Due to several moves throughout our life, we have built several barns and learned what not to do the next time. So when we built this barn, I had saved a written list of what needed to be included. In fact we built the barn before we built our house.
Here are a few things that we included in this barn.
First ensure that you spend the money to have the foundation graded and leveled.
Our aisles are 14 foot wide
stalls vary from 8 to 12 - 10-12 and 12-12
Slider wire mesh stall doors
Large fan ventilation at eachend of the barn.
Hay storage is on the ground - layer of plastic - then skids on top of the plastic with access from both ends of the barn- Stalls are all tongue and grove
Locked grain storage and separate tack room
Doors to the aisle are overhead garage doors (can easily be opened when you have a deep snow)
Bulk Shavings can be delivered in the back of the barn and stored inside
Washroom is directly across from the groom room
Groom room is double matted with a wrestling 3 inch mat for extra cushion for everyone, insulated, enclosed with both air conditioning and heat
Entire barn is wired for fire alarms to an alarm company and into our house alarm system as well
Sleeping quarters are in the office with a separate bathroom and shower
Video camera system to the house - extra telephones
The aisle between the stalls are matted (had not yet been installed in this photo ) - Concrete concerns me when horses flip over and I don't like dirt floors - so we just matted them and solved both problems. The Mats came in 125 foot rolls so it is one solid piece. (installing was a challenge however and required heavy equipment)
Insulated water buckets,
Each stall is wired for its own light and one electric outlet per stall
The back half of the barn is an overhang with 3 individual paddocks that can be opened up and cleaned with a skid loader for quick manure removal.
Plenty of parking and ability to turn a large semi trailer without having to back up. Outdoor lights that provide lighting for the outdoor arena that is within 20 foot of the back of the barn.
Hot and cold water.
It is truly our dream barn and I'm very thankful to my husband and our sons for building the entire inside of the barn - including the stalls - It took them over 2 years to complete the entire project.
I hope this is of help - Good luck with your barn - If we can be of help, let me know as we sure made many mistakes along the way - some of our earlier builds had very expensive mistakes which could not be corrected unfortunately.