A stall is an enclosure housing one or a few animals. A building with multiple stalls for horses is called a

stable A stable is a building in which working animals are kept, especially horses or oxen. The building is usually divided into stalls, and may include storage for equipment and feed. Styles There are many different types of stables in use tod ...

. A stable or

barn A barn is an agricultural building usually on farms and used for various purposes. In North America, a barn refers to structures that house livestock, including cattle and horses, as well as equipment and fodder, and often grain.Allen G ...

which houses livestock is subdivided into stalls or

pens PEN may refer to: * (National Ecological Party), former name of the Brazilian political party Patriota (PATRI) *PEN International, a worldwide association of writers **English PEN, the founding centre of PEN International **PEN America, located in ...

. Freestanding stalls may be constructed inside a larger building, or be built into the structure, sometimes with the animals facing outward.

Types

Tie stall

Tie stalls (sometimes called ''stands'' or ''straight stalls'') are a type of stall where animals are tethered at the head or neck to the feeding end of a stall, and the rear wall is omitted for easy manure removal. Tie stalls are mostly used in the dairy cow industry. When horses were primary transportation, they were commonly housed in tie stalls, and some are still housed this way. Prior to the late 20th century, the tie stall or standing stall was a more common housing for working horses that were taken out daily. Taking only half the size of a box stall, more horses could be housed in a single stable. Generally about or sometimes smaller, with a

manger __NOTOC__ A manger or trough is a rack for fodder, or a structure or feeder used to hold food for animals. The word comes from the Old French ''mangier'' (meaning "to eat"), from Latin ''mandere'' (meaning "to chew"). Mangers are mostly used in ...

in the front, usually to which the animal was tied, the design allowed the horse to lie down if the lead rope was long enough, but not to turn around.

Box stall

A ''box stall'' (US) or ''loose box'' (UK) or ''horse box'' (UK) is a larger stall where a horse is not tied and is free to move about, turn around, and lay down. Sizes for box stalls vary depending on the size of the horse and a few other factors. Typical dimensions for a single horse are to .

Mare A mare is an adult female horse or other equidae, equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more th ...

s with

foal A foal is an equine up to one year old; this term is used mainly for horses, but can be used for donkeys. More specific terms are colt (horse), colt for a male foal and filly for a female foal, and are used until the horse is three or four. Whe ...

s often are kept in double stalls.

Stallion A stallion is an adult male horse that has not been gelded ( castrated). Stallions follow the conformation and phenotype of their breed, but within that standard, the presence of hormones such as testosterone may give stallions a thicker, "cre ...

s, kept alone with less access to turnout, are also often given larger quarters.

Ponies A pony is a type of small horse, usually measured under a specified height at maturity. Ponies often have thicker coats, manes and tails, compared to larger horses, and proportionally shorter legs, wider barrels, heavier , thicker necks and s ...

sometimes are kept in smaller stalls, sometimes as small as .

Draft horse A draft horse (US) or draught horse (UK), also known as dray horse, carthorse, work horse or heavy horse, is a large horse bred to be a working animal hauling freight and doing heavy agricultural tasks such as plowing. There are a number o ...

s may need larger stalls.

Care

Stalls usually contain a layer of absorbent bedding such as straw or wood shavings and need to be cleaned daily. Depending on the environmental conditions and the needs of the horses, stalls may be cleaned multiple times a day - especially during winter seasons when turnout is limited, for show horses that receive meticulous grooming, or for horses recovering from injuries. Keeping stalls, paddocks, and pastures clean is one of the most important things to manage when considering the overall cleanliness and health (especially respiratory health) of horses.

Notes

References