In the design phase of barn-building, but just curious - do you think the big ceiling fans move more air, or the individual ones? Don’t worry, I am buying barn-specific fans, not $17 box fans.
In barns, fans just stir the dust around and keeps more airborne than without those running.
A trade-off, have natural airflow to control temperature, humidity and dust that takes air out of the barn, or something that just stirs more dust in the same volume.
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We have both.
Ceiling fans down the middle (over the aisle) and fans in each stall pointing at the horse.
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I would put a big barrel fan at one end, pointed out of the barn, to draw are down the aisle and out the other end. In addition, stall fans mounted high in a corner, blowing down on the horse
I have AirKing fans over each stall (on separate switches) and also have large fan that blows down the center aisle which we use on really hot days (it’s able to be moved around so could also be used to augment the AirKing fans in the wash rack if that were needed.) My barn was luckily sited for good ventilation, but we are here in the hot, humid south so the fans are in regular use all summer long and keep the temperature very comfortable even on really toasty days.
I’ve been reading a book entitled, The Cavalry Horse and His Pack, by Lt. Jonathan Boniface and first published in 1903.
His comments on training and riding reflect his time and just predate the development of the Forward Seat and it’s immediate successor, the American Military Seat. The training advice on ground work and the like is still quite relevant. Some of the advice on saddle work is dated and must be modified.
He spends a BUNCH of time on general care of animals. One thing he says at least a half dozen times is that stable ventilation should be designed such that natural airflow will remove heat, fumes, and odors from barn. Electric fans were known in his time but he doesn’t mention them much, probably reflecting the reality that not all military posts of that time would have been “electrified.” One constant, recurring comment is, “don’t let drafts blow on horses in their stalls.” This is particularly true in hot weather and if horses have just been put up after work and cooldown. Given his advice and experience (including 3 years of mounted service in the Philippines) I wonder how he would view fans blowing directly on horses?
Before I made any serious plans in this regard I’d review the experiences in the stables at the Olympics in Atlanta. I’d be interested to see what they had to say about direct air flow.
G.
Ceiling fans down the aisle
Exhaust Fan at one end
Individual stall fans - cleaned and stored for winter
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I have and use all of the above …accordingly ~
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have two big drum fans I do not use Ӣ ceiling fan installation made them useless in my barn Ӣ
Same. My barn is well ventilated but it is hot and humid here and fans make the horses much more comfortable. They also keep the bugs away.
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Well, in Hong Kong the stables themselves were air conditioned. What does the fellow from 1903 have to say about that? IOW, technology and knowledge change over time.
Remember when it was the end of the world to put cold water onto or into a hot horse? Yeah, I remember it, too. Now we know better and can do better. These links address Ye Olde Colde Water Myth and discuss fans, too.
From the NYT article linked here: https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/s…/03horses.html
To cope with the climate, Olympic organizers and the 42 national equestrian teams competing are taking a lot of precautions.
Enlarged golf carts have been fitted with portable generators, hoses and bathtub-size red plastic tanks full of cold water, ready to be driven straight to overheated horses in need of a quick dousing.
Rows of powerful fans fitted with water valves have been set up to spray the horses before and after they compete. And the stables not only have air-conditioning, but also fans that blow curtains of cold air across the entrances to keep the hot air outside.
From the FEI Sports Forum Document linked here: https://inside.fei.org/sites/default…ORTING_DOC.pdf
Recognised and Common Cooling Techniques
Most competition horses are used to and tolerate close proximity of grooms, vets, farriers, management, officials, etc at competitions. However, if horses have not experienced being aggressively cooled before then it is advisable to try and introduce this to them at home prior to competition. At major events the type of cooling facilities likely to be provided may include:
ï‚· Shaded areas
ï‚· Fans
ï‚· Misting fans
ï‚· Cold water hose sprays
ï‚· Mobile cold-water hose sprays mounted on all-terrain vehicles (ATVs)
ï‚· Large reservoirs of ice water from which buckets can be filled to pour over horses
ï‚· Sheets and cooling rugs
Ensuring horses are tolerant of fans, sprayed water from hoses and people working on both sides using small buckets at home is likely to ensure cooling is not compromised in the competition environment. It also provides an opportunity to train athletes and grooms and explain the advantages of aggressive cooling.
Fans Standing horses in front of fans increases heat loss by convection. It also increases the rate of evaporation of water or sweat. Fans also increase comfort but by themselves are not an effective cooling technique for hot horses.
Misting Fans Misting fans provide comfort. On their own they are not an effective technique for cooling hot horses. Misting fans spraying ambient temperature water are less effective the higher the humidity. Misting fans spraying cold water (e.g. 5°C or 41°F) are more effective but still only appropriate for creating comfort as opposed to rapid and effective cooling.
Application of cold water Applying large volumes of cold water all over the horse’s body is the most effective way of cooling a horse (other than placing the horse in a pool of cold water). On a scale of 1 to 10, if cold water application is 10 then all other methods of cooling are in the range 1-3. Water should be applied all over the body using buckets/containers or where available, cold water sprays. Cold water sprays have the advantage of using less water and ice. There is no advantage to concentrating on applying cold water to specific areas (e.g. large blood vessels on the neck or between the legs, the large muscle groups, etc). The effectiveness of cooling is dependent on covering as much of the horse in cold water as possible, preferably ice water. There is no advantage to stopping to scrape off cold water that has been applied when cooling horses that are very hot and potentially at risk of collapse or distressed. This simply wastes time that could be used to apply more cold water.
Again - I’m intentionally posting about cold water on hot horses and fans. Both are a good idea. Would it be dumb to have a closed up tight sort of barn with tiny or no windows with stall fans blowing? Of course it would be. It would also be dumb to have a barn with nice airflow and good windows and good air turnover and NOT add in safe, appropriate stall fans. It’s 96 degrees and 56% humidity at my house right now. You bet if my horses were stalled, those fans would be turning (shedrow barn).
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If you use fans, would it not be best to have individual ones that a horse can stand in front of or away from it, as it desires?
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of course. So you mount one up in a corner, blowing across the stall. Or one up high, centered on one side and blowing toward the opposite wall about 4’ up. They can stand where they like. A ceiling fan OVER a stall should be (IMO) reversed so it’s pulling air UP off of the horse.
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If you plan on using ceiling fans in the barn/stalls, especially those that are the high volume air metal bladed type that are designed for agricultural facilities, be sure that you have enough ceiling height and that your electrical is in place to handle that. The variable speed controls on those require different wiring than the standard home ceiling fan.
I think it depends on your climate and weather patterns. I’m in South/Central Texas and have a fan in each stall as well as a roll-around Home Depot fan on an extension cord that I can move as I want. My barn is shed-row style, completely open on the east side and leaving the big end doors open, on the north and south side. Our prevailing breeze comes from the SE. I don’t know where you are, but if the heat is a “usual” problem, I’d do a fan in each stall and wherever else needed. I didn’t put one in the washrack but wish I had. I only have 2 guys and the roll-about fan positioned in front of the stalls gives enough extra on these 100-degree days. Whatever you do, get fans that are sealed for barns—mine are from RAMM. I can take them down and wash them and put them back up and they aren’t a hazard.
How high up is everyone mounting their wall mount fans?
If you are using the wall mount, sealed motor fans, just out of horse reach if the fan will be with in the stall. If it is outside of the horse’s range, then 5-6 feet with it pointed in a slight downward direction, but not straight down so as to avoid blowing shavings and dust around the stall.
If you have high ceilings like I do (14 foot), the ceiling fans don’t seem to do much but kill the barn swallows. We don’t use them anymore. We have individual fans in each stall mounted in corners and also an industrial aisle fan and another smaller aisle fan and we move those around. The shoers are very happy about those!
We have individual wall mounted outdoor safe fans. They have fully enclosed motors and can be sprayed with water. They are mounted low because of my low ‘used to be a cow barn’ ceilings. The angle allows the blades to blow at about back level and the horses often elect to come in from the field at the worst heat/bugs time and stand in front, snoozing.
Best addition to my barn. I love them, as do my horses.
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The GIHP* barns have very high roofs with vents and there are many large evenly spaced overhead fans throughout each barn. (Not over each stall.) Sides and backs of the stalls are solid, fronts are half solid with bars and full screen sliding doors.
We show there often, in hot weather we always hang fans. The overheads do move the air but in Ga heat and humidity we like to do all we can for the horses’ comfort.
I have no idea of the planning or design process for these barns, but they’re very nice to work in. All stalls are matted, wide macadam aisles, and multiple water spigots in each aisle.
*Georgia International Horse Park
I was at a barn that had ceiling fans in each stall. I hated it. The stalls still felt hot and humid. My horse had a door to the outside so we were able to open that up for more air flow, but without it, the stall felt gross. A box fan did a much better job at cooling the stalls.
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