Is there a fail safe way to anchor a field shelter?

[poiuytrewq]

Daughters pony has in the past two winters had really nasty coughs and snotty noses over winter but I have had no choice other than to stable him at night.
This winter we have moved house and they are within hearing distance of my bedroom, if he wasn't I'd think we were managing him well this year. He never coughs ridden or during the day but before breakfast he's now waking me up coughing badly.
He's kept as dust free as I can manage and his stable gets damp so never appears to be any dust at all (but then again maybe dampness isn't helping?!)
Sooo, all I can think of is to swap him and my retired horse over. Retired currently over nights in a mini school/ turnout area.
He has no shelter as he literally ate the last one! But would never use it anyway.
This pony though, I'd prefer him to be able to get undercover if needed and maybe to be able to shut him in before competitions etc so I thought a small field shelter (seen 12x12 for £500)
Problem being the wind! We are in an incredibly exposed area up on a hill with fields around and it's incredibly rough.
There have been nights recently we've been terrified of loosing the whole stable block, a little light shelter will stand no chance. Ideas?
The base will be wood chip so not really bolt-able.

 

[PeterNatt]

You have got two choices which are to anchor it down with the long metal pins similar to those used to anchor down cross country jumps and/or to have concrete footings put in the ground which you can bolt it to (A bit like the way they build steel framed buildings).

 

[meesha]

We have wooden railway sleepers as the base, 24*12 field shelter is anchored to them but we are not in a windy area. You could then ancor sleepers to ground! Raises building off ground too so less like to rot!

 

[FfionWinnie]

Fence posts, 2 on each side and wire over the top of it attached to them.

But it might still disintegrate even if it doesn't blow away.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Daughters pony has in the past two winters had really nasty coughs and snotty noses over winter but I have had no choice other than to stable him at night.
This winter we have moved house and they are within hearing distance of my bedroom, if he wasn't I'd think we were managing him well this year. He never coughs ridden or during the day but before breakfast he's now waking me up coughing badly.
He's kept as dust free as I can manage and his stable gets damp so never appears to be any dust at all (but then again maybe dampness isn't helping?!)
Sooo, all I can think of is to swap him and my retired horse over. Retired currently over nights in a mini school/ turnout area.
He has no shelter as he literally ate the last one! But would never use it anyway.
This pony though, I'd prefer him to be able to get undercover if needed and maybe to be able to shut him in before competitions etc so I thought a small field shelter (seen 12x12 for £500)
Problem being the wind! We are in an incredibly exposed area up on a hill with fields around and it's incredibly rough.
There have been nights recently we've been terrified of loosing the whole stable block, a little light shelter will stand no chance. Ideas?
The base will be wood chip so not really bolt-able.

you can also use railway sleepers and bolt the shelter to them

 

[Tiddlypom]

Long wooden or metal posts, bashed at least 2' into the ground at each corner and along the short sides, then bolted to the field shelter frame should do the trick.

This 20' x 12' field shelter survived 25 years, despite being sited directly on an earth base. It was firmly staked down with wooden stakes. We're in a natural wind funnel, so it had to withstand many storms over the years.

 

[peaceandquiet1]

I have several ponies and have had problems with snotty noses this year and coughs and the ones who lived out with a shelter were affected just the same as one was was stabled at night. So might not make as much difference as hoped for. But the ideas above are great.

 

[EQUIDAE]

I hate to say this but ours is on concrete and bolted down and it still blew down

 

[gallopingby]

I used a shelter on skids - metal ones - and had fence posts hammered in on the four corners - it stayed put in severe gales BUT the shelter was strongly built to withstand bad weather and lined, I'm not sure that a £500 bolted shelter would be robust enough unless it was also nailed. Had some difficulty in taking mine apart when I moved house!

 

[peaceandquiet1]

Our shelter are built around telegraph poles sunk about 6 feet into the ground.

 

[Goldenstar]

Mines fixed down with a mixture of metal rods and wooden posts .
Another thing to do is to put vents in the back wall high up this allow the wind to pass through them this makes a huge difference .

 

[YorksG]

We live on top of the pennines and I'm pretty certain that our top field would not sustain a field shelter. Our prevailing winds are east and west, BUT the most damaging are the southerlys. We have a stable with an acrylic roof, which is very sturdy and build to withstand the winds, however this week one panel blew off, bringing one glazing bar and one cross member with it! The cross member was nailed on with nine inch nails, which had to be cut off with the angle grinder before it could be put back, it is now held on with brackets, which will hopefully hold it in the next winds. The stable faces the yard and the panel that came off was flush with the solid back of the stable. The back of the stable is made from sleepers, held in place by sunken metal poles and then double clad with external ply and externally covered with mineral felt. If one aspect were fully open then I am sure the lot would have gone. I have considered a shelter built with straw hestons, but am fairly sure that they would shift in the wind, if stacked. No-one locally has any form of semi open building, as they are just not feasible here.

 

[CazD]

Mines fixed down with a mixture of metal rods and wooden posts .
Another thing to do is to put vents in the back wall high up this allow the wind to pass through them this makes a huge difference .

We took one of the planks off the back of ours so that the wind has a way of passing through which seems to work. You can buy ground bolts for moveable field shelters which might help?

 

[Red-1]

Ours is held down with concrete posts sunk into the ground and then metal brackets holding the shelter to the posts. We also have an earth bank at the back, thet is held back from the actual shelter by concrete fencing panels, but provides some shelter from the wind.

The floor we had done with spare block paving, with rubber mats on top!

Been here 5 years so far, and the wondrous thing about that is that it is really a "bus stop" shelter, only 6 ft deep, but 10 ft width and 9ft tall, so if any shelter would blow over ours would! I think it also helps that it has it's back to the prevailing wnd, so it does not fill with wind to the closed side.

 

[Dry Rot]

Ground anchors.

http://www.anchorsystems.co.uk/

 

[debsflo]

Mine is on metal skids and is staked with metal anchors at each corner.

 

[turnbuckle]

Ground anchors should do the job, but if you're buying on a budget, the risk is the structure itself will blow apart. I've seen it happen and it was a miracle the horses got away with it.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Ground anchors should do the job, but if you're buying on a budget, the risk is the structure itself will blow apart. I've seen it happen and it was a miracle the horses got away with it.

Very true, £500 is suspiciously cheap. Check the specifications very carefully. Here's the Withington Hill specifications, my field shelter that I showed a pic of earlier on was from their budget range, but it was still built to last. You'd have to ring up for a quote, they don't publish their prices on line.

http://www.withingtonhill.co.uk/equestrian-buildings-stables-prices/

Here's a pic taken inside one of my newer, posher (top of range) W.H. shelters, showing the ventilation gap in the rear eaves and how the roof trusses are additionally tied down to the frame.

 

[iconique]

Can't answer your field shelter question, but one of my oldies has issues with coughing, we found that having his door shut wasn't giving enough ventilation and simply use a couple of sheep hurdles to keep him in, it gives him enough ventilation without being able to escape? Might be worth a try to see if it helps?

 

[CPayne]

We have these ground anchors for our mobile field shelters and we just chain the towing eyes to them, four per shelter. We have the hurricane anchors.
http://www.spyrabase.co.uk

 

[Mike007]

If I were in this situation I would use the screw picket type ground anchors available from Arboricultural suppliers such as Stanton Hope ,in Basildon. I would then use ratchet straps over the top of the structure . You would need to ensure that the horses cant get caught up on the anchors outside.Edited to add that those spyrabase anchors look good value too