Bars to Divide Stables Are they common in England Now?

[Chavhorse]

As you all probably know by now my horse had a horrific accident in in the summer in a stable with bars dividing it from the other horses when he rolled and got his off hind foot caught between the bars causing him to be stuck upside down for many hours and causing terrible pressure sores as well as a very badly injured pastern.

I have just come back from an evening with my YO and other liveries and they are telling me that locally another horse (different stable to the one where my accident happend) has done exactly the same thing. Now the really scary thing is that this happened on Boxing Day and the owner posted on the Dutch Horse Forum and to date 40 people have posted from all over the country saying "yes my horse too".

They asked me if this happened a lot in the UK and my response was " I don't think so but then we tend to go for the solid wooden or concrete stables" To be honest I have not seen these Barred dividers before outside Holland.

So my question is have they now become popular in the UK?

 

[Colleen_Miss_Tom]

At our yard we have bars, but they aren't low enough for a horse to get their leg caught

 

[MrsMozart]

Barred dividers?

I'm trying to imagine what they look like... Do you mean the bars start from ground level and go up to the ceiling; or are they the kind that start at about waist height (the lower part being solid wood or brick)?

 

[hairymolly]

We have bars at the top and brick at the bottom to about shoulder height.

 

[Lanky Loll]

We've got bars in our barn stables - they're concrete block to about 4ft high then bars above. Touch wood no problems so far. They used to be extremely common in the old fashioned traditional blocks which were internal with only a couple of doors to the outside and an alley in front of the stables. I think they're becoming more common again when building barn type stables.

 

[Chavhorse]

[ QUOTE ]
Barred dividers?

I'm trying to imagine what they look like... Do you mean the bars start from ground level and go up to the ceiling; or are they the kind that start at about waist height (the lower part being solid wood or brick)?

[/ QUOTE ]

Mrs M the ones starting at a min of waist height with a solid wood or brick bottom.

 

[bushbaby28]

same here, we have bars between stables but 1. way too high for it to be a risk for feet and 2. too narrow for foot to fit through

 

[MrsMozart]

Ah, ta

I think, as MP says, that they are becoming more popular due to more barns going up/being used for stabling.

Is there a minimum/maximum width the gaps between the bars should be I wonder.

 

[Colleen_Miss_Tom]

You can kind of make it out what ours look like .... The bars are at a height were a horse could not get their legs caught, Or at least I hope .

The stable I use ...... The door is even higher and the bars are even higher so I would think virtually impossible for any harm to come to her

 

[Chavhorse]

[ QUOTE ]
same here, we have bars between stables but 1. way too high for it to be a risk for feet and 2. too narrow for foot to fit through

[/ QUOTE ]

Can I just make a point about being narrow the bars on Vardi's stall were 2 inches apart apparantly if bars are hit with any force they open then spring shut again.

David who is a vet said he had been called out to a horse recently which had to be pts as it had kicked out at another horse in the next door stall and hit the bars which were a max of 1 inch apart with such force that they opened and shut just above his hoof . His foot was in with the horse next door

As you can tell it has been an evening full of Christmas cheer!

 

[Mike007]

[ QUOTE ]
You can kind of make it out what ours look like .... The bars are at a height were a horse could not get their legs caught, Or at least I hope .

The stable I use ...... The door is even higher and the bars are even higher so I would think virtually impossible for any harm to come to her

[/ QUOTE ]Sorry to disillusion you CMT. We had a horse here that got hung up in somthing very similar(higher if anything)

 

[MrsMozart]

Ye gods!

So, the only way to make the bars safe would be to have a grid effects - bars running horizontally as well to ensure that the bars could not spring apart?

Before reading this I liked the bars - I liked that the horses could see each other. Hm. Will have to go back to the drawing board!

 

[Eaglestone]

This all sounds absolutely horrendous, but I am still trying to work out how a horse can get their foot up that high, more so when they are rolling?

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

Horse at my yard did exactly the same thing on exactly the same sort of bars. He had quite a deep litter bed and was a humungus big horse but even so I was shocked at how easy it was for him to get stuck. The fire brigade had to come and cut the bars to get him out and he's never been sound since (about 4 yrs ago). You'd think the bars were too high but when a horse is having a damn good roll and its legs are waving about all over the place, you'd be surprised. Nightmare!

 

[MrsMozart]

Thinking about the force that Tiggy used to kick out at - I'm amazed she didn't get caught

. Dizzy has landed some stonkers, but luckily no bars. She kicks/bucks pretty high as well.

Definately won't be having bars in stables when we get our own place.

 

[Colleen_Miss_Tom]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
You can kind of make it out what ours look like .... The bars are at a height were a horse could not get their legs caught, Or at least I hope .

The stable I use ...... The door is even higher and the bars are even higher so I would think virtually impossible for any harm to come to her

[/ QUOTE ]Sorry to disillusion you CMT. We had a horse here that got hung up in somthing very similar(higher if anything)

[/ QUOTE ]


Well Like I said I hope not

This isn't her stable, Her stable is alot higher . At least 5ft high .

If she gets her leg caught in that one ...... Well it will be her own bloody fault for trying to be a horse contortionist

Just trying to find a pic of her stable .

 

[Chavhorse]

This is the stall that Vardi got caught up in .....after it and every other stable in the place had been boarded up the day of the accident.

And how they all looked before;

 

[hadfos]

We have the barn system but the bars are very high up,and pretty close together,as in no way a horse could get a hoof through,i struggle to get my hand through,the lower part is wooden!Think it works well if the spacing between the metal bars is small enough that a hoof cannot get stuck

nd tbh our guys would have to be pretty aggressive in a stable to want to kick out that high with such force!

 

[Colleen_Miss_Tom]

Madams stable .

She stands 16.2hh

 

[Chavhorse]

Looks like Madam would struggle or need stilts in there

 

[Mike007]

The trouble is that when a horse rolls it frequently jabs upwards with a hind leg, The toe hits the bars and the foot acts as a wedge springing the bars apart and once the foot has gone through ...............

 

[Chavhorse]

You are preaching to the Converted

I Have a 4.5 year old with scars that will never heal, vet bills running into thousands and have had 6 months of worry.

I would never again put my horse into any stable with any kind of bars in it even if they were 10 feet off the ground and it was fun finding one without any in Holland I can tell you.

 

[moneypit1]

These are exactly the bars that my friends horse got her jaw stuck in! She had somehow stuck her nose through and got it stuck. Horrendous trashing around and broken tooth and huge vets bill. My horse would hate it anyway, he likes his own space.

 

[Bosworth]

When I was having my stables built I specifically ruled out any that had the internal bars between stables. I have seen two horrific accidents involving agetting a foot stuck and to be honest far too many horses driven mad by the over close proximity of their neighbour. so we have 8 ft high walls with no bars in between - but bars at the front. so they can all see out and see each other. Bars in between are not necessary if your horses are turned out every day. Ours all enjoy their privacy and if they want to see another horse they come to the front. Don't think that gaps of less that 4 inches are safe - they aren't and round bars are hopeless - they guide the foot through and don't have the rigidity of square bars. The bars at the front of our stables are square and have a gap of no more than 2 inches

 

[the watcher]

They are common although I have to say I dislike them intensely - I have a mare who detests being overlooked so I have always had to fully board her stable to prevent her striking out and when I had to put her in a stable with bars I was always worried

 

[mainpower]

Chavhorse, how horrific, hope your mare recovers. I'm now wondering about those hay munch-stations, as if the bars can spring open/shut they must be accidents waiting to happen.

 

[FrodoBeutlin]

I do agree with mainpower - then hay bars should be equally dangerous?

We do have bars at my current yard, and we also have bars in our stables at home. I do like them; our horses can only be turned out individually so the bars are their only chance ever to actually smell / touch other equines.

Rauti adores them and I think he'd be upset if he were to go back to full walls, unable to smell or touch his neighbours

 

[chickeninabun]

Mine are made out of wood at the top, so I'd hope it would break if hit, but it's still a worrying thought.

Here's a pic of mine...

 

[Chavhorse]

[ QUOTE ]
These are exactly the bars that my friends horse got her jaw stuck in! She had somehow stuck her nose through and got it stuck. Horrendous trashing around and broken tooth and huge vets bill. My horse would hate it anyway, he likes his own space.

[/ QUOTE ]

My YO used to work on a yard where a horse got its jaw stuck cue a broken jaw hence why she will not even have bars on the fronts of the stables. And do not even get her started on those sliding barred stable doors apparantly as a working pupil she had the joy of being first on the yard to find a dead horse and a foot in the gangway of the barn

These posts are interesting but I will admit scary. I had better get off my Stoopid Dutch and their desire for attractive over functional soapbox

 

[the watcher]

[ QUOTE ]
IRauti adores them and I think he'd be upset if he were to go back to full walls, unable to smell or touch his neighbours

[/ QUOTE ]

I used to keep ponies in loose boxes that had a double thickness wall between them up to about 5', then a single rail above that. It was the only thing dividing one horse from the next. As long as the boxes are wide enough for a horse to get away from anything that nipped over the bar and they are all sociable animals, it worked very well