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  Discussion on Fan for stables
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Member:
npo33901

Posted on Monday, Jul 12, 2010 - 7:22 am:

Some of you are having fans in the stables to deter flies . And help to cole the air ..... Where do you place them in relation to your horses ?
Is it OK to hang the fan above the stall where the horse is, or it better to place it not directly above the horse ?

I am worried, that the draught directly above the horse might cause chill on his back .

Do you run the fans just to chase the stables flies away even if the temperatures are not extreme ?
Member:
gramsey1

Posted on Monday, Jul 12, 2010 - 10:58 am:

We have kept our horses at several different boarding facilities. Two mounted the fans outside the stable bars at about head level. The horses could move into and out of the air as they wanted.
One mounted the fan in stall windows.
One had big, belt driven fans that moved air down the isles.
None had them mounted above the horse.
Member:
kpaint

Posted on Monday, Jul 12, 2010 - 1:20 pm:

I place the smaller ($25.00)box barn fans outside the stall "grill" at head height. (wire it to grill)and often they stand right in front of it it. They cannot "get to" the actual fan to get hurt on it.

The overhead fans are at a 45 degree angle blowing down into the stall;however, the speed is not that fast. The fans are slower moving because they have larger blades. There is a protective wire cage around the blades and the fan is mounted 14' high but hangs down to about 2' above the stall. If the horse would fully extend in a rear, it could not touch the fan due to the height and angle of the placement.

I have never had trouble with the horses chilling even when wet. I do not run the fans much in the early spring or late fall however.
Member:
vickiann

Posted on Monday, Jul 12, 2010 - 3:50 pm:

Guy and Vicki have got this question covered pretty well.

I see horses in show barns all the time that have fans directed as they have described.

Caution must be exercised not to place fans so that horses hit their heads on them should they rear up in their stalls.

My barn has a row of ceiling fans down the center aisle and the horses can lean out over the stall walls to best take advantage of the air.

Sometimes I do run the fans just to help with the insect problems.
Member:
rtrotter

Posted on Monday, Jul 12, 2010 - 7:29 pm:

Anna- Marie,

I use box fans set up on the floor on an angle in front of my horses far enough away from them that they can't reach them. I am not a really big fan person, but these past few weeks have been brutal with temps in the hundreds, very high humidity and smoke from the Pine Barren brush fires.

I worry about drafts too and never put a fan on a wet horse. I wait about an hour after my horses are worked and bathed and then put the fans on.
My one observation about the fans is the horses seem to love them. My very neat and tidy mare has taken to pushing her hay as close to the fan as possible, so she can eat and soak up the fan air at the same time.

Rachelle
Member:
mysi

Posted on Monday, Jul 12, 2010 - 7:50 pm:

I have 24" steel round fans that I mount in the top corner of the stalls facing down a diagonal to bottom corner. I have them in all the stalls and in the isle way too. My horses are free to go in and out of the stalls and barn as they choose. When the temps were in the mid to high 90's they stood in the barn all day in front of the fans. Right now with upper 80's low 90's they spend less time in there. They have the choice though either way.
Member:
frances

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 13, 2010 - 7:27 am:

Do any of you find that fans blow shavings and dust around and tend to cause respiratory problems in some horses? Our BO doesn't want to have them for that reason (as well as the draft reason)
Member:
npo33901

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 13, 2010 - 7:30 am:

You are great -so many answers !! Thank you. Rachelle, also suffering temp in 100 F and forrest fires. My stables are brick and roof has insulation and still it was unbearable as nights didn't cole off .( Horses are out at night ) During the day I've used house fan - at head level of the horses, but the flow of air didn't reach the bottom of the stalls and the flies congregated at the ground.
Therefore I''ll try overhead fan - high on the celling (4m), place it in between the two stalls .
Member:
mysi

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 13, 2010 - 8:09 pm:

LL, I don't have a problem with dust or my shavings blowing around at all. The only time there is a problem is when I'm in the stall cleaning it and pitching the shavings around but it settles right back down. I always clean the stall without the horses in.
Member:
kpaint

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 13, 2010 - 8:43 pm:

LL, maybe I don't have trouble with drafts/chilling because the horses can choose to stand in the draft or go outside as the drylot is open 24/7 to the stalls. ? It is so muggy, sticky, no air moving around here in July and Aug that life without a fan is miserable due to humidity and the flies. If the horses were stall confined here, they'd be miserable w/o a fan and I'd really worry about heat exhaustion.

I bed with straw on rubber mats and when I clean the stalls (the horses are out), I position a rolling floor fan at the door and when I scoop and flip in the wheel barrow, the dust/chaff blows out the exterior door to the dry lot. (Unless of course the wind is hard out of the SW and then I have to close the interior stall door or it will all blow into the aisle!!!

I don't have trouble with the fans stirring the dust; I don't seem to see dust clouds or get blasted in the eyes or anything when in the barn. But I sweep daily. And I use a shopvac to suck out the dusty/chaff in the hayfeeders as they are SlowFeeders and it gets trapped at the bottom. And sweep mats with broom/dustpan after removing straw--but not perfectly... I only have 3 horses, so I'm probably not time efficient...if I had a whole herd, I probably wouldn't be able to keep it quite so clean by myself.

I just came in from cleaning stalls and there isn't a breath of air moving, it's 79, humidity has to be way high, and it's 8:40 PM. Ick. About 3 PM it's awful outside....
Member:
boots

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 13, 2010 - 9:29 pm:

Just a word of warning--- My mare unplugged a fan (in the aisle) with her teeth and got a good shock. I calmed her down and she is OK.
Member:
frances

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 14, 2010 - 6:08 am:

Thanks a lot Melissa and Vicki. It's always so helpful to hear others' experiences.

It's hot, humid and airless here too these days (37 deg C today), and I feel fans would be a huge relief for the horses.
Member:
kpaint

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 14, 2010 - 8:48 am:

Ugh. 8:45 am 79 degrees F AND 99%, yes 99% humidity...today should be most pleasant...the trimmer is here today at 2:00...think I'll hose the horses off about noon...
Member:
paul303

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 14, 2010 - 11:56 pm:

Ha! My farrier was here at 9:00AM this morning. Although the temps were in high seventies and low eighties, we, too, had 99% humidity ( between the showers ). We have box fans at a 45 degree angle set about 14 feet high on each stall. The horses can choose to stand in the breeze or out of it. Their stalls are open to the paddock which opens to pasture. They can choose to stand anywhere. In the 95 to 105 degree heat we've had for the last 2 weeks, they choose to stand under the fans. We also have a huge exhaust fan in the 20' barn peak, which draws well, when the doors are not open all the way. Keeps the general air movement circulating pretty good.

I find no stirring up of the barn dust nor the sawdust in the stalls. I find all the air currents created by the fans, really helps with the flies.
Member:
rtrotter

Posted on Thursday, Jul 15, 2010 - 7:06 am:

I also do not have a problem with the fans blowing shavings and dust around and I found another plus and it may be in where I position the fans that seems to make a difference.

In other years my fans have been at head height on the window bars, not on an angle at leg level as they are this year and what I've noticed is my racemares legs do not stock up after being in the stall during the day with no bandages.

This has been a reoccurring problem over the last 3 1/2 years that I've owned her, it happens only in the summer and it does not seem to be a lameness issue. Because of this I usually do her up right after she jogs or tows just to keep down the stocking up.

With the fans over the last two weeks, I've been able to leave her open and no stocking up.

Today will tell, I left her in last night no bandages because of the weather, with her fan on and now today she will be in again(no turnout until tonight) with the fan on and no bandages. We shall see what her legs look like this evening.

Rachelle
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