A field shelter?

MrA

MrA

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Feb 8, 2012
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Right I'm really settling into my new yard and ale seems to be getting there now too. Not that he's been bad at all as you made me realise!! Was just a panicking mum!

Whilst the field is ideal for summer I've started to think about winter. In a perfect world I would like to extend ales field to about double the size (would be about 2 acres) if not bigger if he goes in with a friend (There are about 20 unused acres behind my field and I'm not sure what the girls plan to do with them but they did say they have plenty of land and are very flexible if I need more room!)

Then I started to think about shelter for winter, whilst he has the large oak tree for shade that will be bald in winter so will offer little protection. The other day it was windy and quite a breeze was whipping across the field so I would like for him to have some sort of protection from this and from those days where it never stops raining!

I see you can pick up pretty basic field shelters at quite a reasonable price which means I could then give up my stable on the yard and so would make my money back pretty quickly with reduced livery cost. Here's a question obviously I would have to go for a moveable shelter as don't require planning position, how likely are these to flip in the wind?

Not sure if I am mad for thinking about this and also not sure if the girls would completely object and if it's incredibly cheeky of me to even start asking to fence off another area and enquire about field shelters.

As usual turning to you guys for advice or any thoughts! Thanks!
 
Depends on how bad the wind gets at your place?? Where we moved from (Forest of Bowland area) the wind was pretty bad anytime from October to March. We bought a lovely Redmire double shelter on skids for the front field. It quickly moved itself from one end of the field to the other! And believe me, it was a really well made heavy thing. We ended up having to get a wood post conctreted in and chained the shelter to it. But as I say, it was a windy area and very exposed. I don't honestly know what the chances are of a shelter flipping over, it just can be a one off sometimes if the wind gets underneath and is blowing a certain way. Could you make enquiries locally with the other horse owners in the neighbouring fields? Maybe they can advise you.
 
Trewsers said:
Depends on how bad the wind gets at your place?? Where we moved from (Forest of Bowland area) the wind was pretty bad anytime from October to March. We bought a lovely Redmire double shelter on skids for the front field. It quickly moved itself from one end of the field to the other! And believe me, it was a really well made heavy thing. We ended up having to get a wood post conctreted in and chained the shelter to it. But as I say, it was a windy area and very exposed. I don't honestly know what the chances are of a shelter flipping over, it just can be a one off sometimes if the wind gets underneath and is blowing a certain way. Could you make enquiries locally with the other horse owners in the neighbouring fields? Maybe they can advise you.
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Well it's windy enough to move a KA without its handbrake on in the work car park. But doubtful as windy as where you were. I know alot of yards around here that use field shelters so perhaps I can go for a cycle and have a nose at how they are anchored and what style they use. Thank-you!
 
Personally I would just keep your stable. A field shelter is good but if anything happens and he needs to be kept off the field they aren't ideal. I've done it, especially if you don't have prevailing winds. Kia's stable has its back/side to the prevailing winds around here but there has been the odd occasion I've been glad his stable is long as the front of it has been filled with snow or rain when the wind has gone in an odd direction.
 
MrC said:
Personally I would just keep your stable. A field shelter is good but if anything happens and he needs to be kept off the field they aren't ideal. I've done it, especially if you don't have prevailing winds. Kia's stable has its back/side to the prevailing winds around here but there has been the odd occasion I've been glad his stable is long as the front of it has been filled with snow or rain when the wind has gone in an odd direction.
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Yes you are probably right, he does have large hedges on 2 sides of the field to offer some protection. Was just something I started to think about today like I do.
 
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Are there any field shelters in the other paddocks on the yard?

My horses have very exposed paddocks, they have been in them for 7 years and are still fine without shelters. Don't get me wrong, if we were allowed them then maybe I might.... there are 2 paddocks with shelters on the other section of the yard and in all honesty their horses never seem to go in them!
 
When I leased a field I had a field shelter put up, however they never used it in the winter, they liked it in the summer to get away from the flies.

But I can honestly say I never saw them use it in winter, they preferred the trees and hedges in heavy wind and rain.
 
I've seen a few on skids flip if they haven't been properly staked down, been fine for years with their backs aimed into the prevailing wind, then the wind comes from an unusual direction and they go, one yard near me had 6 of their 8 go in one night :EEK:
You could check your local planning laws for 'sheds' there are ways and means often, in Herts I had a field that was on top of a hill and very exposed with no hedges so I wanted shelter but it had to be under a certain size (footprint) and height (8ft) to put up without planning permission so I gave up on the idea of something permanent and fixed boards to posts in the corner of the field up to about 5ft to block the wind and used a cheapie garden gazebo to give overhead shelter, it did the job :D
If you have good hedges in 2 sides of a corner you could stick some wooden posts in with boards to makes it a really nice huddle area in the corner with wind protection from all directions :D
 
To be honest I don't think I've ever seen ale take shelter anyway!

He's always the one still grazing in the torrential rain!

Thanks for all the input everyone will have a think and do some more research on the idea and see. Part of me just likes the idea of him having somewhere he can go, and I can hang a haynets in there. But I think it's probably very unnecessary, especially as I don't even know how long I will be here.

I like that idea @Jessey what sort of size boards would I be needing for a fat haffy and potential friend?
 
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I would keep the stable for emergencies and maybe invest in a few extra top quality rugs instead :)
 
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Belle loves her shelter now, spends quite a while in there escaping the flies but in winter she hardly ever uses it, she prefers to stand behind it, much like she did with the hedgerows at the old yard.
If you are allowed one I would get some ground anchors - this is what I have http://www.groundbolt.co.uk/field_shelters.html they are dead easy to install and also more importantly are easy to 'unscrew' if I ever need to move the shelter, they are quite expensive but not as costly as buying a new shelter if it gets blown over in high wind.
 
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I used four 4ftx6ft marine ply boards, so an L made of 2 each way, which gave them 12ft in either direction and attached them above ground level by about 1ft (so the bottom didn't rot) so the top was at about 5ft, plenty high enough for them to drop their heads down out of the wind if it got up :) the bonus of having a 2 sided affair is that you don't really have to worry about one horse blocking the door and pinning the other in and a squabble ensuing :)
 
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My shelter faces S and our prevailing winds are SW. It has never flipped over but it backs onto trees, so the wind has to go up and over anyway. Other shelters in our field (not that far from you) have flipped when the wind was really bad.

I have used a shelter for box rest because I don't have a stable, but my shelter is a good size, big enough for 3 horses like bookends.
 
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