Sadly many of horses today are left in stalls for the large part of their lives.  For some this may be for convenience such as riding stables and others are kept in so they stay clean and for shows.  Because our horses spend so much time in their stalls, it is important that we provide them with the best stall possible that is safe and clean.

A horse won’t stay standing forever and many like to be able to take a load off and lie down.  This means that a horse must have ample room to prevent from getting cast.  Many horses will lie down and not leave themselves with enough room to get back up again because they have lied down to close to the wall.  The standard measurement for a box is twelve by twelve feet.  This is generally large enough for a horse to lie down comfortably and still be able to get up.  There may rare occasions, however, when the horse does lied down to close to the wall and then unable to get up.  Ponies will not typically need more than a ten by ten foot stall.  If you have large breed horses such as Throughbreds, Appendix Quarter Horses, or Warmbloods, then you may choose to go with a larger sixteen by sixteen foot stall.  These are often referred to as stallion or foaling stalls. 

The partitions between the stalls should be made of heavy two-inch planks up to a height of about five feet or so.  The edges should be reinforced with metal so that the horses are not able to chew them down.  Another partition is often placed above the walls that allow the horses to see each other but not necessarily make contact.  This is also true for the front of the stall.  Stall doors may also have a gate that swings up and down to all the horse to stick his head out of the stall and into the barn aisle.  The stall should be well ventilated as a horse can emit a lot of heat and a poorly ventilated stall can cause an increase bacterial growth that is not good for the horse’s health. 

The less that there is in the stall the better.  Most stalls will be outfitted with a feeder and perhaps an automatic water or water bucket holder.  Anything that is in the stall should be secured, as horses may bang their feeders on the wall.  There should also not be anything pointed or jagged that could cut or stab the horse.  Some horses may require something to keep them occupied and there are several stall toys made just for horses.  A stocked hay net will also keep your horse happy and busy while you are away.

Don’t underestimate your horse’s ability to open his stall door.  Many horses have spent hours fiddling with the latch on their doors until they were finally able to free themselves.  Once they have done it once, it is pretty much guaranteed they will do it again.  In fact, they may get even better at it with practice.  This means you will need to outfit doors with a chain and clip or horse-proof bolts. 

Most farms today use shavings for their horse’s bedding.  Many will generously stock the stall with shavings, however, this can actually do your horse more harm than good.  Too much bedding decreases the amount of stress put on the horse’s legs.  If the horse stands in bedding that is too thick all day, his bones will slowly become more brittle.  This means that you may one day find yourself riding and the horse fractures his leg because his bones have adapted to the soft ground of the stall.  Shavings are excellent to help protect the horse from the cold ground, but use them in moderation.