Top Mistakes To Avoid When Building A Shelter For Your Horses
Providing a well-built, safe, and comfortable shelter for your horses is essential to their health, well-being, and general comfort. Whether it is your first time to have a horse or you are experienced, building shelters for horses has become a challenging activity that many consider rewarding.
Simple as it sounds, several common mistakes could jeopardise a shelter’s safety, functionality, and durability. Every step demands careful thought, from selecting the perfect site to choosing the suitable materials.
In this blog, we will review the biggest mistakes to avoid when building a horse field shelter or a horse stable and, most importantly, how to create a shelter that meets your horses’ needs for protection, safety, and comfort.
Wrong Location
Choosing the proper location is one of the most important aspects when building shelters for horses. A wrong location can easily cause many negative issues, such as poor drainage, unpleasant horse conditions, and poor access.
Mistakes to Avoid:
-
Building in low-lying areas: When you build your shelter for horses in a low-lying area, there is always a possibility of flooding or water accumulation. This creates muddy, damp conditions that are less than sanitary and lead to problems like hooves among your horses.
-
Exposing it to elements: You can put a shelter in full view of the wind, rain, or direct sunlight. This makes your horses uncomfortable. Horses require protection from sharp weather, whether cold winter winds or extreme summer heat.
-
Not easily accessible location: When a shelter is not readily accessible for you and your horses, it can complicate even the simplest routine activities such as feeding, mucking out, or offering veterinary care.
Ignoring Proper Ventilation
An essential requirement in maintaining a healthy environment inside equine shelters is ventilation. In most scenarios, poor ventilation has led to respiratory problems by building up ammonia due to urine or excessive moisture, usually within enclosed horse stables.
Mistakes To Avoid
-
Sealing it too tight: Sealing the shelter traps moisture, leading to condensation and damper conditions that efficiently promote the growth of mould and mildew.
-
Lack of ventilation outlets: If windows, vents, or other openings are unavailable, air stagnation may lead to poor-quality air, causing severe respiratory problems inside the shelter. Improper ventilation of ammonia from urine can cause respiratory problems.
Underestimation Of Space Requirements
A horse must have considerable space in which to exercise comfortably in shelter. The most common mistake horse owners make is building a shelter that is too small for horses, sometimes leading to ill temper due to stressful conditions and aggression if other horses are in the same space.
Mistakes To Avoid
-
It should not be too cramped: a cramped shelter will limit your horse’s space, as an animal that cannot even lie down will cause discomfort and stress.
-
Only count one horse: Several horses are often kept, so providing enough shelter for them all may lead to intense competition, aggression and even injury.
Using Inadequate Materials
The materials’ quality will directly affect the durability and safety of your horse field shelter and its longevity. Low quality might mean perpetual repairs or injury safety concerns for your horses.
Mistakes to Avoid:
-
Using untreated or weak wood: Horses tend to moult on wood, and poorly protected timbers rot or lose their strength, through this time, compromising the structural integrity of the shelter.
-
Using materials too sharp or dangerous: You will hurt your horses if you use metal or other materials with sharp edges as they come into contact, especially if the horses are rubbing or kicking the walls.
Neglecting The Importance Of Flooring
The flooring of your horse’s stable or field shelter significantly affects your horse’s comfort and health. Poor flooring leads to hoof problems, joint issues, and unsanitary conditions that affect your horse’s overall well-being.
Read More:- Why Choose A Wooden Garage? The Benefits Of Timber Construction
Mistakes To Avoid
-
Letting the ground bare: the bare ground may become uneven, muddy or hard-packed; therefore, your horses may not be comfortable standing on it for so long and may suffer injuries or hoof damage.
-
Use slippery or too-hard surfaces: Concrete or other hard surfaces tend to strain a horse’s joints, and slippery surfaces enhance the fall and injury propensity.
Conclusion
Ensure equine friends receive the safety, comfort, and protection that building shelters for horses offers. Consider giving time and attention to planning well. A horse field shelter or a horse stable building evades the typical pitfalls of the wrong location, improper use of inappropriate materials, and insufficient ventilation and space. Taking time to make an adequate, well-ventilated, and appropriately sized shelter will pay off in the long run, as your horses will enjoy what they have and be protected from the elements.
