Opening stall door

el camino · Postby **el camino** » Fri Jan 06, 2006 5:25 pm

I have a track style barn with dutch doors and a sliding latch. A couple weeks ago I had a horse loose in the morning. No problem, just thought I had forgoten to latch the door. I was just a little mad at myself for being careless. Today I look out and the same horse is loose again. I put her back in and start doing whatever choir it was I was doing. Not two minutes later she is loose again. What the hell. She must be undoing the latch! I put her back in and watch her. The latch is stiff. She reaches out pushes on the loose end then grabs the handle, pulls it up and slides it open! Like I said it is not a loose latch and requires the handle to be pulled up before it will slide and then requires some force. Amazing not only she can do it but in just about 2 minutes!

skeenan · Postby **skeenan** » Fri Jan 06, 2006 9:14 pm

I use clips to keep the latch secure, for that very reason! Horses are very smart when it comes to "puzzles"...

I'm to the point with my Morgan that I'm going to install a hook on the inside of the door (ours open out into the aisle)... his new trick is to push on it when you're in his stall so he can walk around the barn "unattended"... :wink:

Growing up, our neighbor's animals (horse & goat) worked in tandem... one knew how to open the outside latch, the other, the inside latch! Luckily, the barn opened out into their pasture, but they were forever letting themselves in & out! :lol:

KamiBrooks · Postby **KamiBrooks** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 2:21 am

I have a gelding that went through a phase of letting himself out AND the buddy that he wanted to play with... I did same thing too, thought I had been careless, etc... I'm convinced this same gelding can undo a couple types of pasture gates and have watched him untie knots

Bondama · Postby **Bondama** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 8:18 am

My old Whitesburg mare figured out how to open sliding shed doors....she'd get one open enough to get her head and neck in the feed shed of course. I kept thinking my kids had left it open, til I caught her in the act. Had to get a circle type clip to hook both doors together to keep them from opening. Horses are lots like kids and murphy's law, I've found! If they can get into it, they will.

jumper77 · Postby **jumper77** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 12:53 am

I had an escape-artist like this...
After trying lots of other things, we finally ended up putting another latch at the bottom of the door. It worked, but little Houdini sure was mad at me!

Our Mims · Postby **Our Mims** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 10:32 am

I've had several Houdinis myself; made me wonder which was more desirable, a smart horse or a less intelligent one :lol:

?
One standardbred yearling would open ALL the stall doors and then the pasture gate, too. She even climbed up onto the front porch and found my bedroom window. "Um, excuse me, ma'am, did you know the horses were loose?"
It seemed no stall or pasture could contain her so I had to sell her.

Cathy D · Postby **Cathy D** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 10:41 am

A second latch at the bottom of the door should do it. Main thing is it needs to be out of her reach. We have also used a screw eye in the latch handle for that type of latch (you turn it sideways so the handle can not be lifted) but did have one filly figure it out.

Nijinsky · Postby **Nijinsky** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 1:25 pm

I have a mare who's every offspring ( 4 so far ) has opened a stall door and even gates. Her first foal I was sales prepping and she lifted up her half door latch and pulled it to the side twice....like you, I thought the first one may have been our fault, but after the second time I knew it was her. So I put a clip on it. She had another one a colt open a gate and now at 3 he is opening his stall door...so they had to put a clip on that. This mare is one of my smartest along with all her foals...they all are extremely curious and friendly.