I have a 1,000 sq ft unfinished walk-out basement approximately 20 feet from the horse pasture with exceptionally high ceilings and a concrete floor. Walls are cinderblock. Has anyone ever converted the door to a garage type door and added partitions to a basement? We were looking at building a home over a barn but couldn’t come up with the construction loan, so this may be a decent temporary backup until we can build the barn we want.
Wow. I think you would have better luck converting a garage or putting a carport up. I can’t imagine what keeping a horse in the basement would do to the rest of the house or that the horse would do ok like that. The basement is pretty tight and for good reason. That tightness might stifle the horse’s air flow and opening up the basement would freeze you out or compromise the foundation of your house. The smell would also be interesting too - horses generate so much moisture in the form of urine and sweat. I think the other COTH ppl will have some different suggestions.
I should have added that the property is not at all flat, and the only area that would be suitable for an arena is also the only area for a barn. I’d have to do some serious grading and bring in fill dirt to make it happen, and we’re so wet up here in the PNW that I really can’t ride or do any sort of lunging or exercise without some sort of arena, so am looking for alternatives for a barn. The basement has three exterior walls and is built into a hill, so adding additional ventilation wouldn’t be too hard. The horses live outside most of the time, but I want stalls for grooming and occasional overnights in the winter.
I know nothing about nothing, but my first thought was wondering how this would be much different from a bank barn? Interested to hear what others think. I hope it works for you!
raises hand over here
When we lived in St Matthews KY (Louisville) we kept my wife’s pony in our basement.
The house was a Cap Cod style with a drive in basement. When the house was built, coal furnaces were the thing to have so there was a coal storage room.
We coverted the coal bin into the pony’s stall. Pony was walked up the drive in basement drive to be kept in the dog run outside during the day.
One day we had a knock at the door, it was animal control there to investigate a complaint that we had a horse in our house… no sir its a pony our is horse kept elsewhere.
The guy wanted to see just what was going on, we showed him everything…as we walked down the steps into the basement there was pony looking over the stall door wanting treats.
Inspector looked at the stall, how we kept it clean and disposed of the waste, how we stored the food, had us demonstrate how we took the pony to her day pen; then left.
A few days later we received a visit from the city zoning code compliance officer who wanted the tour also.
Three days later we receive the official rulings by registered mail… no problems found, no codes broken… but there was a note from the code compliance officer forewarning us that roosters were not allowed in the city but there was nothing on the books about a pony
My childhood dream!
You should start by seeing what the codes are for your county or city regarding horses and housing them. Your main concerns would be odor, humidity (amazing how much heat and moisture a horse produces in an enclosed space!!!), height and horse access to electrical outlets and lights, how big the stalls would be, how to pad the concrete enough with mats, storage of bedding and feed, and access to water.
I don’t see it as a huge issue as lots of detached garages get converted to stables. How high are the ceilings? How big are the horses?
I just an ad here on COTH for a farm for sale a similar set up. Will have to try to find it.
Here it is. http://www.lbar.com/property/1550-Hedden-Versailles-KY-40383_1605910.html
[QUOTE=HappyTalk;8718835]
I just an ad here on COTH for a farm for sale a similar set up. Will have to try to find it.
Here it is. http://www.lbar.com/property/1550-Hedden-Versailles-KY-40383_1605910.html[/QUOTE]
That’s actually a really neat house/barn
I would also find out if you can insure it with that kind of set-up. Assuming you have a mortgage on the house, you’ll need to have a HO policy that covers named perils for the mortgage holder.
