Ventilation of Stalls in the Old Horse Barn
Lindsay Hoffman
Table of Contents:
- Introduction
- Partitions
- Windows
- Ceiling Fan
- Hot Wire Thermo-anemometer
- Conclusion
- Resources
1. Introduction:
Ventilation is a hot topic
in barn design. It is important to
remember that a well-ventilated barn is one thing, but a well-ventilated
stall is quite another. The stall is
where a horse spends all of its time when in a barn, therefore it is critical
to have a well-ventilated stall.
The goal is to have a
stall that is properly ventilated year round. Ventilation is simply allowing fresh air to enter and stale air
to exit. A stall cannot be closed up
tightly like a room in a house. There
is a much higher moisture, mold, odor, and debris content. Ventilation plays key roles during each
season. In the summer it is used to
remove heat from the stable, moving air will keep the horse cooler and more
comfortable than stagnant air. In
winter months, ventilation is needed to control moisture, odor, and ammonia.
2. Partitions:
 A common way to provide stall ventilation is to
decrease the amount of solid partitions.
It is important for safety to have the bottom portion of the stall be
solid, but the top portion should be open grillwork for optimal
ventilation. The spacing of the bars
should be three inches or less apart, so a horse cannot get a foot or nose
through the bars. The open grillwork
provides other benefits besides ventilation.
It allows horses, a herd animal, to see their stable mates. This discourages stereotypies and allows
the horses to see the activity around them.
It also allows for the caretaker to keep a watchful eye on the
horses. One negative aspect to having
the open top part of the stall is it might allow spread of contagious disease
through a barn. At Penn
State’s old horse barns
the stalls have open partitions on the top half as seen in the pictures. An interesting side note is these bars are
salvaged bicycle racks from campus.
 Another important feature of stalls is that the
bottom, solid part of the stall allows air movement. Spacing the stall boards approximately one
inch apart can easily accomplish this.
Some of Penn
State’s stalls in the
old barn have more than one inch spacing.
This is optimal for ventilation and is fine for mature horses. Although, when foals or young horses are
in the stalls the boards are dropped closer together so little feet can’t go
through the openings.
An opening between the
open grillwork partition and the ceiling increases the flow of
ventilation. It is important to not
have the stall partitions extend all the way to the ceiling, but instead be
open to provide for the important air movement. This may not be accomplished when hay and straw storage is
above stalls. In general, storage
above stalls is not recommended not only because it decreases the amount of
ventilation, but also because it creates a fire hazard.
3. Windows:
Another feature of the Penn
State stall is windows
in each stall. The windows can be
opened to increase the ventilation and closed to keep the barn warmer. In choosing windows for stalls it is
important to not let the horses be in direct contact with the glass. If they were to kick or break the glass it
would lead to injuries. That is why Penn
State uses bars to
protect the windows as seen in the picture.
The bars should be closer together (using recommendation for stalls
above) to optimally protect the horse from making contact with the glass.
4. Ceiling Fan:
To maximize ventilation a
ceiling fan can be used in each stall.
A ceiling fan is a cheap and effective way to increase
ventilation. A ceiling fan improves
respiratory health by providing a constant supply of fresh air movement. It pushes out the stagnant, stale air
without the harsh draft that can be a problem with a box fan. There is a smaller chance of electrical
problems when compared to boxed fans, because with the hard wiring there are
no exposed wires. A fan decreases the
flying insects and also helps in the evaporation of urine, thus stopping
ammonia emissions from forming.
Overall, a ceiling fan is a simple, effective all season form of
ventilation. One caveat is that the
ceiling fans must be high enough to prevent them from injuring horses. Unfortunately the ceiling is too low in
the old horse barns for this technique to be used at Penn
State.
5. Measuring
Air Flow: Hot Wire Thermo-anemometer
To put the quantity of air
movement into perspective, we used a Hot Wire Thermo-anemometer to measure
the velocity of the air movement in the old barn. The instrument measures air movement by how much the instrument
has to “work” to maintain a constant temperature. We discovered that the average air movement in a stall was 0.1
mph. In the aisle way the velocity
was highest with one of the end doors open, which reached a maximum velocity
of 0.3 mph. The velocity was lowest
with both doors closed. Note the
difference in air movement between the aisle and inside the stall. The
outside velocity was 1 mph with a temperature of 32.5 degrees Fahrenheit.
6. Conclusion:
In Penn
State’s old horse barns
it is important to remember that the barns are primarily used in the winter
and spring. The old barn is used for
isolation, and short term mare and stallion housing. With the end doors open the majority of the
time the ventilation in the barn appears adequate.
When designing a barn or
improving an existing barn it is important to remember that the stalls are
where the horses live. Horses have
different needs than people, thus the ventilation they require is much higher
than an environment we would consider home.
7. Resources:
Hayes, Karen E.N.. The
Perfect Stall. Hayden
Lake, ID: Ironhorse
Publishing LLC, 2004.
The Pennsylvania
State University
Agricultural and Biological Engineering Extension. Horse Stable Ventilation. University Park, PA:
Publications Distribution
Center, 2003.
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