What is your 'DREAM BARN'?

[K.C. Lunde]

Hey guys, what are the components of your 'dream barn'?! Larger stalls? A wash bay? Indoor roundpen? Treadmill? I'm designing a dream barn in my Farmstead Management building class.. Would love to hear your ideas!!! Should make for a really lively thread.. If I like it--- I'll pop it in my drawing..

 

What are the approximate dimensions of your new stalls? Feed stall? Upper loft living quarters w/ bathroom bedroom and kitchenette? Imagine eating breakfast, watching your horses eat breakfast in their stalls!!

 

PS.

There are no limits on this project in size or $$$...

 

[K.C. Lunde]

So far my floorplan says the dreambarn is 75' long with a round pen and foaling stalls that turn into show stalls with the addition of a center partion. There is a living quarters loft that can be accessed by stairs above the foaling stalls with a complete bedroom/bathroom/kitchenette.. A large center door that can be opened for ventilation, and mini-horse half stall doors so they can peek out.

 

[Wings]

My dream barn is probably smaller then most but then I think of mine as buildable (and might be in a year

)

Two aisles with 3 or 4 stalls on each side, 3m x 3m (big enough for the show minis) with wooden half walls and black metal grids rather then bars above that so they can see each other but not invade each other's space. Concrete and rubber floors for easy cleaning and no permanent fixed water or feed tubs. Swinging rather then sliding doors with rug racks and another door in each stable that opens onto a post and rail day yard

Feed room opposite one of the stalls with shelves for supplements and good wooden bins for storing pellets and chaff. A great place to park a bed during foaling time. Wood lined walls throughout for the atompshere!

Out the front of the stables the day yards sweep out to make a semi circle of paved area and a hitching point on each fence post so on farrier/dentist days a large group can be brought up and tied to wait their turn.

A large garage style front door that will spend all but the very wet days open for airflow and a tap down the other end plugged into rain water tanks for easy water access.

I also want to garden around it so not only is it a nice working place but also visually appealing. I would love a fountain

So thats my dream barn that might get built

:BigGrin If I didn't already have a round yard,w ash area and two other storage rooms (one for tack/harness the other for rugs) I would want to incorporate those facilties into my dream barn,

 

[Jill]

One with full time, expert help

 

[Leeana]

I have kind of grown to love my current barn, but if I had my way, I would love a huge pole barn with stalls down each side and enough room in the middle where I could work driving horses, and have a roundpen to work halter horses. I'd also love a room attached to the barn that is climate control for clipping horses (hot/cold) as well as an area inside to wash horses with propper drainage.

I'd also love a seperate barn just for mares and foaling.

One day

...just waiting for that Doctor to come along and stumble into my path LOL.

 

[Field-of-Dreams]

Mine would kinda be shaped like an "H": barn is one side, indoor arena the other side with the connector the middle part. The connector would hold my foaling boxes, away from the main noise of the barn but readily accessable. Tack room on one end, feed room on the other. Cart storage room. Upstairs living quarters with CCTV cameras in ALL stalls, so you can watch foaling mares and sickies. Hot water wash rack. Stalls would be varnished oak tongue-in-groove with solid sides but open fronts so the horses could look out. Windows looking outside with doors, in case of emergency you wouldn't have to go through the barn to get them out. Ceiling fans in the aisle to move the air in the summer. An electrical outlet in front of every stall for fans. Brass hardware. Sliding doors. Large outside door to the feed room so you wouldn't have to fight your feed and hay getting it in. Sprinkler system in barn and arena. Fire and smoke detectors. Mats in stalls and aisles. Metal feed bins to hold feed, but easily cleanable. Restroom/kitchen in barn, as the living quarters are personal, probably attached to the feed room.

*sigh*

 

[Sandee]

My ideal is so much simpler. I'd mainly just like all of hubby's "stuff" outta "my" barn. We started with a pole barn and added stalls but then he got crazy and cemented the whole floor which I didn't want. His tractor, snowblower, patio furniture, and his workshop take up too much room.

I'd like to have my stalls in an insulated barn with an area big enough to exercise horses when the snow is a foot deep. Need hay storage and cart storage. Need wash rack. Need warm & cooled tack room perferably with a toilet. Give me all that and I'd use the pasture to work in.

 

[Flying minis]

As I've gotten older, my idea of a dream barn changed from "I want it all" to "I want it simple, usable, and easy to keep up"

So now my dream barn is much smaller, it's focused on what I can actually do and manage - and the best part is - I HAVE IT!

We built it 1 1/2 years ago - and I have to say it is everything I wanted. It is a total of 36 feet by 66 feet. There are 4 stalls (12 x 12 ft each) on one side, each with a door to an outdoor run - the fourth stall does not have a front, and is used for bulk shaving storage (as I only need 3 stalls). The 12 x 12 stalls let me use it for big horses, or I can put 1 or 2 minis in a stall. Outside the stalls, there is a 10 foot overhang that runs the length of the stalls (48 feet) giving them shelter and shade when they are in the paddock. Stalls are not lofted, so they are open above which makes them nice and airy and bright. The "aisle" area is actually all the way across the barn, so my "aisle" is 24 feet. Stalls will have mats (have the mats, but need to wait until winter is over to put them in). Remainder is concrete, with mats over part of it - which is where I practice showmanship and halter obstacle in the winter. Also has a workbench, so we can back the trailers in to work on them (change tires, bearings, work on brakes, etc.) That is the "stall" area.

The last 18 foot (at the end of the stalls / shavings area) is divided in half to make 2 16 foot by 18 foot rooms. One is a heatable, insulated, hot water wash rack, with cross ties, and an in floor drain, with sidewalls and ceiling covered with milking parlor siding (which is waterproof and washes well, so it stays clean, plus it's white to it is light). It has 12 foot sidewalls, so it is very airy, and horses have no issue with going in or feeling "closed in" while in it, and lots of space if anyone "freaks out". Four, 4 bulb flourescent lights to ensure that while clipping / washing I can get it bright enough to see everything. Feed is stored in plastic totes in here also. Also mats on the floor. The other is a heatable, insulated tack room, with car siding (gorgeous), and all tack room "stuff" including a separate washer and dryer for my horse blankets, etc. This whole area is lofted, so I can store hay above.

Other great things about it - Water is in the washroom, the tack room, and in front of the stalls. Separate lights on each stall so I can put them under lights in the spring. 12 foot by 36 foot concrete pad behind the barn, with an oversize door to it from the wash rack, and one corner with an L shaped concrete wall - this is for my manure pile - I can wheel my wheelbarrow right out the back door and dump it, and take a tractor to move the manure when the area is full (like the manure areas at some fairgrounds). A 20 foot sliding door on the North side and East side, making it drive through for tractors, trucks, shavings wagon, etc.

No automatic waterers - had those in my previous barn, and really didn't like them - they were more trouble than they were worth. Automatic waterer is in the paddock, so I only have to water when they are in the stalls. The whole thing was built with ease of care and upkeep in mind.

I used to have an indoor arena, and realized when I built this barn that I didn't want another one. First, I don't like working in the cold, and with our winters, that means that my indoor wouldn't get a lot of use anyway! Also, hate the dust issues with indoor arenas - I don't think it's good for the horses. My big "aisle" with concrete and pads lets me do basic halter, showmanship, and obstacle training all winter, which is what I need anyway. I have an outdoor round pen with a good sand base that is usable anytime there's not snow or ice on it, and an outdoor arena, and an outdoor jumping / trail area. Plus I can drive gravel roads with the driving horses nearly all year long (or at least anytime that it's warm enough that I would drive).

Anyway, I guess my point is, while it's nice to dream about all the wonderful things you would want in a dream barn, think about how it would be used, and what it would take for upkeep also - these are important considerations. I know this is just for a project, but even then, I would think these should still be taken into account.

Oh, and I don't breed, so obviously, that didn't figure into my "dream"

 

[fourluckyhorseshoes]

One barn I went to had an up stairs areas where they could drop the horse's food into a PVC pipe type thing and it would go right into the bucket in their stall. Of course this wouldn't work for hay.

 

[Flying minis]

One barn I went to had an up stairs areas where they could drop the horse's food into a PVC pipe type thing and it would go right into the bucket in their stall. Of course this wouldn't work for hay.

Actually, I had that for hay in my former barn - and my son has it in his. The hay loft is above the stalls, and there's a "hole" in the hayloft floor (with a wooden rail around it, so no one falls through!) that is right above each stall hay feeder. You simply go into the loft, open a bale, and drop the hay through the holes right into the stall feeder. Keeps the aisle clear of hay leaves, etc. and is really convenient - as long as you don't mind going into the hay loft every day.

 

[Eagle]

One with full time, expert help

and mummy to bring me food as I would be in my dream barn day and night

 

[JMS Miniatures]

I'm in the proccess of planning my dream barn. My thing is space, so at both ends have pretty good size space, maybe 10 ft to be able to store hay, shavings, carts, whatever. Plenty of room for the aisle way to move carts around, cross ties to harness horses. Keep the wash bay and the grooming area seperate. I also bathe my horses with eZall so would love to have the wall unit in the wash bay. 4 stalls with runs to the outside, still not sure what type of flooring I want for my stalls, defintelly not concrete and not leaning towards mats. I want miniature stalls, I would like to avoid the use of buckets so want to install hay/grain feeders and automatic heated waterers. Tack and feed room will be spacious, and one thing I'm playing with is a revolving wall, I can have the tack on the wall and when I want to use it I can turn the wall around and there's my tack that way I don't have to go in and out of a room. Still playing with that, may not happen. Dutch doors on one end, garage door on the other. Also have the Pyrannha spraymaster system to control flies. Plenty of lighting and fans in aisle way.

 

[mad for mini's]

Mine would be big enough for a row of 6 to 8 stalls on one side with an indoor arena for workouts and indoor turnout time in bad weather and a tack/grooming area. Plus a partial walk out basement for getting the mini's in during those occasional tornado warnings

 

[Tab]

My dream barn would have the stalls in the center and a track on the outside for riding and driving. At the end it would have a large built-in (indoor) roundpen. It would have removable partitions for changing the size and number of stalls for foaling or placing a couple horses per stall. There would be an indoor wash-stall, a tack room, a bathroom and sleeping area for foaling season. I would also have an outdoor round pen and outdoor and indoor riding arena. There would be loads of acreage for pasture and trails. All field fence and top rail fencing. And we wouldn't have to pay taxes on it. Hey, you said dream didn't you?

 

[Equuisize]

I love my big old cedar barn, love it's looks - right now I prefer this look

---->to this look ---- we're currently in

It was an empty cavern when we moved here 4 years ago

and Michael has built bedrooms, for the kids, in a way

that works efficiently for us.

When it's done it will look like an old fashioned Western town.

Needs two things, to make it perfect....a warm water wash rack, fingers

crossed it's coming this summer. And after a week of snow I'd dang near

slash my wrists, for an attached covered arena, for the kids to get out

and stretch in.

 

[disneyhorse]

Check out some of the cool options some barn companies have...

I've seen wall that rotate so your tack room wall comes into the barn for saddling/harnessing (like those "secret doors" you see in spy movies) and stall walls that can slide along the rows so you can alter how many box stalls you've got and how big they are.

Check out the BigAss Fan Company for fan ideas.

Also, where you live might be a factor. Here we never get cold or snow so don't need indoor wash racks but I do like having hot water and a HydroSurge machine!

 

[JMS Miniatures]

Check out some of the cool options some barn companies have...

I've seen wall that rotate so your tack room wall comes into the barn for saddling/harnessing (like those "secret doors" you see in spy movies) and stall walls that can slide along the rows so you can alter how many box stalls you've got and how big they are.

Check out the BigAss Fan Company for fan ideas.

Also, where you live might be a factor. Here we never get cold or snow so don't need indoor wash racks but I do like having hot water and a HydroSurge machine!

Thats what I was talking about was the rotating walls for a tack room. Agree check out BigAss fans.

 

[chandab]

I would love an updated version of the barn the Arabian Ranch I worked at in college had. I don't know all the dimensions, but it had a small indoor arena, down one side was like 10-12 stallion stalls with outside runs (stalls were 12x12), the other side had two or three foaling stalls 12x16 or maybe 12x24, at the end of that side was an office/lounge with rest room, also along that side was a tack room and feed room. they used the one end of the arena to store a couple ton of small square baled hay. [There was an alleyway down each side between the arena and the stalls, probably 6' wide. I'd probably build it with full-size horses in mind, so that it would have easier resale value, either that or use portable type stalls or use panels to make the stalls, so the stalls could be configured as needed.

 

[Katiean]

One with full time, expert help

I am with you on that one Jill. But I would also add that it has stalls down both sides of an indoor arena. But the stalls do not face the arena. It would also have a wash bay with warm water, an area to dry the horse with a dryer after you bathe it, Grooming cross ties, Tack and feed room and a room to store driving vehicles (big and small).

 

[susanne]

My horses love their run-ins and hate being inside, so any dream barn would be for the benefit of the humans rather than the horses. I'd love a place to "hang out" with my kids...if I could convince them to join me!

As for the expert help, I've often thought that we need facilities with an apartment so that a young, able-bodied live-in helper could live on-site free of rent, with room for their own horse.

So...combining these ideas, my dream barn would actually be an apartment-over-garage on steroids.

In extreme weather (which is rare here) or in case of illness, portable, removable stalls would be set up. The cement floor would be sprayed overall with spray-on rubber coating (like for truck beds) for traction, with mats and deep bedding for stalls.

For the remaining 99% of the time, the "garage" would work as a 3-seasons living area, messy art studio, potting shed, recording studio, summer sleeping area and horse/dog beauty salon. It would have faux carriage house doors front and back -- they look like traditional carriage house doors, but roll up. In hot weather, one or both doors would roll up, allowing fresh air yet sheltering from rain. Fencing would allow the horses to hang out with us when we're hanging out, yet keep them out if Keith is recording or we're sleeping.

Upstairs would be a comfortable yet compact 2 bedroom living area -- cozy for winter, protected for books, computers, musical instruments and electronics.

The stairway upstairs would have end in a small room in the garage, which would double as feed and tackroom. Feed would be stored in grocery store coffee bean/bulk food bins (with levers to dispense feed). Hay would be stored in a separate building as always.

No motorized vehicles would come in (there would be space for storing carts and carriages inside in winter, plus an overhang outside for summer), but if we ever sold, this space could always go back to its intended usage as a garage. Normal people would build a separate house, and they could use the apartment as a guest apartment or workshop.