Perspective

When I was a kid I started riding at a dressage school that kept all the horses in stalls most of the time. They’d be let out in the arena for about two to three hours in the morning and then turned back in, and then the staff would tack them up before the kids showed up for afternoon lessons and the horses would all stand tacked up in the stalls until lessons were over. They would then be untacked but kept in the stalls overnight.

I took a break from riding during college and the early part of my adulthood, but once I’d settled into my career I began looking into taking lessons again. I was miles away from my hometown in a suburban area with not many options, but one on the outskirts of town came highly recommended by several people so I went to check them out. 

I was horrified. They have no stalls! The horses are all loose together!  My first impression was that this place was too low end and neglectful because the horses weren’t stalled, and instead were kept together and turned out in a herd. They had stalls for when the horses were tacked up or injured, and that’s it.

If you grow up seeing one thing, you can’t imagine it being different. As a kid I didn’t even stop to think about the difference between stalls and turnout. All I knew was this was not the way I had been taught horsekeeping growing up and it was wrong.

But, the facility was clean and the horses looked in good shape so I decided to try a few lessons. I’ve been there for 8 years now. I have two horses boarded there. Nowadays I wouldn’t stall either one of them. I swear by 24/7 turnout and I can’t believe I ever saw it as neglectful. I’ve learned a lot about horse health – including their mental health – and I’m the biggest turnout advocate now.