Getting Horses Used to Kool Kurtains (or Strip Doors)

[horsepoor]

Just looking for ideas beyond what we are trying. I just put up Kool Kurtains on the doors to my in/out stalls specifically to keep birds out of my barn.* 4’ wide doors so two panels with a 4" overlap in the center. For now, we tied them back to make a larger opening, and one horse is ok, but another scurries through in fear, and the super spooky warmblood won’t go near them. Do I just give it some time like this and gradually loosen the tie backs so they cover more of the opening? I only feed grain in the stalls (they get hay and water out on the attached overhang) so they don’t have to come in, but I also don’t want them getting in then being afraid to go out. The horses are locked out of the stalls during the day (we’ll untie the curtains and let them hang free to keep the birds out). Will my passive approach here work or should I be doing more?

*I know some of you get up in arms about blocking birds out, but I am tired of the interior of my barn looking like a Jackson Pollock painting. There is a large overhang for the horses where the birds can nest and the mess won’t be as bothersome. I just want the interior of my barn back!

[Bluey]

We used plastic strips and have yet to see a horse scared of them.
In fact, they stand there when the wind blows letting the strips hit them all over.

A friend said his horses would scatter wide if he tried to put those.
One day he brought two horses to train in the indoor and left them in stalls with runs during lunch.
His horses walked in and out thru the strips like they had been living there all along, didn’t give them any notice.

We do keep them tied a bit to both sides so our fierce winds won’t bang them up so badly, but when the wind is not bad, they just hang there.

I wonder if you could tie them way back at first, then slowly leave them come down a bit every week, so shy boy decides is fun to have those scrape the flies off for him?

[endlessclimb]

I’d put one strip down so they get used to the touching, and then actually put the two scaredy cats on lead lines and send them in and out, with lots and lots of praise. Do that for a week, slowly dropping more strips down until they’re going in and out of the door.

[fourfillies]

The barn where I kept my retiree had to do just this for a week or so until my scaredy-cat got used to them. After that he did just fine. Did not seem to keep the barn cooler but totally solved the bird issue.

[SusanO]

I have a very spooky quirky warmblood mare. I hung shade cloth curtains ( home made) to help keep her stall cooler and keep some of the bugs out. Her aversion to the curtains was quickly put to rest when she found out her food was in the stall. Ditto the fan. She HATES being outside during the day in bug season. And she is really afraid she might starve to death. She decided they were fine real fast. She doesn’t even bat an eye if we have a storm blow in and they are flapping furiously in the breeze. If she an adjust any horse can.

[GottaLuvIt]

When I first installed Kool Kurtains I thought my DraftX was going to have a heart attack. I never thought he would adjust. It took him some time but now it is not a problem. I brought in a OTTB mare that was fearless but she also said “H3ll NO” but just this morning she walked into the run in and stood in the isle with the Kool Kurtain draped across her. I let them discover on their own time frame that the curtains were not going to eat them and walked them through every day that they refused. I’ll bet that your “scurrier” will adjust in time. Everyone at my place has adjusted. Of course my cool POA never had to adjust as she never had a problem. Fearless ponies!

[horsepoor]

Thanks for the posts, all, and especially for giving me hope! Just in one day of having the curtains up, the horses have gotten a lot better. We’re still keeping the curtains tied back when the horses need to have access to the stalls, so there is an opening in the middle, which we’ll make smaller and smaller as they adjust. Last night, I fed some hay inside and some hay outside, forcing the poor starving things to go back and forth, plus they get led in and out multiple times during the day for grooming and turnout. I think we’ll get there eventually and at least now no one is running for the hills, blowing and tail flagging like the first day (the warmblood is a drama king). Now it is just a race to get them conditioned to the fully closed curtain before the birds try to set up house but I think since we close them completely during the day (horses kicked out then), we’ll be ok.

[Mealticket]

Make sure the strips go all the way down to the ground, barn swallows are nothing if not diligent and can fly under if there is just an inch clearance. I really dislike them- they poop all over, they abandon their babies and dive bomb you when riding. I’ve been using the thick freezer door strips for 20 years. The TBs thought the strips were toys never even blinked when we put them up.