It’s Time To Winterize

Preparing Your Barn and Trailer for Cold Months Ahead

The leaves have turned to copper and gold, the air is crisp and the smell of apples and cinnamon pervade the house. Steam rises off your horse’s flanks after your run, and your breath hangs in the air. The rapidly diminishing level of mercury in the thermometer can only mean one thing: autumn has arrived and winter is right around the corner. Shooting matches will slow down or disappear during the winter months, depending on the weather, and you will need to make sure your barn and horse trailer will survive until spring. Here are some tips to keep your equine partner comfortable while you avoid 2:00 am trips to the barn to deal with Mother Nature’s latest prank.

IN THE BARN
The barn is a great place to start your winterizing adventure. There are all kinds of ways cold weather can wreak havoc here and cause you headaches. A small investment of time and money will pay dividends in the form of a peaceful, disaster-free winter.

Insulate your pipes
If you have time for only one project for this winter season, insulate your pipes. There is little so disheartening as walking outside in the morning to water your horses and the pipes are frozen—or worse, they froze to the point of bursting and have to be replaced. Insulating the pipes may not be a 100% guarantee that they will not freeze, but it reduces the chances greatly.

There are several options for materials for this project. A popular and convenient choice is to use pipe sleeves, made of polyethylene or neoprene foam. Just pop it onto the pipe, then secure it with tape, wire, or a cable tie every foot or so. For extremely cold climates, you can wrap pipes in electric pipe tape that plugs into an electrical socket affording low heat to the pipes all winter long. Styrofoam or insulation material can also be used and if you use tape, acrylic is easier to remove later, if necessary, than duct tape. If the pipes are where horses with curious mouths can get to them, you might want to wrap your insulation in some old carpet to protect the insulation from prying teeth.

After watering, drain your hoses and hang them so there is not enough water in them to freeze—short hoses are easier to deal with than long ones. Stock tank heaters (devices that clamp on the side or float in the horse’s water tank to keep it from freezing over) or heated buckets will keep drinking water from freezing.

Insulate your barn
While it is good to have air circulating through your barn for the sake of your horses’ health, you do not want cracks or holes big enough to let in rain, snow or chilly drafts. Inspect your barn inside and out for big cracks and fill them in with caulk. A tell-tale sign of cracks is mold and dampness or evidence of moisture (softening of the wood, a darkening of the color, rust, etc.) in the rafters, the base of vertical supports and the inside of outside walls—particularly at the top or bottom.

Inspect the weather stripping around the windows and doors and replace it if it looks old or worn. Foam weather stripping is the least durable, although it is easy to install—simply measure, cut and stick it on if it is self-stick or nail it if it has a backing. Rolled vinyl with aluminum backing or spring metal is more durable. It requires metal snips to cut and a hammer and nails to install, but it is still relatively easy.

Check the roof – if you have corrugated metal roofing, make sure that there are no loose panels or edges. There is little worse on a windy night than to hear that sickening crunch of the roof blowing off the barn. A trip to the roof with a box of nails at the beginning of the season can save a world of headache later on.

Pay particular attention to insulating your feed, bedding and tack rooms to protect their valuable contents. Cover windows with plastic sheeting to cut down on drafts, and check for dampness throughout the winter. Finally, cut back any tree branches that hang over your barn, horse trailer or other structures. If they become heavily laden with snow or a big windstorm comes up to blow them down, they can take out part of your structure with them.

IN THE TRAILER
Horse trailers without living quarters are a bit less complicated to winterize than your whole barn, but there are a few things you can do to make your spring tune up a little less costly—particularly if you will not be using the trailer during the winter.

• Park the trailer on a level surface.
• Clean the trailer thoroughly inside and out. Remove all hay and soiled bedding to prevent mold from forming, and drain all water tanks.
• Tarp your trailer securely, but open it up from time to time to let some fresh air in. Remove excessive snow.
• Use WD40 on all hinges and latches to keep them well-oiled during the cold weather.
• Store the trailer on blocks, including the hitch wheel or post, so it does not freeze to the ground.

For trailers with living quarters, check with the trailer experts in your area to determine the best way to winterize your trailer for your climate. You should also follow the manufacturer’s directions for your brand of trailer. Here are some general guidelines:

• Turn off all electrical switches.
• Empty your holding and fresh water tanks.
•  Winterize your water system, if recommended for your area. Turn off the water pump and open the faucets and drains until all lines are drained, and then close them. Be sure to drain the water heater according to the trailer manufacturer’s instructions. Fill the lines with a non-toxic antifreeze solution (sold at all RV supply centers), following the product directions.  Turn on the water pump to allow the winterizing solution to circulate and fill the system. Close each faucet as solution flows freely from it, including the water line to the toilet, and then turn off the water pump.
• Close the drapes and place foil or cardboard between the drapes and the windows to prevent fading.
• Close all windows, doors and vents securely and make sure the weather stripping is intact.
• Remove the battery from the trailer and store it in a heated area. Check it every couple of months to make sure it is charged.

Fall is the perfect time of year for working around the barn, when the air is cool and leaves are still falling instead of snow. Nobody wants to spend a winter hauling buckets of water from the house to fill water troughs or repairing snow-damaged roofs, and there is little more unpleasant than opening your horse trailer for your first match of the spring to realize it is full of mold from stem to stern. By contrast, the couple of hours it takes to winterize your barn and trailer is a walk in the park. You will be glad you did when you get a good night’s sleep instead of handling disasters–and your horse will thank you!

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