Horses only in for meals?

[Texarkana]

@B_and_B

Can you describe the swing wall, what works or doesn’t?

I’ll try! I wish I had pictures.

The one I really liked was made of oak planks (2x12?) like you would use for kickboards. It was framed in metal with a smooth weld, with metal support braces. It had heavy duty hinges and was constructed so that it would lay flat against the perpendicular wall when open. It had heavy duty latches that held the wall in place without a lot of movement or vibration if a horse were to kick it or lean on it.

I believe it was custom made by local Amish builders.

ETA: this is a similar picture, though it didn’t have the metal bars.

Swing Away Partitions -good for broodmare stalls -brilliant! | Barn stalls,...

[2DogsFarm]

@Texarkana That is horrific & coming out of nowhere, also enough to make anyone reconsider.
Maybe my success is due to a small all gelding herd?

I have never had a truly Alpha horse until the latest TWH & he is a benevolent despot.
Never seen him do more than flatten an ear or give The Look.
Including when the mini sashays into his stall to share hay & checks the horse’s feedpan for empty status.
Pony has gotten very mildly aggressive to the mini, but never more than an initial Outta My Way! nip on the butt.

Judging by the assorted piles I have picked out of one stall (chosen that day as the Men’s Room) all 3 hang together there.

[2DogsFarm]

Hackney Pony taking a morning Muck Siesta, right behind the stalls.

[SugarCubes]

Update:
The old man (my 20 year old gelding) has made it abundantly clear that he would like his stall at night, thank you very much! Each night when I’d check on them before bed he’d trot to the fence and follow me back and forth begging to come inside. I finally gave in last night and he was much happier this morning. Until he has his dutch door installed and can come and go at will, he’ll get to come in at night. The queen mare, on the other hand, is more than happy staying outside.

[horseman1985]

Totally agree!!!

[2DogsFarm]

@SugarCubes
We gotta do what they tell us they want.
A variation of “If Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy!”

[Weezer]

My small barn is two stalls in a row with an aisle and then a third stall. The stall at one end and the aisle have a door to outside so the horses can flow in and out. I put the sliding doors for the stalls on the dividing walls (rather than the front) so it’s open all the way through. The stall on its own is closed off so nobody gets trapped in there. If I need to keep one horse in, it goes in the end stall so the other two can keep flowing through. I’ve had this set up for 10 years and I love it.

[SugarCubes]

I’m trying to picture your set up because it sounds very similar to mine, but I have limited options for in/out access. My last barn I built from scratch and it had paddocks off of each stall which opened to the pastures. It was SO convenient!

My new barn has an enclosed lean to off the left side which is where hay is stored (and will remain!!) The right side of the barn is adjacent to a giant waterfall and koi pond which is several layers of boulders. So, the only option I have is to put doors off the back of the barn, which is where the drylots are. My plan is to put a door off the back left stall which will then go out to the dry lot, and a second door at the end of the aisle which will end up opening to the same paddock as the stall door, but maybe I can create a chute or something so that horse can go in/out at will too? It sounds like that’s kind of what you did so I’m really trying to picture that!

ETA: It would probably be helpful to give you my current barn layout for ideas… when you walk in, there’s a feed room on your left, tack room on your right. Then the left side has two stalls, right side has a wash rack, two stalls, and a people door with a small deck and some stairs (another reason I can’t make the stalls on the right in/out)