The Ultimate Guide To Stall Guards
A stall guard or stall gate is what keeps horses in their stall safely and comfortably. Stall guards can help horses live more comfortably when they’re in a stall while preventing them from escaping.
There are a wide variety of stall guards, ranging from a plastic-covered chain to a tall metal gate. There are also stall guards that can be custom designed with your logo, horse’s name, and more.
Before buying a stall guard, it’s essential to educate yourself about the different types, benefits, and safety concerns of stall guards.
The Benefits of a Stall Guard
The main benefit of a stall guard is to provide a more enjoyable living space for horses. The safest way to keep a horse in a stall would be to have tall wooden walls all around. However, a stall guard maintains safety and allows the horses to stick their head out of their stall and interact with people walking by.
A stall guard also increases airflow into the stall and can make it easier for people to check in on their horses as they walk down the aisle.
If you buy a vinyl stall guard, you can write on it and avoid miscommunications about feeding, medication, and other needs for your horses.
Stall guards can also be used for training. Stall guards can help horses learn to be more friendly when people are giving them food or treats, and they can help reduce kicking.
Stall Guard Safety
Safety is a big concern when it comes to choosing the right stall guard. Horses love to play with anything and everything. They will likely chew on the stall guard and lean up against it, so it’s necessary to ensure the stall guard is high quality and installed correctly. The last thing you want is your horse to injure themself on the stall guard.
When you’re installing a stall guard, ensure that the horse can’t jump over it, or sneak under it. We recommend using two or three chains to secure your stall guard because horses love to lean on them as they look out of their stall.
Types of Stall Guards
We’ll focus on three types of stall guards—metal gates, vinyl, and fabric. They offer different benefits and customization options.
How much does a quality stall guard cost?
We don’t recommend choosing the cheapest available option. Instead, invest in a quality stall guard that looks great and keeps your horses safe for years to come. The sunbrella fabric stall guards are typically more expensive due to the embroidery. However, the beauty of the sunbrella fabric stall guards is that we can match the color to your show drapes.
Vinyl Stall Guards (42 3/4 (width) by 14 3/4 (height))
Vinyl stall guards offer a much different design compared to the metal stall gates.
Vinyl stall guards can be customized with your barns logo, names, and different colors. The vinyl stall guards are still safe for horses and can offer a friendly and personal look to your stable.
A vinyl stall guard should be attached with chains at the top and bottom, and in the middle if necessary. These stall guards are great for attending horse shows and traveling because they can be adjusted depending on the doorway’s width. They can also be easily moved if horses are moving stalls during cleaning or maintenance.
When you install a vinyl stall guard, you will want to ensure it’s at the proper height for the horse. They should be able to easily look over the top of it, but not step over it. If the stall guard is too low a horse can try to get over it and end up getting stuck or injured.
Remember that the horses will lean on it. After installation, you should be able to pull on the stall guard both ways with all of your weight. If the stall guard can’t support you, it won’t support your horses. And similarly to the metal stall gates, make sure to routinely check on the stability of the guard.
The vinyl stall guard isn’t as durable as the metal gates, but they will last a while, even with horses chewing on them and leaning against them.
The benefits of a vinyl stall guard are the options to customize them, and they are easier to move from one stall to another, are quick to install, and less expensive than metal guards. A custom vinyl stall guard is also more secure and looks more professional than a single plastic-covered chain.
You can choose to customize your stall guards with any different color or design, and they can be a great place to write down any instructions to caretakers or visitors in your barn.
You can check out all of our stall guards and start customizing your own design.
Metal Gate Stall Guards
Using a metal gate as a stall guard offers safety and benefits your horses. The metal gate offers the horse to look out of their stall, which can help when they’re feeling anxious.
These stall gates are secure and give your horses more freedom while keeping them safe in their stall. Horses are not likely to try to escape and can be used for long periods of time. The yoke on these stall gates is the u-shaped cutout that allows the horse to look out comfortably.
There are a few variations of these stall gates. They come in various heights to accommodate different horses and come in either chrome or black paint to match your style.
Metal stall gates are typically made of steel and built to last for years of continued use. After installing your new stall guard, you should check that it’s mounted properly and able to handle the weight of your horses leaning on it.
We also recommend checking on it routinely to ensure the mounting brackets don’t come loose, and the stall wood is still durable.
Check out our metal stall guards and find the right one to keep your horses happy and safe.
Sunbrella Fabric Stall Guards
These stall guards are popular as you can match your stall drapes, show banner with the same colors and logo. You can have up to 3 snaps on each side. Size is 39 inches length and 15 inches in height.
Check out our fabric stall guards in more detail.
Stall Guard Chains
Last, do not forget to purchase chains for the top as horses tend to lean over the stall guard and wear them out faster.
Learn more at stall guard chains.
