Moorcroft Equine Rehabilitation Centre

Equine Stable Vices

A Look At Equine Stable Vices

What are they and how we can help our horses to avoid them.

These are coping mechanisms as the horse instinctively reacts to its confinement in a stable for too long, lack of grazing as nature intended and lack of social interaction with other members of his or her herd. In other

words, when we take away the three main survival instincts that the equine was born with, we cannot expect him or her to survive and thrive. Sometimes it is unavoidable as horses sometimes have to be stabled and turnout may not always be possible. However, this situation is not ideal and can cause what we call stable vices which can have a negative effect on our beloved horses.

Developing methods, sometimes punitive to the horse to stop these so called ‘vices’ occurring by inflicting more restrictions will NEVER cure the problem. Providing good grazing, adequate forage when stabled and companionship with other members of the herd will eradicate these damaging problems. I do have first-hand evidence of this as I have helped many horses who arrived at our Rehabilitation Centre with very stressful stable vices. With the correct respect for their natural environment and a better management regime these problems were solved very quickly. It requires understanding of the horse’s needs and respecting them which I believe we all strive to do as best we can.

Crib-Biting and Windsucking

Horses are naturally freemoving grazing herbivores in large social groups. Confining

them for long periods causes reactions.

The digestive system is a series of muscles that need exercising in the equine. The

horse is a trickle feeder meaning they should eat small amounts regularly and never have an empty stomach. Again, this is an instinctive need so when you leave the horse for long periods of time with no food at all, grabbing the door or stable wall and sucking in air as this at least exercises the muscles required to eat. Not very logical and very

damaging but again the horse is working on instinct. This action causes stress and other internal digestive problems as the system should have forage not air. It also causes damage to the irreparable teeth over time and to the lips and it should be avoided at all

cost.

Some managers try to suppress this habit which of course shows little understanding of the horse’s natural instincts and their needs and if this line of action is taken the horse will find another way of fulfilling his or her instinctive needs.

Many managers and owners of horses believe that this habit will be copied by other horses, but I have never found this to be the case and sadly I have had far too many horses come into my care with this dreadful debilitating stable vice.

To correct this unnecessary and damaging habit, it is sensible to remove the cause. i.e., replace the forage, the ability for the horse to be part of a herd by supplying some time grazing with others and ensure that the horse is not left for long periods of time with no food. I have first-hand evidence that this will

eradicate the problem very quickly.

Box Walking

The natural instinct to find and take in food never leaves the horse as this is his or her survival instinct, so being left for many hours trapped in a stable with no means of obtaining food often means that horses start to walk around as they would do in the wild to find that all important forage. Again, this is a natural instinct for survival. Other reasons for box walking is pain and discomfort as moving can sometimes ease this a little but of course means the horse never rests. This relentless walking then causes tendon/ligament damage, exhaustion, back strain and many other physical problems all that were avoidable if the carer of the horse understood the natural instincts that we can never eradicate from the equine however long we domesticate them for. As I have cared for many ex-racehorses in my career, I can state that there is nothing more stress inducing than box walking or more exhausting. The good news is that providing grazing by way of daily turnout and ad lib hay on the floor in the stable soon changes this damaging habit. In order words, good basic care, nothing more. A box walking horse will never put on or keep the weight on that he or she needs to be healthy and thrive and the mental exhaustion that it creates should never be allowed to happen in any caring equine environment.

Horses that can touch and smell each other when stabled will be a lot less inclined to get involved in stable vices as they feel part of a herd and have some interaction with their herd which is natural.

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