Horse Welfare Standards

Welfare Regulations

These requirements are enacted to help players adapt to standards that will be mandatory on SWE's release. These standards are not only representative of good welfare for horses, but could potentially be integrated as systems impacting horse health and happiness in the mod for future releases.

Note: SWE/M Horses will be mentioned as "horses", while vanilla horses are mentioned as "ponies". This page does not cover pony care.

Building / Barn Principles

The following should always be considered for SWEM horses:

Doorways - 2B+ Wide and 4B+ tall (minimum)
Walkways - 5B+ Wide and 5B+ tall (4.5 optional on edges for detailing if using stairs or slabs) (minimum)
Secure - It is recommended:

All barn areas or property access routes have a secure gate to prevent escape.
Make walls or barriers tall enough to avoid escape, check perimeter for blocks they can use to jump over!
Avoid using scalable blocks that horses can hop over (unless 2B+): single blocks, glass pane, bars.
- Non-scalable blocks are 1.5B and include walls and fences.

Horses cannot jump on troughs or feeders unless another block or high shavings level allows them to step up onto it.

Official SWEM servers do not recommend (SWE will not allow) the use of barrier blocks in building to secure escape points.

Food & Water

Horses should always have reasonable access to:

Water - As either a replenishing (infinite) water source or adequately filled water container (trough, half barrel).
Food - As either forage (grazing on grass) or feed (quality bale, timothy, alfalfa or sweet feed)

Stalls

Stall requirements are implemented for welfare and safety of both horse and rider. A good sized stall allows a horse space to turn around in, lay down (future feature) and decreases the chances of them getting stuck in walls (small stalls). It allows space for a rider to provide unobstructed feed items, bedding, and to safely interact with and maneuver a horse into and out of the stall.

Fundamentals (Information)

	Fundamentals - Stalls
Location	Horses must always be housed above ground - completely underground stalls are never permitted as they prohibit fresh air, natural light, and are threat to flood. Minimum 50% above ground.
Purpose	A safe sheltered area with dry, comfortable footing and access to constant food and water.
Floorspace	The minimum required area (in blocks) which excludes walls and doorways.
Floorspace	Detail: Troughs, feeders, and shavings can be placed within the stall, they do not impact floorspace.
Footing	Footing must be soft and non-slip, ideally easily cleanable and non-digestible. Unsafe footing will either not be counted for floorspace or be cause for a welfare check/bump to change the footing.
Width / Length	A minimum of 5x5 blocks (Width x Length) of floorspace to comfortably allow turning, lying down, movement and animal handling.
Height	Stalls should be 5 blocks in height at its lowest point (floor to ceiling).
Sunlight	Stalls should be well lit with an element of natural lighting (ie window, bars, half slabs) but be protected from most direct sunlight.
Sunlight	Detail: Skylights (roof windows) should be 15% or less of stall roof blocks - too much direct sunlight could overheat or sunburn a horse.
Occupancy	With the exception of foaling stalls, stalls are not intended for multiple occupancy unless two regulation stalls are merged and can be blocked off again if needed.

Recommended sizings are SWEM defaults and the size(s) that have been used regularly by beta testers and staff builders. It offers a functional space for the horse, neither too large or too small for the average barn, that looks good and works well with most styles and shapes of barns.

Note: Too large stalls are discouraged for realism as they have poor thermal efficiency (retaining heat or cool) as well as being an inefficient use of space.
Note: Foaling stalls are generally bigger, but can be achieved within regulation sizing.

	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	INDEX
4	16	20	24	28	32	36	40	44	48		Not permitted (too small/large)
5	20	25	30	35	40	45	50	55	60		Not permitted (poor use of space)
6	24	30	36	42	48	54	60	66	72		Permitted with a paddock (5x5+)
7	28	35	42	49	56	63	70	77	84		Permitted
8	32	40	48	56	64	72	80	88	96		Recommended sizing
9	36	45	54	63	72	81	90	99	108		Foaling stall (Minimum recommended sizes)
10	40	50	60	70	80	90	100	110	120	Foaling stalls are for pregnant mares (V2) and mares with nursing foals. These stalls are expected to be larger than standard regulations for comfort and safety.
11	44	55	66	77	88	99	110	121	132
12	48	60	72	84	96	108	120	132	144

Paddocks

Paddocks are small enclosed 'runs' attached to a stall, it can offer limited grazing space or just outdoor access with soft footing.

Fundamentals (Information)

	Fundamentals - Paddocks
Requirements	Paddocks are only required if the floorspace of a stall does not meet minimum requirements. Otherwise, it is an optional but always recommended addition.
Purpose	A paddock is intended to extend the floorspace of a smaller (interior) stall and allow access to fresh air, grass, and sunlight.
Purpose	It is not intended for, or substitute to, turning a horse out into a pasture for grazing, exercise, and/or socialization.
Floorspace	The minimum required area (in blocks) which excludes walls, fences, and doorways.
Floorspace	Detail: Troughs and feeders can be placed within the paddock, they do not impact floorspace.
Access	If a stall requires a paddock to meet the minimum sizing requirements, horses should have constant access to both areas.
	With shared paddocks, stalls must have a door to close off access to a stall if/when a horse is being fed or temporarily isolated.
	Exception: Short periods of times for feeding, tacking up, awaiting exercise or turnout while owner/stable staff are online.
Sunlight	Paddocks should be uncovered from all but a 1 block wide roof overhang (if applicable).
Terrain	Terrain should be even, or with a gradual slope 1:3 blocks. Does not necessarily have to be grass but must be soft terrain.
Security	Fences/walls must be at least 1.5b (1 fence/wall/block) and ideally 2b+ (Double fence, single with a half fence on top, double block).
Shared Space	Paddocks may be shared between stalls provided that the paddocks meet the size requirements of ALL stalls sharing access to it.
Privacy	Horses should always have at least one corner of their stall and/or paddock to hide from sight. Over-socialized horses may become irritable, fearful, or buddy sour.

All paddocks should be at least 5 wide x 5 long, but depending on the size of your stall it may be that the width of the external wall varies. Example a 7 x 8 stall could have an 7 x 5 or an 8 x 5 paddock depending on which way the stall is rotated.

As a general rule, we do not recommend paddocks be any larger than 3x the size of the stall, and some larger maximum paddocks do not result in an ideal shape.

Paddock Size Chart (Min/Max)

Minimum		Maximum
5 x 5	5 x 5	5 x 15
5 x 6	5 x 5	5 x 18	6 x 15
5 x 7	5 x 5	5 x 21	7 x 15
5 x 8	5 x 5	5 x 24	8 x 15
5 x 9	5 x 5	5 x 27	9 x 15
5 x 10	5 x 5	5 x 30	10 x 15
5 x 11	5 x 5	5 x 33	11 x 15
6 x 6	6 x 5	6 x 18
6 x 7	6 x 5	6 x 21	7 x 18
6 x 8	6 x 5	6 x 24	8 x 18
6 x 9	6 x 5	6 x 27	9 x 18
6 x 10	6 x 5	6 x 30	10 x 18
6 x 11	6 x 5	6 x 33	11 x 18
7 x 7	7 x 5	7 x 21
7 x 8	7 x 5	7 x 24	8 x 21
7 x 9	7 x 5	7 x 27	8 x 21
7 x 10	7 x 5	7 x 30	8 x 21
7 x 11	7 x 5	7 x 33	8 x 21
8 x 8	8 x 5	8 x 24
8 x 9	8 x 5	8 x 27	9 x 24
8 x 10	8 x 5	8 x 30	10 x 24
8 x 11	8 x 5	8 x 33	11 x 24
9 x 9	9 x 5	9 x 27
9 x 10	9 x 5	9 x 30	10 x 27
9 x 11	9 x 5	9 x 33	11 x 27
10 x 10	10 x 5	10 x 30
10 x 11	10 x 5	10 x 33	11 x 30
11 x 11	11 x 5	11 x 33

Pastures

Pastures (by SWEM's definition) differ to paddocks as they are generally larger and intended for sustainable, longer-term grazing, exercise, and solo or group turnout of several horses at a time.

Pasture size regulations allows for adequate space (~11x11) for each horse and sufficient grazing area to meet the daily nutritional needs of a horse and to sustain a horse fully when out to pasture (120B). However, this represents the absolute minimum requirement for space and nutrition, we still encourage 15x15B (225B) per horse as standard!

Fundamentals (Information)

	Fundamentals - Pastures
Purpose	A pasture is intended to turn a horse out into for passive exercise, socialising, and grazing. It is not considered the same as a paddock since horses are moved to and from a pasture by the player.
Occupancy	Pastures can only accommodate as many horses as it can (sustain) grazing and shelter for.
Grazing Area	Pastures require a minimum of 120 blocks per horse to sustain 100% grass feeding (if necessary).
	Pastures require an additional 240 blocks per additional 10 horses to prevent crowding.
	120B per horse represents the minimum to sustain needs/space - more is always encouraged!
Shelter	Pasture shelter should protect horses from the elements (sun, rain, wind, snow) with dry, firm footing.
	Pasture shelter (structures) must be a minimum of 5B tall (lowest point) from ground to roof. Each shelter should have at least 2B tall walls on 2-3+ edges for wind and rain cover.
	Pasture shelter can count natural shelter of trees if dense enough to offer coverage + meet capacity.
	Pasture shelter must offer 3x3 minimum floorspace for each horse (excluding feed/water amenities).
	Boarding facilities must offer full-capacity structure shelters instead of natural shelter.
Security	Pastures must be secure with no escape points (breaks in fences, step ups to get over the fence).
	Pasture fences must be 1.5-2B+. Use of 1 full fence and one half fence on top is recommended.

	Additional
Width	Pastures must not be narrower than 11 blocks on the shortest edge.
Entry	Pasture entrances (gates) must be a minimum of 2 block wide and 4 block tall (headspace).
Terrain	Pastures will ideally have grass, but it is permitted to have dry lots (no grass) provided the footing is soft, natural and giving, such as with dirt, coarse dirt or grass path. Horses will require bales!
Terrain	Pastures should not have extreme terrain - instead level or gently sloping (1:3 grade) for 50%+ area.

Calculating Pasture Requirements

Pastures need 120B+ per horse + 240B additional per 10 horses.

Work out pasture area: Multiply the long edge (# blocks) by the short edge = area. This is the inner space excluding fences.
Work out pasture capacity: Divide the pasture area by 120 = approximate capacity, or use our quick reference chart below!
--- Example: 980B area divided by 120 = 8 Horses. That is 8.1 rounded down to 8 as you cannot accommodate 0.1 of a horse.
Work out pasture length: If you know one edge and the capacity, divide capacity by the length and you'll get the width.
--- Example: 700 required capacity divided by 30B on one edge = 24B (23.3) width.

Pasture Size Chart

Number of horses	Base requirement (120/h)	10+ horse add-on (240/10h)	Total
1	120	0	120
2	240	0	240
3	360	0	360
4	480	0	480
5	600	0	600
6	720	0	720
7	840	0	840
8	960	0	960
9	1080	0	1080
10	1200	240 (1 x 240)	1440
11	1320	240	1560
12	1440	240	1680
13	1560	240	1800
14	1680	240	1920
15	1800	240	2040
16	1920	240	2160
17	2040	240	2280
18	2160	240	2400
19	2280	240	2520
20	2400	480 (2 x 240)	2880
21	2520	480	3000
22	2640	480	3120
23	2760	480	3240
24	2880	480	3360
25	3000	480	3480
26	3120	480	3600
27	3240	480	3720
28	3360	480	3840
29	3480	480	3960
30	3600	480	4080

Treatment

Our server is deeply rooted in respect for animals and their welfare. This does not just include their amenities in stalls, provision of needs via food, shelter and turnout. It also includes their overall treatment. We encourage (and * enforce) the following:

* Horses should have safe, secure and welfare standard accommodation(s).
* Horses should have reliable access to food and water.
* Horses should have routine cleaning of stall and turnout spaces.
* Horses should be untacked when the owner is offline, or do not require the horse for an extended period of time.
* Horses should not be left tethered when the owner is offline - as they will be unable to attend to their needs.
* Horses should not be harmed or killed inhumanely by any player.
Owners should take every effort to keep their horse safe while riding (see below).
Owners should treat their horse with respect; avoiding derogatory language, abuse, or abandonment.

Safety

COMING SOON!

Rescue and Destroying

There are two ways to remove a horse from your care. It is very important to note that this is ONLY for the owner of the horse and does not apply to anyone not owning the animal.

Rescue

Horses can be donated to the Rescue via the Lost&Found pasture and a Forfeit Horse form. Please fill out the form (2 questions), and leave the horse in Pasture A. A Rescue worker will process the horse and tag in Discord when complete. Please see the Recue Board in-game for more detail.

Destroying

Horses can also be destroyed as long as the owner is the one to destroy the animal. Staff may have to destroy the horse but only under extensive situations. A horse may only be destroyed via a Mercy Blade. It is considered a fast, painless, merciful death. Any other purposeful death will be considered abusive and may result in Charges.