New Horse Barn to be Built

[SteveH_CT]

Hi Folks - We're about to meet with a few local builders and come up with some pricing for a new 4 stall horse barn. We're looking to build something similar to this -

http://www.countrycarpenters.com/horsebarn.htm

What I'd appreciate from all you current horse owners is "What would you do different?". Our goal is to build a small barn that will serve both the horses and us well until we move to our larger lot (5 to 10 years out). One of the things I've read about is keeping the hay on the same level as the horses. I had intended to have a hay loft, but I can see the ease in not having to cart bales of hay up and down stairs. It's little tips like that which will make a good barn even better.

Here are a few areas I'm especially interested in hearing your solutions to;

stall sub-flooring surface?
Water in each stall?
Enhancements to ease clean-up?
Ventilation?
Lighting?

Thanks in advance for your input.

 

[shvl73]

Try this www.abbarns.com

 

[daedong]

Steve,
The plan you show has stalls 12x10 this is fine for ponies but for larger horses 15 hands or bigger i would not go smaller than 12x12. Just my two cents worth.

 

[MarkLeininger]

I'd put the hay in a separate building in case you have a fire. Make the aisle in the barn big enough to pull whatever you're going to use for hauling manure, like the spreader. Make the stall doors big enough to get in and work on the stall floor, like adding and removing limestone and mucking it out. It's nice if you can get a FEL through the door to dump whatever in there. I would run conduit out of the way along the ceiling and put an outlet in each stall. If you want more light you can just plug those little fixtures in that accept a bare bulb. If you need a heater or something for a sick horse, you don't have to run extension cords all over the place. Outlet for refrigerator for medicine, beer, etc. Orient the mud paddock so it's on the south side of the barn, or at least not in the shadows, so it will dry out and warm up faster. Skylights on the north or east side of roof for indirect light but no heat in summer. Put gutters on the building and run it into the water tanks away from the building. Large overhangs to keep building dry and provide place for animals to stand in shade and out of rain. I wouldn't ever leave the horses in the barn, but if you do, put in some kind of ventilation like roof wind turbines, dutch doors you can leave half open at night, dump style windows along the top of the wall that you can open to exhaust air, door in each stall for the horses to stick their head outside, etc. Barns are unhealthy places for all critters. Run a freeze proof water fixture well into the interior of the building and use a good bit of gravel in the drain to keep it from backing up. Lots of storage for tack. Cross ties and saddle holders in the aisle. Racoon proof provisions for storing grain. Lots of barn cats to kill mice. Shotgun for opossums.

 

[Junkman]

Just don't forget the fire protection and/or an alarm system. If you have a well, it can be a dry system that will activate when the heads go off. It is a little expensive, but when you consider the cost of a few horses, it is an investment in safety. I also prefer to use a underground electrical connection and have a small out building that will house the electric and water controls. The last thing that you want in case of a fire is to have no water because the electrical panel shorted out.

 

[SteveH_CT]

Thanks to everyone so far - these are outstanding suggestions.

Has anyone ever used pea stone, or something very fine and compactable around the entrances? I like the suggestion about having the entrance face south so the muck dries out quicker. I thought a fine stone base might improve the mud factor.

Mark - We'd only have the girls in the stalls at night. During the day they'd be out in the fields.

Junkman "If you have a well, it can be a dry system that will activate when the heads go off" - Forgive my ignorance, but I'm not real clear on this. Do you mean a sprinkler system? I want to get water out there, just not sure how to get our well water out there. I'll be sure to look into this though - I surely don't want to be hauling water out there. Cowboydoc also suggested watering systems in the stalls - So I'll have to put all this together and see how we can do it.

Vin - without a doubt the stalls will be bigger - I just like the general appearance of the link I posted. We do have one pony - but in her heart she's a 16 hand beauty /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif - everyone get's 12 x 12 stalls. Our other 2 are 15 hands, and the other... larger. I'm not sure how big exactly.

Thanks again everyone.

 

[Junkman]

My thoughts were a dry sprinkler system for fire protection if it is in your budget. As for getting water out there, you might be better off to drill an additional well than try to trench a long distance from the house. Around here (NECT), it has to be down about 48" to keep from freezing.
We love spending other peoples money!!!!!!! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[SteveBenson]

Steve,

I dug out all the topsoil around my gate entrances to my pastures this spring and filled with 3/4" processed gravel. Hopefully last winter will be the last year of dragging horses thru the mud to turn them out. Our barn site was prepared this way and we never had a problem around the barn doors. Eventually I'm going to finish it all off with a couple inches of stone dust to make everything look pretty. Just call it the neva-dun farm 'til then /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[riptides]

Go 12X12 for stall size minimum.
Select the high ground for your site.
Drainage and Dryness are very important!!! I cannot place enough emphasis on that.
Select the Sun angles for your site. Winter Sun, Summer Sun, tree coverage. Provides shade in summer, Sun in winter.
For the stalls, we have french drains in each one, and clay and stone dust.
Our barn sits facing the eastern winds, so opening both aisle doors allows a nice breeze, even on the most depressing days.
All gutters are connected underground to drain tile that goes over a hundred feet out from the barn, downhill.
Our loft holds about 200 bales, over the horses.

Fire extinguishers are in the barn, and around the house.
The barn has its own water supply, and own electric supply.

Size is 24X36. 3-Stall and a Tack Room. 12 foot center aisle.

See picture (200KB)

-Mike Z.

 

[SteveH_CT]

Thanks Steve - I PM'd you over on the CountrybyNet site.