Is a barn/shelter necessary?

[stacyeking]

An online acquaintance is moving from middle TN to NE MS. The place she is going has adequate pasture and there is plenty of hay, but NO shelter built (there are woods, but that is it). She has tried to sell her horses, but to no avail, and she is having to move due to a divorce and either sell her minis and biggies or submit them to rescue or keep them at her new place until she can build a shelter. She has no extra money with two kids and moving. How should I advise her? Can minis make it just fine in North MS with no shelter until she can build one?

Stacye

 

[wildoak]

While it's not preferable, if they have a good winter coat and the climate's not extreme then yes, they will probably survive the winter. I have a neighbor or two here who have never put up shelters. Kind of drives me nuts, but their horses too can get into the woods out of some of the wind, and seem to do okay. That said, she might be able to put up an inexpensive wind break of some kind - just a north wall and a roof - that would give them some protection and her some peace of mind.

Jan

 

[Miniv]

We live in Central Oregon and our winters get a heck of a lot colder than North Mississippi. Our minis grow long winter coats. And the ones that have areas where they have a choice between the trees or a man made shelter, tend to choose the trees!

Go figure.

 

[Reijel's Mom]

I would think they should survive, but if she's a worry wart like me, she'll fret all the time if it's lightning, raining & cold at the same time, etc.

I feel bad for her!

 

[Jill]

People on this message board have made quick and inexpensive shelters using cattle panels they arch, t-posts to secure them to the ground, and tarps. This is a quick and cheap way to give the horse(s) a way to get out of the wet weather and wind. While I don't think they'd die of no shelter in MS, I do think it could be a pretty miserable time

 

[Genie]

Hopefully the treed area is heavily treed and then it will be cosier in there than in a shelter.

Here in Canada you can buy those inexpensive car shelters, 249.00 or something like that.

With the canadian dollar like it is we can probably send you one for 100.00....hahaha, just kidding.

 

[TN Belle]

I live in South-East Tennessee and have personally boarded at three barns and none of them have any shelters, nor do a dozen farms around me, only one that I know of. As we just completed our pasture fence and area, we plan on building a shelter as there is no shade in the summer, but I don't they are required. They are a luxury to have pending your particular situation, mine have just turned their tails to the wind and have been fine.

I will say that all of these boarding barns all brought the horses in at night and when it storms, but not in a light rain.

 

[disneyhorse]

Edited to remove my strong feelings regarding neglecting an animal by not providing it the three basics: food, water, shelter.

Andrea

 

[Jetiki]

Here in South Carolina, trees are considered shelter per the animal control. For my one large pony that stays out 24/7 she has a run in but she doesn't use it much she'd rather be under her tree. I do have one mini that stays out but she's in the backyard with the deck and house to use at her will, she sleeps with the dogs its funny. We have a carport that we have turned into a barn I have 4 stalls most of mine do come in but in 2 of my pastures I don't have anything, I don't feel my horses are neglected in any way shape or form, if the weather is nasty they come in but if its nice they stay out I want to build shelters but other things have priority.

So I think until she could get a shelter built it would be fine. There are options, buy a post a week, then a sheet of plywood etc would take a while but that makes it easier than all at once. Or put $5 or $10 a week on a gift card for the lumber store then get your stuff as you can. There are ways to do things when life is tight, and we all know how easy it is to get in a tight spot. ((HUGS)) to her and I hope she can work something out. Post on craigslist or freecycle about wanting cheap or free building materials, you'd be surprised at what you might find, someone cleaning out a barn or something might give some stuff to you.

Karen

 

[Marty]

First let me say that I feel very sorry for your friend. Going through a divorce and having children to worry about comes first and she has a hard road ahead. I am so glad she has found a friend in you to help her during this stressful and maybe scary time for her. I have had many friends in the same situation that found themselves standing with their kids in one hand, horses in another with no place to go. Every mother's worst nightmare.

I think the best place for a horse to be is outside as much as possible however I feel horses must have shelter from the elements. Whether they utilize it or not, they should have a place to go to as Mother Nature is so dangerous and unkind. Things like being hit by hail is painful, lightening kills, etc. and they should have protection.

As Jill said, there are threads here in the archives that you can pull up and print off for her to show her all different kinds of shelters that will do in a pinch. But the bottom line here is that if she feels she will not be able to fully support these animals in all the other ways either, she might due best to re-home them.

 

[Margo_C-T]

Quite some years ago now, a sizable acreage north of me was just beginning to be developed

...

A house was built just across my north fence, but when moving in, the people brought two dogs out behind the house, left them tied to a small flatbed trailer they parked there. This was in late Nov., and sure enough, we had a HUGE snowstorm, complete with ICY winds...and there were those dogs--no one at home(gone to work, I presume), NO relief from the bitter wind and blowing snow(that little trailer offered NOTHING.) I called Animal Control, as even that evening, the dogs were LEFT out there, even after the people got home and realized what had happened. The officer let them know that they are REQUIRED BY LAW, in my county, to provide adequate shelter (they then did go and several bales of straw, and were able to construct a decent temporary shelter with those, UNDER the trailer.)Interestingly--the AC officer came to let me know what he'd found/done; told me these people had responded with "well, someone's dog comes across OUR property all the time..."--guess they thought they would 'retaliate' for being called to account by Animal Control...BUT, it was my neighbor to the west's dog, NOT mine! (Mine are NEVER allowed to trespass off these premises (I am one who doesn't expect of others what I would not expect of myself; I am not going to allow my dog to bother you, and I don't expect you to allow yours to bother me.)

I called Santa Fe(county seat) years ago, requested and was sent a copy of its Animal Control ordinances--and it DOES state that it is required by law to provide shelter, for both pets and livestock. Now, just last evening, the Bernalillo county(Albuquerque and vicinity)county commission enacted some new Animal ordinances, including: No chaining out of dogs, no sales of dogs and cats from pet shops unless the shop has a hobby breeder license, and, a requirement to provide shelter for LIVESTOCK being kept on "small acreage", along with feed, water, AND veterinary care. I actually agree, but think it will be interesting to see how this is both accepted by some residents, AND how well it is actually enforced.

Animals who are confined deserve to be provided with shelter that will adequately protect them from the elements....as others have said, they may choose to stand out in weather that WE think they wouldn't, but to me, it is part of the responsibility of animal ownership to provide them with the option.

Margo

 

[Becky]

Here in the City of Oklahoma City, we are required by law to provide a 3 sided shelter with a roof to ANY animal, be it dog, cat, horse, cow or whatever.

 

[Katiean]

All my horses use their stalls for is a nice warm place to poop :arg! When it rains, snows or what ever, they stand out in the weather. When I lived in Utah people would take their horses out of stalls in the winter and put them out to winter pasture. No shelter and lots of snow. This was a practice I had a hard time wraping my head around that one. I always provide shelter weather they use it is up to them.

 

[Leeana]

Its not hard to toss up a shelter, or atleast something to block the wind / rain...now i dont think they will die without it BUT..

Where is she going to put one if it gets sick? Cant just leave it out in the snow, rain and wind...i always like to have atleast one or two stalls open and ready just incase a outside mare gets a cold. That might be a whole other issue to look into.

 

[susanne]

It's the combination of wind and rain that I worry about.

Our horses will stand out in even the coldest rain and snow, and they enjoy a dry wind, but combine wind and rain and they want their shelter.

When ours have a choice between the open barn and their tarp shelters, they always choose the tarps, even when winds rattle it. We have two tarp shelters using fence corners, one with two sides, one with three. Both work great for minis, but wouldn't work for bigs...

On the Homesteading Today forum, someone posted about making a goat shelter by stacking straw bales and driving a t-post down throught them to keep them from shifting or being knocked over. They then stretched a tarp over the top and outsides of the bales...I don't remember how they attached it...I suppose you could use additional t-posts. Again, this would be better for minis than the bigs.

She could also join her local freecycle group on the web and ask for free building materials, tarps, even sheds.

She might even find someone wanting to get rid of a portable garage.

 

[Miniv]

Please don't let your friend stress too much about the shelter issue.........However, I'd suggest doing a search right here on Lil Beginnings Forum for the subject of "Shelters". There have been some excellent threads in the past with wonderful low-cost shelter suggestions to check out.

 

[Riverdance]

In some parts of the country animal control would be after her without a shelter.

If she can not afford one, how can she afford to feed and take proper care of her horses. They would be better off given to the humane society.

While I understand the situation she is in, as I was there before, she needs to think of the welfare of her horses. Would she like being outside when it is raining, windy or cold? I find that no matter how hairy my horses are, they make a beeline for the shelters when it is raining, windy or cold.

I too got divorced when I owned a hunter jumper thorobred and my daughters hunter jumer pony. I could no longer afford them and of course when you really have to sell, no one is buying. I ended up giving them away to good homes. I was more interested in the horses welfare than making a few bucks on selling them. (I actually lost about $9,000 which was a lot of money in the early 80's).

 

[Allure Ranch]

[SIZE=12pt]While there are many individuals that don't provide the necessary elements for their horses I'm a firm believer that it is something that they need and should have available to them. I personally have 63 horses and several of them get EXTREMELY chilled in the winter when the temperatures drop here in Texas. Actually, so much that they are literally shivering. In those instances for those few, I blanket and stall them in the barn. The others have free choice of run-in sheds in their paddocks. [/SIZE]

It really doesn't take much to provide just a little bit of shelter. Better safe than sorry....

Kimberle Young

Allure Ranch

http://www.allureranch.com

 

[Minimor]

I don't know much about winter weather in the southern states. I do know that there are horses around here that have nothing but trees/bush for shelter, and they do perfectly well. A good thick patch of bush actually offers very good shelter, be it from snow or wind--rain not so much, though it depends what the temperatures are when it's raining. A warm rain isn't a problem; a cold rain more so...but if it's dry and cold and windy then the bush patch does give adequate protection. Nice thing about it is, the horses can get into the bush and have shelter from any direction. My horses all have sheds and nice beds of straw, but if we happen to get a southeast wind they don't have much protection, because that blows into the sheds...a south wind too, but we don't get a lot of wind from the south. I've often wished for a good thick stand of trees and bush for our horses to go into some days.

 

[shelly]

All my horses use their stalls for is a nice warm place to poop :arg! When it rains, snows or what ever, they stand out in the weather.

THEY DRIVE ME CRAZY!!!!!

:arg!

:arg!