Creating my horse barn

[zzvyb6]

A bored horse may just try to relieve their tension by kicking back at the walls. If they break through, you could have a badly cut leg, broken leg, displaced hip, torn ligaments and a huge vet bill whether it lives of not.

Oak tongue and groove works best if concrete block is out of the question. They may also acquire a taste for the plywood and paint and chew through your walls. Be careful to watch the nails or screws you used, too. Once they get exposed by some mechanism (kicking, chewing, rubbibg or biting) they may get cuts, broken teeth, torn tails or missing eyes. I've seen much of this first hand in local barns.

You can stick with your walls as long as it gets watched regularly. Be prepared to replace sections asap. There are 'no-chew' paints and coatings that can be bought for stalls as well as fences. Keeping some play toys in the stalls can sometimes work to relieve boredom. Having their 'buddy' in there within eyesight helps, too.

Mine are heavy duty concrete block. After one kick, they change their mind...

BTW: if you have extra dead tree branches to deal with, I use my wood chipper to make great stall chips. Easy to sift, absorbent and almost no cost. Pine trees (needles and all( produce a great stall material and make the barn smell wonderful. My Tomahawk chipper has a couple of different screens that can be changed out to select the best one for horse bedding.

Keep this advice in mind once given to me by a famous professional horseman: "Keeping the horses out of the barn keeps the Vet out of the barn".

 

[EddieWalker]

Thanks for the advice. Since these stalls are open and it's just to give them a place to get out of the rain, or cold wind during winter, do you think they will chew through the wood?

Eddie

 

[WM75Guy]

Eddie,

There is a difference between wood chewing and cribbing (see link). If you get a horse that cribs any exposed wood surface they can bite is fair game. I have seen them do major damage to where they can get a grip. My stalls are 2"X8" tongue & groove but all exposed edges are covered with metal. I have seen the collars and sprays used to discourage cribbing without much success.

https://www.smartpakequine.com/content/cribbing-horse

 

[coobie]

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I went with James Hardie lap siding for the exterior and trim.

Eddie

Love the look of the Posts,very nice.Good job Eddie.

 

[JimRB]

Note that covered with metal does no mean drywall corner beads, it means 1/16" to 1/8" angle iron. Occasionally you see peop[le use corner bear which as you well know is know to slice the heck out of a finger.

We have 3/4" plywood in our barn stalls the past 17 years. No damage from pee. Mostly mares. No paint or varnish except when I am redoing bad construction methods. I am sanding and varnishing any plywood I take down during repairs. Termites have done more damage than any horse. I did have a beaver horse that liked to crib. Angle iron sort of minimized the damage. As others mentioned if you have kickers you may need to either add another layer of plywood or add thicker wood. Since it is a run in and run out stall set up you may not have any issues. Our horse tend to not kick. I do hear the occasional kick but no problems yet.

 

[riptides]

I'd frame it up on the inside with some horizontal 2x8's or 2X12's. Maybe a pressure treated one along the bottom. Run the boards up to at least four feet high. I'd get rid of the paint altogether. If the horses start chewing or cribbing, your looking at maintenance. I'd rather muck out the stalls and have the ability to get a pressure washer in there if needed.

One good horse kick into plywood and you could be looking at vet bills. Horses seem to find trouble, and they aren't as tough as other animals.

 

[EddieWalker]

Thank you. I really appreciate all the good advice and lessons learned over time.

Eddie

 

[EddieWalker]

Thank you. I really appreciate all the good advice and lessons learned over time.

Eddie

 

[sld]

How high does a horse kick? Maybe put a wainscoat of 2x lumber. This would look good I think.

 

[riptides]

How high does a horse kick? Maybe put a wainscoat of 2x lumber. This would look good I think.

Hah! Trick question. Depends on the horse, of course. I have seen them rear in stalls 12X10 bending the metal divider stall poles, I have had a beer kicked out of my hand and flung forty or so feet away. My hand continued up with such force, I almost knocked myself out, when it met my forehead. My elbow hurt for days it moved so darn fast.