NEW BARN GOING UP,,,NEED OPINIONS ON STALLS

[BuckNappy]

WELL WE ARE BUILDING A NEW BARN.THE SHELL IS ABOUT FINISHED.THE PICTURE WAS TAKEN YESTERDAY BEFOR THE ROOF WAS ADDED,THE ROOF IS NOW ON.WE WILL BE STARTING THE STALLS THIS WEEK.I HAVE SEEN STALLS BEING WIRE,FENCE,WOOD RAILS,SOLIDS WALLS,ALL SORTS OF STALLS.IF ANYONE COULD GIVE PROS AND CONS ON MATERIALS THEY USE IN THE BARN THAT WOULD BE GREAT.IM THINKING I WANT TO GO WITH SOLID WOOD BUT WHEN THE HORSES ARE CONFINED TO THEIR STALLS (DUE TO WEATHER)THEY WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SEE ONE ANOTHER AND GET LONELY.IF I GO WOODEN RAILS IM AFRAID THEY WILL GET THEIR HEAD OR LEGS CAUGHT....ANY IDEAS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. THANKS!

 

[Leeana]

If i could re-do our barn all over agian, i would do solid wood about 3ft high and then verticles rails from there up so they can see each other.

But, with solid walls then if you have an ill horse, you dont have to worry about the ill horse coming into direct nose to nose contact with other horses.

Our stalls are built very much like castle rocks stalls except the first two or three boards on the bottom are stacked ontop of each other ..then up they are seprated. Incase they roll they dont get a foot underneath, or with foals (we have them coming next year

), they cant get between.

 

[ruffian]

I'm going to use the 8' steel rail panels for sides, and the panel gates for the front. There will be 4 corner stallion stalls that will be wood 6' high, with a 3" spacer about 3' high so they can see the ones beside them. I will also have a wooden stall between every 2 rail stalls. The fronts will all be the panel gates.

I was going to do all wood, but I think it will be easier to clean and resand with the panel gate fronts.

 

[Miniv]

The barn at our old place WE built and I wish the barn we have now had the same style of stalls.

We had solid wood slat walls -- about 3 feet high. And then we attached a metal grill on top. I would think having wood slats (vertical rails) up top would work too, and may be easier to install.

Your new barn looks wonderful!

PS: I was just thinking........ We happen to have one stall that is set away from all the others. It's separated by a tack room and walk through door. It works really well as a quarantine stall.

 

[Soggy Bottom Ranch]

These are what we just put in. Eventually as we get time, we want to go higher with the stall fronts, put steel bars in to look like smaller versions of big horse stalls, and then have sliding doors also. We need to add alot of fill this summer, so the current gates will actually be moved up flush on top with the stall fronts.

 

[muffntuf]

Geri,

What size are these stalls?

Thanks!

 

[maryann]

We used two feet of plywood for the bottom front and 2 feet of PVC pipe. Its open airey and

very easy to clean. We made them far enought apart for the horses to put their heads out.

Nice for them but sometimes its not convient. If we had it to do over we would put them closer

together. Mary

 

[Soggy Bottom Ranch]

muffntuf, the stalls are 9'W x 9 1/2'L x 48"H (42" in the centers). Once we add fill, the centers may get moved up. The gates on the stalls are 4' wide, just big enough for us to get our hay cart in there if we need to.

 

[Marty]

Open and airy here too

 

[Kellie in OR]

My two stalls were built for big horses and were oversized because I have very little pasture in the winter and I wanted roomy stalls. When my pony got sick I divided one of the big stalls to make a mini stall so I could be sure he was getting his full meals. So now I have one 12 X 16, one 10 x 12 and one 6 X 12. Unfortunately the mini's can't see over the front of the stalls because they would built for horses, but my husband built the pony stall divider low enough they can see each other, but with a stock mesh so they can't get over it and at each other. Off the stalls are corrals and the door are open all the time. This was is great in summer, but really cold this winter, so my we built dutch doors. I keep the top one shut to keep it warmer, but leave the bottom open so the mini's can go in and out to their corrals. My old barn was spaced boards, they tended to get chewed or broken. I prefer the tongue and groove, but definitely like everyone to be able to see each other with the top being mesh.

 

[wildoak]

Ours are open and airy too - I wanted good air circulation and lots of light. I love it overall, but some things I would do differently after living with it a couple of years - would make the stall dividers taller so the taller guys couldn't pick at each other over the top. I would probably do solid wood for the bottom two feet, and add the wire panels above that, would give the extra height and would keep the noise level down when they pawed at it. I have a big stall at each end (12x15) that serves either as a big horse stall, foaling stall or a stallion stall as it has wood walls separating from the next horse. We have runs off the back of the barn, so lots of doors & windows at the back.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y146/wild...kTrail06047.jpg

Jan

 

[barnbum]

Mine are nothing fancy--but I LOVE them. Airy. Everyone can see each other. It works.

 

[Candice]

Your new barn looks beautiful!! How wonderful!! I live in Fl so our barn is an open air style barn. My husband designed it and here are what our stalls look like. We have 5 that are 8x12 and 2 that are 8x8.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/cef/100_4839.jpg

 

[Gena]

I really like Beths stalls at Freelands, you can see them on her live cam: Freelands Miniature Horses

 

[bonloubri]

Couple things we did in our stalls. Ours are wood and hubby used screws instead of nails. If we want to change the configuration it would be much easier. Our stalls are 10 x 10, eight down one side of the barn. On the other side there are four 10 x 20 with a 10 foot gate in each one that can swing around and make two 10 x 10 stalls. I really like this. If we need to use as a mare/foal stall it is 10 x 20 or for two horses individual 10 x 10 stalls. Also, if I need to double up two horses I open the divider and can have three in a 10 x 20 area instead of two and one in 10 x 10 stalls.

 

[Laura]

My two stalls were built for big horses and were oversized because I have very little pasture in the winter and I wanted roomy stalls. When my pony got sick I divided one of the big stalls to make a mini stall so I could be sure he was getting his full meals. So now I have one 12 X 16, one 10 x 12 and one 6 X 12. Unfortunately the mini's can't see over the front of the stalls because they would built for horses, but my husband built the pony stall divider low enough they can see each other, but with a stock mesh so they can't get over it and at each other. Off the stalls are corrals and the door are open all the time. This was is great in summer, but really cold this winter, so my we built dutch doors. I keep the top one shut to keep it warmer, but leave the bottom open so the mini's can go in and out to their corrals. My old barn was spaced boards, they tended to get chewed or broken. I prefer the tongue and groove, but definitely like everyone to be able to see each other with the top being mesh.

These are very similar to the stalls at our Huntsville farm. I used 2" x 6" boards to 2 1/2' then wire panel (sandwiched under 2" x 6" boards-top & bottom) on the top. It is strong in case someone gets tempermental, but allows for lots of air flow. The solid bottom is more secure for foals & hooves and keeps drafts off of babies that are laying down.

 

[txminipinto]

Our stalls are just like Castle Rock with the exception of having cattle panel on top. Everyone can get nose to nose, slats are wide enough to get legs out, and we get plenty of ventilation. My father in law wants us to totally enclose the barn, but it would be way to hot in there so we're going to leave it open. I think the horses are much happier and healthier that way.

Well, I don't have anything fancy, and since I live in Florida, air circulation is important. My stalls are a depth (front to back) of a standard sheet of plywood--which we insert along the rail dividers when babies are with their moms--so no one can pick on them and so no baby can get "caught" in a slat. Then in the winter, we enclose the outside walls for heat conservation, while the peak of the barn is still somewhat open (slatted) for ventilation. It's worked well for me. The center run is concrete which stays clean and since it's raised from the stall floor height, it helps keep bedding in place.

So nothing fancy, but here are a couple of pictures.

Edited to add:

Yes, Leanna, we worried about the base of the slats too, so our bottom slat is about 8"-10" above the ground level, so even if a foot goes under, they are not really "caught". That's another reason we close them in when the babies come, some are so little they could slip right under the bottom into another stall. Can't have that!!