Do you have open stalls?

[dmalbone]

If your stalls are open without grills on the top, how tall are they?

[Gloria]

Are you talking about those open front european style? If so, the lowest part of the stalls fronts are where the stall doors are and they are about 5' tall. the tallest part where the stall partition is is about 8~9' tall (can't remember for sure).

[dmalbone]

Thanks, I was just talking about any stalls that were half-walled without the grills on top. I've seen quite a few people's "homemade" tongue and groove type stalls and wasn't sure what height would be safe.

[avezan]

Mine are 4-5' tall.

[amastrike]

Pretty much all the stalls at my barn are open. Heights vary, but most are probably about 4'-4'6". My horse's front wall is the best, it's more like 3'6". He loves to stick his whole head and neck out and beg for treats :D.

[dmalbone]

Thanks! My old guy is 15.2, 20 yrs., with a bad stifle and is well... lazy, so I'm not too worried about him jumping out. :) I'm looking at another younger horse who wouldn't mature past 15-15.2 most likely but never know how ambitious he'll be! Our barn will be surrounded by pasture in case anything ever were to happen though. ::knock on wood::

[deltawave]

Yes, they're about 4 feet tall. The horses are virtually never confined in them, so in spite of all the dire predictions and tut-tutting I haven't had one leap out yet. :lol:

[Chall]

One barn I was at had them. They were metal. My horse threw his head up and hit the top metal bar and got a nose bleed, so I am not a fan unless the top is completely open.

[dmalbone]

One barn I was at had them. They were metal. My horse threw his head up and hit the top metal bar and got a nose bleed, so I am not a fan unless the top is completely open.

Ours would be completely open on the top... just tongue and groove up to the top with probably a cap on the top of the board to prevent chewing and that's it!

[deltawave]

Pic of my freshly-built stalls, I think on the day my horses came home. :)

[LAZ]

You may have already thought of this, but if you leave the stall fronts open 2 things--

--absolutely nothing should be reachable by equine teeth that you want to preserve in its original state

--put a metal strip on the top board so they don't chew the boards.


If you decide you want to enclose the front it is cheap & easy to use metal conduit for stall bars--drill holes on the bottom & deeper holes on a top board, cut the conduit to slip up into the top holes & nestle down into the lower--you can always drive a screw through the wood on the top if the horses figure out how to remove the conduit!

I vastly prefer vertical bars (which I do not have) because it really limits bird perching & therefore bird poop.

[SMF11]

You may have already thought of this, but if you leave the stall fronts open 2 things--

--absolutely nothing should be reachable by equine teeth that you want to preserve in its original state

--put a metal strip on the top board so they don't chew the boards.

.

I second this!! My open stall walls are 4 - 5 feet high, taller where I have blanket bars (and blankets) on the aisle side, so horses cannot reach over and chew on the blankets. . .

Where I made the walls higher, I left gaps between the boards (a couple of inches) so the horses could still see through.

[Gloria]

I LOVE these types of open front stalls and my horses love them too. The only problem is they will often pick up the hay, stick their heads out talking to whatever while chewing, and nonchatantly drop the hay outside... Grrr. Still will not do without it though.

[Montanas_Girl]

I used to board at a farm that had stalls that were open on all sides like that. I think the walls were 5' tall on the sides and 4' or so on the fronts. Never again. No horses ever tried to jump out, but my horse was tormented by his neighbors on both sides, to the point that he would only stand/sleep in the center of the stall and would not eat his hay if it wasn't also placed dead center in the stall. You couldn't lead horses down the aisle without them being attacked by horses from both sides. If you only have a couple of horses and they get along well, then you may not have the same problems I experienced. It's something you should think about, though.

[PNWjumper]

The stall walls in my barn are 5' and exactly what you described.....basically "homemade" tongue and groove stalls that are open above that. The dividers between the stalls are 4' tall. My horses live out 24/7, so I don't worry too much about the stall height since they're very rarely confined. But I have had to have horses on stall rest here and there (and once had to bring them all in during a lightening storm), and have never had a problem with horses trying to climb or jump out....even when super agitated.

[Seven-up]

In addition to not having anything left on the outside that is reachable (and they can reach a lot farther than you think) make sure your aisle is wide enough so when you walk one horse past a stall, the occupant cannot reach out and take a bite. Even if they can't actually reach, they can lunge, and scare the horse you're leading. After a while, the horses will all stampede down the aisle in an attempt to avoid teeth. One of the several reasons I hate open stalls, but that's just me.

[LAZ]

In addition to not having anything left on the outside that is reachable (and they can reach a lot farther than you think) make sure your aisle is wide enough so when you walk one horse past a stall, the occupant cannot reach out and take a bite. Even if they can't actually reach, they can lunge, and scare the horse you're leading. After a while, the horses will all stampede down the aisle in an attempt to avoid teeth. One of the several reasons I hate open stalls, but that's just me.

And this is the reason I don't have open front stalls at all--no door's open, etc. One side of my aisle opens out to runs & that side all has stall guards so they can stick their heads out, but my aisle doors are full grates--the horses can see out, air can get in, but no teeth on anything.

I absolutely hate dodging teeth and flinging head as I go down the aisle.

Howevery, I have 23 stalls in the aisle, and it is a long gauntlet to run. If I only had a few horses I might feel differently.

[Seven-up]

:yes: The horses tend to develop such bad stall manners. I like fully enclosed stalls, too. That way they don't feel the need to defend their territory because no one can get in and they can't get out. I worked in a place with open tops on the stalls, and the trainer would giggle when her horse would come flying out, teeth bared and snapping. She thought it was cute.:eek: Not only that, but one of the aisles was only about 5 feet wide. So the horses would literally run down the aisle because they'd get bitten on both sides, and there was no room for you to get out of the way. I got trampled quite a bit.

At that barn, the doors/walls were only about 4 feet high, and we did have a young horse jump out once. No one saw it, but someone came in and found her wandering around in the aisle, with her stall door still latched and secured with a snap.:eek: Oh, and that's another thing. Pick your door latches carefully, because they will quickly learn how to open the doors if they are able.

A lot of that can be avoided by thoughtful construction, and if someone wants their stalls open, then that's fine, but I'll never do it.


But I digress...sorry, OP, you didn't ask for all that info.:winkgrin:

[rosario]

We just finished a small barn like this. Just 3 stalls. One is for mini's. The dividers between the stalls are at least 5 feet tall. The stall fronts are a few inches taller. Metal strips are on to prevent chewing. The doors do have bars so no one can reach latches. My aisle is 12 feet wide.

I did take precautions for all the reasons mentioned. The stall dividers can be made higher or shorter or totally removed if needed. My barn was built by a local barn company. The front is their normal stall front size, just higher. So putting in bars is a quick phone call if needed.

My horses now are older and will be on 24/7 turnout most of the time. They have been together for years.

[amastrike]

I wouldn't want stalls that were only 4-5' high on all four walls, but I absolutely would not want stalls that were completely closed in. I think it's cruel to keep a horse completely locked in. Yes, nipping horses can be a problem when you're leading, but it's not at all hard to teach horses what "get back!" means. The aisle in my barn is only about 6 feet wide with stalls on one side. Horses being led down the aisle are always within reach of horses in the stalls. And it's really not a problem. Only one horse nips, but he's knows what "get back" means. If he's really persistent, I'll smack the front of the stall with the lead rope.

Caging horses in is unfair and lazy. It doesn't take much work to avoid issues. And I've been knocked flat by a horse who rammed me after getting bitten while I was leading him back to his stall.

[Seven-up]

There have been a lot of studies that show that horses develop less stress when they have their own space. When stalls are open on top, they get more agitated because they feel like they have to defend their territory. If they can reach out, in their minds, that means that others can reach in and "invade" their space. When they are completely enclosed (and please note that doesn't mean walled in completely) the studies show they rest better, are calmer, and have less occurance of ulcers and other stress-related behavior. And there's less aggression-type behaviors.


The studies determined that the best situation was solid walls up to 4-5 feet, then a barrier like bars or wire on top, where horses can see their neighbors but not reach them. That way, they are part of the "herd" but it's not necessary to fight because they can't get at each other. Windows on the outside were even better, so they could look out and see what's going on. In addition, they found that a solid barrier between feed buckets and neighbors diminished food aggression. You only need a solid wall, all the way to the top, and about 3-4 feet wide in between stalls, and the rest can be bars/wire. The horse can't feel threatened by its neighbor while eating (which, in a horse's brain, means 'if I can't see you you're not there') but can see them while in other areas of the stall.

The worst stalls were completely enclosed, as in solid walls all the way to the top, with no way to see other horses. Those horses had a much higher percentage of anxiety, because they were separated from the herd.


A little research on the best environment for your horse can not only benefit the horse, but it also prevents uneducated comments like "cruel" and "lazy.":winkgrin:

[Woodland]

If your stalls are open without grills on the top, how tall are they?

None of my stalls have grills on them - I love having their faces out in the asleway! They are so happy! Contented even!

I have seen horses lose their minds from being locked in a 10 X 10 space for days & days & months on end! God does not deliver them to us in a box does he? They are social herd animals.

I have had grills and not grills in several farms/stables over the last 40 years. Horses prefer to hang their heads out! They are happier that way in my opinion.

We built this barn after owning many. We designed it with no bars! My stalls are 10 X 12, 10 X 14 & 10' X 18' they can duck back in if they feel they need "privacy".

I do get the occasional fighter - but they would fight with or withour bars on their stalls - tis the nature of the beastie!

The fronts and doors are about 50" Side walls are 7' and the back walls to the rafters 10'

[deltawave]

Maybe they have less stress when they have their own space, but I'd contend if they spend enough time outside they don't worry about "space" at all. :)

I do like having a solid wall where the feed tubs are--my walls between stalls are 4' of solid wood up to 8' where the feed tubs are, the rest is wire mesh. Actually one wall between stalls is completely open on top, but there is usually no horse in that other stall. Just the dog. :D

[Seven-up]

Maybe they have less stress when they have their own space, but I'd contend if they spend enough time outside they don't worry about "space" at all. :)


That may be true, but if they were outside 24/7, what would be the point of asking about how to design their stalls if they're never in them?:winkgrin: