New Barn Ventilation
Marissa Staino
Proper Ventilation
Good ventilation is
recommended for stabled horses to maintain respiratory health. Horses are sensitive to
drafts and are affected by a number of respiratory ailments resulting from
moisture accumulation and dust. A proper
ventilation system can provide fresh, dry air and a draft-free environment
for the horse at all times. This can
be achieved by having enough openings in the stable to allow fresh air to
enter and stale air to escape.
Ventilation is needed to remove heat in hot weather and control
moisture, odor, and ammonia buildup in cold weather. People close up their barns in the winter
to keep chilling winds off their horses and increase the comfort level for
themselves, but without proper ventilation you get moisture buildup, which
leads to an increased risk of condensation, intense odor, more ammonia
release, and pathogen viability.
There are two important
steps toward good ventilation in the stable.
The first is air exchange, where stale air is replaced with fresh air,
and the second is air distribution, where the fresh are is made available thought
the entire stable.
PSU New Barn Ventilation
 The
new horse barn does a good job of providing proper ventilation. Some of the key features that aid in this
ventilation are the eaves in the roof, the big doors on either end of the
barn, which are kept open as much as possible to encourage air flow, the
windows in each stall, the fact that no hay is stored above the stalls, and
the openness of the interior of the barn.
Eaves
  As you can see in Figure 1, the roof on the new
barn is an overshot roof with two sets of eaves running along the length of
the roof at both levels. The eaves
are permanent open slots that provide equal distribution of air down the
length of the barn. The lower level
of eaves provides air into each stall, and the upper level provides air into
the rest of the barn. Figure 2 shows
some close up pictures of the eaves.
The long slot helps in cold weather because air enters through a
narrow opening as a thin sheet of fresh air, rather than drafty air and gusts
of cold wind from an open door or window.
In the new barn, about every third slot in the lower eaves are covered
up during the winter to provide some reduction in the cold air coming into
the barn directly over the horse stalls.
Another view of the eaves
is from inside the barn, shown in Figure 3.
Here you can appreciate how much air the eaves allow through by seeing
how much light shines through.
 Center
Aisle
Another aspect of the new
barn ventilation is an open center aisle with the large endwall doors on
either end. These doors can be left
open in warm weather to allow cooling breezes to enter the stable. Along with this idea is the fact that
there are windows in each stall, which can provide access to breezes in warm
weather. Having adequate windows and
large open doors to allow fresh air to enter the barn and circulate are very
important for ventilation.
 Open
Interior
 Another good thing about the new horse barn in terns
of ventilation is the openness of the interior, and the lack of overhead
storage, especially hay. Not having
overhead hay or bedding storage greatly improves the air quality and
distribution. As you can see in the
picture the overhead/ceiling area in the barn is very open and allows good
air circulation.
In general, the layout for
the new horse barn provides adequate ventilation and utilizes many important
aspects in order to do so. For more
on New Barn Ventilation,
please refer to the New Barn Stall Ventilation Web Page, where
the specific aspects of the stall will be discussed. There are also pages on old barn
ventilation and old barn stall ventilation for comparison.
References:
Wheeler, Eileen. Horse Stable Ventilation. The Pennsylvania State University
2003.
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