This has been killing me....

Hey guys,
I just have a question. I moved from Florida to Iowa for school a year ago and just brought my horse up in August. I had him on pasture board for the past 5 years but decided to stall him up here. He's a 19 year old TB and arthritic in one of his stifles, so i hate to keep him cooped up, but on the other hand he gets bullied and he's underweight so I keep him loaded up on hay in his stall. He's growing a pretty wimpy coat, and I don't know if he's ever seen snow (and cant wait to see what he thinks of it) Anyway, he gets turned out from 7-4 with some horses who are nice...ish to him and I either ride him or take him for a walk everyday sometime after 6. He's on a dirt floor and it might be matted too, didn't check. So... keep him where he's at? All this talk of horse jail is making me feel guilty

Don't feel guilty! Would YOU rather stand outside freezing to death(like a tee shirt and soffee shorts in a blizard) and trying to stay warm without food or the comfort of others, or inside, dry, with food that you know someone won't kick you away from?

Ha i'd rather be where the food is but i hope he feels the same way!

me too! And horses search for comfort, protection, then food and water.

me horse is stabled at night and out during the day, this is because he is a tb and is used for showing plus he feels the cold alot more which it is cold 90% of the time as i live in england, he gets his morning feed at 5am and then is turned out at 7am, he is not then bought in untill half past 5 in the afternoon, where he is rridden and then bedded down for the night, he seems happy and iknow he is nice and warm in a stable. i tend to not ride him in the morning as he can get a little stiff as he has been in a stable, i do however like my horse to have at least 7 hours worth of grazing a day!!!

carrying on from my post above, his stable has a concrete floor, but it has soft rubber covering it and then a nice thick straw bed over the top, i oike him to be comfy!!! some people say i babby him too much :)

I'd rather babying over abuse...

My horse is stabled at night during the winter but not in the summer. I hate her being stabled as I know she hates it, she's a freespirit but as all the other horses come in I have no choice because she hates being alone in the field too. It's not cruel if they are provided with everything they need such as a constant supply of air, water, forage and a comfy bed. Some horses prefer to be stabled and some horses prefer to live out, every horse is different and just because horses roamed free before they were domesticated doesn't mean we should all turn out our horses into the wilderness.
My horse has a thick, deep bed of wood shavings to keep her comfy and warm at night haha