I disagree with everyone who says they only build a barn for the nice weather. While it’s true that it’s nicer for many more months, especially in Florida that doesn’t matter psychologically. You don’t want to sell your nice breezy barn in May. You want to sell it in January. Or usually March. Build a barn that makes the most miserable weather your area has bearable because having a few amenities you only use for a couple months out of the year can make a huge difference in wanting to sell it or suffering through it until nice weather. If in Florida your most miserably month is August then build the barn for August weather.
Thanks to a new addition of a VSE our pasture fences are now hot enough to fry an egg. We generally know in 24 hours when a section has gone dead.
I agree. South Carolina’s August isn’t as bad as Florida’s August, but I’m building it for August.
1 Like
Build it for the worst heat and the worst cold and the worst wind and the worst lack of wind… Basically build yourself a barn with options.
Yes… but you can’t build for Wind and Not Wind at the same time without some expensive stuff (like big sliding windows and doors). Or if I’m wrong, how would you do that? I’d love to!
Worst heat and worst cold can both be accommodated with insulation and the enclosedness of the building (to a degree).
Do you guys think that horses prefer stalls that look out, as in a shedrow rather than looking into a barn aisle? I think the former is true.
One way to help for the worst of the heat is to have as deep of an overhang as you can afford to build. If you can’t go but so deep, then the shade screens can help alleviate the solar gain through any openings, but allow for airflow and easy ingress/egress.
You can increase airflow by having a higher ceiling/loft/ridge vent/cupola. Also windows/loft doors that you can open/close in the upper levels of the barn can allow for the hot air to move out. Strategic placement of fans/ceiling fans is also a big plus.
My stalls have dutch doors to that lead to the lean to, that leads to the dry lot, which allows access to 2 different pastures. They have grills that allow them to see into the aisle, but no drop down stall doors or yokes to allow pestering of horses being moved about.
Mine are rarely locked into their stalls. When they have been (due to imminent vet or farrier visit) I find they spend a lot of time watching what is going on in the barn. But they also look out to watch the world go by out the dutch door. The bonus of the dutch door is that I’m able to lock them in, but not cut the airflow out completely.
My stall dividers are a 5 ft tall tongue and groove barrier at the moment. I have the option to increase their height to 7’ tall if I need to. I chose to leave them open above 5’. I have a stable herd. I wanted them to be able to see each other from one stall to the other and I didn’t want to cut down on air movement through the barn with the higher divider. I chose not to use a grill at the top at this time…stable herd. The 2 OTTB have enjoyed playing face tag over the barrier, but they can’t reach over and bite the other on the back or rump. This set up might not work forever for my herd, but it’s easy for me to add a 12’ fence board (or 2, or 3) that I have on hand to raise the height.
2 Likes
