A New Barn For Wilbur, Dude & Champy

Miniature Horse Talk Forums

Help Support Miniature Horse Talk Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Greenaroo

Active Member
Joined
Sep 20, 2003
Messages
32
Reaction score
0
It's been so long since I've posted here. I've literally been working my buns off to make enough money to start on my new project.

Finally, that new barn I've been saving for is going to become a reality. Construction will begin the last week of September and hopefully everything will be done before winter gets here. I've been saving, thinking and planning for this for what seems to be forever. It's not going to be a huge barn or real fancy like some I've seen, but I want it to be as functional and comfortable for Wilbur, Dude and Champy as possible. I'm just so afraid I might have overlooked something.

Before the contractor begins work, I thought I'd lay it all out here in case any of you have any suggestions or can think of something I've overlooked. The actual building will be a 30' x 40' metal pole barn with 10' x 10' sliding doors at each end. The entire inside of the building will be lined with OSB board. The flooring throughout the building is concrete. Half of the building (20' x 30') will accommodate four 10' x 10' stalls (two on each side) with a 10' x 20'' aisle down the middle. Each stall will have interlocking rubber matting installed over the concrete. Of course there will be lots of bedding on top of that. The other half of the barn (20' x 30') will be for a workshop, storage, etc. There is also a regular entry door on that side.

There will be electric installed in the barn. I was planning on overhead florescent lighting with electrical outlets throughout, including outlets for each stall to accommodate heated water buckets. There will also be electrical outlets and lighting on the outside of the barn, too. I can't afford to run water service to the barn yet, but I have a really, really long hose that runs from an outside spigot on my house up the hill to where the barn will be. Since it's on a slope, the hose drains naturally once I disconnect it from the spigot and shouldn't freeze in the winter. At least, that's what I'm hoping...

Am I overlooking anything? Is there anything I should do differently? This is a big expense for me and I want to make sure I do it right.
 
Sounds wonderful. I warn you that the "other side" will get taken over by horses some day!
rolleyes.gif
I like a light over each stall. Outlets at each stall. Lots of light in the aisle. Have you figured on a regular entry door in addition to your sliders? My slide doors are 10' and I wish we had gone with 12'. Have fun.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Dimi has a good point regarding a regular walk-though door. I know you said you were puting one in on the shop side of the barn, but is that the side that is closest to the house? If it isn't -- you may want to put another one in because you'll find you won't want to mess with the big 10 foot doors if it's stormy outside.

Everything you described sounds wonderful! You are very smart to put plenty of electric outlets. You will use them! Also, you might want the lights be on several switches so you can choose how lit up the barn is. I personally like to keep a light on in the barn at night incase of an emergency, but don't want the whole barn lit up. Outside the front of the barn we also have a big halogen light that is light sensitive, so it turns on automatically when the sun goes down and goes off as the sun comes up. We also have it on a switch so we can just turn it off -- incase Larry wants to do some star gazing.

Sounds like you've really done your homework!

MA

PS: Was just thinking -- have you considered puting a back entry to one or two of your stalls and building a paddock off it? We had that on our previous barn and really liked that option.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
When our horses were boarded for a short time at a large boarding stable, my schedule necessitated that I was frequently there late at night. There were several banks of lights, but no matter which I chose, to light my horses stalls I had to disturb numerous other horses. I'd suggest not only a light over every stall, but also a separate switch for each stall (since you'll have outlets anyway, I wouldn't think the wiring would be that much more)

Here's one I'm sure you've thought of, but dang it, I didn't...Position your barn or your fencing so that you don't have to traipse through a muddy corral or pasture to get to the barn...give me the big ole super bozo doofus award for doing this TWICE!
 
A ten inch door...
new_rofl.gif
I just noticed that!

Yep, the regular walk-in door will be on the side closest to the house. And nope, I won't have to traipse through the corral or pasture to get to it. That's one thing I did think about. However, I didn't think about putting the inside lighting on separate switches and having a separate light that I can leave on all night. Those are excellent ideas and I'm going to do it. There will be a light on the outside wall next to the entry door and a big halogen light over each sliding door. I thought about having a a back entry to two of the stalls, but didn't think I would need it since the sliding door on the "horse side" of the barn will open into an approx. 2,500 sq. ft. corral (drylot) area with a gate leading to the pasture. Do you think the corral area is big enough?
 
I was wondering how big is your aisle? We have a 10 ft aisle and I wish it were 12 ft. Would make use of the tractor alot easier. Just a thought. I also wish I had put doors on the back of at least acouple of stalls as it also would have helped with clean out especially in the winter.Also would help when moving horses at points in time.
 
I have flourscent lights in my garage, and they don't work too great in the winter at 15 - 20 below. I have all incandescent lights in the barn and they work great and if one bulb burns out, the rest stay lit. I also have a light over every stall with a separate switch and I love it. I can leave it on for whoever needs it.
 
Someone else pointed out to me that florescent can take a while to warm up and come on in the winter. I originally wanted them because they're more energy efficient and last longer than incandescent bulbs. I've considered installing regular light fixtures in addition to the florescent, but maybe that's overkill. I might be better off not using florescents and sticking with incandescent lights. If I ever need to use heat bulbs, will they fit into a regular light fixture?

My aisle is 10' wide by 20' long. I don't own a tractor, but every vehicle I do have will fit through there.
 
rabbitsfizz said:
Debs - how do you fit through a ten inch door???
biggrin.gif
 
smile.gif
 
rolleyes.gif
 
wacko.gif
 
yes.gif

468606[/snapback]

SIGH.......................ok I fixed it.
blush.gif
I found that while watching a sick or hurt horse or mare stare being able to light up just one stall is terrific. My kids also have a nitelight, YES a nightlight at each stall too. Susanne makes a valid point, if I want to scoot in before I go to bed and check everyone I don't have to switch on lights or blind them with a flashlight.
 
I can tell you that there is been nothing more exciting for me besides Timmy than this new barn.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Sounds like you've pretty much thought of everything Susan!
aktion033.gif


The suggestions about the electrical outlets & lighting are very good too. We just added electrical outlets at every one of our stalls to enable us to use heated buckets this year.
yes.gif
I have wanted this for so long....no more hauling hot water out to the barn over & over in the dead of winter!
aktion033.gif


We also have a small 40 watt bulb that stays on in the barn constantly. Not enough to bother the horses...but enough to be able to see what you are doing when going out to "check" on things at night without turning on the lights. This one light is situated in the isle between the stalls I have the foaling cameras on, so it creates just enough light to be able to "see" the horses on my monitor.

Oh...just thought of one more very important thing. Make SURE you have good drainage before building. I know you said you are using concrete flooring....but make sure there is a drainage system so no water runs into your barn. Our barn was NOT built up high enough to drain properly, and we have water running thru the south side stalls every time we get torrential downpours.
no.gif
We even dug ditches around the barn a couple of years ago & filled with pea gravel. It helped for a while....but we are back to flooding again, and can't figure out why?
sad.gif
 
Even though the barn will be built on a hill with all the ground sloping away from it, adequate drainage has been a major concern of mine. I've encountered a similar problem as you with one of the outside runs to the boarding kennel. Even though the perimeter outside the outside runs was trenched and filled with pea gravel, during a bad downpour I would get a bit of standing water on the concrete in the one outside run. The only solution was to put in drain tiles to give the water some place to go. It works like a charm.

The contractor has assured me that drainage won't be a problem, but I'm going to check this out with him again. I don't want to take any chances. The other thing that's really bugging me is whether or not to use the florescent lights now that I realize that may not work during the frigid days of winter.
wacko.gif
 
We used flourescent lighting in our milking parlour; however now that it's a duck barn and the heat isn't on in there constantly they're a real pain-in-the-nuisance in the winter time.

I personally would use something else. Just my two bits worth.
 
All the ideas that you've gotten so far are good ones and I really dont have anything to add on that, but I just wanted to say how happy I am that Champy gets a new barn
wink.gif
biggrin.gif


(on a side note...are you lurking elsewhere?? lol
wink.gif
)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You can buy flourescents which are designed for extreme cold, but maybe not AS cold as your area. I have them in my barn but am not in an area that gets to zero & below.....but, felt I didn't WANT issues with even our "most cold" of about 25 degrees
new_shocked.gif


For those who already have barns and didn't have the lights at each stall, etc. when built, I keep a couple of the plug in devices which just allow you to screw it onto a light bulb and blug it in. Any contracting store will have them. QUICK and great for emegency uses, too. My flourescents actually plug in rather than being hard wired, so I can also slap one of the single light plugs into a ceiling.

I like having dual switches on the main lights, you know how you go in one door and out another? Well, I found another helper....a remote switch. Heck, I paid about $25 for it, put it in the barn for the light over the outside door.....which is a double spotlight. This thing lets to control on/off and dimming, both from the actual swithc and with a clicker from the house
aktion033.gif
I can go in the barn in daylight, leave at night with lights on and cut them OFF from the house.

They sell screw in adapters for fixtures to be able to do same, so you can turn those lights off/on from the house, by hand
aktion033.gif


Amazing what things are available now....you can "renovate" your barn lighting for just a few dollars.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top