are horses happier in american barn or traditional stables

paddi22

paddi22

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just thought I'd post this to get other peoples feedback. I just recently moved yards and went from a traditional brick stable to a new yard with an american barn style one. My horse is fairly good tempered and calm, and was settled fine in the traditional one, which looked out on a small courtyard with stables all round.

He recently moved to an american barn style one and he just seems MUCH happier and alert and his general mood seems better.

This is the first time i've ever been in american barn style stables and I was curious to see how people compared the design to the tradition stable and if there horses prefered one to the other, if it affected the horses pyschologically better for some reason?
 
Personally I don't think it's a question of American barn versus traditional; there are too many other variables that need to be taken into account. For instance: ventilation, light, proximity of other horses, bedding, general environment (busy or quiet), personality of horse and that of his immediate neighbours.

TBH (apart from the basics of ventilation and light) there are no right or wrongs....it is just what works for your particular horse.
 
I don't think you can generalise. My horse came from a yard which had traditional stables, where he was happy. I moved him to a yard with an American bard but he never settled, though I think it was because he had moved to a yard with 15 horses from a yard with 50+ horses. He was used to a big yard and didn't like a small one. I then moved to my current yard, with 30+ horses and an American barn, where he settled straight away. I don't think the type of stabling was a factor at any of the yard - there were too many other variables at each yard.
 
My horse definatley prefers stables where he can have some kind of nose contact with other horses ie grills between stables. Old yard was in barn with pen type stables - all partitions were half height gates. He liked being near but it made him defensive and protective over food.
New yard is bigger in a barn but with proper stables. Horse loves kissing his mates but is much more relaxed and happier that there is no risk of his space being invaded.
Both were light and airy and tehre was no problem with ventilation neither over exposure to the elements. Would not like a barn with doors which were shut - as I know some do.
 
Both mine prefer the barn as they can see their neighbours more easily but I have also seen other horses which absolutely hate another horse being able to "look" into their stable. I prefer the barn personally because from a purely selfish perspective, its much nicer for me late at night..!
 
My Old boy would kick the hell out of a stable if he had visible neighbours, it stresses him right out. My young one has a grid between him and his neighbour, he's OK but i wish it were a solid wall, they do nothing but annoy each other.
 
its just that i couldn't get over his personality has completely transformed. Before he was very much focused on me, and very friendly but meek. Now he is a still friendly, but a bit perkier, and has a proper cheeky glint is his eye. it just seems like it has brought out his true personality a bit more. Which is odd to me as I assumed I knew him! From looking at the difference I can see his personality in the old stables was still pleasant but a bit bland, and withdrawn.

my old horse would have hated the barn stables tho, he loved his bit of prvacy and quiet and hated being watched when he ate!
 
I am about to move my horse (on Saturday) from a proper brick type stable to an american barn arrangement so I will let you know how she settles in and if she changes at all.

I am just praying that we don't get too much snow before then as I am supposed to be hacking her down to the new yard!
 
My shire x hated being in the barn, and never settled. He was fine when we moved him to a stable with a view of the fields! On the otherhand my TB (ex-racehorse) is much happier and calmer being stabled in the American barn with the others.

It's certainly easier and more pleasant to stable my horses in the barn; warmer in the winter, cooler in the summer, its easy and pleasant to do the horses in bad weather. The lights in the barn make it easier to have the horses out in the evenings, etc.
 
i have half-grilles between my stables which i've had to board up, mine kick the hell out of the walls otherwise, they HATE having someone else look at them in their boudoir. so, as long as they have their privacy, i don't think it makes any difference really whether the stables are internal or external.
on a livery yard it can be a nightmare though, esp if you have someone who deep litters, or doesn't muck out till after work, the whole barn can start stinking on a hot summer's day... also, if you have a dust-sensitive horse, the bedding and hay in the other stables can affect it.
 
I always think that traditional stables must be nicer as they can look out in the fresh air but that said my horse has been in an American barn far longer than a traditionable stable. If I was designing an American barn I would have it with windows to the rear that could be shut off with a door when the weather was bad so that the horse has the best of both worlds.

One think about barns I don't like them to be too narrow but prefer a wide aisle down the middle so that the horse has more personal space (though I am sure this is putting human thoughts onto the horse and if I could spell the word for that I would use it).
 
We are lucky with our barn in that it is very well ventilated and everything is on full livery so no issues with deep littering or peeps not mucking out until late in the day.

My horse has been in traditional systems and barn systems - as I posted in the other thread, he loves where he is now as he is really nosy and and as the barn is the centre of the yard there is enough going on to keep him occupied and interested. My last yard, his outdoor box was in a corner meaning he could see one way but not the other and he was slightly out of things - whilst he was never upset about it, he definitely seems happier now.

Our stables also have full walls in between - if you have a tall horse with giraffe tendancies they can poke their noses over the top and annoy the neighbour if they wish but most choose not too. One pair that could see each other used to strop and fight all night until the partition was boarded up so they couldn't see each other.
 
Mine's done both; he has been at equestrian college where they had American Barn, and back at my yard we've got traditional stabling.

At the equestrian college, some horses (especially mares) got quite stressed out with the American Barn set-up - it was because they couldn't handle someone across from them looking directly at them and there were a few horses there which were weaving, and/or cribbing and had other habits like biting/pulling faces, banging doors etc.

The horse next to mine would probably have been better in traditional stabling - whenever mine put his nose up to the grille he would make faces and try to bite.

But I think it would depend very much on what sort of yard it was TBH, and its hard to generalise.
 
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