Help Me Redesign My Farm

[kaya842]

Needing to redesign the setup of the barn and potentially the paddock(s)/ pasture(s) to maximize efficiency and make the facility more suitable for my needs. There is a LOT of work I’d like to do but I’m on a tight budget so efficiency is the name of the game with both everyday tasks (time) and up front costs. I’m only looking to have 2-3 horses (I think 4+ would be more than I can handle chore wise and more than the land can handle without significant investment).

This is the general layout of the horse area. There is a lake all the way to the right and additional acreage with the lake but that acreage is not cleared at all and will need the most work. The area depicted is ~ 4 acres total. The two hash lines are where the land drops off/ goes downhill. The blue asterisk is the water hydrant.

This is the current set up inside the main barn. Blue = water, red = electric panel. We have a total of 5 12x12 Priefert panel stalls. The barn is not quite 3 stalls wide.

This was my original proposed barn layout.

Must haves: Wash area (will not have hot water), enclosed tack storage - currently everything gets dirty from sitting out in the barn, shared water set ups - would like to invest in 1-2 auto waterers that can serve a variety of areas, riding area, grooming space inside with good lighting and room to maneuver for vet and farrier, round bale storage that isn’t a tarp.

Small squares and bulk sawdust can be stored in the hay barn. The shed is not usable (needs torn down). Our tractor can fit inside the barn so could potentially store rounds on the side of stalls 3 & 4. Originally I wanted to add runs behind stalls 1 & 2 with a track that would run down the long side (where manure pile and hay storage are now) and somehow loop over to the dry lot side but it seems impossible. The tractor has to be able to drive from driveway around hay barn down to the lake for maintenance reasons. There is no shelter outside for the horses which is the only reason we really need stalls. If I could get them a sided shelter in the paddock and add fans, I think the stalls would become a mostly moot point. The horses live mostly in the dry lot with a round bale under a hay hut. The terrain is incredibly hilly. The only flat space is between the 2 barns and between the paddock and manure pile. I was thinking about grading and putting limestone in that whole area making it an all weather dry lot I can also ride on but I’m worried about it holding up to traffic (vet + farrier park in that area, shavings and hay are delivered there, it’s the only place to turn a trailer around). The riding area / “pasture” is one long hill but is the largest cleared area I have. Fine to ride on but very challenging for greenies and it does get and stay wet due to being lower than the rest of the property.

[Willesdon]

Just some general points.

You can’t have too much light or too much water. Costly but it might be worth putting them in.

Good, effective ventilation will keep your horses healthier all year round. Look into roof level vents and also sidings, don’t just rely on the end doors.

When planning a muck heap, consider drainage and your water supply/flow to minimize contamination, pollution, flies and how far you need to push wheelbarrows. There might also be some local regs to check out about water protection and waste disposal.

In NZ, people leave a small gap between the gate post and the fence, too narrow for livestock but squeezable for people. It saves opening gates all the time.

You need plenty of hard standing in front of the barn to allow for large vehicles to turn, make deliveries, allow for quick evacuation.

Vets and farriers benefit from level, well lit, dry areas in which to work, not too far from their vehicles which carry all their equipment.

More specific to your plan. It is really helpful to have storage closer to the main barn. A hay barn set well away in another pasture is a pain to reach in rain, snow, frost, gales, heat waves, particularly if you propose using it for equipment storage too. It is also wasted pasture space.

A run in shelter is nice to have but most horses I know seem to prefer just using one as a wind break or as scratching post Personally, I think horse shelters are for human benefit and horses laugh at us. Dry lots are a different thing entirely!

You have a slope below the barn. One really effective thing I’ve seen was a vehicle standing cut into a slope below the barn (three walls, concrete floor). Muck barrows could be tipped straight from the barn directly into the tractor trailer below for disposal. It was a real work saver.

[luvmyhackney]

Not sure if you have considered it, but a track system might be worth looking into. With 4 acres and 2-3 horses, the grass won’t last long unless you have limited turnout on it.

Then you could save the riding area from wear and tear.

I’d remove the shed and add a loafing station in the dry lot off the hay barn if possible

I’d move the manure pile closer to the barn if possible and use that slope to create a nice composting area. not sure how steep or what options are. There used to be govt grants for it. Not sure if that program is still in tact or not.

[LCDR]

@Willesdon

In NZ people leave a small gap between tthe gate post and the fence, too narrow for livestock but squeezable for people. It saves opening gates all the time.

I have those skinny pass-throughs at my farm too. The fence builder suggested them and I had doubts at the time.

Ten years later and I still find them to be one of the best farm suggestions I have received. I had originally intended the design pictured below as it was all I’d seen before.

This is what I have instead. This one mid-fence allows me to walk straight from my back porch directly towards the arena without extra steps to a gate or climbing the fence.

[js]

When possible, I prefer to have all the stalls on one side of the barn. We’ve always had paddocks of each stall that turned out into their pasture; having everyone on one side makes turn out/in much easier, walking down one side just seems to make feeding etc. a bit more streamlined.

[Mcl1]

@Willesdon

A run in shelter is nice to have but most horses I know seem to prefer just using one as a wind break or as scratching post Personally, I think horse shelters are for human benefit and horses laugh at us.

My mustang definitely primarily uses the run in for these two purposes but my TB loves his shed. I bed it with shavings and he runs for it anytime there is bad weather and sleeps in it when it’s cold out. When we had a super cold snap here neither horse would leave the shed.

We bought a “portable” three sided steel run in. It is pretty easy to move with a truck so we adjust it for the time of year (could also move between pastures, etc.). We are in a very windy area so I have it chained to 5 ft ground anchors on all four sides and haven’t had an issue with it going anywhere.

[kaya842]

The hay barn (and all structures) are existing. We have been here for 5 years and have been making do but it’s time to get things in order and stop bandaiding things. There isn’t really any flat space add more storage without taking away from the small flat space used to turn trailers around.

I’m going out and measuring what I can and going to take a video to give a better idea of how hilly it is.

The existing manure pile is far (especially from the existing dry lot) but it works well as it wasted land otherwise. The land really drops off right there so everything rolls down hill.

I’d love to figure out a track set up! Just not sure how.

The pasture is more for their entertainment and kicking up heels vs a source of calories. I’ve historically fed hay year round and plan to continue doing so since what grass we do have isn’t enough to sustain.

I’ve thought about getting a portable shed - they are more expensive than I’d like to spend currently ($7-8K).

[4horses]

I have 5 horses on 3 acres. A track system is a must. There’s 1.5 acres in the front pasture for my mare and foal, then a roundpen in the shade that mostly functions as a drylot for them. My other 3 horses share the back pasture which is divided into a track space and 2 small side pastures.

Now that we have the track, they don’t actually use it that much unless they feel good and want to go for a gallop. It does give them more room to move but with the heat they mostly sit around anyway. The only issue I have had with the track is one of my horses likes to eat the bark off the trees. I have to electric fence off the trees during the winter. It’s a terrible habit she came with unfortunately. Sometimes I think she does it just for fun because she was stripping the bark off the pine trees.

[Demerara_Stables]

How big are these buildings? What is your climate? Do you have a lot of heat, snow?

Here’s what I’d do for the property layout:

Put a roof off of one side of either the main barn (option 1) or hay barn (option 2), wherever you have a wall to block prevailing winds, if the size/height of the buildings allows. This is your non -stall shelter. Turn the area in front of the barn into your dry lot as you planned (blue lines to indicate dry lot), and possibly incorporate the existing dry lot, or re plant the current dry lot to be new pasture/grass paddock. There are a lot of mud grid options out there that would allow you to put any number of types of rock/gravel/sand/etc down to make them both horse and vehicle friendly. This is potentially your biggest cost but if you have mud, I’d argue the most important. If you choose a coarse sand you could also ride on it, depending on the size of the area.

For the barn, I’d put all 4 stalls on the side of your new dry lot with dutch doors that open to the lot. This allows you to leave the stalls open in really nasty weather (say, rain for days on end), or allows you to skip the roof off the side of the barn.* It also allows you to drop feed without moving horses. I have this set up (stalls that open to the pasture) at my house and it is amazing how much of a time saver it is. They eventually learn what stall is theirs and it makes everything quicker. If you have the space, a door from the dry lot into the barn would be super helpful. I don’t have that and always walking through stalls to get to the field is weird.

*But still put a roof there when you can to keep rain out of the stalls

I’d put the tack room in the corner by the electric, because that’s probably where you’ll use most of it. Next to that is grooming/wash stall, where the water is, and for ease of tacking up. Then a door for cross breeze if you have the space, and that area can double as extra cross ties or rake/broom storage on the wall. Lastly, feed and hay room in the opposite corner. I’d have a door on each side of the barn - ideally all horse sized, one or two vehicle sized if you can swing it.

Also fwiw, I like the separate hay barn. It’s safer from a fire prevention perspective, and easier to bring in a large load of hay if you’re opening huge hay barn doors and not trying to move each bale by hand into the barn then into a feed room. I have a separate hay shed and keep 3-4 bales in my feed room at a time (5 horses). Moving hay twice a week isn’t a huge deal, and if there’s going to be really nasty weather, I can stack probably 2-3 weeks worth of hay in there (I’ve never needed to).

[clanter]

@kaya842

I’m only looking to have 2-3 horses

then only build three stalls as if there is a fourth it will find a horse, the extra Priefert panel stall can easily be resold

[ChocoMare]

I’ll ditto the Track System… research Paddock Paradise to start learning BUT it can overwhelm you at first. Take a deep breath and keep researching elsewhere too. Using your current drawings, add in all the topography like “rocks/dirt,” “hill,” “sand” etc etc… then you can start drawing arrows from stalls to Hay Hut, Hay Hut to water, Water to salt to make the horses move and make it efficient & simple for anyone.

Regardless of how much useable land you have, you can make it work for your place and your horses. While I technically own 10 acres, due to dense woods, swamp and a creek, the back 5 acres are not usable. So I designed a modified track system in the form of an upside down U for our 2 horses & donkey.

Our home sits in the middle of the open part of the upside down U… on the right is the huge run-in/wee feed room. It has fans for the summer, is on a concrete pad with mats & holds our massive hay cradle for a netted round bale.

In the middle (top of U) is a good size sand/hard ground paddock with a small run-in that can be closed if a horse needs confinement (old pic–Hay Hut sold), plus our large open-air hay barn (can hold 15 big round bales) and the well pump house.

Off & down to the left side, they cross a mostly dry creek bed to get to the large left side of the U where there’s lotsa of shade via trees & another small covering, some grass to nibble and the Bar-Bar-A Horse Drinker (HIGHLY recommend one!!! www.horsedrinker.com )

So they have a variety of terrain, they have to move for hay, water, shade and their favorite sandy rolling spot. Just that is enough to keep them all 95% self-trimming. I trim them, maybe, twice a year depending on weather.

So, look into it!!!

[trubandloki]

OP, you know your horses. So do what works for your horses.

I would not plan to have open stalls working as shelter. This might work fine. But when it goes wrong, it goes wrong in some really ugly ways. A cornered horse that can not get out is dangerous.
There are plenty of stories of this working great, there are also plenty of stories of it suddenly going very bad.

On the person walk through in the fence, the area that is just open would not work with some horses. They would take it as a challenge to get through there. These fence openings are great, but safer to have the style that does not have a visual opening that begs the trouble maker type to see how to destroy things.

Stalls that open to individual paddocks would be great, but with your layout that would probably use up too much space.

I do like the idea of adding a roof area on one of your buildings for shelter.

How do you plan to handle getting hay from your storage area and storage shed into the barn? Will you do this while the horses are in their stalls? Having those area fully enclosed in horse turn out makes it a little more difficult and worth thinking about.

With your stall layout you are taking away one of your man doors. Will that limit your ability to access the barn? When I have a hay wagon in my aisle (sometimes over night), I can not fit by it, so with out a door at both ends, I would not be able to take care of my horses.

[cardinale]

@trubandloki

I would not plan to have open stalls working as shelter. This might work fine. But when it goes wrong, it goes wrong in some really ugly ways. A cornered horse that can not get out is dangerous.

Making the entire front of a stall a swing gate can help avoid problems. I put 12’ wide swing gates on the front of run-in stalls/shelters.

[trubandloki]

@cardinale

@trubandloki

I would not plan to have open stalls working as shelter. This might work fine. But when it goes wrong, it goes wrong in some really ugly ways. A cornered horse that can not get out is dangerous.

Making the entire front of a stall a swing gate can help avoid problems. I put 12’ wide swing gates on the front of run-in stalls/shelters.

It may. Depends on your horses.
A good thing for the OP to add to their list of thoughts.

[Demerara_Stables]

@trubandloki

I would not plan to have open stalls working as shelter. This might work fine. But when it goes wrong, it goes wrong in some really ugly ways. A cornered horse that can not get out is dangerous.
There are plenty of stories of this working great, there are also plenty of stories of it suddenly going very bad.

Fair concern, but putting all four stalls opening to the field does not mean that you have to leave the stalls open all the time, but it does mean that you can have someone feed for you without handling horses which can be invaluable depending on who you have as a farm sitter. And if you have horses that know each other well, being able to leave the stalls open means they can come in and lay down in shavings whenever they want but also have access to move around.

[endlessclimb]

This was my set up, but the horses had other plans.

One mean bully horse screws it up for everyone, the owner included.

[Texarkana]

@endlessclimb

This was my set up, but the horses had other plans.

One mean bully horse screws it up for everyone, the owner included.

Yup.

I agree I like having all the stalls on one side with them opening into the paddock/pasture… but leaving them open for horses to come and go as they please only works until it doesn’t.

And even if it is currently working for someone, I learned the hard way that can change in the blink of an eye.

[chris10astra]

The marked image is a suggestion since I have a similar setup - I love having open stalls to a dirt sacrifice/riding area and then pastures connected to the dry lot for rotational grazing when grass is growing.

Put a water trough near the hydrant with a 4-6ft hose and they have a central place for water no matter where they are turned out.

I’m in the midwest (STL area, MO side) so I know about weather variables. Having available shelter with fans on timers during the summer days and heated buckets on thermostatically controlled outlets (turn on at 20F, turn off at 30F) during the winter nights means I basically leave the horses out all the time. It was only this recent July (a tornado went through my property!) that had me checking the horses during a non-feeding time over the past 5 years. (They were smart, stayed in the dry lot/stalls and it was hours after the tornado that they ventured into the wooded pasture that got hit.)

Yes, the horses can get cornered with open stalls, so that concern is something for OP to consider with their herd. I had one bully horse for a time and every morning there was a new scrape on someone, but that’s why that horse is no longer in my herd.

My stalls are also attached to 24x12 runs so if I have to stall due to miserable turnout footing there is some movement available. Even in the worst of winter days they can usually get some movement and sunshine, although last year was the first time I stalled for multiple days in a row with ice that was bringing down neighborhood horses. During that time they got “turnout” turns to be free in the barn aisle but that’s another story.

I have a similar setup and when the water/shelter/hay is central and the horses have autonomy for those resources it makes for significantly easier management. No lugging buckets, just feed and fill hay nets and the water trough near the barn, and open and close gates as needed.

I do not have a track but if I did, I would do something like this.

Rotational grazing is amazing. I don’t feed hay (unless they are in stalls for a few hours or getting tacked up/bodywork/vet/hooves trimmed…there’s always a hay net for them at the hitching post) for 5 equines for almost 1/2 of the year on about 3.5 acres of grass with 3-4 sections. If rotated well and mown regularly, the grass health and quality improves. See https://www.equiculture.net/

I know this doesn’t answer all the questions/variables (like the hay storage structure) but the layout is a thought and the basic idea works really well for me so I recommend it.

[trubandloki]

@Demerara_Stables

And if you have horses that know each other well,

I think this sentence would fit after one of those catchy statements like - say you know nothing about horses with out saying it.

Knowing each other has nothing to do with herd dynamics and horses getting along. Horses can know each other for their whole lives and still not like each other or still not be trusted in a confined space together.

[Texarkana]

@trubandloki

Horses can know each other for their whole lives and still not like each other or still not be trusted in a confined space together.

Or in my horse’s case, they can live peacefully with their friend for 5+ years, then one day try to kill their friend in the stall for reasons unknown.

In my case, we never figured out the reason. But even if we had figured out a reason, that wouldn’t have prevented it from happening out of the blue like it did. There were no clear signs it was coming.

I used to say the same thing about free access to stalls being fine for horses that got along. And it was fine for me for decades. But one horse ruined it all for me.