Preparing Your Horse Barn for Winter

Fall is in the air, which means winter is coming soon. Now is the time to ensure your modular horse barn is in top shape for upcoming severe weather. Maintenance now will provide your equine friends with better shelter and help prevent illnesses such as thrush, mud fever, dehydration-related colic and respiratory illnesses.

Start with the roof. Grab a ladder to check the roof for tree damage. Remove broken limbs and trim trees if needed. Repair any roof damage.

Work your way down. This means cleaning gutters and inspecting/repairing outside walls. While you’ve got that giant, cumbersome ladder out, go ahead and install gutter guards, if you haven’t already. It’ll prevent leaves filling the gutters. Make sure the downspout and the drain pipes still flow. Sometimes pipes accidentally get crushed from driving trucks over them, in which case they should be replaced.

Water flows downhill. You might need to do some grading to make sure the water flows away from the building. Hoof issues are almost always related to your horses standing in wet environments, be it outdoor mud or from pooled urine in their stalls.

Speaking of water, if you have a watering system, make sure it’s working and draining properly, as well as insulated for winter. Make sure your heated water buckets are still working.

Windows, doors and floors. Rust can be a real issue during the winter, making hinged doors, windows and stall latches stick. Spray a little WD-40 on the moving parts and “work” them a few times. Also look at the weather stripping on the doors/windows. If it’s damaged, replace it. Likewise, check out the floors for damage and repair them if needed.

Time to clean. Give your horse barn a top-to-bottom “spring” cleaning, but do it when the horses are outside. The dust from sweeping the ceilings and walls, as well as removing all the old hay, can adversely affect their respiratory system. Besides, they’ll just get in your way.

Part of equestrian care is proper horse barn maintenance. It’s important to have a healthy place for horses to escape the bitter cold. A little preventive maintenance now will save you a lot of trouble this winter. Carolina Storage Solutions is your modular horse barn specialist. Drop by our display site or give us a call for more information. We’re here to help you!