Stabled horses face social isolation and cognitive under-stimulation that drives stereotypies and poor welfare. Targeted enrichment programs address these needs within the constraints of typical management systems.
Horses in individual stalls without social contact develop stereotypies at high rates. Social enrichment through touch-contact stabling reduces isolation stress. Foraging enrichment that extends hay consumption time addresses the feeding frustration of 2-3 meal feeding schedules. Novel objects and scents provide brief cognitive stimulation. Mirrors reduce isolation stress in horses that cannot be socially housed. Turnout with companions provides the most welfare-positive enrichment; where this is impossible, multiple forms of in-stable enrichment partially compensate.