# Siding for barn that's safe and won't be damaged by horses?



## fireweed farm (Dec 31, 2010)

I'm hoping to put siding on the barn this year, the critters have access to two sides of it. 
Plan was to use red cedar due to that it doesn't rot, but it's also soft and I worry a bit that horses will chew it up. Maybe even find the nails. 

Any suggestions for what's been bullet proof for you?

Thanks!


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## bja105 (Aug 25, 2009)

Our run in shed is rough cut pine from the sawmill next door. The horses occasionally kick off a board from the inside, but it is not hard or expensive to replace it. I have some lumber on hand to put in kick boards, four feet high, on the inside. That should help with the boards being kicked off, since the most damage is when they kick inside the shed. They kick at flies or each other.

I have had horses that ate wood. We boarded a horse that ate a brand new fence, and taught our horses to chew wood, too. The offender left, but our horses kept eating wood, and destroyed some cross boards on the brand new shed. Also easy to fix. No one chews wood anymore, maybe because I painted the shed with used oil, maybe the offenders got traded, maybe the mineral I give them satisfies that need.

We also have three cattle in the same pasture, but they rub on trees or fence posts, so far.

A friend has a steel sided run in for his horses, and it looks brand new after a few years. Of coarse, he also has his horses trained to only pee outside, so who knows what he told them about the siding.
I have seen steel siding destroyed by cattle in small lots, but I bet wood would be worse. 

I think lots of space and grazing helps me avoid problems I could have. You should see the flimsy fences I have that keep animals in.


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## cfuhrer (Jun 11, 2013)

My parents used corrugated steel siding on our barns in 1985.

A little wear at the edges where it wasn't secured properly but the long stretches down the sides still look as good as new.


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## secuono (Sep 28, 2011)

My 4 don't eat wood. So can't really help there.

Don't use metal, horses love to be stupid and kick through them, shredding their legs to nothing...Google it, happens all the time. 
You can have wood horse height, then vinyl or metal for the rest.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

Go ahead and use cedar. Then string up some electric fence to keep them off it.


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## aoconnor1 (Jun 19, 2014)

cfuhrer said:


> My parents used corrugated steel siding on our barns in 1985.
> 
> A little wear at the edges where it wasn't secured properly but the long stretches down the sides still look as good as new.


I have twice seen the result of a horse kicking through or getting a hoof caught under metal siding. I would never, ever have metal siding near a horse, ever. It produces some of the most catastrophic injuries I've seen, and after running large herds for years, I've seen a lot!

I would use rough cut lumber with a double barrier up to 4 feet for extra caution. No space at the bottom, they can lay down and get hooves caught under the boards, even with a very small space. Cattle can do the same. I have 24 horses and have never had one kick through a well built, solid wood wall. They don't like the rough sawn texture, for whatever reason, and have always left that alone. Smooth boards are a whole nuther story:hair


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