I need advice on building a horse barn/shelter
- Thread starter EddieWalker
- Start date
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blueriver
Elite Member
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2007
- Messages
- 4,821
- Location
- S.E.Oklahoma
- Tractor
- JD 5520 Montana 4340 Farmall Super A Montana 5720C
Yep. My neighbors JD (was brand new) got tasted.
My dodge had them on the hood ..
JimRB
Veteran Member
They even have a taste for Japanese vehicles. My Toyota had teeth marks.
12x12 stalls lines with 3/4" plywood. 5/8" plywood outside. 12' stall height with a 4/12 composite shingles roof. Aluminum roof with no insulation was amazing loud at last place we rented. The shingle roof is much quieter when it is storming. 3' overhangs on the low sides and 2' overhang going up. Helps keep the rain out, No one has kicked through yet but we do not have kickers or my wife manages horses so the haters are kept away from each other. Horse inside with bad weather or if they are founder prone and have to kept off the pasture for a few or more hours every day. 12' barn aisle. We had one horse out on lease and she managed to kick through a metal sided barn. Permanently lame due to muscle damage.
9 acres chopped up into 7 turn out areas ranging from less than a 1/4 acre dry lot to 4 acres. Rotating the big pastures to allow the grass to recover from the horses. Dry lot with a 12x12 run in shed, 8' opening 7' tall with 10 foot wall height going up for a horse that foundered. That has happened to 2 horses so far. No to almost no grain. A 50# sack of grain could last 3 weeks or more and we have 7 horses. Our pastures although not fertilized and limed they way I like do keep the horse fat especially with the wet summer this year. During dry summers lots of hay bought.
I use 2,4d spot spraying every year and whole pasture spraying every few years to keep bitterweed and other junk at bay. Not a huge fan of spraying but sometimes the weeds get away.
12x12 stalls lines with 3/4" plywood. 5/8" plywood outside. 12' stall height with a 4/12 composite shingles roof. Aluminum roof with no insulation was amazing loud at last place we rented. The shingle roof is much quieter when it is storming. 3' overhangs on the low sides and 2' overhang going up. Helps keep the rain out, No one has kicked through yet but we do not have kickers or my wife manages horses so the haters are kept away from each other. Horse inside with bad weather or if they are founder prone and have to kept off the pasture for a few or more hours every day. 12' barn aisle. We had one horse out on lease and she managed to kick through a metal sided barn. Permanently lame due to muscle damage.
9 acres chopped up into 7 turn out areas ranging from less than a 1/4 acre dry lot to 4 acres. Rotating the big pastures to allow the grass to recover from the horses. Dry lot with a 12x12 run in shed, 8' opening 7' tall with 10 foot wall height going up for a horse that foundered. That has happened to 2 horses so far. No to almost no grain. A 50# sack of grain could last 3 weeks or more and we have 7 horses. Our pastures although not fertilized and limed they way I like do keep the horse fat especially with the wet summer this year. During dry summers lots of hay bought.
I use 2,4d spot spraying every year and whole pasture spraying every few years to keep bitterweed and other junk at bay. Not a huge fan of spraying but sometimes the weeds get away.
farmer2009
Elite Member
Eddie,
I have no experience with horses but do with cattle. At some point a while back you were talking about the orientation of the building. Research mono-slope dairy barns or feed barns. I found the following several times looking for good ways to feed hay under roof. The ones I have seen referenced all have the high side face south and the low side north. Saying a north wind will come in and slow down as it crosses the animals reducing wind chill and a south wind will come in and speed up increasing cooling ability.
I have no experience with horses but do with cattle. At some point a while back you were talking about the orientation of the building. Research mono-slope dairy barns or feed barns. I found the following several times looking for good ways to feed hay under roof. The ones I have seen referenced all have the high side face south and the low side north. Saying a north wind will come in and slow down as it crosses the animals reducing wind chill and a south wind will come in and speed up increasing cooling ability.
Just a few comments from a former horse owner and occasionally participating in Humane Society Rescue projects (where to stash seized neglected horses until the Legal Agencies sort it out).
You need 'loafing sheds': usually a two place 3 sided building with the opening away from the main weather direction. This is where they will sleep, snooze, nap, nuzzle, get out of the sun and hide from you.
Then you need a 'barn': a place where they are contained or stashed until the vet, farrier, trainer, or rider is ready for them. Catching them out in an open pasture sounds like fun, but it's not. This is also where we put them in inclement weather (freezing rain, tornadoes, mosquitoes, sore, hurt, being fed individually and cleaned.
The barn also serves as a storage area for grain, clothes, saddles, sawdust (for the stalls) and baled hay (which you may need when they have chewed down all your pastures). The barn also needs a wash stall (you don't want dirt and poop on your britches, do you?), maybe a toilet (got trees around?) sink for cleanup, cabinets for creams, salves, shampoo, bug spray, leather conditioner, (and also some stuff for the HORSES).
Just in case, a foaling stall is desirable by girlfriends, wives, relatives, and boarders. Its a double stall with a removable partition so a Mommy horse and her Baby horse can have some room to get to know each other. Nothing like a refrigerator for drugs, ice, and pop or brews. You need a lockup area too. A room with a lockable door.
Keep your design(s) open to the notion that someday, you won't have horses but may have some nice tractor equipment to store: mowers, cement mixer, snow plow, water tanks, windmill parts, lumber, extra roofing shingles, another tractor or two, a drone repelling device and a workshop. A slab to hold a horse trailer out of the mud is also a good strategic item.
All my barns and sheds are concrete block with concrete aisleways. I hay off the pastures now and sell the baled hay to neighbors. If you have excess pasture land, consider baling equipment. Its a LOT of fun once you get the kinks worked out. Having your own hay also keeps the horses healthy because you know the content. There are a lot of poisonous weeds around now and that can be expensive.
Nothing like a boarder or two to help with work and or costs. A 4H prospect is a pleasant experience.
Don't get me wrong, you don't need all of this. But, its just work and a little money. With the wonderful construction skills you have demonstrated, I'd imagine this will be a very enjoyable investment for your family (and your IRA).
You need 'loafing sheds': usually a two place 3 sided building with the opening away from the main weather direction. This is where they will sleep, snooze, nap, nuzzle, get out of the sun and hide from you.
Then you need a 'barn': a place where they are contained or stashed until the vet, farrier, trainer, or rider is ready for them. Catching them out in an open pasture sounds like fun, but it's not. This is also where we put them in inclement weather (freezing rain, tornadoes, mosquitoes, sore, hurt, being fed individually and cleaned.
The barn also serves as a storage area for grain, clothes, saddles, sawdust (for the stalls) and baled hay (which you may need when they have chewed down all your pastures). The barn also needs a wash stall (you don't want dirt and poop on your britches, do you?), maybe a toilet (got trees around?) sink for cleanup, cabinets for creams, salves, shampoo, bug spray, leather conditioner, (and also some stuff for the HORSES).
Just in case, a foaling stall is desirable by girlfriends, wives, relatives, and boarders. Its a double stall with a removable partition so a Mommy horse and her Baby horse can have some room to get to know each other. Nothing like a refrigerator for drugs, ice, and pop or brews. You need a lockup area too. A room with a lockable door.
Keep your design(s) open to the notion that someday, you won't have horses but may have some nice tractor equipment to store: mowers, cement mixer, snow plow, water tanks, windmill parts, lumber, extra roofing shingles, another tractor or two, a drone repelling device and a workshop. A slab to hold a horse trailer out of the mud is also a good strategic item.
All my barns and sheds are concrete block with concrete aisleways. I hay off the pastures now and sell the baled hay to neighbors. If you have excess pasture land, consider baling equipment. Its a LOT of fun once you get the kinks worked out. Having your own hay also keeps the horses healthy because you know the content. There are a lot of poisonous weeds around now and that can be expensive.
Nothing like a boarder or two to help with work and or costs. A 4H prospect is a pleasant experience.
Don't get me wrong, you don't need all of this. But, its just work and a little money. With the wonderful construction skills you have demonstrated, I'd imagine this will be a very enjoyable investment for your family (and your IRA).
