The best vet I ever worked with smoked like a chimney. Yes, he smoked in my barn and was very careful about it.
I am not saying that it isnt dangerous. I am saying i hope y’all spend as much time or more looking into the 10 dollar box fans and bad wiring you find in barns, they are a far greater risk than Dr Crowe and his well tended Marlboro.
This is definitely a good point about the fans, I’ve heard of some insurance companies not letting barns use fans unless they had enclosed motors and were barn safe which is understandable. It has become something I take note of at barns
Smoking isn’t just a fire hazard, though, it’s a health risk even to non-smoking humans. If you’re a barn worker and your fellow employee smokes close enough to the barn or in it all the time, you’re getting exposed to it.
Those box fans scare the bejesus out of me.
I am not advocating for smoking, not in the least. I am advocating for seeing the more common culprit in barn fires: romex that mice and rats and such chew through like butter, open splices where wiring was extended, undersized extension cords, and cheap box fans. One of the nicest barns in terms of “neighborhood” value near me is tucked inside a very exclusive gated neighborhood and I promise you no one is smoking anywhere nearby…and the wiring is a freaking rat’s nest.
The only time I saw someone smoking in the barn, it was a buyer trying a horse that shipped in with a trainer from down the road, so no one affiliated with the barn among them.
Luckily I was working there, saw her silhouette down the aisle and sternly stated “that better be a pen in your mouth.”
I was absolutely livid.
I wonder if smoking is less often the cause of fires because people have learned to not smoke in barns.
I have been at a couple of barns with that arrangement. Outside of course, so the ramp would get slippery when it rained, and icy in the winter. At one, a barn worker broke their arm slipping on the ice.
“How will we manage the manure?” seems like a very basic, top-of-the-list item when designing a barn. One of the barns was designed and built new, and the other was a very extensive expansion and remodel of an existing barn.
Ugh! I didn’t navigate it in winter! I can’t even imagine!
Plus all the regular extra work picking up the manure around the plank. And people getting angry when workers were slow to master the technique of not spilling.
Like, it shouldn’t require ballet to maneuver the equipment.
Oh I agree with you whole-heartedly. It’s a hard NO for me on box fans, and heated buckets if at all avoidable. I’d rather break buckets 2x a day than risk a fire.
I was at some place where they latched all the exterior sliding barn doors during winter, then exited through a far away man door. They had keepers at the bottoms, yet they latched with the interior latches on both sides. I HATED that - what if there was a fire? There’d be no way to get the horses out quickly! If you want the door tight overnight fine, get exterior latches for that.
I understand that checking references wouldn’t work for you, but I’ve been screening people and checking references for 15+ years. I have to, boarding retired horses, as the horses have no monetary value, so if a boarder stops paying, the usual recourse of (ultimately) selling the horse doesn’t work. I described what I do in the hopes that some would find it helpful.
(And most definitely I have rejected people because of their references! Of course people said good things, but again, you need to know what is a red flag. There absolutely can be red flags in positive references)
I am concerned about those as well!!
Speaking of boarding barn deal-breakers, a BO/BM with this attitude is a barn where I will not be boarding my horse.
Major red flag.
(Poster spare me any explanations & excuses you want to reply with, have heard them before.)
So much air exchange - you know, for more oxygen to make the fire burn faster.
Such an easy fire hazard to avoid - but god forbid the human take his vice to a more appropriate location, where one mistake will cost lives. NEED NICOTINE NOW.
Give me a break!
I’m sorry, but although the risk may be less, I definitely feel and smell the effects of secondhand smoke on my respiratory system, even outdoors. I can even smell it in my hair.
I understand smokers don’t smell it in the same way as nonsmokers, often.
Truth!!! I am getting really tired of boarding barns not giving a crap about watering their arena adequately. I should not be leaving the barn with a layer of dust on my freaking eyelashes! The worst is going somewhere to tour and it’s not bad and it keep getting worse. You don’t want to be that new needy boarder but dang…
It refers to the deranged mental state of a small flying mammals excrement.
The best is when I was the only one doing arena maintenance (had my own drag, would hand rake the track where needed, etc.) and someone would complain about how I was doing it.
SAY WHAT?! Go do it yourself then! I’m not an employee, I’m just trying to keep the place nice! Yeah, I water heavy - but that’s because I don’t want to have to do it every.single.day - some days I want to just come and take care of my animals.
Even though I moved, I’ve been back a few times. The arena is in ATROCIOUS condition now.
I didn’t notice anyone mentioning second-hand smoke when there have been several posts talking about actively smoking in the barn. Whatever. 
I’m not saying it wouldn’t work, I’m just saying it has its limits and hiccups to be aware of.
Oof, yeah it was a shock for me the first time I went to a barn that didn’t regularly water/drag their arena. The barn I started riding at had the arena watered and dragged multiple times a day so I assumed that was just kinda the standard. Next barn watered the arena most days (sprinkler system) but rarely dragged it; I’m actually not sure they had a tractor. Then I wound up at one that didn’t do either. That was not a long-term relationship.
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