Pasture access is fundamental to horse behavioral health, and evidence-based pasture management enables horses to express natural grazing, social, and locomotory behaviors essential for wellbeing.
Pasture access represents the single most important determinant of equine behavioral welfare for most kept horses. Horses are animals of movement and continuous foraging — stabling for extended periods creates gastric disease, stereotypic behaviors, and psychological distress that pasture access prevents. Management challenges around pasture quality and intake do not argue against turnout but for creative solutions like track systems and managed grazing that allow movement and foraging within appropriate caloric constraints. Horses that live with compatible companions in environments that allow free movement express natural behaviors and experience measurably better welfare outcomes across all indicators.