Horses are a curious and intelligent animals, especially when they’re confined to their stalls for long periods of time. This is why having windows installed in the barn walls of a stable or horse trailer can be such a great benefit to your horse’s well-being.
Stall windows can provide natural light, aid in ventilation, and increase the amount of passive air flow through the stable which is essential to your horse’s health and comfort. They can also help to keep the stable cooler during summertime and they can even kill harmful bacteria in the stall that may accumulate from hay or straw bedding.
However, if not properly installed or protected, windows can become a liability for you and your horses. In order to prevent your horse from being able to reach out and touch or smash the window, it’s best to install it above eye level. It’s also recommended to use a durable and sturdy 1” x 2” welded wire or steel grating that can be easily removed for window cleaning. These gratings can be purchased from your local hardware store.
In addition to allowing you to better observe and care for your horses, a window in each box stall can offer more natural lighting which can make it easier to clean the stall and other areas of the barn. Insufficient or poor lighting can lead to dripping, mold, and mildew in the barn which can all be detrimental to your horse’s health. The stall windows should be out of reach and protected by bars or heavy glass to avoid the possibility of the horses reaching through them.
Another important feature of stall windows is that they can be opened to allow fresh air in to your horse’s stall and to help reduce dust in the stall. This is vital to your horse’s respiratory health and can also help reduce stress.
While some may consider it overkill to have a window in every horse stall, many do not realize the benefits that these windows can have on the health and welfare of your horse. In fact, research has shown that horses housed in traditionally isolating box stalls show more positive social behavior when they can see their neighbors through a window rather than through full walled separation.
Unlike the common window styles that are used in homes, which have to be manually operated with a crank and are difficult to open from within the stall, horse windows are easy to open using a pull handle located conveniently on the inside of the stall. These windows are also built to be leak proof. Double D’s windows feature a pivot design that pin securely into our Premier Stall Fronts and are available with either a standard sliding window screen on the butt side of the stall or a fold/drop down feed window at the head of the stall. This is an optional upgrade that can be added to any Double D stall.