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FANS IN HORSE BARN

Bross
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Feb 28, 2006, 6:14 PM

Post #1 of 7 (1074 views)
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FANS IN HORSE BARN	Can't Post

Hi, I just find this site Blush

We are in the process of building a horse barn. It is 36x44 with 12x12 stalls. The stalls are also 12 ft. in height. We live in southern Ohio and the summers can get very hot with high humidity. I was thinking about putting a 20" or 24" fan above each stall to cool the horses and discourage flies. Am I doing the right thing. We are a rookie horse couple and your imput would be deeply appreciated Blush

Thanks,
Brent and Annie

JimHess
Silver Member

Feb 28, 2006, 9:54 PM

Post #2 of 7 (1068 views)
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Re: [Bross] FANS IN HORSE BARN [In reply to]	Can't Post

That sounds like a very nice barn that you're building. I've seen pictures of barns with ceiling fans in the aisles, and if you're going to have 12 foot ceilings I guess it would be safe enough, but I wonder how it would be for the horses to have a constant draft on them, in the stalls. We have found that the flies aren't usually bad inside the barn, with the shade. Our horses, given the choice, will come in from the pasture to get away from the flies during the day. Maybe you could wait and see how it goes first, to see whether you really need fans. You may get prevailing breezes through the barn.

-Jim

UncleBuck
Member

Mar 1, 2006, 11:17 AM

Post #3 of 7 (1063 views)
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Re: [Bross] FANS IN HORSE BARN [In reply to]	Can't Post

Brent and Annie
I would not put fans over the stalls.
For safety reasons- 12 ft ceiling, need about 2 to 2 1/2 ft for the fan to hang down, now you have less than 10 ft for that 7 to 8 ft tall horse (top of ears), if this horse should rear up in the stall - too close for comfort.
For health reasons - I would not want the dust in that stall to be blown around, your horse will have respiratory problems ( not to mention the problems for us humans) with that kind of air movement it would move a lot of dust.
if you haven't built the barn yet - you should find a design that promotes air flow EX... Barred windows in stalls, half Bars instead of all solid partitions separating the stall, face barn with the prevailing winds, a couple of huge fans built into the structure, all this will assist the air circulation.
In my location , I have some natural winds coming off the lake that its rare that I need the fans I have.

Buck

(This post was edited by UncleBuck on Mar 1, 2006, 11:33 AM)

Mark4510
Silver Member

Mar 1, 2006, 5:42 PM

Post #4 of 7 (1057 views)
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Re: [Bross] FANS IN HORSE BARN [In reply to]	Can't Post

Brent and Annie,
Welcome to HorsebyNet. If you are not already aware there are sister sites (tractorbynet and countrybynet) that also have a lot of good information.

Regarding your question�..

We frequently use fans during the summer to keep our horses cool and keep the flies down. We do not use ceiling fans for a few reasons.

Heat rises so I don�t want to blow the warmest air in the barn down on the horses. Instead we use fans on the stall grates. Not only is the air a bit cooler but it blows across the long part of the horses. Actually, we mount fans just above head height so it tends to blow over their heads, down their necks and over their backs. Its funny to come in on a 110+ degree day and see them all lined up standing in front of the fans.
There are some problems with using fans. If they are close to a feeder they tend to flow fine parts from the feed all around. If your bedding is dusty it will swirl it around and if you have a fly spray system it reduces the effectiveness of the fly spray. Regardless, I think it�s a huge help to keeping the horses comfortable.
If you are going to mount fans on the stall grates make sure you mount them far enough off the bars so the horses cant get to them. Also, you don�t really need a turbo powered fan. Most of the time a regular KMART box fan will do just fine. Actually, we use them because its easy for us to pull them off the bars and take them to horse shows with us.
To make is easy we set ours up on a timer. You can actually coordinate the fan timer with the fly spray timer. Have the fans go off for a 15 min period around when the fly spray system triggers so you don�t blow the fly spray out the door. It also makes it nice for when we ride at night during those hot times. We just have the fans go off at about 10 pm and then come on about 11am when it starts to warm up.

There are a lot of savvy people on this site with lots of good information so ask questions�And thanks for caring enough about your horses to ask questions.

Regards,
Mark

LazyJ_Arabians
Member

Mar 3, 2006, 10:09 AM

Post #5 of 7 (1049 views)
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Re: [Mark4510] FANS IN HORSE BARN [In reply to]	Can't Post

yep, they like the $10 box fans setup to blow right in their face

UncleBuck
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Mar 3, 2006, 10:18 AM

Post #6 of 7 (1047 views)
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Re: [Bross] FANS IN HORSE BARN [In reply to]	Can't Post

Brent
What temperatures are we talking ?

Buck

Bross
New Member

Mar 3, 2006, 7:43 PM

Post #7 of 7 (1046 views)
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Re: [UncleBuck] FANS IN HORSE BARN [In reply to]	Can't Post

Hi Buck, The humidity can be a killer here in southern Ohio. Temp. 85 to 90 with humidity as high, is not uncommon. Unsure

July and August are the worse months.

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