Bars for the top of a Dutch door

[fordtraktor]

I have Dutch doors on my barn. I often keep horses out but when I leave in them in stalls, I need some sort of bars to close off the Dutch doors but keep the ventilation open. my old horse goes out in the paddock by the barn, and I would like the option to keep them from fighting over the stall without closing the stalled horse in fully.

I would really love to find some bars that swing I could install to the inside (the Dutch door fits pretty tight so no room for them to the outside.) it needs to not have a frame like some windows I have seen so I can still go in and out the doors. What do other people use? I guess I could use a stall gate and hang it high? Would horses get under something like that by rubbing their heads on it if it was hung high and get hurt? That was my concern there. Ideas? Thanks.

[clanter]

I never liked inward swinging doors as to me in my mind this presents a safety hazard … if needed to get horsey out in the confines of a stall the there might be a space problem… sort of like emergency exits are supposed to open outward on buildings… may be a real concern or just something I imagined.

Have you considered offset hinges for a grill or a drop grill that would be attached to the door?

[Bluey]

We had dutch doors into the aisle of our race horse training barn.

When we wanted to keep a horse from sticking it’s head out, we had to close it in there and it was just too hot in the summers.

We made our own screens out of expanded mesh with a rod border and two pins on each side.

We hung them from eyebolts on both sides, so we could slip them in them and slid them out when not needed.

We still have some of those screens, now over 50 years old, that we have reused for all other kinds of needs.

You can buy those already made, to fit doors like a plastic or web screen, for those that leave the whole door open, just mount them higher.

Here is one:

http://www.doversaddlery.com/stall-screen/p/X1-27264/

That price seems high, a local welder should be able to make one for much less and that will fit your door just right, if that one is not the right dimensions.

[Highflyer]

Our top Dutch doors have a barred window cutout in them. You could probably also cut out the middle and put some kind of heavy mesh/ screen in instead.

[HungarianHippo]

How about just a web stall guard?

[Bluey]

[QUOTE=Highflyer;8593555]
Our top Dutch doors have a barred window cutout in them. You could probably also cut out the middle and put some kind of heavy mesh/ screen in instead.[/QUOTE]

@HungarianHippo;8594169

How about just a web stall guard?

I think the OP wants to keep horses separate, the one outside and the one inside.

Not sure woven or plastic guards may work too well for that, but maybe they could, like those mesh used on trailer windows.

[fordtraktor]

Yes, Bluey, those are the kind of things I was thinking of. I want something that is pretty secure. and not the kind of thing a horse is going to rear and stick a leg through fighting over in the middle of the night, which is the kind of thing high spirited sport horses like some of mine seem to delight in doing. The old horse needs to keep moving because of his arthritis, and he needs to be in that particular paddock because he had a very slight laminitic episode last year and it’s the one without grass. It’s always something trying to manage horses…

The old horse may be old but he’s still pretty fiery for 24, he was an upper level jumper and still has the personality. He’s not above engaging in some rearing battles at a stall door. I’d like to make it more like a stall partition when he’s out and the weather is hot/good! in the winter it hasn’t been that big a deal, I just shut the doors, but when it’s hot I’d like the airflow.

[HungarianHippo]

The inward-swing would be a concern for me. I’m picturing an emergency situation and a horse pushing to get out of the stall, or just jumping around in there, whatever: You’d have to be able to swing that upper half inward all the way around until it’s tucked back against the wall, while still standing on the outside of the lower door. With a horse dancing around in there, that may be hard to do, and you definitely don’t want to open the lower half before you’ve got that upper half pushed all the way around.

Maybe consider a sliding mount for the upper grill, with the track running on the inside wall above your door? That way you could get it open quickly since you don’t have to force a horse to back away from it.

[fordtraktor]

As an update to this in case anyone is considering something like it, I ended up ordering custom sized gates from this company:

http://candpengmfg.com/id5.html

They are even able to custom powder coat them in a color that matches my existing Dutch door trim. Much cheaper than the Dover gates too!

I can hang them so they will swing in or out so that will not be a safety issue.

[LAZ]

Jefferson Summers at Tipton Welding can probably make you anything you want. His wife is a horse person so he’s pretty savvy.

[LAZ]

Never mind–I see I was late to the party!

[fordtraktor]

Thanks LAZ, that is good to know for the future!

[Simkie]

[QUOTE=fordtraktor;8600175]
As an update to this in case anyone is considering something like it, I ended up ordering custom sized gates from this company:

http://candpengmfg.com/id5.html

They are even able to custom powder coat them in a color that matches my existing Dutch door trim. Much cheaper than the Dover gates too!

I can hang them so they will swing in or out so that will not be a safety issue.[/QUOTE]

Ha, funny. I am late to this thread and didn’t see it earlier in the week, but was going to post this link. We have these gates and a couple of their window guards, too, and they have worn very well. I think they’ll work great for what you want to do!

[fordtraktor]

in case anyone wants to see the finished product, here is what they look like installed: https://fordtraktor.shutterfly.com/pictures/177

Very happy with the product and the company’s service, which is top-notch. Highly recommend. The product itself is extremely sturdy and heavy, but comes in and out in seconds with the removal of two pins. Great product.

[Bluey]

[QUOTE=fordtraktor;8637350]
in case anyone wants to see the finished product, here is what they look like installed: https://fordtraktor.shutterfly.com/pictures/177

Very happy with the product and the company’s service, which is top-notch. Highly recommend. The product itself is extremely sturdy and heavy, but comes in and out in seconds with the removal of two pins. Great product.[/QUOTE]

Those look great!

Thank you for the update.

[keysfins]

FordTraktor, is the company local to you? And if you care to share the cost, please PM me. It looks like a great solution!

[fordtraktor]

The company is in southern Indiana, I am in Northern Indiana. I found them on the Internet. I had to have them shipped so I would imagine the cost would be similar to most.

The cost for my custom doors, in case any one wants to know, was $75 plus shipping which was quite expensive but fair as they are very heavy. They probably weigh 50 pounds each…I am extremely pleased with how sturdy these are. They are lovely, not like a cheap pipe gate. This is the good stuff.

The company’s brackets are $15 each door extra but they are very nice and worth it. Very heavy duty. So total cost for three plus brackets and shipping was just under $400.

I chose the color using color charts matched against my barn, and told them what color to spray them for an extra $10 each. Standard is black. They can do a TON of colors, anything that powder coating comes in pretty much it sounded like. Mine is pretty much exact to the trim of my barn. It is certainly darn close and better than I expected, given that I selected it holding my iPhone up against my barn trying to figure out the right powder coating color.

Service was fast. I had them in about a week. Would have been able to post pics faster but I needed my handyman to come out and help me hang them, they are heavy enough it was a two person job to put them up. The nice thing is, though, they are so well designed I can now put them up and down alone in seconds. I find that really useful.

[keysfins]

Thank you. Sounds like a very good company, I like the “About Us” page on the website. Thanks for sharing!

[Zu_Zu]

[B]Really nice !

Impressed !

• thanks for sharing your great ‘find’ ~[/B]

[Aroundtuit]

LAZ, Thanks for your recommendation. I just saw this post. Yes, my hubby, Jefferson Summers of Tipton Custom Welding and Fabrication can do anything needed. Fordtraktor, glad you found a source and are so happy with the results. We are in central Indiana. If you look on FB, we are https://www.facebook.com/TiptonWeldingFabricating/ and you can see some of our work. If you do a FB search, be sure and search Tipton CUSTOM Welding, or you’ll get the wrong business. Jeff is very responsive to text and email (765-271-1020 and fn57ss190@gmail.com)