Depth of siding on grooming stall

[cardinale]

Your thoughts on the following would be greatly appreciated: if you were putting a grooming stall at one end of a 12’ x 48’ 3-sided hay shed, would you have the siding go all the way to the ground? The siding on the hay shed is planned to stop 2’ above ground level for ventilation (hot climate), but should it go lower in the stall? All the way to the ground? If a gap at the bottom is OK, how big? I’m worried if too small a hoof could get caught underneath but if the gap is 2’, the area couldn’t be used as an emergency isolation/quarantine stall. There will be wooden kick boards at least 5’ up in the stall. Shelter will be fenced off on sides and back (no horse access to the metal siding).

The sketch below shows the 2’ gap all round. The grooming area is on the right. There will be corral panels with gate in front of the hay storage area and between the hay and the grooming stall. Thanks for your help.

[lenapesadie]

If you have kickboards in the stall then it won’t really matter how far the siding comes down.

Am I misunderstanding your plan?

[cardinale]

Thank you for the information. For most of the time, this will be a grooming, vet, and farrier work area (shade is important here to keep everyone happy), for which a 2 foot gap at the bottom should work fine.

However, if needed I was going to use this area temporarily as an isolation stall (put a corral panel with a gate across the front). For that use, a 2’ gap seems too big? But, if the siding comes down too far, a leg or hoof could get caught underneath. Is there a happy medium? I’ve heard that horses tend to not go “under” which is why e.g. some corral panels have the lowest bar ~19" up but is a 24" opening at the bottom of a stall OK? I guess if used as a stall, corral panels could be put along the sides to help close off the gap.

The contractor building this wants to just keep the siding 24" from the bottom all round.

[lenapesadie]

Are you only planning on kickboards behind the siding? So if the siding stopped 2’ from ground level, then the kickboards would stop 2’ from ground level as well?

I imagined the kickboards running to the ground level.

Alternatively you could slap some pieces of plywood up in the event you needed the space as a stall.

[mmeqcenter]

That sounds like a disaster waiting to happen, IMO. A cast horse might easily get their legs in that 2’ opening and be super extra stuck, not to mention that having no lower wall would give them nothing to push against when trying to get up if they laid down a bit too close to the wall. I would only have stall walls that go all the way down to the ground.

[cardinale]

Yep, you’re right. I’m trying to work out the design as best I can and suspected a 2’ gap was a bad idea. Thanks, expensive mistake averted but now I have to think of what to do.

It’s weird, though, Noble Panels which makes quality products sells a 6’ tall 6-bar corral panel that has the bottom bar 19 1/2" off the ground. I guess it’s primarily for round pens, not horse stabling.

[clanter]

honestly I do not understand the structure’s design concept of the 2ft above grade opening. If this is needed to provide air flow there should be an opening at the top of the wall as warm air rises. An opening or gap of the wall to the roof line would provide a pathway for the air to exit.

With a fully opened one wall (the front of the drawing) any air movement will be out that way,

What about the hay that is stacked next to the back wall?..it would not be ventilated at all

[3PonyFarm]

Would the 5x16’ horse panels that TSC sells work as sides for the groom/horse stall? The openings are 2x4” I suppose some enterprising horse could still manage to hurt themself but they would be good for ventilation. Let us know what you come up with!

[cardinale]

Thanks for all the input. Still working on the design and trying to avoid making a costly mistake that will have to be fixed later. This structure has to fit in a narrow space which is why it is long and narrow.

There is a gap at top (not easily visible in the sketch) to let hot air out just as Clanter asked about. I’m keeping that opening on the small side because this structure will back up close to the the lot line and I’m trying to minimize hay bits blowing into the neighbor’s backyard when we get the occasional strong wind (if necessary, I will put some sort of mesh over the top gap to allow air flow but keep stray pieces of hay from escaping).

The horses will be completely fenced off from the 2’ bottom gap in the leftmost 36’ (no access from inside or outside) which is the hay area.

The grooming stall on the right is where I had the most questions. Given the consensus here from the brain trust that a giant gap is not a good idea–which makes total sense–I’m going to have the siding and kickboards run all the way to the bottom in that area. Even if it’s never used as a temporary stall, it just seems safer overall in case a horse panics in there during vet care or shoeing. The only downsides are loss of some air flow plus increased cost, plus the sides will look different. But, gotta go with safety and functionality first.