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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 534
 
Location: Ohio girl moved to PA | Sooo we will be building our first barn this coming spring and we’re starting the planning now. What is everyone’s must haves/most convenient/what works best. Also what to stay away from and what doesn’t work! I want to hear it all!!! We are up north here in Ohio so we get all the elements. Thanks for your input !! :))) |
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 My Heart Be Happy
Posts: 9159
  
Location: Arkansas | I'm jealous and excited for you!!! |
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 It Goes On
Posts: 2262
Location: Muskogee, OK | Absolutely love a barn with runs coming off of each stall, the place I rented while in college was set up that way and I miss it all of the time. Otherwise big thing to factor is drainage, if possible its nice to set up some center aisle drains (and be sure they are BIG drains, no little drains that can get clogged easily). I like a concrete center alley way and then dirt floors for the stalls + mats. Turnout feeders or access doors for dropping feed is super convenient. Minimum stall size of 12x12, a little bigger is better in my opinion. |
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 Take a Picture
Posts: 12841
| Wide alley |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 534
Location: Ohio girl moved to PA | Chandler's Mom - 2017-12-13 7:30 PM I'm jealous and excited for you!!!
Thank you!!!! i cant wait!!! |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 534
Location: Ohio girl moved to PA | barrelracingchick16 - 2017-12-13 7:41 PM Absolutely love a barn with runs coming off of each stall, the place I rented while in college was set up that way and I miss it all of the time. Otherwise big thing to factor is drainage, if possible its nice to set up some center aisle drains (and be sure they are BIG drains, no little drains that can get clogged easily). I like a concrete center alley way and then dirt floors for the stalls + mats. Turnout feeders or access doors for dropping feed is super convenient. Minimum stall size of 12x12, a little bigger is better in my opinion.
i agree!! the place im boarding at now they have run ins. the only thing that im worried about is, my pally can be a bully towards my other guy and when they get into the same stall and he decides to push him around they break stuff. They already busted a stall door doing this, so now they are on seperate turn out to avoid anything else. BOYS! |
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 Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
| I have 15x 15 stalls, each with 50 x 35 runs. I love that when I need to stall them they still have plenty of room to move around. I live down south, so we build for the heat, I don’t have full walls on my stalls so there is always a breeze. I also put in a 10 x 15 area for hay, 20 x 15 feed room and across from that is a 20 x 15 storage area - Love, Love, Love having that area for blankets, etc |
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 Popped
Posts: 20421
Location: LuluLand~along I64 Indiana | lots of air flow. dont make a loft so low that air cant get to the stalls. somedays my 12' isle way is to small. wish i had 14 or 16'. plan for hay storage. if your doing a loft make sure you can load it effeniently and have drops to hay feeders from the top saves on loose hay waste. Good luck and have fun. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 762
Location: NC | I had half my barn built (run in currently) so we could get them on our property. Shortly we will be having the other side finished so im looking forward to what others say too! Mine wont be huge 4 stall but with a 16 center alley. They share the pasture and get along with out a prob but im looking forward to being able to lock their hineys in when its cold rain/snow/sleet 
Congrats on your new barn!! |
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 Veteran
Posts: 146
| We put 16' overhangs off each side of the barn. Runs coming off the stalls were covered, other side provided covered parking for equipment. I recommend exterior doors off each stall with paddocks that open directly into pasture, so no having to walk horses to and from turnout.
Build what you can afford and don't over do it if you don't have the money. A barn is a barn, horses don't know the difference as long as they have a stall out of the elements.
Personally I would say skip the powder coating on stall grills if you are going to have them. I had nothing but bad luck with mine with the powder coating coming off.
Plenty of lights, each stall and down the aisle. Fans for each stall is nice if you have hot summers. A washing machine in the barn is also a nice to have but you need a high capacity one for big blankets. + |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1079
Location: MN | If you go with a concrete alley, be prepared to do lots of sweeping! Also make sure that it is scored somehow.
I just recently moved my horses to a new barn that I have to myself and we hope to own the entire property one day, but they didnt score the concrete and it is SO slick. Especially when horses are coming in with ice packed hooves Rubber mats dont even seem to help much. That is my biggest complaint about the barn. In a perfect world, I wish there were let out doors to the pasture but walking them in and out of the barn is okay too.
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 Miss Laundry Misshap
Posts: 5271
| We really like the clear panels at the top of the barn to let in sunlight or light in general.
One thing we wish we had done is install the overhead plugins on retractable cords for things like fans and water buckets. |
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 Born not Made
Posts: 2937
Location: North Dakota | I'm totally hanging onto this thread. Hoping to start designing our barn next year! We are also up north (North Dakota) and get all 4 seasons.
Would love if people post pictures too. I'm very visual.
Through places I've boarded, I know I want a good overhand off the stall door side. Having runs off the stalls are super handy if you need to stall ... but I don't often stall unless I have an injury or something.
And yes, "rough" concrete is a must if you aren't putting down mats!
I already know I want a tack room that is temperature-controlled so I can keep anything in there without worry of humidity or of freezing.
I also would love a barn with hot water. I've never had hot water in a barn before, but somehow my horses like to get hurt in the winter .....
Oh, and a real toilet instead of a stall....
My wish list just keeps getting longer!
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1079
Location: MN | r_beau - 2017-12-14 10:53 AM I'm totally hanging onto this thread. Hoping to start designing our barn next year! We are also up north (North Dakota) and get all 4 seasons.
Would love if people post pictures too. I'm very visual.
Through places I've boarded, I know I want a good overhand off the stall door side. Having runs off the stalls are super handy if you need to stall ... but I don't often stall unless I have an injury or something.
And yes, "rough" concrete is a must if you aren't putting down mats!
I already know I want a tack room that is temperature-controlled so I can keep anything in there without worry of humidity or of freezing.
I also would love a barn with hot water. I've never had hot water in a barn before, but somehow my horses like to get hurt in the winter .....
Oh, and a real toilet instead of a stall....
My wish list just keeps getting longer!
So on the left side, I have about a 12x12 tack room that is temp controlled which is SO nice. Next room over is my feed room which is about the same size. Maybe a titch smaller. Then I've got the large area for hay. 4 stalls on the right side, all with windows. Filling with class 5 and sand next spring and adding mats as my horses are causing holes in the dirt stall floors. All insulated. When it was -10 below out the other day with wind, it was 30 degrees in the barn which my horses really appreciated!
ETA- I do have quite a few more stall mats down in the center isle now LOL its all I had at the time and it wasnt winter yet 
Edited by Kay-DRacing. 2017-12-14 11:20 AM
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 534
Location: Ohio girl moved to PA | THank you all for your replies!!! im loving all the opinions and ideas. I think we are going to do concrete in the isles but ill most def have stall mats down. Hay will be up in the loft with drop doors into the stalls. Does anyone have their grain and tack in same room? Thats one thing we were debating about. Make a bigger room for everything or make two seperate? Wash bay must have warm water, thats a requirement haha |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 534
Location: Ohio girl moved to PA | Nateracer - 2017-12-14 11:35 AM We really like the clear panels at the top of the barn to let in sunlight or light in general.
One thing we wish we had done is install the overhead plugins on retractable cords for things like fans and water buckets.
I really like that too!! I used to board at a barn that had the skylights and it was so nice! Im sure would help on electric bill as well. Most of the days we didnt need to turn the lights on because so much came through! I also love the idea of that retractable cords!! |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 889
Location: on the fine line between insanity and geniusness | Invest in a leaf blower!! It’s so much easier to blow the dirt off the alley rather than sweep! When I had a barn with a concrete aisle I blew it off after I turned horses out, never with horses in the barn because it’s dusty! |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 534
Location: Ohio girl moved to PA | Ashley Lynn - 2017-12-15 9:00 AM Invest in a leaf blower!! It’s so much easier to blow the dirt off the alley rather than sweep! When I had a barn with a concrete aisle I blew it off after I turned horses out, never with horses in the barn because it’s dusty!
We had one at the barn i used to board at and it was soooo helpful!! so much easier to blow out a 20 stall barn than to sweep haha i will definitley be investing in one when it comes time. |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | Ohiobarrelracer - 2017-12-15 7:54 AM THank you all for your replies!!! im loving all the opinions and ideas. I think we are going to do concrete in the isles but ill most def have stall mats down. Hay will be up in the loft with drop doors into the stalls. Does anyone have their grain and tack in same room? Thats one thing we were debating about. Make a bigger room for everything or make two seperate? Wash bay must have warm water, thats a requirement haha
Seperate rooms for the feed and tack. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 495
Location: Washington | We just moved and the place has an indoor arena and a row of stalls. I second the sky lights but feel they it's a double edged sword. Great for keeping electric costs down but also give a greenhouse effect in the summer. Ours are also in the roof, not the walls of the arena.
Feeder doors would be amazing. I have bars but squeezing hay through makes a mess so opening stall doors it is. I recently had to change a light socket over a stall, I did have the great idea to make it one with a plug in for future fan or heater bucket friendly.
Runs are great if you don't have time to turn them in and out everyday. I like the idea but they are kind of a pain. If you get a lot of rain better make them high traffic friendly. It also gives the horses a larger area to poop, giving you more space to have to clean, unless you can fit a tractor in the runs.
I would do a separate feed/tack room. Rodents like grains, would not encourage them anymore then they will already be inclined to be with my tack. Don't forget about bedding storage! Oh, and your insurance will be higher if hay is stored IN the barn.
Frost free (pending on your climate) spicket IN or at the end of the barn ally. I have one about 30 feet away, not convenient. Automatic waters would be amazing if you are starting from scratch.
Make sure to put a base and mats down, you will be kicking yourself if you don't. Air flow, huge factor for me. If a horse is stuck in, I like open and airy as possible. Our stall row has 4 "usable" stalls and two I tell people "I'd put a horse in I don't like them". Previous owners closed them and installed heat lamps. Well I am undoing all their work, opening them back up and making them more friendly feeling. |
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Born not Made
Posts: 2937
Location: North Dakota | Nice pics Kay!! Nice barn. My only comment is the hay holders. The place I board at now has that too, and while it is REALLY handy to be able to give the horse's hay without going into the stall, I don't like the hay holders because it gives them rub marks on either side of their nose.  Unless it's just my horse.... I don't normally stall at all, but he was on 2 months stall rest for an injury. I quit using the hay feeder when I noticed the rub marks after a few days. Switched to a good ol' slow feed hay net.
So just my 2 cents on that, but maybe the width of mine are smaller too or something.
I like the idea of being able to throw hay down into a stall from loft, but then I'd want to come up with some sort of conveyer or something to get the hay upstairs. I'm almost leaning toward making some sort of concrete room for the hay to lessen the spread of fire, but of course I would need to figure out how to ventilate it well. Just thoughts in my head. I don't need a ton of square bales as I plan on primarily feeding round bales, but who knows.
I'm planning on doing a separate tack and feed room. And I want the feed room with it's own door too - just in case a horse would ever get loose, I don't want them getting into the feed room.
I'd also like to have wash rack. I'm envisioning putting it next to my temp-controlled tack room, because that might make more sense with keeping pipes from freezing and such, for hot water on the wash rack.
Kinda planned on either doing skylights or windows. Planned on insulating it .... haven't decided if I would ever put up actual heaters. Maybe just above the wash rack, if I need to tend to an injury or something? Could also easily use a propane heater on the ground, just for those circumstances. Rather than actually buying and mouting a heater on the ceiling.
All these wonderful thoughts until reality sets in when we actually start getting a real bid for the project, LOL.
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 The Bling Princess
Posts: 3411
Location: North Dakota | We just built a 40*72 pole frame structure. We did overhead doors on the east and west side, with windows, & a sliding door on the SW corner, so I can bring horses in from the corral without having to open the overheads. I have a 12ft lean on the south side, the entire length of the barn. It protects them from the brutal, NW winds we get in ND and catches the sun when it's rising, so it's nice and somewhat mild underneath it. I also did 4 clear panels on the north side to allow for extra light, along with several windows. I like A LOT of light. We did LED lights throughout the barn, one over each stall, down the alley, outside, under the lean, etc. I put the stall lights on a dimmer, so that they aren't standing in complete darkness. I did a 12*16 tack room on one side and the 12*16 feed room on the other. Each with a sliding door into the alley. I have 4, 12*12, Hi-Qual stalls and a small area to work a horse in the rear of the barn. We have a 16 foot alley that I kept as dirt and then we layed rubber mats over the top and drove spikes through them to hold them in place. I also put rubber mats in each of the stalls for extra comfort.
My favorite part of the barn is my tack room. I've never had one until now. I've always just kept my tack in my horse trailer. I did tongue in groove knotty pine, with a galvanized steel wainscoting. it's seriously nicer than my house!LOL
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1079
Location: MN | r_beau - 2017-12-18 10:28 AM Nice pics Kay!! Nice barn. My only comment is the hay holders. The place I board at now has that too, and while it is REALLY handy to be able to give the horse's hay without going into the stall, I don't like the hay holders because it gives them rub marks on either side of their nose. Unless it's just my horse.... I don't normally stall at all, but he was on 2 months stall rest for an injury. I quit using the hay feeder when I noticed the rub marks after a few days. Switched to a good ol' slow feed hay net.
So just my 2 cents on that, but maybe the width of mine are smaller too or something.
I like the idea of being able to throw hay down into a stall from loft, but then I'd want to come up with some sort of conveyer or something to get the hay upstairs. I'm almost leaning toward making some sort of concrete room for the hay to lessen the spread of fire, but of course I would need to figure out how to ventilate it well. Just thoughts in my head. I don't need a ton of square bales as I plan on primarily feeding round bales, but who knows.
I'm planning on doing a separate tack and feed room. And I want the feed room with it's own door too - just in case a horse would ever get loose, I don't want them getting into the feed room.
I'd also like to have wash rack. I'm envisioning putting it next to my temp-controlled tack room, because that might make more sense with keeping pipes from freezing and such, for hot water on the wash rack.
Kinda planned on either doing skylights or windows. Planned on insulating it .... haven't decided if I would ever put up actual heaters. Maybe just above the wash rack, if I need to tend to an injury or something? Could also easily use a propane heater on the ground, just for those circumstances. Rather than actually buying and mouting a heater on the ceiling.
All these wonderful thoughts until reality sets in when we actually start getting a real bid for the project, LOL.
Edited by Kay-DRacing. 2017-12-18 3:49 PM
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 612
| Put extra electric outlets by each stall so that you can plug in heated water buckets and fans. We have four stalls on one wall and put electric outlets on the stall wall. |
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