# Snow sliding off roof of barn, spooking horses



## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

Snow guards. Friends of mine have used both the metal and the plastic and like them. 

Where my daughter rides young horses, they just let it slide and consider it desensitization. *shrug* Works for them. As long as the roof doesn't slant to where people or animals can get an avalanche of ice and snow I don't mess with them, either.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

boots said:


> Snow guards. Friends of mine have used both the metal and the plastic and like them.
> 
> Where my daughter rides young horses, they just let it slide and consider it desensitization. *shrug* Works for them. As long as the roof doesn't slant to where people or animals can get an avalanche of ice and snow I don't mess with them, either.


Thanks! Good to know what they're called. It has spooked my horses badly and hubby, who was in the equipment bay last time, said it sounds like a train it's so loud. A slow fall is fine, but when it gets soaked in rain, and all comes down at once, it makes a lot of noise. Too much for my sensitive mare.


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## sarahfromsc (Sep 22, 2013)

When I boarded, it was a right of Spring to be able to stay on your horse during a lesson on a warm day with the avalanche just up there waiting for the most opportune time........

My horses didn’t like the metal roof at all when I first moved. They were use to a bank barn and heard nothing on the roof. The first time it rained, hold crap! They freaked out and spinning, bucking and rearing in the stalls. I sat there and continued to drink my beer and chuckled. Figured they would get use to it. And they did. Then we had a hail storm............................Now they are use to that too.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Oh, rain and hail storms are no problem. They're cool as cucumbers. But all the snow/ice coming off the roof all at once is terrifying because it happens out of the blue, as you describe.


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## sarahfromsc (Sep 22, 2013)

Before I moved mine, they never heard rain or hail on a roof since the stalls were in a bank barn....like being in a walkout basement.....so they were petrified. 

It was kinda funny. I think me sitting there calmly drinking beer and laughing helped.

I could always tell if it rained at night in the beginning; stalls were a wreck.


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

I don't know how you would do this after construction is completed....
But...
I have seen driveways on steep hills that would ice up and be treacherous in winter.
When the drive was being redone the contractor installed some sort of grid system under the drive material that could warm to just above freezing in a few hours time.
Thermostatically controlled it never went on unless the ground froze and iced over...then on it went and driveway defrosted of snow/ice and was not dangerous to walk or drive up or down...of course you could also turn it on too.
I asked the homeowner of the one home if it was seriously expensive and he said no...about $10 more a month in electricity cost...but he also did not need snow-plow service nor to shovel anymore so it for him was a savings...

So, some sort of heat tape installed along the metal roof underside that because of the long freezing duration maybe you had total control of on or off.
If just cold but no weather built-up it stays off, but when you have a storm accumulation...on it goes and a gradual dumping of winter glory to deal with..
Just an idea but you get to figure out cost and logistics of can it be done and how expensive. 
:runninghorse2:....
_jmo..._


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

horselovinguy said:


> I don't know how you would do this after construction is completed....
> But...
> I have seen driveways on steep hills that would ice up and be treacherous in winter.
> When the drive was being redone the contractor installed some sort of grid system under the drive material that could warm to just above freezing in a few hours time.
> ...


This is actually doable. You can install a wire over your metal roof, it works kind of like the wire in your back car window. I do have a really big roof though, and am thinking it might be a hassle if the wire breaks/gets worn, and I'd worry about fire hazard. We live in an extreme environment which tends to be hard on such things. But I am going to try to find out more about it. 

Would never work in a driveway around here. Frost heaves move our asphalt up and down all winter and spring. No way it would hold up, but it sure would make life easier if it did! Of course 5 feet of snow melting in the driveway might make a mess so not sure how you'd control run-off... make ditches along the edges?


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

sarahfromsc said:


> When I boarded, it was a right of Spring to be able to stay on your horse during a lesson on a warm day with the avalanche just up there waiting for the most opportune time........
> .


OK I admit it, that is one time of the year I still use Fergies ear plugs......they increase my chances of staying on.


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## Horsef (May 1, 2014)

Acadianartist said:


> This is actually doable. You can install a wire over your metal roof, it works kind of like the wire in your back car window. I do have a really big roof though, and am thinking it might be a hassle if the wire breaks/gets worn, and I'd worry about fire hazard. We live in an extreme environment which tends to be hard on such things. But I am going to try to find out more about it.
> 
> Would never work in a driveway around here. Frost heaves move our asphalt up and down all winter and spring. No way it would hold up, but it sure would make life easier if it did! Of course 5 feet of snow melting in the driveway might make a mess so not sure how you'd control run-off... make ditches along the edges?


Stockholm has that setup in their central areas. It seems to work by not waiting for the snow to pile up. They melt it as it falls and it’s almost instantly dry as soon as it stops snowing. I haven’t noticed their pavement being particularly damaged and they do get some extreme cold as well. I’m not too sure how they achieve that.


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

Acadianartist said:


> Of course 5 feet of snow melting in the driveway might make a mess so not sure how you'd control run-off... make ditches along the edges?


You get 5' of snow in one snowfall event??? :shock: :shock: :shock:

_NO THANK-YOU!!!_
I was more thinking of if taken care of as it occurred you would have a manageable amount of water on the ground...
Feasible,.... no idea about how to do such a thing...
:runninghorse2:...


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## kiltsrhott (Mar 11, 2012)

If I were you, I'd get snow guards. Spooking the horses is a big issue, and it can also be dangerous to have the snow fall on you or your horse if you happen to be standing along the overhang when it falls.

A boarding stable I used to board at had a coverall arena. My husband and I were riding in it once when the snow was sliding off the roof in large sheets at random intervals. Keep in mind, the horses were stalled in the same building and heard the sound before. They'd all even been ridden in it before, but loud sudden noises and sudden dramatic changes in lighting can spook even the quietest horses, just depending on the circumstance and where the horse's focus is in the moment. My husband fell when the horse he was riding spooked. All she did was spin around to face the source of the sound, but he fell on his head. He was injured pretty badly, breaking his jaw, his nose, and an arm. I don't mess with stuff like that anymore. It's one thing to ride indoors with hail or wind, or some more predictable sounds, but if there's snow sliding off the roof of an indoor, I won't ride in it.

My own horse has injured herself in her stall spooking at things, so I also try not leave her unattended in an environment that is likely to spook her. While desensitization is important, it can be taken too far, and can serve only to stress horses out and put both people and horses in danger.


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## SteadyOn (Mar 5, 2017)

sarahfromsc said:


> When I boarded, it was a right of Spring to be able to stay on your horse during a lesson on a warm day with the avalanche just up there waiting for the most opportune time........


My most recent fall was from this. Major snowfalls, followed by big shifts of temperatures... Welllll...

I had one lesson a year ago on an old reliable schoolhorse who spooked repeatedly at the snow sliding down. I stayed on, but it was a bit much! So, next three rides, I tried a different, older and more reliable schoolhorse. And she was fine until one BIIIIIIIIIIIIG snow slide on the roof made her shy at the exact moment I was rebalancing myself from a transition and... I came off over her shoulder. Sigh.


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

@kiltsrhott I once rode in a cover all, and there was a large bird of some sort, that I swear was landing on the top, then sliding down the roof, taking off, taking a fly around and repeating...that was an interesting ride....


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

horselovinguy said:


> You get 5' of snow in one snowfall event??? :shock: :shock: :shock:
> 
> _NO THANK-YOU!!!_
> I was more thinking of if taken care of as it occurred you would have a manageable amount of water on the ground...
> ...


Haha... no, we don't get 5' in one snowfall, lol. But it's not uncommon to have snow accumulated over the winter up to 4 or 5' deep. It was like that last winter. Snow as tall as my fences. Not so much this year, because of the constant freeze-thaw pattern we're in. 

The most we've had in one snowfall was 120 cms back in 1992. That's 47 inches, so close to 4' and I remember that storm well because I was stranded at a friend's apartment for three days. We ran out of booze the first night, ran out of food the second night, and on the third day I ventured across the road to a pharmacy that had managed to open. It took me 45 minutes to walk across the road and come back because I had to wade through so much snow. I stocked up on whatever food they still had left. Businesses were literally digging tunnels to their front doors, houses and cars buried. But that doesn't happen every year. Though apparently we came very close to this much snow in 2015. That winter was brutal.

I can see the snow melting as it hits the ground, but I doubt it would evaporate very well in -37C weather. The kids and I once tried an experiment in weather like that. Throw boiling hot water outside and watch it fall as snow! Really works!


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

kiltsrhott said:


> If I were you, I'd get snow guards. Spooking the horses is a big issue, and it can also be dangerous to have the snow fall on you or your horse if you happen to be standing along the overhang when it falls.
> 
> A boarding stable I used to board at had a coverall arena. My husband and I were riding in it once when the snow was sliding off the roof in large sheets at random intervals. Keep in mind, the horses were stalled in the same building and heard the sound before. They'd all even been ridden in it before, but loud sudden noises and sudden dramatic changes in lighting can spook even the quietest horses, just depending on the circumstance and where the horse's focus is in the moment. My husband fell when the horse he was riding spooked. All she did was spin around to face the source of the sound, but he fell on his head. He was injured pretty badly, breaking his jaw, his nose, and an arm. I don't mess with stuff like that anymore. It's one thing to ride indoors with hail or wind, or some more predictable sounds, but if there's snow sliding off the roof of an indoor, I won't ride in it.
> 
> My own horse has injured herself in her stall spooking at things, so I also try not leave her unattended in an environment that is likely to spook her. While desensitization is important, it can be taken too far, and can serve only to stress horses out and put both people and horses in danger.


Sorry to hear about your husband! That sounds truly awful. That is exactly why I want to do something about it before next winter. Not taking any chances.


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## kiltsrhott (Mar 11, 2012)

Golden Horse said:


> @kiltsrhott I once rode in a cover all, and there was a large bird of some sort, that I swear was landing on the top, then sliding down the roof, taking off, taking a fly around and repeating...that was an interesting ride....


Yeahh... The coverall was great because it let a lot of light in, but it also sucked because it was partially see-through. I definitely had issues with weird shadows and noises caused by birds, tree branches, and the previously mentioned snow. The snow was louder sliding off the coverall than any metal roof too. It made such a loud zipping noise that even people would jump. There are pros and cons to everything I guess.


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

If you leave it, they will get used to it. I have a fairly steep metal roof on the barn and it releases snow and makes a startling sound. They jump a bit but realize it's just the snow and settle right back down. I don't baby my horses.


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## JCnGrace (Apr 28, 2013)

Mine don't seem to be spooked by it unless they are in the mood to be spooked in which case they'll spook if you say "BOO". It comes down off our barn roof at a pretty good speed.


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## JCnGrace (Apr 28, 2013)

Hmm...tried to attach a picture of the barn roof and it didn't attach. Here goes second try.


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## JCnGrace (Apr 28, 2013)

LOL, now you get to see the picture twice.


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## Smilie (Oct 4, 2010)

boots said:


> Snow guards. Friends of mine have used both the metal and the plastic and like them.
> 
> Where my daughter rides young horses, they just let it slide and consider it desensitization. *shrug* Works for them. As long as the roof doesn't slant to where people or animals can get an avalanche of ice and snow I don't mess with them, either.


Yes that works, plus after a while I thought enough was enough and got after Charlie for spooking hard (she was a green horse at that point)
Funny thing though, my biggest battle was not to let myself tense, knowing some snow was about to avalanche down. Funny how being older with replaced knees has you riding more defensive, and something you would not even have thought about, 10 or more years ago! Yup, put those young adults up there instead, but unfortunately mine is on his own for years, and is in his early 40s!

16.1hh flying hard sideways,no matter what gait, then trying to spin or buck, was just a bit much for this old body,so the minute she thought about reacting, before she actually went all out, I told her \quit', and made the idea of reacting to what she had learned was non threatening-the hard thing to do.At one time, would not have bothered me in the least!


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

waresbear said:


> If you leave it, they will get used to it. I have a fairly steep metal roof on the barn and it releases snow and makes a startling sound. They jump a bit but realize it's just the snow and settle right back down. I don't baby my horses.


Snow is fine. I'm talking about huge amounts of ice and very wet snow that come crashing down all at once. The horses leap right out of their stalls into an icy paddock (that's my other problem this winter). It doesn't happen with enough frequency for them to just get used to it. It's happened twice this winter, and I'm betting there will be a third time tonight. Just regular snow doesn't bother them. But what we're dealing with this winter is far more than that. Whole sheets of ice and heavy snow rumble down that roof and crash below, in front of their stall doors. The only good thing is that it forms a bit of a snow bank (I have an overhang that sticks out 24' x 10' over their stall doors that open to the paddock), so they don't run straight out, but rather follow the overhang length-wise. That way the chunks of ice don't hit them directly since they don't get under them. This has also been a problem at many buildings where I work, and that ice has been dense enough to break the windshield of a car recently. Lucky there was no one in it!


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

It's up to you, but I would leave it, they will either sink or swim. It's all in their heads. I am just not into micromanaging scary sounds or objects. If they want to be idiots and hurt themselves, they wouldn't be at my barn very long.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

waresbear said:


> It's up to you, but I would leave it, they will either sink or swim. It's all in their heads. I am just not into micromanaging scary sounds or objects. If they want to be idiots and hurt themselves, they wouldn't be at my barn very long.


Yes, well if Kodak is an idiot (and yes, she can be), then she is still my idiot and I have a responsibility to keep her safe. I am not interested in paying a huge vet bill because she ran outside, slipped and fell on slippery ground. Or worse. It isn't in their heads, it's genuinely frightening. Harley will run out and get over it fairly quickly, but he could fall too - at almost 19, I'd rather not put my daughter's show jumper in that situation, when I can mitigate it by adding something on the roof that will prevent it from coming down all at once. 

When there are chunks of ice falling that are large and heavy enough to break the windshield of a car, I don't think it's in their heads to be fearful.


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## sarahfromsc (Sep 22, 2013)

Keep them locked for in during the few hours of the warmest sunniest part of the day. Once temps drop and the crap refreezes open the stalls back up. That way they can’t go running out during the avalanche.

Plus, they can hear the ice breaking up. They know what is coming next.


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

So if your horses are over reacting to stimuli, then maybe they need some herbal supplements to cool them down? :rofl::rofl::rofl:

Sorry couldn't resist..

It is concerning though that they seem to react so much...my horses spook and maybe run a little, but they don't bolt in a fashion that they would hurt themselves.....I guess I'm with @waresbear on this one...


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## SilverMaple (Jun 24, 2017)

Snow came off the barn roof last week all at once. Two of the horses didn't even stop chewing their grain, one flinched and flicked his ears and looked around, then went back to eating. Loud noises are part of life. Fresh horses looking for something to spook at make me laugh. They've heard whatever sound for years, but if they're feeling good on a cool morning, they'll use any excuse to run around. Mine are kept on a farm that adjoins a nature preserve, so there's someone shooting out there frequently. They're pretty immune to sudden gunshots, shotgun blasts, and the occasional cannon shot from the antique weapons crowd that rents it out once a month or so.....

The heated driveways/sidewalks are starting to be more popular here. We get temps ranging from 50 degrees F to -40, sometimes in the same week (if not the same day), so it does still work in areas with frost heaves, etc. The steps to my parents' church have only needed to be shoveled once in the last 12 years, and that's when the wind chill was so cold the snow was building up on top while it was melting underneath and insulating the steps with a layer of ice. Otherwise it melts while it falls and works great. I see new sidewalks being put in with a frost barrier layer, too, which seems to help with cracking and heaving.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

sarahfromsc said:


> Keep them locked for in during the few hours of the warmest sunniest part of the day. Once temps drop and the crap refreezes open the stalls back up. That way they can’t go running out during the avalanche.
> 
> Plus, they can hear the ice breaking up. They know what is coming next.


Not really interested in locking them in, and besides, Kodak would be liable to hurt herself in her stall.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Golden Horse said:


> So if your horses are over reacting to stimuli, then maybe they need some herbal supplements to cool them down? :rofl::rofl::rofl:
> 
> Sorry couldn't resist..
> 
> It is concerning though that they seem to react so much...my horses spook and maybe run a little, but they don't bolt in a fashion that they would hurt themselves.....I guess I'm with @*waresbear* on this one...


Oh, it's not like I haven't tried! LOL

Yes, well Kodak is Kodak. Harley doesn't get really worked up, but she does.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

While I'm prepared to humour everyone who is telling me Kodak is just being an idiot, my question was about what I can install on my roof to prevent this from happening next year. Other than spooking, it could actually happen that they are standing under the overhang when the snow and ice come down, and get seriously injured. A local owner had an avalanche like that take out her solid wooden fence, so I have no doubt the potential for injury is real. I am not just going to keep them in all the time, but I need a way to deal with this problem, not people telling me it isn't a problem.


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

I truly don't know what you could do. When a roof "lets go," it lets go. I suppose the snow guards could help a little, at least direct the slide around the main doorways some, but it's still going to come down and pile up based on the angle of the roof.

At our old barn, Izzy had an in-and-out stall and the slope of the roofline carried most of the roof load down right outside her door. About midway through the winter, after cycling through really heavy snow and some warming, the pile outside her door would be up to her chest and she would essentially no longer have the "out" option because snow/ice packed with that much force couldn't be shoveled, and there was no way to maneuver a tractor in to her run to clear it out. She still got daytime pasture turnout, but she was essentially closed in over night. So, we would just have to wait until it melted. 

I agree with whoever said they hear it getting ready to slide and they will get themselves out of the way. She lived in that stall for 6 or 7 winters and never got avalanched. She did get ****ed when she couldn't go out though!! :wink:


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

Acadianartist said:


> I need a way to deal with this problem, not people telling me it isn't a problem.


The beauty of the internet, to some people the solution is simple, it isn't a problem, don't worry about it.

Now obviously it isn't the answer you are seeking, but it is their answer...


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## sarahfromsc (Sep 22, 2013)

In PA, when there was a warming trend after a lot of snow, ice, melt, snow, ice......the horses were in stalls for three hours during the ‘heat of the day’, and back out around 3 when temps started to drop again, or locked out of the pasture that was attached to the barn. So they were not ‘locked in all the time’. Hell, it wasnt even daily....just when there was full sun and temps above 32. It was the sun more than anything.

Is some kind of guard is installed, where does the snow go when melting? Better yet, where does all that water go? Under the eaves? I am truly curious.

How would she hurt herself in a stall? My two were bucking, rearing, and kicking the walls during the hail storm and they didnt get hurt.


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## SteadyOn (Mar 5, 2017)

Just trying to think a bit outside the box here. Is there anything you can do to start desensitizing them to big booming, rumbling noises? Old radio shows used to bang a big sheet of metal to simulate the noise of thunder for their live sound effects. Maybe there are some noises you can introduce them to that would help prepare them?

This morning, after I turned out the horses, I had to get the wheelbarrow out through the big arena door that faces their pasture. I accidentally knocked the door HARD which made a big noise and the horses all spooked and ran around the field like OMG DANGER!!!! while I watched and rolled my eyes. So I waited for them to calm down, then banged the door at about half volume, which startled them about half as much, and stopped banging when they all calmed down. Waited a few seconds, banged until calm, and stopped. Etc. I repeated this on my way out with the next four loads of poop and by the end of it they barely even twitched an ear. And then I thought about this thread!


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Forget I asked. I found what I needed: https://www.duchesne.ca/en/siding-roofing/steel/snow-guard/

@sarahfromsc the idea is not to keep all the snow up there! The idea is to break it up so it does not come down as one big sheet. 

If you've never experienced this, this video can give you an idea of the damage and noise: 



 Ice is far worse than just snow of course.


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

The only time I have ever encountered this problem was many years ago. 
We took a young mare to an indoor arena to back her. It had snowed a lot (UK standards) but roads had been cleared. 

The mare had never been in an indoor before but wasn't bothered at all, we lunged, I got on and she was lunged with me on her and then I was riding her around the arena when the snow started to slide off the roof, she never bothered at all!


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

sarahfromsc said:


> In PA, when there was a warming trend after a lot of snow, ice, melt, snow, ice......the horses were in stalls for three hours during the ‘heat of the day’, and back out around 3 when temps started to drop again, or locked out of the pasture that was attached to the barn. So they were not ‘locked in all the time’. Hell, it wasnt even daily....just when there was full sun and temps above 32. It was the sun more than anything.


There is no way to predict when it will let go. This wasn't a problem last winter, when we just got snow (and lots of it). Snow slides off and just kind of "thumps" down. But this year, we're getting snow, followed by rain, followed by a "flash freeze" where temperatures dip down to extreme cold. At some point, the whole thing gets saturated and/or freezes hard, and lets go. The roof guard just makes sure it comes off in pieces (in one of the videos of the compilation below, you can see it coming off in squares, I'm betting they had those guards on the roof). That's fine. The horses are fine with snow coming off. It's huge chunks of ice that cause a rumbling like there's an earthquake going on (hubby's description) right over their heads that is the problem. We are just having a really weird winter, so this has become an issue. Last time it happened, it was evening, well after the sun had gone down.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

SteadyOn said:


> Just trying to think a bit outside the box here. Is there anything you can do to start desensitizing them to big booming, rumbling noises? Old radio shows used to bang a big sheet of metal to simulate the noise of thunder for their live sound effects. Maybe there are some noises you can introduce them to that would help prepare them?


Not unless I want to go up on the roof and have a party up there. They're fine with thunder, the tractor backfiring (it does that), fireworks, hail... it's the sudden unpredictability of the noise, coupled with the fact that it is right over their heads that does it. If they're in the paddock and it happens, they just stare at it. The metal just amplifies the noise, but it's the surprise effect which I can't reproduce unless I want to go up on the roof, which I'd rather not do.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

Snow guards here in WY completely eliminate the slide. They hold the snow and it melts off. Wind blows quite a bit off, so there is no concern about excessive weight. We love our wind. 

Metal pole 'barns' are popular for commercial use. All of them have the guards for safety and are required for insurance purposes, I'm told.


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## sarahfromsc (Sep 22, 2013)

I truly, truly understand the whole avalanche of ice and snow thing. In fact PA probably is worse with the ice/sleet/frozen rain than where you are currently residing. In fact I out up with the freeze thaw cycle for 16 long years, which was 15 years to many.

I truly, truly understand the sound of 200 feet of frozen crap sliding off a metal roof while riding beneath said metal roof. Lived with that for 16 years. Not only did the horses hear it, but one side of the arena was open and they could see the white curtain of their certain death coming down. God keep you safe if you were coming up the longside of that wall at that time. 

It is loud, but not total unpredictable.

When one has the joy of owning a reactive animal a wise person told me, all you can do at times is cringe and pray. Because you can not make their surroundings ‘safe’. You can not total have control over their environment. They will and can, find something to spook at. Even things they have seen, heard, experienced 100 times before.

I still say, if you are concerned for her safety for the remainder of the year, to keep her in a stall through the ‘hot, balmy, and sunny’ part of the day. When temps drop and the crap on the roof is frozen again, let them out. You have stated they are just standing around outside anyway. They can just stand around in the stalls for a few hours.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

sarahfromsc said:


> I truly, truly understand the whole avalanche of ice and snow thing. In fact PA probably is worse with the ice/sleet/frozen rain than where you are currently residing. In fact I out up with the freeze thaw cycle for 16 long years, which was 15 years to many.
> 
> I truly, truly understand the sound of 200 feet of frozen crap sliding off a metal roof while riding beneath said metal roof. Lived with that for 16 years.  Not only did the horses hear it, but one side of the arena was open and they could see the white curtain of their certain death coming down. God keep you safe if you were coming up the longside of that wall at that time.
> 
> ...


Clearly, you missed the part of my previous post where I said it can happen anytime of the day or night. Last time it happened, it was evening, my husband was working in the equipment bay. There were no warning signs. The horses were happily munching away on hay when it happened, and he was tinkering with something. It happened suddenly around 9 pm, so well after dark, and without warning - sort of the very definition of UNPREDICTABLE.

As I also said previously, our freeze/thaw cycle, which is NOT normal for our area, means wild temperature swings anytime of day. So it might be -26C in the morning, -1 in the afternoon with ice pellets/freezing rain, and +10 in the middle of the night. When the whole thing is going to come crashing down is anyone's guess. So I can't very well keep them in all the time, nor do I want to. 

As for the impossibility that a horse would ever injure itself in its own stall, the owner whose auction I just bid in because her mare broke her jaw in her stall in the middle of the night would beg to differ. 

So I'm baffled as to why you would insist that I do nothing, when installing a few metal spikes on the roof will at least mitigate the problem, breaking the snow and ice into smaller pieces to keep everyone safer. I agree, I can't control everything. But if I can help this, why wouldn't I??? I've highlighted in red a sentence in your own post that illustrates why I prefer not to put myself, or my daughter, in a dangerous situation.

Thank you to @*boots* for telling me what these things are called (snow guards) so I could google them and find some local companies that will install them for me!


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## AnitaAnne (Oct 31, 2010)

Interesting read. Have never heard of snow guards either; but they seem to make a lot of sense and be a relatively easy fix. 

After watching that video I will be careful not to park alongside a building when roofs are covered in snow!! Horses would be smart to jump away from something that powerful IMO. 

I'm planning to retire eventually in a colder climate where some of my family is, so I do like learning about all these snow/ice related things!


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## sarahfromsc (Sep 22, 2013)

It was merely a suggestion to get you through the rest of the winter, as my previous post indicated. Because who knows when a contractor will be able to do the work if the weather stays crappy.

I apologize for offering advice and baffling you in the process.

I am having my own between a rock and a hard place concerning weather and horses. Second one in four months. Temporary soultions are not perfect nor do they make me happy. Still cringing and prayering my temporary solution won’t bit me in the *** later.

Part and parcel of horse ownership.


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