A stable should be fire-resistant, well ventilated, and easily cleaned. A large stable often has two rows of stalls with a wide hallway between them. It may include a tack room for storing saddles, bridles, and other stable equipment. Each horse is kept in a separate stall (except in the case of a mare and foal). In a box stall, the entrance can be closed off and the horse left loose within the stall. The tie stall is a narrow stall, open at one end, in which the horse stands tied. The floor of the stall is usually clay or wood. Straw bedding or other absorbent material on the floor absorbs urine and the liquids in the manure.

A pasture is a fenced, grassy field or hillside on which horses can live and feed. A paddock is a smaller, enclosed field near a stable or house. A stable is a building fitted with stalls, where horses are kept. Most stables also have a storage area for feed and an area for tack—that is, saddles and other riding equipment.

A horse that lives without a stable needs a run-in shed for shelter from the hot sun and from inclement weather. A run-in shed is a rectangular shelter that has three sides enclosed and one side open. Such a shelter should be big enough to hold all the horses that use the pasture or paddock.

Each type of living place—pasture, paddock, or stable—has some advantages for the horses kept there. Most people choose where to keep their horses based on what is most practical.

A stall, which is an individual place for one horse in a stable, should measure at least 10 feet by 12 feet (3 meters by 3.5 meters). It should be light, dry, and well ventilated. If possible, the stall should have a window, which improves airflow. The door to the stall should be a Dutch door—a door that is divided horizontally. When the bottom half of this door is closed, the horse is still able to poke its head out of the top half of the door. The horse can see what is happening and interact with its stablemates (if it has any). This helps prevent the horse from becoming bored.

The best flooring for a stall is clay or finely ground cinders. But cement or wooden floors covered with rubber mats can be used.

Bedding can be made of such materials as wood shavings, sawdust, straw, or peat moss. It should be spread at least 1 foot (30 centimeters) thick. Although bedding is spread on the floor of a horse’s stall, often a horse may sleep standing up. Its eyes will still be half-open as it stands, dozing.