Stall dividers, which kind and why?

[Bluey]

Having worked in all kinds of barns, in general, which kind of dividers between stalls are better, other than special situations, like some horse that needs to be isolated?

In some barns, stalls are solid between horses, in others, there are grills or wire or some other kind of material, but airflow and sight down the row of stalls is open, horses can see the others and interact with those on both sides of them.

Which do you prefer and why? Solid or open tops?

We had a special situation where some horses were insecure eating behind the solid partition and would not settle to eat there, took a bite and ran out to check the other horses were still there.
Changed that to open top and now, no more such problems.

We are wondering if we want to do the same with the other solid partitions, or not.

[ayrabz]

this will be interesting, since, I’m sure you’ll get as many different opinions as there are different horses. :yes:

I had to have barred half walls. My guy is horribly insecure and anxious and solid walls would drive him nuts. Another horse he can see/smell ‘settle’ with? priceless.

I’ll never forget paying for ‘premium’ stalls at a big show (maybe it was Sport Horse Nationals, come to think of it?)…My guy was in a gorgeous stall, but solid walled…no one across from him. HA! I ended up ‘switching’ to the cheap-o temp stalls…open on all sides and back (!) to see/nose other horses, and voila. Different horse.

sigh.

[Bluey]

Thank you, that was our experience, new horse, solid wall, anxious behavior.
Now, open top, no problem.

Our soon to be 22 year old will need to be fed separately soon and he definitely won’t settle where he can’t see the others.
While old horses can learn new tricks, some times, they also have earned their peace.

Will see what others think.

We are also debating leaving the first 1/3 solid to give some privacy, as it is, only making the other back 2/3 open.

[jump4me]

I like half wall with bars on top. For horses that “fight” through the bars (like at feeding time) or otherwise prefer a bit of privacy, a solid section by the feed bucket works well. We do have a few stalls that are solid but have a window with bars between the stalls. That seems to work fine for most horses that don’t like a solid wall, but some would just stand at the window and stare into the other horses stall.

[Kate66]

My preference is the solid half wall open at the top. However, now that we have a 9.2h pony he can’t see over the 4 foot wall, so tends to freak out. Makes me laugh, we’ve already had to lower the automatic waterer so he can reach it and now have to consider what to do with the dividing wall.

[Tiramit]

I’m a big fan of the half wall with bars on top. It’s never been a problem, even after 4 barns and many horses of all personality types, and it goes a long way toward helping insecure horses who just have to see and sniff their friends.

I do feed in buckets on the ground vs. in the corner feeders. It seems more natural to me and if there is an issue with a neighbor, I can simply move the food to a different part of the stall. Of course these are my own horses and my max number of is 5, so feeding time isn’t a huge amount of work.

[Bluey]

Looks like open at the top is winning.
We will then be doing some remodeling soon, I think.

We also feed the hay on the ground, on the rubber mats and any grain, as senior grain, in rubber buckets on the ground.
Then, some times, like with very old horses, they eat better at nose level, not having to reach quite so far down, so we need an option to have food placed at any one height .

[tasia]

Mine are solid first 4 feet, then 2 inch spaces between boards the remainder of the wall. The front of the stalls have bars. This seems to keep the horses happy since they can see each other.

[Beam_Me_Up]

I have the solid bottom, bars on top. My parents helped me put them in and it was suprisingly simple (cut the conduit, drill holes in 2 2x4s, install).

I really like the airflow and line of sight through the barn. My horses don’t really fight–they are a small herd (3 that are all turned out together)–but the feed buckets are not on opposite sides of the dividing wall, so they aren’t eating head to head.

[JB]

Solid half walls, then vented above that to 9’ or so. Mine are horizontal T&G to 4.5’, then regular 2x6 boards with 2" spacers above that.

[EquusMagnificus]

I went with a compromise having broodmares and foals.

The front is top grilled with horizontal wood at the bottom (with a space left in between each plank of 7/8" for air circulation).

The first 42" or so of each stall wall is cement, plus 48" on top of horizontal wood with again, a space of 7/8" left in between each plank.

I get the safety and privacy of a solid partition, yet horses can still peek at each other and most importantly, sniff each other through the gaps between the planks. Safe for all, yet not stressful. :yes:

It’s the perfect setup IMO. You don’t need to worry who goes beside whom, etc…

[netg]

Ours are solid all the way up. My gelding can get his head over the top of the wall to look over (and freaks out newcomers when they see a floating horse head!), but the girls get NASTY about food. They needed the privacy of the solid walls for feeding time to be more peaceful, and they still go out in their runs to kick the fence at each other.

Little witches.

Barring behavior issues like our two mares, I much prefer a more open top as well.

[draftdriver]

Solid dividers, with a 1.5 foot gap to the ceiling. Horses can see each other across the aisle through the front grille.

Actually, I find that seeing other horses isn’t as important to them as being able to hear that other horses are in the barn with them. But then, mine are only in at feed time; very rarely overnight.

[Equibrit]

I am of the opinion that you encourage stable vices by isolating horses with solid walls. Mine have 3ft of T&G with vertical bars above all round with no problems.

[cowgirljenn]

I’ve got solid walls up about 4 1/2 feet and then it is open (no bars or grill). The down side is that if I have horses who don’t get along, I can’t put them side by side as they can lunge at each other. Then up side is that the horses who do get along really seem to enjoy being able to hang their heads over each other’s stalls, touch each other, etc.

If I could figure out how to do some kind of grill, I would probably do it on a couple of stalls for the horses who don’t get along well…

[SkipHiLad4me]

I personally prefer solid wall with bars on top but as long as I have my gelding, I’ll have to build at least one stall that has solid walls all the way up between stalls or just let him be in a stall off by himself at feed time. He can’t stand other horses “looking” at hime while he’s eating and will try to fight through the bars. So he ends up slinging his feed all around the stall where he grabs a bite and then runs at the wall to sneer at his neighbor :rolleyes: The stall walls with bars on top or the spaced boards on top are definitely way better for ventilation purposes in the heat of the summer.

[Bluey]

So many good ideas and reasons behind them, thank you.

We were thinking about making the tops out of this square material, maybe:

http://www.classic-equine.com/posts/custom-designs

[wildlifer]

Ours are half walls with bars, but the corners by the feeders (maybe 18") are solid all the way up, so they cannot see each other when their heads are in the feeder, reducing food aggression.

[JMarcyQuay]

Have had all varities…I do like having full walls since it limits fighting. I have two geldings that are very attached to each other; not herd-bound (they are easily seperated for riding and showing without much fuss), but have been together for 5 years and stick together constantly. They can be next to each other with full-wall stalls and not be concerned; they know the other one is there – they both sleep leaning against the same wall.

Bars tend to make me nervous since rescuing two horses, in seperate incidents, that were hanging upside down by the hind feet from their bars. One was okay, one was not. Might have just been that barn, but something about the height and spacing of the bars made them perfect for kicking and getting stuck in.

But. There are many horses that have big issues not seeing any of their buddies next to them.

Current barn I’m at has probably close to ideal set-up. Stall walls are all wood (gutted cow barn, used materials to reconstruct inside as a horse barn) and roughly 6 inches thick. about five feet up, there are horizontal spaces between the boards, allowing horses to see each other…but the spaces are two small for them to be able to crib on the boards, and since they are on both side of the 6-inch walls, there is no way for the horses to touch each other. They can see, hear, smell, but cannot get at each other.

Picture (taken during construction, obviously before front stall walls went up):
http://tinypic.com/r/i6f29t/5

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

The only problem with the wood openings I have seen (even when spaced very close together like the above picture) is that the beaver horses can still chew. If I were building stalls I would want any exposed wood edges covered in metal. That’s just me though…