Shade fabric by the barn

Which setup do you prefer? Or neither? I primarily use the barn during bad weather so I’m not sure how the horses will feel about things blowing in the wind. But they don’t mind tarps too much so they might be just fine. I’m wondering if the first ones will blow less as they have better attachments? Thoughts?

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My horse has a little shaded area provided by shade fabric stretched between four posts. She doesn’t have any large trees in her field, so it was really a necessity. It’s right next to the water tub and a neighboring field with other horses in it. The other horses have their own shade shelter, although they have some large trees as well.

All the horses love it!. Even the horses who have access to tree shade usually will hang out in the shade provided by the fabric. It’s been a real success.

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What happens in the rain in the second set up? In theory I prefer it as it still allows a good breeze, and the fabric looks less loud than the tarps (again, thinking of rain)

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we use both styles shown, the top version we have where those can be rolled up and stored as they are primarily used to block wind from a specific direction (winter use) . The bottom photo is like what we do to reduce the sun on the west side of the main barn in the summer

Just let it blow. It will desensitize them. I have the quirky spooky snortiest mare. I hung two shade clothes like curtains on the outside door of her stall that leads to the pasture. She decided pretty fast that being in the stall with a fan and no bugs was far superior to being outside with bugs. She has no problem going in and out with it flapping in the wind. And even when bad storms and wind pass through she ignores the cloth flapping in the wind. No reason to be scared when there is food in that stall.

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I have shade cloth installed like your top picture except mine is only the top half of the wall (board fence below). I have 3 and will likely get a fourth shortly. Makes the barn way cooler and I love how breezy it is compared to solid walls. Mine hardly moves in the wind.

And no horses have decided they’re a fun new chew toy? They look great but that’s my concern. Where do you get them?

I think of airflow. If the red is to block the sun then great but otherwise I like the green . And I like it alot!
And I would think they’d get used to the flapping.

I am confused, where is the shade fabric in the top photo? I see a barn with basically a breeze wa

My answer to the original question, I think the answer is very climate dependent.
I need my shade to also be shelter from winter weather (snow and ice). So all my shade is an actual roof.

In the top photo, on the left of the aisle there is a screen/tarp/cloth instead of solid wall material.

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I swear I looked at that several times and I did not notice it was fabric. Wow. I see it now. Thank you.

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It’s very well done with the screen / tarp thing being the same color as the solid walls. I can see how it could play tricks in your eyes. YW

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