it’ll identify the stress points. Doing a stacking routine every day can quickly help a horse get to the point where the stall is food and a quiet place to rest.

If they straight tie it can also be helpful to work towards grooming in a stall or tacking so they have the skill of a stall being a safe work space.

[MorganMaresVT]

Thanks all for the suggestions. They make total sense, though are somewhat challenging to implement in my set-up. We do technically have a barn, but it is about 1/4 mile down the road from where the horses live with 24/7 turnout with run-ins. They are fed, groomed, tacked, etc. tied to or inside the run-ins, and it would be tough to re-route our routine to include walking horses up to the barn multiple times a day. I fully understand that this is a “me” problem. I have basically done what @GraceLikeRain suggests, though on a much less regular basis.

I’d ultimately like to take a new mare to shows that would require overnight stalling but we are nowhere close to ready for that.

[Simkie]

@MorganMaresVT

We do technically have a barn, but it is about 1/4 mile down the road from where the horses live with 24/7 turnout with run-ins. They are fed, groomed, tacked, etc. tied to or inside the run-ins, and it would be tough to re-route our routine to include walking horses up to the barn multiple times a day.

I boarded my little herd at a barn where we had this sort of setup, and even bringing them up to the barn for grooming etc several times a week, it was just really hard to have them treat it as anything but “new.” I never did get the one horse settled enough to trim him there without drugs, and they were just always on alert.

If I could’ve had them in every night, they would’ve gotten there, but it wasn’t an option (and it wasn’t really that important at the time, we just dealt with it.)

It’s tough, and I definitely empathize!

[Pico_Banana]

Another benefit to stalling - keeping legs dry. My mare developed really bad scratches over the last couple of days. At least in her stall she’s out of the wet grass.

So not excited about dealing with this.