Cherry,
Although we have the majority of your
horse books, we have seen nothing regarding a trend we've heard about: 1/2 stalls
for horses in the barn.
The shell of our new
barn is now finished (after 10 months of waiting!) and we're ready to start building
our stalls. Several people have encouraged us to build "1/2 stalls"
.... meaning there are no bars at the top of each panel separating the horses
from each other. The dividers of each stall would be about 5 foot tall -- but
no bars on the sides or front.
We literally
jumped into horses 2 years ago -- so we don't know if this would be a good idea
or a bad idea -- but we don't want to mess up before we even get to bring our
horses home from the stable they've been at for the last couple years.
Thank
you! Bob and Christa
Hi Bob
and Christa,
Half
stalls or half-wall stalls might or might not be a good idea. First some pros
and cons, and then I'll pose a few questions for you to consider regarding your
own situation.
Pros
Now,
depending on your current horses and any that you plan to add to your barn, they
may or may not get along with half stalls. Some horses become quite dominant in
stall situations and might keep a neighbor away from a shared wall with lunging
and biting. I've always thought of a stall as a horse's own space, his sanctuary
where he can rest and feel safe. In a regular style stall, a troublesome neighbor
can be bad enough, but with half wall stalls, an aggressive horse could usurp
a substantial portion of the more passive horse's stall.
Also,
depending on the height of your horses and the final height of your half walls,
half walls can be a potential risk if a horse rears up in play with a neighbor
and then gets forelegs over the wall. And a large horse, like a Warmblood, that
doesn't accept confinement could attempt to jump out of the stall.
I'd
love to hear what you decide and how it works out for you.
Best
of luck,
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