I don’t have stalls so I have to pasture feed my 2 horses. I finally figured out it’s much easier to use feed bags. They can’t waste feed as easily as when I was using buckets and no more stealing each other’s food!
Seabreeze, how many small squares fit into one of those nifty plastic crates? Maybe about 4?
Organized space for:
repair supplies and tools;
tack cleaning gear;
travel gear;
meds/first aid/vet supplies;
a space for farrier to work, with shelter, light and electricity, rolling magnet;;
similar space for vet, may be the same space as farrier area;
trailer and farm machine/implements parking;
Adequate access for vet, farrier or other service trucks, getting in and out in any weather.
“Central Command” with all names, phone numbers, vendors, suppliers, vets, neighbors who may be able to help;
a chart with normal horse parameters (temps, resp rates, etc);
what to do if a horse is loose or other ‘crisis’ such as getting cast or showing signs of colic;
phone numbers for utilities if power or water goes out;
Anything else that applies in the unlikely scenario of “barn owner gets hit by a bus”, so that someone else can easily find everything they need to care for the animals.
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Four might be a tight fit. Probably three. I’ve never put more than one in there because I open my bales and drop the flakes in there. I only have had 2 horses on the farm since I started using these crates, so no real need to put out a great deal of hay at a time.
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I like your slow feeder boxes. Can you elaborate please on the net frame? It looks like you made it from PVC pipe and fittings. How do you fasten it to the box so it is secure but still flips up when you refill?
Make sure you have enough light in the aisle, in the stalls, outside lights, in the feed room. Nothing is worse in the deep dead of the night than not having enough light to check out cuts, to have the farrier tack on a lost shoe, to have the vet get a good luck at something. Keep a nice big flashlight on hand for fetching them in the dark and checking fencelines if necessary.
If you can have a fridge in the barn that is a nice bonus. You can make alfalfa cubes or beet pulp the meal before and stick it in the fridge in the summer to keep if from going rancid. Having your ice boots right there is nice. Having medicines that need to be kept cold such as pencillin right there is good. Carrots for the ponies last in the fridge longer.
The fridge is nice for keeping drinks for humans and popscicles too. I know people that keep vegatable oil and flaxseed in the fridge to keep it from going rancid.
A bigger feed room than you initially think you will need. Having extra room for multiple types of feed/cubes/beet pulp/ration balancer is never a bad thing. The more room you will have the easier it is to organize things.
I prefer making up the feed for the next meal when I feed the current meal. This will make it easier in the case of an emergency to have a none horsey person feed. Tommy gets the bucket marked Tommy, Buttercups is marked as Buttercup etc…
Having a good place to hang wet saddle pads, wet coolers, wet blankets to dry that is under cover with lots of airflow.
Have a board in the barn that is prominent with an emergency contact for you and your vet with your address on it. We had somebody open a gate and let the horses out. Nobody lived on the property. But I had my phone number in the barn as an emergency contact. The good samaritan who caught the horses was able to call me so I could come collect them from a mile away.
Make sure you have pasture gates large enough to get a truck or tractor/mower into. If the gate is large put a wheel on it to help prevent sagging and make it easier to open/close.
One place I horsesit the barn is in the center sacrifice pasture. There is a nice overhang along the stalls with gravel under the overhang and about 20 feet in front of the overhand. The Nelson waterer in under the overhang. She can leave the stalls open as a “run-in shed” type set up. The stalls then also open into an aisle. She has hay drops right into the stalls. The two main pastures open off the sacrifice area. There is never any reason to handle the horses. She uses pellets and the manure pile isn’t too far from the barn and there is plenty of lighting around the barn. She has a nice area outside the barn that is paved, has crossties and the hot/cold running water for bathes.
Another place I horsesit at has a gorgeous barn. The loft, feed area and tack room are all very nice. But the manure pile is 150 yards away down a hill. Yes that is fun in the deep snow or after dark in the winter. Trudging back up the hill with the empty wheelbarrel is fun too. No lights at all down there. We won’t even talk about the fact that the manure pile is right next to the creek.
To get one horse in his turn-out you need to walk 60 or 75 yards down the fenceline to the gate. Yet there was room in the fenceline about 20 feet from the barn for a gate. Trekking out to the gate is really fun in bad weather. She throws hay on the ground so it gets churned in the mud. They have no run-in or real shelter. I just hope the weather forecast is accurate in the morning when I decide to turn out or keep them in since I work an hour away. You always have to lead the horses in and out of the barn. She has 2 fields and uses both fields at the same time so no sacrifice area. She uses shavings in the stalls.
She does have a water faucet between the two fields with an outlet so uses 2 heated muckbuckets in the field so at least that is smart.
She does not have hot water in the barn. No area to bathe or cold hose a horse that doesn’t create mud. This barn is much more time consuming to take care of for the same amount of horses as the other farm.
Thanks Brian - great info.
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Teach your horses to come when called. You’d be shocked how many people have to go get their horses, surprised me as I’ve got a holler than goes pretty far and the horses almost always come running.
I had a 14 stall barn in my old place ,state of the art. well new place has run in shed with stall on one side in case … After I built it horses where playing king of the Mt. so I put a 12 foot overhang on the shed which made all the kids happy.
I keep everything real SIMPLE. I’m lucky in that I do not have mud issue just sand in dry lot which is 80 feet from my house . I use rubber mats to feed hay , several so the bossy mare can’t get it all. Also I feed grain in black feed tubs ON THE GROUND. Yep started with buckets hung on post and had two chokes, never again ; eating off the ground although I also add water.
I have my horses trained to go to their feed tub and put their noses in their halters before they get fed. Haulters are tied to fence post with old twine and they are breakaway.
Takes about 15 minutes to feed 5 horses. The water troughs are in dry lot and whoever built this house put an outside hot water facet. I use that with a hose to break up any ice in the winter or just warm the water on a bitter day… Easy and fast.
If you use a wheel barrow, solid/ no-flat tires are a must. No flat tire on a freezing cold morning when you need to empty the wheel barrow
Another winter trick is to use a short, scrap hose. I use a 15 ft hose that just reaches to the water trough. It is easy to pick up drain and hang up after each use.
Keep things you use in places they are needed.
The hay room/area should have scissors for opening bales and a trash can for twine, and tools for keeping it tidy. Feed room has broom/dustpan/trash can for easy clean up of spills.
I have brooms and trash cans in places they are needed - people are more likely to clean up if they don’t have to hunt down a broom or walk all the way to the other end of the barn to throw something away.
Keep multiples of things you use often - scrub brushes, brooms, hoof picks, lead ropes, etc and store them everywhere they are used. I have a scrub brush behind every outdooor water trough - if you notice it needs scrubbing, you can just do it right then and there without having to go look for a scrub brush.
I have a few hammers scattered around the barn too - I bought four and hung them in various areas so you can bang a nail back in or do whatever you need to do without having to hunt down a hammer.
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Okay- so ideas how to keep things cool? Its VERY hot- the barn will need to be resided and windows and 2 doors (I kid you not) in the south ONE sliding door = no cross breeze!
They came home on Tuesday. YIPPEE! This farm needs a TON of work- so its a slow process and my son in law has been amazing fixing and building and moving things. It is a REAL mess. Hay net from ETSY is here, dolly has been used often, black dump cart, hose reel ordered and arrive this weekend. Thanks to you all!
In the never ending experience of keeping horses at home-
First night- Reason opened all the stall doors and walked about. He does that. Ya know. Latches? Puzzles to be figured out. Snaps were not yet on the doors silly me. (They are now)
2nd night- The water main broke under the house. I worked until 3 am- got home blurry eyed- and heard water- In the crawl space. And the shut off to the well? STRIPPED! That was a muddy mess…thank goodness for a good farmer that read his email at 7am
3rd night- Reason jumped (WTH!!) the fence to remind me that I was a bit late for AM feeding- worked to 3 again- and since I had been up for so long I thought sleeping in might be okay for his majesty just this once. it was 9AM- he said it was TOO late. So, out he went to find me. He used to do this as a younger horse, but now he is huge and 9. Oh- and the fence? 4 1/2 feet- vinyl. Not one board out of place. Neighbors saw him. Pony was on the correct side-thankfully. Its gonna be interesting.
You’re going to need some fans! :yes:
Ideally, the sealed motor ones, so you don’t burn down your barn. Like this one here.
And maybe some hot wire to keep Reason where he’s supposed to be?
What an adventure!! :lol:
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Sending some sunshine JINGLES for some rest and recovery for you this weekend ~
((hugs)) laced with strength and patience ~
An exhaust fan will help immensely ! Consider for later.
*Closed motor industrial level ceiling fans down the aisle.
Until then
** a HUGE DRUM FAN ON WHEELS FOR THE AISLE and some (closed motor) fans hung on individual stalls.
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We have those fans-- they ROCK! We have several draft crosses that have the “lazy lip” (you know, when the bottom lip flops…) well the fan is so great and they all love it so much…and Mr. Lazy Lip’s lip blows in the breeze! We have them hung up on the tops of the stall partitions and it blows down on them. Instead of head on on the stall bars.
I don’t know what to tell you about keeping Reason in his field, but did he knock on the front door and ask for pancakes? Because ponies (and big horses) like pancakes :yes: ask me how I know :winkgrin:
Oh an adventure indeed. And I love it!
So, product reviews! The cart mentioned earlier has arrived and it is GREAT! Love it! Perfect for me, easy to pull and Oh- the ability to dump is pretty perfect!
The hay net from Etsy is also pretty wonderful! I am buying the suggested carabiner and going to hang it soon. Want to make sure, however, that all the hornet and bee nests are gone first.
Still awaiting the hose reel.
I also ordered https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0…?ie=UTF8&psc=1 yesterday to hold grain- and it arrives today. With only 2, and feeding very little, I am hoping these work.
So far, so good. Love having them home!
Bumping this thread up because we bought a Tarter Equine Hay Basket this week. Our horses love it, LOVE it:D. So far, no waste, and they’re not gobbling the hay down too quickly, either, even though they’ve previously been fed from small hole hay nets for years. If they do speed up, we’ll purchase some netting to cover it, but I’m waiting to see how it goes.
I’m very glad to see them eating their hay from a much more natural position, too.
$295 from the Co-Op. Considering how much we’ve spent on small hole hay nets, hay pillows, webbing hay bags, various other hay feeders, etc., over the last several years, it looks as though the Hay Basket may be a bargain.
i second that, it’s a lifesaver
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My farm is woefully inefficient, as this thread has emphasized…sob!
I will ditto the suggestion of muck tubs for water troughs. With minis, I’ve found that often with big troughs, the water is filthy before it has been consumed. I use several tubs per corral, generally alternating them so that as one empties I can clean it, but they are never without water. You do have to be careful in winter that they don’t freeze to the ground, but in 15 years, I’ve lost one this way.
And for the obvious item that I totally missed – frost-free spigots siphon the water out if you leave the hose in the trough. I thought we had a leaky tub at first… Duhh.
