Barns v outside stables?

[cptrayes]

I just got an email from a friend of mine saying:

"He's settled into his new stable, much happier in his outside stable - seems very chilled. "

I've often felt that the horses in the 20-horse barns where she was did not seem completely happy. It's a very busy competition yard and the grooms play Radio 1 all day too. They never seem to have any peace, what with mucking out, turning out of different horses at different times, owners arriving at different times etc.

Or is it being in a barn compared with outside?

Where do other people's horses like to be best - in a barn, or in a stable that opens directly onto the outside?

 

[MissMincePie&Brandy]

Ours are listening to Bing Crosby's White Chrismas on CD. They love it and are very relaxed. We're thinking we might have to play this music all year round for them! LOL

 

[quirky]

As long as mine has a haynet, she doesn't seem to bother where she is.

Personally, I'd rather she had an outside stable. At the moment, she has the best of both worlds, in a barn near the door which is open except in extreme weather.

 

[Tickles]

I'd guess the business and so forth is different for different animals? Likewise the proximity of company?

Outside is usually better for dust. And, potentially, fire(?) I'd have thought. A field is better than either though. (Doesn't matter what the grooms play all day if the horses are out of there anyway!)

Another thought: daylight. It isn't much but at least with a head over a door outside they will get *some* natural light. I did wonder if the (kept mostly stabled, outside but with grills) horses at a yard i used to help at got SAD or similar from being in/in indoor school in the winter...

 

[cptrayes]

oooh now THERE'S interesting! I've just googled it and horses need sun to make vitamin d just like we do. Or access to new season sun-dried hay. So increasingly we keep them in barns and give them haylage (not so much sun as baled damp) or barn dried forages.

Are our horses getting S.A.D in barns? That would account for the "slightly sad" feeling that I pick up when I see barn kept horses who don't get out much.

 

[NikkiF]

Ours is a small barn, just 5 stables, but they have windows at the back of the stables which my horses love! So best of both worlds

Some horses seem to like busier yards, ours is quiet which I prefer too!

 

[Enfys]

I very much doubt whether any of mine have ever been stabled in 'outside' stables in their lives, you rarely see them because they are just so impractical in this climate. I don't know what they'd make of them, they'd probably enjoy be able to see more but as long as they have company they really aren't bothered.

However, I once bought a mare from a shocking place (I now know that this set up is actually not unusual) the horses stalls were in a warren of passage ways that was very dark with small stalls (10 x 10 is considered adequate for a QH) The hayloft was above, the indoor arena was accessed through a normal 'human' size and type door, so the horses never actually went out into natural daylight. My mare had been shipped up from Indiana as a 5 year old (to Ontario) and had been there 4 months. I presumed her docility was due to her nature, she took a long, long time to develop any sort of character, but now, looking back on it I can see that she was certainly 'depressed' and wonder whether it was due, in part, to the stabling.

My lot now don't care, they live out, coming into a barn, for them, means that there will be hay and/or a feed whilst they wait for the Vet, Farrier, owners etc. My barn is pretty quiet, if you discount the dogs galloping in one end and out the other, quads and tractors going in and out, power tools being used in the workshop etc, etc,

In general my horses eat whatever is available, then lie down and go to sleep. There are high back windows and despite appearances, plenty of natural light, cool in summer, slightly warmer in winter. From my point of view it is utter bliss and unless I go to live somewhere tropical I have no intention of using outdoor stabling again unless it is already there. I find being able to do everything out of the weather wonderful, and it would hack me off royally to have to dig my horse out of the stable every morning in a normal winter.

 

[kerilli]

hmm, i'm not sure. tbh i think that indoor stables where the horses have no privacy (grilles between stables, rather than solid walls) are far more stressful for them than normal stables. mine are in a barn with no back windows BUT they are all out as much as possible.
that's really interesting about Vitamin D, cptrayes. lots of food for thought!

 

[dwi]

I've just moved from a barn to a yard with outdoor stables. I'm not keen as I'm getting rained on but D seems to really like her new stable. She would never go in a stable with bars between them, we tried her in one once and she spent 45 mins trying to kill the horse in the next stable. It's certainly much airier.

Blitzenfys - love the mini in your barn!

 

[Ziggy_]

Mine currently has the best of both worlds, being on the end stable of an indoor barn with a big window opening to the rear so she can look out. The large barn doors next to her stable are open all day as well. Its a wooden building and has the bonus of being warm in winter and lovely and cool in summer. The walls are enclosed but there are grilles to the front so she can see the other horses. She is happy and relaxed in her stable as most of the others seem to be - I think its the only yard I've ever been on where I've not seen a single horse weaving or performing some other vice.

I've been on a few yards with indoor stabling and some my mare has been fine with, others she has hated (reactions ranging from box walking to full blown panicking and rearing up at the door).

I dislike stables with grilles as I find most horses will bicker. Through trial and error I have ascertained that my mare will accept an indoor stable as long as she can see (but not touch) other horses and can see the way out.

If I had a choice I'd always choose an outdoor stable but I'm happy with the barn she is at the moment. In future I wouldn't move to a yard with barn stabling if I thought the set-up was one she might not like.

 

[hannahkirkhill]

Mine are now in a barn, solid walls between them with grilled fronts, and windows at the back- with doors on so I can open them and they can look out - they all love it and spend most of their time looking out of the windows- so I suppose that means they prefer looking at the outside world than at each other.

 

[Twizzel]

It's weather like this that make me sooo happy that we've got a barn!! It's only small, 6 foaling boxes and that's it, but we have a heated office too which is nice. The horses seem to really like it and are very settled, one of them had copd type symptoms in a previous barn which was v big and dusty (20+ stables) but he's fine in a smaller barn. We have the best of both worlds really, 4 of the 6 stables have windows that open up looking out onto a courtyard, so when the weather's nice we give them a bit of fresh air... exactly the same as the pic above

 

[Mickeymoo]

Outside stables for ours. we have had them in barns and there is too many disturbances with people coming and going.

 

[MegaBeast]

Right now I see the attraction of a barn, ours is attached to the indoor school so the horses on that yard can be worked whatever the weather, however all the stables have nice big "windows" (unglazed) just open squares on the external wall so they can hang their heads into the great outdoors and watch what's going on.

The other half of the yard is the traditional stables round an L shaped yard but at the mo can't get the horses out because of the stables.

 

[cptrayes]

[ QUOTE ]
Mine are now in a barn, solid walls between them with grilled fronts, and windows at the back- with doors on so I can open them and they can look out - they all love it and spend most of their time looking out of the windows- so I suppose that means they prefer looking at the outside world than at each other.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's very interesting isn't it - they are making it clear that they want to be able to see outside. Seems like the best of all worlds that you have there.

 

[Rudey]

The happiest and most relaxed I have ever seen my horse is when I moved to my current yard. I have owned Sammi 13 years, and the last 5 years have been at the said yard in an indoor american style barn housing 8 12' x12' stables facing eachother. He seems to enjoy all of the horses company.

The barn is approximately the height of a two storey house, at the top about over a 1/3 of it is yorkshire boarding, and lets in alot of natural light. The stable walls are 4 foot high breeze blocked, with 2 foot bars on top, separating them. The walls are painted white, so it is very light and airy

Our horses live out 24/7 most of the year. We are fortunate to have loads of grazing and spare fields to rotate to. They usually are only stabled at night between December and April!

All of the horses seem happy with the set up save one horse that weaves. He has a very good life, and his owner spoils him rotten and looks after him very well. Makes me wonder if he would prefer an outdoor stable?

This is my happy chappy Sammi xx

 

[Parkranger]

My yard has 3 barns. I personally prefer the DIY barn as it is very large and airy but a bit too blowly when it's howling a gale as you cannot close one door!

The part livery barn is lovely but the only thing that annoys me is when people leave their horses tied up outside their stables so you can't get past....does my nut in!

I think my favourite stabling is a big outside stable with a large overhang so that you can groom and tack up outside even in rain....I do think that barns contribute to coughs etc

 

[Chavhorse]

Interesting posts.

I had never kept horses in the barn environment before moving to the Netherlands. Vardi is now in a small barn set up (6 horses) but the barn is within a converted glass house with wood built stables built into it with solid walls (hate dividing grills or bars of any kind since he got cast in the summer) so we are very light and airy in the summer the roof is opened up in the winter polystyrene blocks are inserted into the roof for warmth.

He is on a min of 6 hours turn out a day (even in this weather) and is chilled and happy.

In the spring we are starting to dig out another section of the glass house to make an indoor riding area. It aint pretty or conventional but all the horses seem happy and Vardi settled in there from one hour in.

Have to say thought I can't wait till we move back to Scotland in 2 years time and he can be out 24/7 with a field shelter and lead a more of what I consider a natural existance.

 

[K27]

I prefer outside stables and so do my horses (although I don't mind barns as long as they have plenty of ventilation)- have been in both types of stables at some point and they are definitely healthier and happier outside as they can see what is going on, and also get plenty of fresh air. It is much nicer though when its raining to be in a barn when you're working!

Horses are kept in barns in America and when the horses are bored or lacklustre from being in their barns, they call them "barn sour" !!!