Any of you keep your horses in american barns?? Got a question about sliding doors!

[olop]

Does anyone know if its possible for a horse to be able kick open a sliding door that is on runners??

I have never kept my boy in a barn before & all the doors are on sliding runners, I am having suspicions that someone is going into my stable as the door is open when my OH goes to let him out in the morning & my boy is found wandering the barn!

Me & OH have tried locking ourselves in & pushing & kicking at it with all its might & we cannot get it open, Im not sure whether my boy has turned into houndini or if somebody is actually going in there.

TIA.

 

[Sarah1]

We have mostly sliding doors and the only way a horse would be able to open it is if it wasn't shut properly - ours have a metal catch on a spring that you pull down to open it and we have extra drop down locks that when they're dropped they won't go past a certain point. Even if the door wasn't on teh runners properly they wouldn't be able to open it with these measures in place.

 

[PolarSkye]

If I inadvertently forgot to click the door closed, Kal was very adept at wiggling his nose in and gradually working it open. He certainly couldn't have opened it if it were properly shut though.

P

 

[olop]

My door also has the pull down mechanism that you have to "lock" into place as well. I am overly vigilant about making sure its locked so it looks like I can assume somebody is going in there & not locking the door.

 

[Switchthehorse]

We have sliding doors in our barn and I have known one horse that was able to shake the door so violently he could open it but it took a lot of banging and crashing.. is there anyone on your yard over night who would hear it? Because you couldnt miss it - it makes a right old racket... Alternatively do you have late night checks at all maybe it is someone doing them??

 

[crabbymare]

Try putting a chain with a clip on it round the door and post one night, next morning if the door is open but held by the chain its the horse, if the chain is off and its open its a person. Just make sure the clip is safe and the horse cannot get it stuck in its mouth.