Horse barn ideas...

GirlWhoWantsTractor · Jun 18, 2018

More thoughts. A barn that nice, it's expensive storage for a couple of tons of hay that really just need the rain kept off. A metal carport style building does the trick and I just priced Carolina Carports and you can get a quite large one (around 40 x 20) for less than $4k. So if I was going to have a two-story barn, I'd want the ramp so I could tractor in about a week's worth of hay from the storage building, then cut a hatch above each horse's hay bin so you can just drop the hay in. You can also store all of your grain there. I would also put in large PVC pipes running down to the feed bins so I could also drop in their grain. Plus you can store some of the large array of equipment one has on a horse farm, or even use part as a workshop. Earth-berming certainly has advantages in terms of reducing temperature changes, but then horses aren't really sensitive to temp changes. And you will lose light and ventilation, no way around that IMO.

I personally like a one-story barn. (confession: I used to ride professionally) I learned to hate the large "horse complex" type barns; after a few years, so dusty! and impossible to clean. Just me, but I like a barn to be clean, open, airy, dry and sunny. I like for a horse to have two ways to look out, back and front, and ideally a little private back paddock for each stall, so they can run in and out a bit. And on horrible weather days they can go out without ruining your fields.

YMMV

Fuddy1952 · Jun 18, 2018

Birdhunter1 said:
Typically sprinkler systems are dry not wet, meaning they are charged with a non flame feeding compressed gas (CO2 for instance) and there is a valve back in a heated space that is water on one side and a charge of compressed gas on the other side.
The compressed gas is what keeps the valve shut and the water from flowing, when a detector head breaks due to heat the gas blows, pressure drops and water flows.

Mine is very old, new in a case, 12 sprinkler heads with a lead link which melts opening valve. Probably from 40s-50s...may be a waste of time fooling with.

Fuddy1952 · Jun 19, 2018

Now I'm leaning toward girl who HAS a tractor' s idea...a separate hay shed. Barn would still have a loft probably, not a hay mow. I'm thinking it would save money, be cleaner, safer.

rd_macgregor · Jun 19, 2018

There are some advantages to having a barn with a hay loft, eg, convenience, lower total land footprint, but the drawbacks are numerous. Not only is the fire hazard greater, but the barn tends to be dustier, with is a nuisance and a potential health hazard for the horses, too. Your planned building should be big enough for four stalls and a tack room and still have room for several days worth of forage...brought over from a separate mass storage area, like Girl... suggested. I also think it is likely easier to ventilate a free-standing barn than one that is built into a hillside (eg a bank barn)...and good air ventilation is a critical concern with horses.
I think it is going on ten years that my wife and daughter have been planning a new horse barn, so I've been exposed to all the pro and con arguments...I don't think it will ever really get done, though!

Fuddy1952 · Jun 19, 2018

rd_macgregor said:
There are some advantages to having a barn with a hay loft, eg, convenience, lower total land footprint, but the drawbacks are numerous. Not only is the fire hazard greater, but the barn tends to be dustier, with is a nuisance and a potential health hazard for the horses, too. Your planned building should be big enough for four stalls and a tack room and still have room for several days worth of forage...brought over from a separate mass storage area, like Girl... suggested. I also think it is likely easier to ventilate a free-standing barn than one that is built into a hillside (eg a bank barn)...and good air ventilation is a critical concern with horses.
I think it is going on ten years that my wife and daughter have been planning a new horse barn, so I've been exposed to all the pro and con arguments...I don't think it will ever really get done, though!

Thanks so much...but ten years? Dad's horse barn we built years ago is still there, Dad passed years ago. It was very simple, just 12x48 with about 6ft overhang in front.

zzvyb6 · Jun 19, 2018

Hay above the stalls is good use of storage space and good insulation. A small elevator is all it takes, but your hay supplier will prefer easy access to the loading area. AND, hay stored above horses in a barn can go bad because the animals give off A LOT of moisture in cold weather.

4 stalls and potential for feeding yours and boarders means 8 month's supply of hay is a calculation you need to make unless your supplier delivers in winter. I do my own hay baling so I plan on 500 bales in storage.

With 2 horses and 4 stalls, cleanup is easy because you can trade off stalls during cleaning. Stall floors need to be clay (not concrete and you should plan on a drain in them of some type. Guess what that is for.

Bedding with shavings means storage for it. Two of the stalls should have outside doors besides the main alley for paddock access.

Electrical outlets and stall lights outside each stall door and outlets for farrier and vet use at several places in the main aisle.

Drive thru main aisle absolutely.

Outside hydrants and electrical at them too for tank heaters.

I'd also suggest you consider making the stall walls replaceable because the critters will rub, chew, bite, kick and destroy your barn after a few years and it may look nice outside but look awful inside. Split boards and exposed nails and screws will tear open skin on horses, boarders and kids.

I don't think fire control is needed. No smoking, no flammable storage, good electrical service, no lawnmower or tractor storage, and good manners in the barn should be even idiot proof. Lightning is the only concern. Your trees ought to help. Fire from damp hay is preventable: don't accept delivery, don't pack bales loose in the mow and don't open bales in the mow. They can start getting hot

when they get oxygen.

Good outside lighting is handy too. Unloading a horse trailer at night is no fun in the dark.

I also have a mow elevator upstairs. Its horizontal so bales going up and down can travel to my storage stations. Motor runs both ways.

Yes I know all about cell phones, etc. But having a landline wire in there somewhere may come in handy someday, too. I'd also shove in an ethernet cable for a router access point and security camera use. Wireless signals are often weakened by whatever your walls and structure are made of. Just have a large conduit provision for now if you have stopped laughing already.