Should horse owners be required to have a shelter for their horses? What types of shelters are best for horses … or do horses need shelters at all? These are the questions being asked after this one county in North Carolina passed sweeping reforms for animal owners. According to an article in The Horse, not much research has been done in this area. Shelter can be essential to old and infirm horses. Places where there is no natural shelter and there is extreme weather – it would seem to make sense to offer a man-made equine shelter. What do you think? ~ HfH

From: Citizens-Times
By: Joel Burgess

To those unfamiliar with equine habits, giving a horse a shelter might seem like a no-brainer.

What animal wouldn’t want to come out of the heat or cold? Well, according to a crowd of perturbed horse specialists and owners, that’s not necessarily what horses need — or even want.

Following outcry over recently passed Buncombe County horse shelter requirements, elected officials are now moving to dial back mandates on horse sheltering.

Among those protesting the newly passed requirement for a three-sided shelter are the state’s main horse association, a student who uses donkeys to protect sheep and the county’s own horse veterinarian. The rule puts an unnecessary cost burden on owners and could even result in more horses being abandoned, they said.