Hi everyone
I’m new on here. My daughter and I are super excited that we just purchased our first horses! They need to come home as the farm they are at now is being sold. I have a barn with good access to the field they will be pastured on. However it is rather short. My horses are Icelandics so they are also rather short.
Barn height is 6.5 feet. It has very good ventilation. I have a plan to raise the ceiling by at least 4 inches at some point. What I’m wondering is if this is sufficient as a run in and stall shelter for them in the meantime or if I need to build a separate run in? I’ve seen that 8’ is best as the shortest height but wonder if my barn is sufficient given the size of my horses. I do not worry about them bucking or rearing or spooking in the barn as they are “bomb proof” horses.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
Pictures would help.
How much “rather short” are the horses that will use the shed?
While not ideal to have low ceilings, many make it work fine with a few horses that are older and get along very well.
Are you talking about two horses?
These two horses are 14.3 hands and were roaming thru the cattle pens.
Those cattle sheds are 8’ in front, 7’ behind and the horses would fit under there fine.
If those were horse sheds, we would have lined them with 3/4 exterior plywood and made them 8’ behind and that would be plenty for most horses.
Now, they are only 12’ deep.
If your barn is deeper, if a horse fights another in there with a low ceiling, someone may hit it trying to get around each other.
The tallest is about 14 hands. Both are in their late teens. They get along well together. They currently spend most of their time outdoors so I imagine the same will be true at our house. Oh and yes, two horses. No pictures at the moment but I’ll try to get some
is the barn a pole or post and beam and otherwise usable? just have it jacket up rather than build a new structure
If you can not do it get a foundation leveling company to quote or even a house moving company…either would have the equipment and expertise to raise a building
I suspect you will be fine with these particular horses with the lower ceiling height initially, especially if they are spending the majority of their time outside, but do encourage you to “raise the roof” when it is practical to do so…especially for your own comfort.
I would go ahead and use the short barn. See how things work as time goes along. You could build a taller shelter later, if you feel it is needed. I have kept a lot of smaller horses in old cow barns with short ceilings and had no problems. Even bouncy young horses did not get in trouble. If their ears touch the ceiling, they learn to keep heads lower, not act stupid. Does make for easy trailer loading, already used to short heights! Ha ha The little barn here is comparatively short ceilinged, about 7 1/2 ft, but our present tall horses manage just fine in there in tie stalls. They get out of cold or hot sun to relax, part of each day. They easily accept narrower trailer stall sizes, never hesitate to load. It was our only barn when we bought our farm and has served us well.
Use what you have, enjoy having the horses at home where you can see them, use them anytime you like.
Our barn is an old cow bank barn well over 100 years old with very low ceilings. VERY low.
The actual ceiling is just under 7’ And a couple of the support beams …and the entrance door… are a foot lower.
I am barely 5’ tall so the height does not bother me at all. One of our Vets is over 6’ and he has to hunch down when he comes to the beams, but he has never once complained.
My Appendix gelding was a weanling when we moved here 24 years ago. He ended up being 16.2 and did just fine in there. I had to tack him up right near the door, as the cantle on my saddle came very close to the lowest beam when he walked down the aisle.
Was it ideal? No. But we managed just fine. He never hit his head…and I could always reach to bridle him 
I have since ‘moved on’ to owning ponies and of course they are fine in there.
Thanks everyone! Very helpful. I’m going to give it a try to see how it goes. I went to a friends barn today and saw how short their door openings were etc and it seemed fine. I’ll hope to “raise the roof” next summer.
