Horse Barn Safety

Safety at the Horse Barn

There are many ways to keep your trail horse safe in the barn. Much of it is common sense, some of it are hidden pitfalls not so obvious at first. Injuries to your horse are devastating, especially if they happen right on "home base".

One great danger are things that stick out in the stall, paddocks and pastures. This can involve from faulty gates, light fixtures, fences, ceilings and floors, to stall doors, door latches, loose boards, electrical fences and protruding nails and hooks. In the pasture there might be sink holes, poisonous weeds and things they can get hung up, or trapped in should they play, run and panic, such as thorny underbrush, barbed wiring, gaps in fencing, or feed holes that are too large.

Safety is also important when returning your horse back to its stall. Always close the stall door behind you before you pull off the halter. There is no way you will stop your horse from running right past you out the door without a halter and lead rope. Don't take that chance.

Stall Door Safety

Stall door latches can be a real hazard to your horse, since many people forget to pull the door latch completely back in and invert he hook end into a "safety" position when the door is open. An improperly set stall door latch can easily catch your trail buddy's skin and rip open its side as it enters or exits through the stall door opening. Stall door latches also need to be secured when closed, because some horses are escape artists and quickly figure out how to open them to leave the stall whenever they wish.