[QUOTE=Eleanor;7960095]
Here is a photo of a nice run-in with tackroom and feedroom.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpf1/v/t34.0-12/10714730_694087410677028_1624831863_n.jpg?oh=104cd9f5afd19c7817d3327e0e1b3e18&oe=54BAABAD&gda=1421506429_40c71f1906808ad3d4953ee7750c790a[/QUOTE]
I really like ones like this. If I could add an overhang to it, I think it would be perfect!
[QUOTE=mroades;7960052]
I would hate to be without some kind of a barn for colic/injury/vet, etc.[/QUOTE]
This is like knowing how to ride with 2 sets of reins - better to never need the skill and have it than to need it and not have it. Better to have a nice little barn and never need the stalls than to need the stalls and not have them. Mine are out 24/7 with run ins and we have a 5 stall barn w/tack, grooming, feed…hay is in separate barn. We rarely use our stalls but when I need them, I sure am glad I have them. I’m in the Piedmont of NC, fwiw.
I have a 4 stall center aisle barn with a small feed room and overhangs that keep rain from blowing into the stalls through the exterior Dutch doors. I leave the barn open most of the time. It is very nice to separate everyone at feeding time, and to lock everyone up to dry off before the farrier comes. When the weather is wretched, the horses spend hours walking around the barn. They seem to enjoy having the run of the place.
Currently working just so that I can afford a nice barn. Went back and forth on this issue.
My decision-full barn with two, 12 foot wide full length overhangs. I want run-ins for sudden weather changes. Full stalls for clipped, sick or foaling horses. What I really want is closed in aisle and wash rack. A good, locked tack room, storage for the cart and feed room -hay storage. Plus washer and dryer for horsey stuff. Still deciding on toilet. Full barn makes clipping, grooming,saddling,doing feet, doctoring and cooling so much nicer.
Mine is sort of a combo. I have a horse that coughs and snots if she is inside, so my “barn” is a good compromise. It’s 24x24, and it cost about $3,000.
http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i334/jula4me/barnfinished_zpsbb0480db.jpg
If I lived in your climate, I’d build Blume Farm’s awesome, all run-in barn. Sorry I can’t find the thread – it’s on here somewhere and is worth finding. I live in MA and went back and forth on the barn/run-in question last year. I went with a 2-stall barn from Horizon that has an 8x12 feed/tack room and a 12x17 aisle. I felt like I needed a weather-proof place for grooming and vet/farrier stuff. I love it. If I had the $$ I would have added an overhang over the stall doors. One of my guys is off the track and he loves his stall, and hangs out in it a lot even with the doors open 24-7. That makes me glad I didn’t go with a run-in, so, I guess I also think you should consider your horses and what they are comfortable with, too.
We lease our property; there was no shelter for the horses when we moved in. We (very cheaply) put up a 2 stall shedrow in the pasture. It’s basically just a run in, but divided into stalls. Since we were on such a budget, and it also isn’t our land to install anything permanent upon, we only have a small overhang off of it. I leave the stalls open so the horses can use it as shelter. The reason I wanted it divided into stalls is because I knew my suicidal horses would manage to do something that required immediate stall confinement at some inopportune time if I did not have any stalls. It took over a year, but sure enough, one of my mares fractured her leg on Christmas Eve. I was really grateful to have a place to put her.
It’s been maddening for me not to have a good place for the farrier and the vet to work, although they swear they don’t mind. The lack of storage drives me bonkers as well. I have a wonderful, large garden shed on the property that holds my feed, hay, and tack… but it’s annoying as anything to be constantly be hauling things back and forth from the shed to the barn.
When (if) we finally figure out where we want to stay put, I’m definitely going to make a barn with some sort of work area a priority.
I fell into the same issue when I moved to my 10 acre farm last year. I didn’t have the money to build a proper barn, but needed at least a run in shed for shelter. My compromise was a 24’ X 24’ shed row. I put in a center partition to make two fully matted 12’ X 12’ stalls, but left the front open so the horses can use the whole structure. When my shire/tb cross ended up with a ligament injury this fall, all I had to do was put a 12’ gate across one stall front. Problem solved. I also have cross ties hanging in each stall so that the vet and farrier can use it when I’m not there to hold the horses. I will say, though, that I am lucky enough to have a full basement with a boat door that opens up not far from where the barn is. I store all of my feed/tack/blankets, etc in there and have a nice concrete pad with a hitching rail for tacking up. If you don’t have that option, I would add a tack room onto one end of the barn. All said and done, I think I paid about $8000 for mine. Here is the link to the company that built it if you want to see pictures. My barn is “Kelly’s barn” in Cartersville, Ga. “Ginger’s barn” would probably be an awesome option for you if you need the tack room. http://www.precisionbarnbuilders.com/Small_Barns.html
I have both…a six stall “proper barn” with tack room, wash rack, etc. Have used it a handful of times in the last 8 years…and mostly because I felt I should since I spent all the money to build it:)
What I really use is my run-in/ barn. It is build smack in the middle of my four pastures so each “run” section has it’s own dry lot paddock that then opens up to it’s own pasture. There is a center aisle, lights, electric, water and small feed room/ storage area on the side. In front of the run-in I have a wash area. The aisle and wash area was paved with cement pavers. I LOVE it. Perfect for our weather, VERY user friendly, easy to rotate horses to rotate pastures, horses can be separated for feeding.
Here is a link to my FB page that has some pics:
https://www.facebook.com/BlumeFarm/photos_stream
I still think Blume Farm’s run-in barn is the coolest. And I’m dying to try the wood floor thing sometime…
Obviously there is no right or wrong answer, just different perspectives, needs and solutions.
IMHO, two things to think about in favor of a barn:
#2 – barns are heaven on earth. yep yep. best place to hang, to chill, to think, to escape, to cry or laugh or dance … just to BE. my husband first told me he loved me in our barn. we got married in our barn. in the winter we drink coffee there, in the summer we drink lemonade. Some of the most wonderful, magical parts of life happen in the barn. And then there’s rain on the tin roof. And the sound of horses munching on hay. And that incredible feeling when all the stall are mucked, rebedded and the aisle swept clean. Who would not want a barn???
I live in central British Columbia (winter), and have no barn. My fields are a 1/2 acre each, so more than a paddock but not anything huge. Each field has a shelter in it that faces the front fenceline (so it’s a run through shelter, only 1 sided).
I have my trailer parked under a covered RV shed/Hay shed, and use that as my tack room and tack up area. It’s a pain. There’s an old shed that the previous owners used for tack/feed with a covered side for the wood shed. It’s an eyesore and not worth putting money into sprucing it up (it’s not that good structurally). We think we will tear it down and rebuild it. Small wood shed on one side, one covered groom stall with tack closet on the other.
In the meantime, I have added gates to my run-in shelters so I can close them in their shelter if needed. It’s not ideal at the moment, but they wear sheets to keep them dry, have the shelters and lots of trees for different shelter. Plus, means I don’t have to handle turn-in and turn out or daily mucking.
My other 3 small fields need to be sprayed, seeded, and then wait. They do not have a shelter so we need to build a run in that straddles the fence of the two main fields. I debated making it also come outside the fence and doing the tack shed there. It’s possible based on the location, but the current shed and planned position is also right by a well and easy to add a spigot to.
ETA: I only have 2 horse currently, about to get a third. It depends how much land you have, how many horses, and what you style of horse keeping is. I came from boarding barns where they were stalled at night and in paddock or small fields during the day. The more hands off approach is working well enough for me here, and it lets them be horses.
I should also add that just outside my two fields that have shelters, I have a small shed that has room to store up to 16 square bales, and covers a frost free hydrant and has power. I have motion lights plugged in, and my heated auto trough is wired there. I only put him 8 bales (more than a week’s worth of hay for two horses) and use the other side to store the immediate necessities – halters, fly masks, a seasonal blanket/sheet, etc. I have a separate hay shed off the side of my 25 x 50 shop and my grain is all in a freezer in my garage. When we build the new shed, we will build a small box around the freezer and add a cabinet for extra supplements, etc
[QUOTE=Blume Farm;7960541]
I have both…a six stall “proper barn” with tack room, wash rack, etc. Have used it a handful of times in the last 8 years…and mostly because I felt I should since I spent all the money to build it:)
What I really use is my run-in/ barn. It is build smack in the middle of my four pastures so each “run” section has it’s own dry lot paddock that then opens up to it’s own pasture. There is a center aisle, lights, electric, water and small feed room/ storage area on the side. In front of the run-in I have a wash area. The aisle and wash area was paved with cement pavers. I LOVE it. Perfect for our weather, VERY user friendly, easy to rotate horses to rotate pastures, horses can be separated for feeding.
Here is a link to my FB page that has some pics:
https://www.facebook.com/BlumeFarm/photos_stream[/QUOTE]
What a great set up! Do you keep your tack in the main barn then? Do you tack over there? I think this would be a great way to maximize bang for the buck, and meld the ability to leave them turned out and closed in, and be able to keep them separate or together, and and and and and!
I have both, in the same building! It’s, for my purposes, the best of both worlds - vet, farrier and (most importantly, since I’m the one using it every day) I have a nice protected working area, it’s super easy to put the pony up to limit her grazing time (so she doesn’t have to live in a muzzle 24/7), and as long as I don’t lock her in one of the far paddocks, she always has access to some kind of shelter.
Run in shed is just the southern end of my center aisle barn.
From the front (before the fences went up - that’s the northern facing center aisle end - 2 stalls on the left hand side (that open into my ‘night pen’, and a storage bay (for hay, stall cleaning tools and blanket hanging) and small (8x12) tack room on the right hand side. https://www.flickr.com/photos/14913413@N02/8577860430/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/14913413@N02/8555052578/
(after the fences went up)
From the southern/run in end:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/14913413@N02/8576763965/
You can see the tack room door there.
Quick shot of the stall side - I still haven’t “permanently” divided the stalls yet - haven’t needed to, and I don’t think it’ll take much work to get it done when/if I need to, and my very redneck solution works just fine to keep the pony from making a 12x24 mess of her stall.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/14913413@N02/8576767311
[QUOTE=Blume Farm;7960541]
I have both…a six stall “proper barn” with tack room, wash rack, etc. Have used it a handful of times in the last 8 years…and mostly because I felt I should since I spent all the money to build it:)
What I really use is my run-in/ barn. It is build smack in the middle of my four pastures so each “run” section has it’s own dry lot paddock that then opens up to it’s own pasture. There is a center aisle, lights, electric, water and small feed room/ storage area on the side. In front of the run-in I have a wash area. The aisle and wash area was paved with cement pavers. I LOVE it. Perfect for our weather, VERY user friendly, easy to rotate horses to rotate pastures, horses can be separated for feeding.
Here is a link to my FB page that has some pics:
https://www.facebook.com/BlumeFarm/photos_stream[/QUOTE]
Hi Blume Farm,
I sent you a PM. I’m also in NC and would love some more info about your setup. It’s great!
[QUOTE=diceuf;7959942]
Looking for some feedback for those who have their horses out 24/7. I keep telling myself I need a barn for feed, tack, grooming, etc. My horses are out 24/7 so their stalls will really only act as shelter. I’m trying to determine the most cost effective and functional set up, barn vs. run-in.
For those who have their horses out 24/7, do you feel you NEED an actual barn structure? I’m in the foothills of NC, so the weather is not extreme on either end.[/QUOTE]
We built a 24x36 barn with two stalls and a tack room on one side, the other side is an aisle. I hardly ever use the stalls. The horses are out 24/7. It would’ve been much more cost effective to build a smaller shelter and then use a separate shed for tack.
[QUOTE=normandy_shores;7960627]
What a great set up! Do you keep your tack in the main barn then? Do you tack over there? I think this would be a great way to maximize bang for the buck, and meld the ability to leave them turned out and closed in, and be able to keep them separate or together, and and and and and![/QUOTE]
I keep all my tack in the main barn. My arenas is adjacent to the main barn so it makes sense
Since we are sharing, here is mine: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-T7oHSWl0XHU/VLhjpTpNovI/AAAAAAAAA8w/z7B7yf-ccv0/s1600/IMG_0039.JPG
I did a high slope for two reasons, one because I wanted to use architectural shingles to match our garage and you need more angle, and two, because I can add on and make a gable if I want a deep overhang. One thing I am really happy with is that I went 16’ deep. This was a cost-effective way to get everyone home for the first year, and I feel it is flexible–placed with an eye towards adding on. We built it ourselves (it needs another coat of paint).
Ultimately, I would add a tack room in the middle and then another stall to the left. Like I said before, everything else would be stored/done in a shed-style building or my garage. For me it is much cheaper and better for resale to board a riding horse during the winter and use a nice indoor elsewhere then to contemplate building one. I think if I were riding at home in questionable weather, I would want a barn. My horse is barefoot, so that helps too. Or if I had an extra $30,000 to spend, I would want a barn (my bid came back at $24,000, but that was before utilities and ground work).
A lot of it comes down to cost, priorities, and what you do with your horses. If you aren’t sure, cover your bases and give yourself some flexibility. At this point I don’t even know if we will still live here in 3 years. They make nice move-able sheds too.
Another thing to keep in mind is the personalities of the animals that are going to be living there.
If you have a herd that does not allow other members into the shelter, no matter how large it is, then you have to make sure that is accommodated.
[QUOTE=Texarkana;7960587]
I still think Blume Farm’s run-in barn is the coolest. And I’m dying to try the wood floor thing sometime…[/QUOTE]
Me too!!! Right now we have two stalls with sliding door in front, full walls on sides and open back to paddock. Dirt floors (not clay). I am itching’ to fix them up for improved drainage and a nice flat floor! But it’s probably going to be a few years down the road as we have many projects to do and limited funds.
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
