Horseback Heaven

Things To Be Mindful Of For Horse Barn Designs

Posted on Thursday, February 02, 2012 by Greg in Animals
Tags: Horse Barn, horse barn designs, horse barn plans

Whenever looking at horse barn designs there are many facts to consider. Just what do you want it made out of? How many stalls would you like inside it? Where on your property would you wish to construct it? What extra, non standard features do you want to include?

But there’s one vitally important facet of horse barn design which a lot of people neglect…until it’s too late.

That one, generally disregarded element, can be barn safety. Many people are more concerned with how great the barn looks, & don’t give a second thought to exactly what might occur in the event that there’s a barn fire.

But, they are saying, in the event that there’s a barn fire I will simply run down to the barn and also let all of the horses out, or even the fire fighters can go in and get the horses out whenever they turn up. That all seems nice theoretically, but do you realize:

• It will require 5 to 7 minutes minimal (longer in rural areas) for the fire brigade to come.
• Even in the event that you do have the ability to open the stall doors, the majority of horses won’t move, or if they do, will most likely go out after that come back to exactly the same or another stall as that’s their ‘home’, that’s where they really feel safe and sound.
• In many barn fires, the barn will end up being totally engulfed within flames in under 15 minutes.
• The roof of the barn will often collapse inside 10 to 15 minutes.

So when the fire fighters get there, the roof of the barn may already be on the point of collapse so there’s absolutely no way they’ll be letting anybody inside to get your horses out. It doesn’t matter just what the roof of your barn is constructed of – timber or metal – it’ll nonetheless collapse within the same length of time.

The result?

The majority of horses may most likely be dead – hopefully no human casualties.

So whenever considering horse barn designs, exactly what features should you include to help reduce the chance of fire, or perhaps improve the outcome in the event that a fire does occur?

1. External doors to every stable, leading to a ‘safe area’ from the barn. That way, people can allow the horses out in relative safety without the risk of the roof collapsing on them.

2. Sufficient roof air flow. It’s not so much the fire burning the roofing structure that contributes to fast barn roof collapse, but the heat coming from the fire below. A well ventilated roof area may help to keep your roof area much cooler in the event of a fire, meaning the roofing won’t collapse so quickly.

3. Almost all electrical wires in conduit. Almost all electrical wires within the barn must be run through conduit pipe to lessen the chance of them creating a fire.

We hope this provides you a few points to take a look at if you are looking at horse barn plans and designs to use in your property. Don’t wait right until your barn’s burnt to the ground to think over it, take action right now before it’s too far gone!