I agree with this. I have worked at barns where no horses were turned out - I was relatively inexperienced at the time, but I would say genuinely that the majority of horses there were perfectly content. On the other end of the spectrum, I have been at barns where horses in turnout were extremely unhappy - largely due to management issues, but regardless I think it cautioned me on blanket statements about what proper conditions are for a horse. I do think well managed turnout improves most horses lives. But having seen horses who seemed perfectly content without turnout, I am hesitant to say that itās persay animal cruelty to not be able to provide consistent turnout.
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I just feel like itās a wild thing to be okay with no turnout!!
I used to be defensive as well when my past gelding was getting turned out 2 hours a day, max. Because it was ābetter than nothingā. When the barn changed ownership to someone who was okay with making urban turnout āworkā, I was able to advocate and get that pushed to 6+ hours out with friends. After seeing how much happier he was, I wonāt settle for anything under 8 hours. Again: just because the horse is otherwise healthy doesnāt mean we canāt advocate for better conditions for our animals.
Also evolution ā domestication. Horses have not evolved or been bred to the extent yet where they can generally tolerate sedentary, solitary lifestyles without repercussion (stress behaviors, ulcers, etc). And as prey animals, itās not apples to apples to cats and dogs anyway. Their brains are literally wired differently. But if we want to make a comparison: I also think itās wrong when people own large, high-energy/working dog breeds when they live in apartments/homes where the only major form of exercise is structured walks.
From a (personal) moral standpoint, I would not feel comfortable owning a horse under those conditions again. We KNOW excessive stalling can cause adverse behaviors like stall walking/pacing and cribbing. I understand that some horses ātolerateā it. But I personally donāt believe itās okay.
Edit: Anyway, this discussion has derailed the topic of the thread. Carry on
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My retired horse is on 24/7 turn-out and my riding horse was on hybrid (he passed in July). I am a huge advocate for getting them out of the stalls and moving. When they moved from being stalled 18 hours a day to the current situation and even in at night out during the day their soundness increased exponentially. My younger one didnāt need injections as often and his back was not sore. He was a big horse so movement is always good. My older one is 10x as sound and if he wasnāt 28 Iād bring him back to work. Heās also become pretty feral 
Plus I didnāt have issues with ulcers.
That all being said I donāt look down on people who cannot provide their horses with this. Because I have access to good turnout itās easy for me to say I never would board my horses anywhere without good turnout but I donāt know if I could not have a horse. My current two (I still count the recently departed) would not do well without.
Back to the original topic. Itās so difficult to find good people to look after horses for the long term. The pay is often very low, the work hard and long. In the long run itāll be the horses that suffer.
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But it brought it back to horses and probably kept it from getting locked, so well done us!
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Iām the hero after all 
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Listen, I donāt think any of these points are wrong. This is the ideal. But unless youāre saying āoutlaw all horse ownership on the west coast plus furthest states to the northā (because let me tell you, thereās enough bad winter weather to limit turnout up there for half the year), then itās a personal choice.
I am of the opinion that good owners listen to their horses. Frequently I see adds that stress a particular horse is opinionated about turnout or even ads seeking to relocate horses who clearly arenāt happy in their current environment. Iāve wanted to go show down south for eons now but my horseās allergies would mean heād be miserable and highly medicated. So weāve stayed put.
That IMO is good ownership and what Iād hope most would be sensitive to. 
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Some breeds/types of horses do better than others in the SW style horsekeeping environment and guessing those breeds/types are very popular out there because they do just fine.
Lets not forget many European imports come over having to be taught how to ādoā turnout.
Just to get back on topic, the option to just stick them in field for at least part pf the day and/or living outside on pasture requires far less barn labor. Without that option, loss of barn workers is more difficult to deal with and those operations are hit harder.
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None of the horses in the barn with no turnout were cribbersā¦I donāt actually think we know that excessive stall time causes cribbing. It definitely exacerbates the issue for serious cribbers, but it does not start a cribbing issue from what I understand.
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This is an interesting thoughtā¦
I boarded for several years at a place with no turn out.
I do not remember any cribbers there. Not even in the lesson string who worked for a living and lived in tie stalls.
(This is not me saying that is optimal horse keeping or anything.)
I was chuckling while I remembered the vet (new to the practice) walking into my barn and saying āoh wow, your stalls are really smallā (I somewhat wonder if she meant to say that outloud). It makes me giggle because, being older than dirt, I remember when 10āx10ā stalls were advertised as a positive feature of a barn. (My horses are basically never closed in those too small stalls.)
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You guys (g) will be oh so sad to learn how horses live in Hawaii. I guess they shouldnāt be allowed to have horses either!
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I think this cannot be stressed enough. 24/7 turnout does not guarantee quality care and mental health for a horse.
Iām not sure it is so much that people are āokā with it as it is there are only so many options for horse owners in urban locations. Everyone would love to look out and see their horses in a giant green field with grass up to their knees, but even outside urban areas that does not always happen. Land is expensive pretty much everywhere and boarding barns are fewer. That often means more horses per acre and less turnout and little to no grass.
Think of it this way - there are people that are completely miserable in cold weather climates but due to circumstances cannot make a change. Or vice versa - people who absolutely hate hot weather. Those who cannot adjust have to make a change, but most adapt. Same with horses - some can make the adjustment, some will never been happy and end up having to be moved.
When my horse was in Wellington, he was in for 22 hours a day and he was fine with it, but heās also fine with living out 24/7 now that heās in Georgia.
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I never saw a cribber until I moved east, switched to Hunters and had something besides a QH/Paint/ranch type horse.
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The barn I mentioned above, with no cribbers, was a hunger lesson/show barn.
I also think itās wrong when people own large, high-energy/working dog breeds when they live in apartments/homes where the only major form of exercise is structured walks.
Uh oh, Iām really on albytbās list now. I lived in Northside Chicago with my two GSDās. The one was ancient, the second did agility with me.
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The thing that always cracks me up in a bad way is when people get a Jack Russell to live in an apartment because itās small, so they figure it should be perfect in that slot.
And then they find out about Jack Russells the hard way. Lol.
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In all fairness almost no horses in socal live in enclosed small box stalls laec is very much not the norm in that regard. Most are in pipe corrals or stalls with pipe corrals runs or small paddocks. And young and retired horses are almost universally elsewhere living out
I wouldnāt board at laec by choice, most wouldnāt A significant number of horses there only spend a few years of the life in urban living which I think is acceptable but not ideal. After all I also have had to spend a few years in urban living which I did not like!
Finally many places have heavily restricted seasonal turnout for weather, laminitis risk etc and donāt have the CA or UK culture of getting your horse out as often as possible and riding out. There are places horses are in the indoor for months. But in CA my experience was that most horses in training are out 2-3 times a day and people ride and hack a lot more and the horses are typically very fit. When I lived in LA (not laec) we could ride for ever in the hills and canyons and all the show horses spent hours on the trails.
Itās not ideal but horses are also managed quite differently than you are likely used to. They can socialize, spend all day outside etc. in the pens 99% of them live in.
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My Pyrenees loved his apartment life - he had a whole flock of children to watch over and judge from the windows.
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Following this discussion of SoCal / Southwest horse keepingā¦
What about manure management with small acreage situations in backyards? Are people just using dumpsters?
And what about bedding expenses in SoCal? I know good grass hay is prohibitively expensive in certain regionsā¦ is bedding insane as well?
Just curious.
In many urban settings, the waste management companies will pick up manure. Some will give a homeowner a dumpster just for manure.
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I know lots of horses who live outside 24/7, who are constantly ankle deep in poop-mud, mud even in āsheltersā, being chewed alive by flies because of all the standing water/topography. Is that really healthier for them? Skidding around in garbage footing that in the winter turns into a rutted frozen mess that they canāt find a flat spot to lie on?
Iām sure there are some horses that are no worse for the wear. There are others that are not going to do very well like that.
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