Horse power in pa

[Thebairds03]

Good morning! I'm a long time lurker (been visiting awhile) just broke down and joined! My interest isn't really in tractors , but pole buildings etc. I used to board my horse at a facility till I realized I could take better care of her myself for less $... Then I went ahead and rescued a few more ponies ( my poor unsuspecting husband)! We threw up some decent 3 sided shelters last fall , but now really need to a barn, for my sake not so much the horses. Also looking into a new holland (30 hp)? For brush clearing,and manure removal. Sry for the long post I'm just happy to b able to see all of your pics now....

 

[vulcancowboy]

Welcome from another Pennsylvanian! A 30hp tractor with a loader should work fine.

 

[RedNeckRacin]

Welcome from a fellow Western PA member. My wife also has horses and I get to do the majority of the repair work. I don't know if I agree about the taking care of horses cheaper part unless your not including your own labor! WE fluctuate between 22 and 40 horses. I do all the hay myself too. They get their stalls cleaned everyday except Sunday and fed twice daily. A Tractor is a very valuable asset in taking care of large animals and it sure beats the heck out of a wheel barrow!

 

[mddorange]

:welcome:
To the forum from Alabama. How much land do have? I bought what used to be a horse farm,11.5 acres, so I have a 3600 sq. ft. barn with 8 stalls, 2 tack rooms, hay loft over the stalls. The other end is clear as that is where they walked and mounted them in bad weather. I don't have horses, just donkeys, 5, and chickens and grandchildren, 5 girls, the barn is used more for storage and parking the tractor and implements.

 

[deerseeker001]

Welcome from Wisconsin

 

[tcreeley]

Welcome! 2 horses and a 30 hp New Holland TC30 is what we have- works just fine. Good to have you here!

 

[mguitas]

:welcome:

 

[Thebairds03]

:welcome:
To the forum from Alabama. How much land do have? I bought what used to be a horse farm,11.5 acres, so I have a 3600 sq. ft. barn with 8 stalls, 2 tack rooms, hay loft over the stalls. The other end is clear as that is where they walked and mounted them in bad weather. I don't have horses, just donkeys, 5, and chickens and grandchildren, 5 girls, the barn is used more for storage and parking the tractor and implements.

Sadly only 6 acres ( more or less) 4 of which are wooded. I'd love to see pics of your barn, my husband and I are in a heated debate about hay lofts lol... He thinks it's a waste of space not to build a gambrel style , I think I don't wanna drag hay up & down OR get a hay elevator

 

[Thebairds03]

Welllll, maybe not cheaper, ok def not cheaper if our labor was included ...... Well it would cost 1600 a month to board my 4, and I can't tell u how much I love looking out my window and seeing them. We have an article cat prowler utv w a dump cart so I use the heck outta that, but my dads kubota has been a lifesaver, just really hate depending on someone else's equipment

 

[RedNeckRacin]

I was going to have to argue pretty strongly about the savings part. From my experience, there is no such thing as saving money with horses. If you want to look at cost/horse maybe but its still more money overall, just saying.

I would def urge you guys to look at a tractor. My wife uses our L3400 ALOT. The one thing I will def argue for is to not use tarps to store your hay! its not nearly as nice as the pictures in the sales brochures and magazines would lead you to believe!

 

[vulcancowboy]

You know how to make a million dollars in the horse business????.... start out with 2 million!

 

[MrWhippy]

Sadly only 6 acres ( more or less) 4 of which are wooded. I'd love to see pics of your barn, my husband and I are in a heated debate about hay lofts lol... He thinks it's a waste of space not to build a gambrel style , I think I don't wanna drag hay up & down OR get a hay elevator

We're against haylofts for 2 reasons:
1. Some horses have trouble with dust/spores etc and haylofts really aggravate that (Heaves)
2. In case of fire, haylofts make the barn a death trap.

We store hay in stalls at the same level as the horses' stalls. Less dust dropping down on them and in case of fire it's at one end rather completely overhead of all of them . As an added bonus, there's no going up and down ladders to retrieve the next hay bale.

 

[tcreeley]

We have our two horses in a run in bar. Off of the run in, on the same level is a 14x14 stall and a tackroom for saddles etc. and the stairs up to the second floor. We keep our hay upstairs- about 250 bails for the winter. We used to pulley bales up by rope on a 12" pulley. This year we bought a snowco hay elevator. Easier to use. I use the front end loader to lift the elevator up and slide it into the 2nd floor door to store it. I don't have any problems with dust. Our 2nd floor is entirely sealed from the horses. We use a trap to throw down hay. It keeps them warmer in the winter as it provides a layer of insulation in their ceiling. Old stables often have a trap above each stall hay rack.

If you keep hay on the first floor, you'll have to get the hay up on a wood floor. Hay stacked directly on the ground, gravel, etc absorbs moisture over the winter and will mold, leaves stick together, and they get dusty. Either it needs to be up on pallets for air circulation or a wooden floor. Cement by itself is not great either. Pallets over time fill in with old hay and are a pain to clean up. Square footage wise- cheaper to build 2 floors under one roof than 1 floor twice as large. At any rate either is good. It is a matter of personal preference.

 

[Thebairds03]

You guys are all great! I'm especially interested in pics of your barns w and wo lofts? Do I need to start another thread? I' also go back and forth w regards to stalling or not, this is our second winter w horses at home w run in shed, they seem to love it ( the freedom) but I'm missing cross ties and a tack/feed room that's not my garage.. As far as hay storage, I really only need to keep about 50 square bales at a time, my wonderful neighbor delivers me round bales once a month

 

[mddorange]

You guys are all great! I'm especially interested in pics of your barns w and wo lofts? Do I need to start another thread? I' also go back and forth w regards to stalling or not, this is our second winter w horses at home w run in shed, they seem to love it ( the freedom) but I'm missing cross ties and a tack/feed room that's not my garage.. As far as hay storage, I really only need to keep about 50 square bales at a time, my wonderful neighbor delivers me round bales once a month

Lucky you. I have to go to a friend to get my bales, normally the round type in the winter and don't need hay in the summer. Even though the barn has a hay loft, put in by the previous owners, we don't store hay there. We also have a shed for the donkeys and we keep the hay out there.

 

[phiferpharm]

6 Horses - 2 mini's, 2 draft ponies, 1 retired Thoroughbred, and 1 quarter horse. It was running me about $500.00 a month to board one and is about $1000 a month for all six. I guess I spend an hour or two a day mucking/cleaning/whatever with them a day. They are fun, but not cheap.

 

[Xfaxman]

You guys are all great! I'm especially interested in pics of your barns w and wo lofts? Do I need to start another thread? I' also go back and forth w regards to stalling or not, this is our second winter w horses at home w run in shed, they seem to love it ( the freedom) but I'm missing cross ties and a tack/feed room that's not my garage.. As far as hay storage, I really only need to keep about 50 square bales at a time, my wonderful neighbor delivers me round bales once a month

:welcome: to TractorByNet! :thumbsup:

Yep, a new thread would be seen by more people. The title should include "Horse Barn", I thought this thread was about tractor horsepower.

A lot of the members, me included, click on "Today's Posts", then scan down looking at the Titles and click based on personal interest.

These forums get a lot of views:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/rural-living/

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/owning-operating/

There are a lot of barns in Projects: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/

We have three horses on 80 acres in central Oklahoma.