Saltire Stables Field Shelters                                   Field Shelters Towable Shelters

Field Shelters for Horses and Ponies

Normally Fieldshelters are built to the lowest possible costs. This means that a full concrete plinth or rim is usually excluded due to the cost.  If the ground is level, a building can be erected direct upon that but our experience shows that poaching of the ground in the winter is a problem.  Therefore we suggest that the best cost effective base is to lay type 1 hardcore to level and sufficient to cover the required width and depth eg a 24 x 12 building (7.2 x 3.6) would have hardcore 26’ wide x 20’ front (7.8 x 6.0m) to back to give a walkway to the front. Laid to a depth of approximately 4” (100mm) this will not only help level any undulating ground but also lift the building slightly above the ground level and stop poaching of the ground.

In both cases heavy timbers are laid on the ground to support the panels and even out minor variations in level. Steel pins are driven to secure the panels but we would recommend customers to drive in fencing posts at regular intervals and secure the corners to these to provide uplift resistance to the winter storms that now prevail. Towable shelters follow the same principle but the posts supplied with these must be securely driven in at all times when static. Care should also be taken when siting to have the prevailing wind come to the side or rear. However because of their open fronted nature and the variable groundworks, shelters cannot be guaranteed against storm damage.

Towable Shelters

Following customer requests, we are pleased to offer the COLONSAY - our towable field shelters. Sized to suit several horses and designed to fit through standard field gates with ease, these shelters offer durable protection to all stock, with the ability to be moved with standard 4 x 4 or tractor. The design is ideal for summer / winter grazing paddocks or for farms where field rotation means horses are moved from year to year. The shelters are towed using heavy wooden skids with leading edge metal protectors. Rather like a big sledge, it is aimed at movement between and around fields where road travel is not necessary.

For longer distance towing we also offer a bolt on castor wheel for improved ground clearance. We can also offer on request the ERISKAY, with a steel chassis and towing arm / castor wheels where the building needs towed regularly on farm roads over limited distances to get between fields but this is limited to a maximum 9' (2.7m) in width. The COLONSAY accounts for 95% of our towable sales and is available in a wider range of sizes. In purely practical terms lengths longer than 24' (7.2m) are not easily towable.