Equestrian center
Encyclopedia
Equestrian facilties are created and maintained for the purpose of accommodating, training or competing equids
, especially horse
s. Based on their use may be known as a barn or stables, with commercial operations described by terms such as a boarding stable, livery yard, or livery stable. Larger facilities may be called an equestrian center and co-located with complementary services such as a riding school, farrier
s, vets and tack shop
s or equipment repair.
Horses are often kept inside buildings known as barns or stables, which provide shelter for the animals. These buildings are normally subdivided to provide a separate area or box for each horse, which prevents horses injuring each other, separates horses of different genders, allows for individual care regimen
s such as restricted or special feeding and makes handling easier.
The design of stables can vary widely, based on climate, building materials, historical period, and cultural styles of architecture. A wide range of building materials can be used, including masonry
(bricks or stone), wood, and steel. Stables can range widely in size, from a small building to house only one or two animals, to facilities used at agricultural show
s or at race tracks
, which can house hundreds of animals.
Terminology relating to horse accomodation differs between American and British English
, with additional regional variations of terms. The term "stables" to describe the overall building is used in most major variants of English, but in American English
(AmE) the singular form "stable" is also used to describe a building. In British English
(BrE), the singular term "stable" only refers to a box for a single horse, while in the USA the term "box stall" or "stall" describes an individual enclosure.
In most stables, each horse is kept in a box or stall of its own, and these are of two principal types:
The choice of type of box is likely to relate to the available space, local custom, welfare concerns and workload of the horses. In some countries, local organisations give recommendations as to the minimum size of accommodation for a horse. For instance, in Britain, the British Horse Society
recommends that horses are only kept in boxes which allow freedom of movement, and that these should measure a minimum of 10 feet (3 m) square for ponies, and 12 feet (3.7 m) square for horses. Common practice in the United States follows similar sizes. Stallion
s are sometimes kept in larger boxes, up to 14 feet (4.3 m) square and mare
s about to foal or with foal at side are sometimes kept in a double-sized stall.
When operated as a business where owners bring their horses to be boarded, they are known as livery yard
s (BrE) or boarding stables (AmE and Australian English). There are a number of arrangements which horse owners can undertake with operators of these stables. The least expensive is when the horse owner doing all of the work involved in care of the horse, called Do-it-yourself (DIY) or self-board. In the middle range, the term "full board" is used in the USA to refer to several options, depending on the part of the country, from a facility that simply feeds the animals and possibly provides turnout, to one that handles all care of the horse, sometimes including exercise under saddle, but not training per se. At the top end, the facility operator manages the entire care of the horse, including riding and training. In the UK, this is called full livery (BrE). In the USA such settings may be called a "training stable." There are intermediate stages of care with parts of the care of the horse undertaken by each party, using terms such as part livery or part board, with the terms not universal, even within individual countries, and usually agreed between owner and operator.
Some stables also offer a service for horses to live on pasture only, without a space inside the actual stable buildings, and this is known as grass livery (BrE), agistment (BrE) or pasture board (AmE).
Where the stables also house a riding school or hireling operation, some operators may also offer a "working livery" (UK) or "partial lease" (US) where the horse owner pays a discounted rate (or no money at all) for their own horse's care, in return for the riding school being able to offer the horse to paying customers other than the owner.
to graze
, exercise, or exhibit other natural behaviours, either on their own or more usually as part of a herd
, where they may also enage in play activity and social bonding.
The area where the horses are placed can be of any size, from a small pen with room to run, to wide areas covering thousands of square miles. In the United Kingdom this may range from open moorland
without internal subdivision, down to small, fenced areas of grass, called pasture
s or paddock
s in British English. A large turnout of several acres is a paddock in Australia, a pasture is significantly larger. In the United States, similar large spaces ranging from a few to many acres are called pastures or, for larger areas of public land or private unfenced ranch land approaching 100 acres or more, rangeland
.
Where the purpose of turning the horses out is to encourage activity and not for forage
, for instance where a horse is stabled for a large portion of the day, or where additional forage is not desired, they may be turned out in to areas with no grass, to encourage activity and prevent grazing. In the USA, such spaces are called a paddock or, in the western United States, a corral, in the British Isles, a paddock, and in Australia, a pen. Sometimes the colloquialism "starvation" is prefixed to these grassless areas, though the intent is not to starve the horse, but simply to regulate diet. This also could include a space such as a riding arena, doing double-duty as a turnout area. Equine nutritionists and management specialists also recommend a grassless area, which they sometimes call a "sacrifice area," be fenced off from pastures intended for forage where horses can be placed when it is wet or muddy, to prevent the grass from being trampled, and during times of drought, to prevent or minimize overgrazing.
The smallest are the round pen
popular with natural horsemanship
practitioners, which generally start at 40 to 60 ft (12.2 to 18.3 ) in diameter. Most arenas designed to allow more than one horse and rider pair to exercise safely at the same time are rectangular in shape and at the barest minimum are 50 to 60 ft (15.2 to 18.3 ) wide and at least 90 to 120 ft (27.4 to 36.6 ) long. The largest are commercial facilities designed for competitive events open to the general public with a performance space well over 150 by
Equidae
Equidae is the taxonomic family of horses and related animals, including the extant horses, donkeys, and zebras, and many other species known only from fossils. All extant species are in the genus Equus...
, especially horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
s. Based on their use may be known as a barn or stables, with commercial operations described by terms such as a boarding stable, livery yard, or livery stable. Larger facilities may be called an equestrian center and co-located with complementary services such as a riding school, farrier
Farrier
A farrier is a specialist in equine hoof care, including the trimming and balancing of horses' hooves and the placing of shoes on their hooves...
s, vets and tack shop
Tack shop
A tack shop is an equestrian supply store. Buyers may purchase various pieces of riding equipment and training aids, as well as boots and riding apparel, stable equipment, horse care products, grooming supplies, horse blankets and sheets, model horses, and equine books, magazines, and videos...
s or equipment repair.
Horse accommodation
Regimen
A regimen is a plan, a regulated course such as a diet, exercise or medical treatment, designed to give a positive result. A low-salt diet is a regimen. A course of penicillin is a regimen.- History :...
s such as restricted or special feeding and makes handling easier.
The design of stables can vary widely, based on climate, building materials, historical period, and cultural styles of architecture. A wide range of building materials can be used, including masonry
Masonry
Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...
(bricks or stone), wood, and steel. Stables can range widely in size, from a small building to house only one or two animals, to facilities used at agricultural show
Agricultural show
An agricultural show is a public event showcasing the equipment, animals, sports and recreation associated with agriculture and animal husbandry. The largest comprise a livestock show , a trade fair, competitions, and entertainment...
s or at race tracks
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
, which can house hundreds of animals.
Terminology relating to horse accomodation differs between American and British English
British English
British English, or English , is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere...
, with additional regional variations of terms. The term "stables" to describe the overall building is used in most major variants of English, but in American English
American English
American English is a set of dialects of the English language used mostly in the United States. Approximately two-thirds of the world's native speakers of English live in the United States....
(AmE) the singular form "stable" is also used to describe a building. In British English
British English
British English, or English , is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere...
(BrE), the singular term "stable" only refers to a box for a single horse, while in the USA the term "box stall" or "stall" describes an individual enclosure.
Types of box
- Boxes allowing freedom of movement - horses are able to turn around, choose which way to face and lie down if they wish. These can also be known as a loose box (BrE), a stable (BrE), a stall (AmE) or box stall (AmE).
- Stalls restricting movement - These are known as a stall (BrE) or a tie stall (AmE). The horse is restricted in movement, can normally only face in one direction, and may or may not be able to lie down, depending on width and if or how tightly the animal is tied. They are usually restrained through being tied by a rope to a halter or headcollarHalterA halter, headcollar, or, less often, headstall, is headgear that is used to lead or tie up livestock and, occasionally, other animals; it fits behind the ears , and around the muzzle. To handle the animal, usually a lead rope or lead shank is attached...
. Common dimensions are 4 to 5 ft (1.2 to 1.5 ) wide by {convert|8|to|10|ft}} long.
The choice of type of box is likely to relate to the available space, local custom, welfare concerns and workload of the horses. In some countries, local organisations give recommendations as to the minimum size of accommodation for a horse. For instance, in Britain, the British Horse Society
British Horse Society
The British Horse Society is a membership-based equine charity, with a stated vision of "a society which provides a strong voice for horses and people and which spreads awareness through support, training and education"...
recommends that horses are only kept in boxes which allow freedom of movement, and that these should measure a minimum of 10 feet (3 m) square for ponies, and 12 feet (3.7 m) square for horses. Common practice in the United States follows similar sizes. Stallion
Stallion
A Stallion is a male horse.Stallion may also refer to:* Stallion , an American pop rock group* Stallion , a figure in the Gobot toyline* Stallion , a character in the console role-playing game series...
s are sometimes kept in larger boxes, up to 14 feet (4.3 m) square and mare
Mare
Female horses are called mares.Mare is the Latin word for "sea".The word may also refer to:-People:* Ahmed Marzooq, also known as Mare, a footballer and Secretary General of Maldives Olympic Committee* Mare Winningham, American actress and singer...
s about to foal or with foal at side are sometimes kept in a double-sized stall.
Method of operation
Stables can be maintained privately for an owner's own horses, or operated as a public business where a fee is charged for keeping other people's horses. In some places stables are run as riding school where horses are kept for the purpose of providing lessons for people learning to ride, or even as a livery stable (US) or hireling yard (UK) where horses are loaned out for activies in exchange for money.When operated as a business where owners bring their horses to be boarded, they are known as livery yard
Livery yard
A livery yard or livery stable , or boarding stable is a stable where horse owners pay a weekly or monthly fee to keep their horses. A livery or boarding yard is not usually a riding school and the horses are not normally for hire...
s (BrE) or boarding stables (AmE and Australian English). There are a number of arrangements which horse owners can undertake with operators of these stables. The least expensive is when the horse owner doing all of the work involved in care of the horse, called Do-it-yourself (DIY) or self-board. In the middle range, the term "full board" is used in the USA to refer to several options, depending on the part of the country, from a facility that simply feeds the animals and possibly provides turnout, to one that handles all care of the horse, sometimes including exercise under saddle, but not training per se. At the top end, the facility operator manages the entire care of the horse, including riding and training. In the UK, this is called full livery (BrE). In the USA such settings may be called a "training stable." There are intermediate stages of care with parts of the care of the horse undertaken by each party, using terms such as part livery or part board, with the terms not universal, even within individual countries, and usually agreed between owner and operator.
Some stables also offer a service for horses to live on pasture only, without a space inside the actual stable buildings, and this is known as grass livery (BrE), agistment (BrE) or pasture board (AmE).
Where the stables also house a riding school or hireling operation, some operators may also offer a "working livery" (UK) or "partial lease" (US) where the horse owner pays a discounted rate (or no money at all) for their own horse's care, in return for the riding school being able to offer the horse to paying customers other than the owner.
Grazing and open space
Many horses are turned out in to fieldsField (agriculture)
In agriculture, the word field refers generally to an area of land enclosed or otherwise and used for agricultural purposes such as:* Cultivating crops* Usage as a paddock or, generally, an enclosure of livestock...
to graze
Grazing
Grazing generally describes a type of feeding, in which a herbivore feeds on plants , and also on other multicellular autotrophs...
, exercise, or exhibit other natural behaviours, either on their own or more usually as part of a herd
Herd
Herd refers to a social grouping of certain animals of the same species, either wild or domestic, and also to the form of collective animal behavior associated with this or as a verb, to herd, to its control by another species such as humans or dogs.The term herd is generally applied to mammals,...
, where they may also enage in play activity and social bonding.
The area where the horses are placed can be of any size, from a small pen with room to run, to wide areas covering thousands of square miles. In the United Kingdom this may range from open moorland
Moorland
Moorland or moor is a type of habitat, in the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome, found in upland areas, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils and heavy fog...
without internal subdivision, down to small, fenced areas of grass, called pasture
Pasture
Pasture is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep or swine. The vegetation of tended pasture, forage, consists mainly of grasses, with an interspersion of legumes and other forbs...
s or paddock
Paddock
A Paddock is an enclosure for horses. It may also refer to: People*Algernon Paddock , American politician*Charlie Paddock , American athlete and actor*Del Paddock , American baseball player...
s in British English. A large turnout of several acres is a paddock in Australia, a pasture is significantly larger. In the United States, similar large spaces ranging from a few to many acres are called pastures or, for larger areas of public land or private unfenced ranch land approaching 100 acres or more, rangeland
Rangeland
Rangelands are vast natural landscapes in the form of grasslands, shrublands, woodlands, wetlands, and deserts. Types of rangelands include tallgrass and shortgrass prairies, desert grasslands and shrublands, woodlands, savannas, chaparrals, steppes, and tundras...
.
Where the purpose of turning the horses out is to encourage activity and not for forage
Forage
Forage is plant material eaten by grazing livestock.Historically the term forage has meant only plants eaten by the animals directly as pasture, crop residue, or immature cereal crops, but it is also used more loosely to include similar plants cut for fodder and carried to the animals, especially...
, for instance where a horse is stabled for a large portion of the day, or where additional forage is not desired, they may be turned out in to areas with no grass, to encourage activity and prevent grazing. In the USA, such spaces are called a paddock or, in the western United States, a corral, in the British Isles, a paddock, and in Australia, a pen. Sometimes the colloquialism "starvation" is prefixed to these grassless areas, though the intent is not to starve the horse, but simply to regulate diet. This also could include a space such as a riding arena, doing double-duty as a turnout area. Equine nutritionists and management specialists also recommend a grassless area, which they sometimes call a "sacrifice area," be fenced off from pastures intended for forage where horses can be placed when it is wet or muddy, to prevent the grass from being trampled, and during times of drought, to prevent or minimize overgrazing.
Schools, arenas and pens
Horses are often exercised under human control, ridden or competed within designated fenced or enclosed places, usually called schools, pens or arenas. These can be of almost any size, provided they are sufficently large for a horse to move freely, and can be located indoors or outdoors.The smallest are the round pen
Round pen
The round pen sometimes called a bullpen is a round enclosure used for horse training. They range in diameter from a minimum of to a maximum of , with most designs in diameter. Footing is usually sand or other soft dirt...
popular with natural horsemanship
Natural horsemanship
Natural horsemanship is the philosophy of working with horses by appealing to their instincts and herd instincts. It involves communication techniques derived from wild horse observation in order to build a partnership that closely resembles the relationships that exist between horses.- Basic ideas...
practitioners, which generally start at 40 to 60 ft (12.2 to 18.3 ) in diameter. Most arenas designed to allow more than one horse and rider pair to exercise safely at the same time are rectangular in shape and at the barest minimum are 50 to 60 ft (15.2 to 18.3 ) wide and at least 90 to 120 ft (27.4 to 36.6 ) long. The largest are commercial facilities designed for competitive events open to the general public with a performance space well over 150 by