How IAE Feed Barriers Transformed Carrington Riding Centre…

Carrington’s Journey with IAE Feed Barriers

Carrington Riding Centre is part of Changing Lives Independent SEN School, whose mission is “to change lives through horses, dogs, small animals and the outdoors”. As a result, they house 30 horses and ponies within the centre, which has been running for 50 years.

Proprietor Kevin & Sharon Groos discovered our brand, Equestrian Stabling by IAE, after researching feed barriers as an alternative to traditional stabling. As the dedicated Equestrian division of IAE, we built upon our collective knowledge to create custom-made pens for this project, complete with feed barriers designed specifically for horses.

The Winter blues: Trading muddy fields for feed barriers

Kevin’s choice to transition from stabling and hard surface paddocks was largely due to the difficulties they experienced during winter. The poor weather saw an increase in vet bills for horses out in the field, along with an extended turnaround time to ready the horses for lessons.

Horses in the stables experienced their own difficulties, with the winter months meaning limited exercise and less social interactions amongst the herd. These were just some of the problems the riding centre wanted to address to improve efficiency and their horse’s wellbeing.

The design process

To begin the project Kevin discussed Carrington’s requirements with our Equestrian team who were available to offer advice and detail what options were available. Then it was over to our technical sales team to visit and double check the dimensions, before our design team could ensure the feed barriers met all the necessary requirements.

• During the design phase we focus on creating products that are safe, functional and long lasting.
• All gates and barriers were manufactured at our IAE headquarters using hot-dip galvanized steel, ensuring long-term strength and resistance to wear.
• Stockboard was used to provide visual separation between pens while offering a robust, kick-resistant surface.
• For security, each gate was equipped with two sliding bolts and metal catches that lock automatically to prevent horses from opening them.

Yay or Neigh? Were the Feed Barriers a success at Carrington?

The final design turned an old schooling arena into a loose housing set up for the centre’s thirty horses and ponies. Gated feed barriers combined with high stock board gates were used to create three large internal pens. This divided the herd into three manageable groups with multiple access points, so both horses and staff can enter and exit with ease.

We caught up with Kevin and the team at Carrington Riding Centre after their first Winter using the feed barriers to see what changes this new housing arrangement had caused…
The team had a few initial concerns over the change such as ‘How would the horses react to shared pens?’ and ‘Would the horses feel comfortable lying down?’.

The end result was a success! After a short adjustment period to establish which groups should be housed together, the horses adapted very quickly to feeding using the barriers. Each pen had multiple feed spaces so there was no need to compete to access haylage in comfort.

The shared pens also allowed horses to demonstrate social behaviours such as grooming and they can regularly be seen lying down amongst the group.
Additionally, the feed barriers have allowed the horses to feed from a more natural, low-level position, whilst ensuring the feed and bedding areas are separated.

The Finished Result

The feed barriers reduced many of their previous issues including:

• Turnaround time to ready the horses for lessons
• Vet bills previously related to poor weather conditions outside
• Rug washing
• Haylage costs as hay is preserved inside and away from bedding
• Cleaning times
• Labour and staff costs

We were excited to learn that the addition of the new pens significantly reduced cleaning times and costs whilst improving horse welfare. This leaves the entire team with more time to dedicate to their important work with children at the Changing Lives School.

The gated design enabled the pens to be fully accessible for their small yard scraper, which is used to clear the pens fully three times a week and takes approximately an hour and thirty minutes to reset.

The team also found that the feed spaces could be used as personnel gaps, allowing them to quickly enter and exit the pens when they needed to, enabling routine tasks such as catching horses, performing checks and skipping out to be completed with ease.

After initially planning to use the pens as housing throughout the winter, the team at Carrington were so pleased with the improvements, they have continued to use them throughout the year alongside their regular field turnout.

Would you like to learn more about our feed barriers for horses? 🐴 Talk to our team to discuss your options by calling +44 (0)1782 339320 or email us at [email protected].