Loves & Hates of YOUR Barn?

[Pally]

I don’t have my own place, but I’ve worked in enough to develop some strong preferences. I’ll spare you my 900 page dream-farm plan and stick to some key loves/pet peeves. Keep in mind I’m from a place with hot summers but cold winters (and May 28ths apparently ), so that colors my preferences.

Loves:

• Screen doors inside the main barn doors. Allow you to shut horses/dogs/cats in (and wildlife out) without blocking your breezes.

• Blanket drying racks (typically these have in the “utility room” if there is one, or wherever your water heater is)

• Laundry. Must. Bonus if you can close the door on it, because the sound of laundry drives me bonkers.

• Small chunk of post set next to the main post, for gate to rest on in closed position. Helps with Sagging Gate Syndrome (and related Impossible to Open Gate Chain Syndrome). I also like that I can rest the gate there so it is “closed” without relatching while I walk out to get the horse.

• Heaters in the groom/washstalls. Nice after baths on borderline days. Really nice “seatwarmer” for winter rides.

• Storage!!! Put in as much as you can, you’ll never regret it. To subcategorize these loves:
  - Dedicated trunk storage (room or area meant for them in tack room).
  - A place to put your forks, wheelbarrows, etc that is out of the way and not just an afterthought.
  - Shavings storage. If you are putting bulk amounts of hay in a loft or separate building, have a place to keep an extra day/few days supply in the barn. Saves you needing to drop/cart hay when you are super busy or it’s stormy, plus you have extra handy for stuff like trailering, if horses are in, etc.
  - Somewhere for offseason blankets.
  - Shelves/cabinets in one of your climate controlled areas for extra & seldom used “products” (like hoof packings, first aid, liniments, etc, etc). Less spoilage and less clutter in the wash/grooming stall itself.

Water is another category with subcategories:
- Spigots. Make sure you have enough. Don’t just think about the every day chores, but the less frequent tasks like pressure washing and filling trailer buckets.
- Gotta love a frost-free hydrant at each paddock!
- Sink, particularly one with the pull-out faucet that can switch to spray mode. You wouldn’t think it’s a thing when there is a wash stall, but I still used it all. the. time.
- Wash stall drain that is tough enough to handle hair and grain, and also doesn’t need to be deep cleaned ridiculously often.

Hates

• Trunks (and other “floor items”) in aisles, especially around stalls.
• Hoses.
• Clutter/cramming too much into one area.
• Poorly sealed doors (that result in indoor snowdrifts).
• Not having water where I need it when it’s time to clean or fill something.
• Trick gates (extra hate if they have potential to turn electric while I’m opening them).

Hope this helps bring more to mind.

[walktrot]

I moved to a new barn in November because my 27 y.o. gelding was not getting adequate care after 19 years (short summary below) on pasture board. This new barn did not advertise so most of the local horse community has no idea it is there. It was on the market (asking $1.1 million), which I knew when we moved. I’ve looked at all of the local boarding barns. This is literally the only facility that has what we both need and it’s 15 min. from my house. We are on the verge of doing our Century Ride (6/21) so that was part of the decision. My retired vet/friend suggested it. It’s as close as you will get to an almost-perfect barn and almost-perfect barn owner. She looked at all sorts of barns before she built which explains a lot of the little things everyone enjoys. DH told me quite a bit about the process.

First, watch out for the local building code and enforcement. This was the first horse facility built in a primarily-rural town (in southern Maine). They required

• There was only one spot where the indoor, about 80x 175, could be built.
• The planning board looked at the total square footage of all the structures. They required 100 parking spaces for 20 stalls, and a sprinkler system for every square foot. They backed off on that.
• I couldn’t imagine why a million-dollar farm didn’t have a bathroom. It would have required a monstrous leech field and a smaller indoor for a toilet and 2 sinks.
• We use an easily accessible half bath in the house.
• The sink in the heated tack room has an instant hot water maker and a bucket under the sink drain. No big deal.

There are 2 aisleways and 2 barns back-to-back.

• Aisles are matted.

• Stalls have pillow-style mats and regular mats under the overhang.

• Heated Nelson waterer in every stall. Bowl is removed, emptied and cleaned when stall is picked.

• The outside sections each have seven 12x12 stalls with a French-style back door to a run. We have the prime real estate - right place right time - on the parking lot end on the south side (turned down north) with an oversize run where he can observe the activity or snooze in the sun.

• The runs are never closed except during atrocious weather. It’s perfect for a horse who won’t do stalls - works like a paddock with a shed.
  -The center sections have three 12x12 stalls, total of 6, with grills between stalls.

• Every stall has a section of bars left open so they can stick their heads into the aisle and monitor meal delivery status.

• Each aisle has an alcove with a with a frost-free hydrant, hangers for regular brooms, push broom, and pitch forks, water bucket, poop bucket, shelves floor-to-ceiling for odds and ends, electricity and hanger for leaf blower. (aisles are swept, followed by the blower).

• Huge grain room backs up on the indoor stalls, door to both aisles.

• The connector between the two aisles has ample room to stack hay tossed down from the overhead loft.

• Scale hangs there so hay and grain can be weighed.

• The other wall has a labeled hook for emergency blankets for each horse.

• The heated tack room is on the other side of that wall. It’s huge.

• There is a refrigerator which I wasn’t sure about using. It was stuffed with beer and I wasn’t sure if they allowed soda or water.

• There is a real stairway to the hay loft.

• Large cabinet for emergency medical supplies.

• Door to both aisles.

• White boards in the aisles, tack room, and grain room for stall assignments, turnout plan by horse, contact info by horse for every owner, quote of the day, feeding schedule by horse, “recipes” for each meal by horse.

• Grain buckets labeled with the horse’s name and meal: Dobbin A.M., Dobbin P.M. Dobbin Late Night. Next meal set up ahead.

• Sound system speakers in indoor and barn area.

I love it. I wish we could have had more than 3 months with the original owner. It changed hands on 3/1 to a new owner who bought a farm, not a horse farm, to try out the life style. The start was rocky, but we are over the bump. Same high level of service, new owner asks questions and listens before making decisions to change things. She now owns 2 horses.

He was not receiving appropriate care, starting with an inadequate supply of hay and significant weight loss. He was on pasture board with deteriorating conditions outside, especially the mud and muck. He won’t tolerate stalls. It’s small world so I see people at the new barn (vets, farriers, etc) who are still going to the old barn and are well aware of the situation. The prior owner had a mild stroke when she was 39 and is now 51. Putting it all together it appears to be early onset dementia.

The new barn was well thought out and I haven’t found anything to put on a list of dislikes. That excludes the DH at the old barn who fed out round bales every 48 hours. They regularly go for 8-12 hours without forage. The new price is $650 but I don’ have to do anything such as masks and fly sheets. Blankets are done when needed at no charge. Fly spray if it is left by the stall.

[EquestrianRunner]

• Small chunk of post set next to the main post, for gate to rest on in closed position. Helps with Sagging Gate Syndrome (and related Impossible to Open Gate Chain Syndrome). I also like that I can rest the gate there so it is “closed” without relatching while I walk out to get the horse.

One of the barns I grew up riding at had this. I always called it the “gate door stop” lol!!! It was THE BEST

[ElementFarm]

We just purchased a new farm, after having rented one, owned another, and between the two of us (DH is also horsey) boarded in probably 30 different commercial barns in multiple countries.
We’ve learned a few things along the way. Some are things we can implement in the new facility, while others are limited due to climate, topography, and finances (or lack thereof).
This is a private farm, no boarders, and we have 9 stalls and generally 8-9 horses at any given time.

Love:
-Block barn – stay cooler in summer, warmer in winter, and easily withstands hurricanes.
-Separate hay storage – hay building behind barn means reduced dust and fire risk to main barn.
-Washer/Dryer in the tack room. I wash my pads after every use.
-Oversize tack room with half bath – love having facilities for farrier/vet without them seeing my messy house!
-Shavings bin – something I never thought I’d be excited about. But it’s 10x15, with a retractable (motorized) roof and front double doors that open all the way back, so it’s super easy for a truck to dump a load in. And the roof keeps everything dry with no tarps to mess with.
-Driveway gate – I love knowing that my dogs and any loose horses will be confined to the property. They have electric openers, so you’re not getting in/out of your vehicle every time you leave.
-LOCATION!!! This truly deserves the capital letters and exclamation points. Our new farm back up to the famous Walthor Moss Foundation, with over 4,000 acres of trails dedicated to horses (so no bikers, dog walkers, etc). I can walk out, mount, and ride directly on the trails. Or I can cross the quiet street and have access to more trails. This is why we sold our other farm and purchased this one.

Don’t love:
-Color: the barn interior is currently hunter green, which makes it seem dim/dark, even with lots of LED lights in the aisle and stalls. Can’t wait to repaint it. We’ll do white uppers and tan lowers to keep things clean and bright.
-Grass arena: at the last farm, I had a sand/all-weather arena with commercial quality LED lights. The new farm has a grass arena. It’s larger, which is nice, but not ideal in wet weeks or during winter daylight limitations. Lights are in the budget for next year, and footing hopefully the year after that.
-Wide aisle. I know a lot of you looooover your wide aisle. I do not. Mine is 14’ wide, and it’s a nuisance to blow/sweep, horses in crossties try to turn around, and even reaching the crossties is a pita. I don’t drive my truck or tractor in, so the wide aisle just is more work than worth.

Other thoughts:
-Many have said they’re frustrated with wood board fencing. I agree that boards can be a lot of work, and show their age quickly. We have 3 rail fencing which is way nicer. The rails don’t split, bow or sag as easily as boards, and it’s a little more rustic looking, so those changes don’t really show. The creosote lasts forever, so I don’t have to worry about painting either. We have the perimeter all lined with no-climb wire, so farm dogs stay in, outside dogs/coyotes stay out.
-Pool – okay, the pool goes with the house, but there is NOTHING better than finishing schooling rides and/or cleaning stalls/picking pastures in NC Aug heat and humidity, and jumping into a pool to cool off and unwind.
-Having frost free water at each paddock is convenient. All our pastures but one have access to a run-in shed with lights and fans, which is fabulous.
-Turnout. We have 10 well-maximized acres, but wish we had more. 15 would be ideal. And while we’re at it, I wish I had irrigation systems for them all, so I can keep grass going all summer without worrying about the ‘normal’ Aug drought.

After decades of boarding, having my own farm, even an imperfect one, is a dream come true. I love the relationship I have with my horses doing all their care, and seeing them out my windows. I definitely know them all a lot better this way. We made a lot of improvements to the last farm, and have many planned for the new one now. It’s not bad at all, but in another 5-8 years, it should be REALLY nice.

[Nova2000]

@ElementFarm

Shavings bin – something I never thought I’d be excited about. But it’s 10x15, with a retractable (motorized) roof and front double doors that open all the way back, so it’s super easy for a truck to dump a load in. And the roof keeps everything dry with no tarps to mess with.

Tell me more about this??

[Bluey]

Sounds heavenly.

Any pictures you could share, please?

[ElementFarm]

@Bluey and @Nova2000

sure. The roof sort of telescopes in three sections to open/close. A chain attached to a boxed motor runs the whole thing.

The farm had it when we moved in. Initially we had no intention of keeping it because we’d always used bagged shavings. But now that we’re used to using loose bulk, and I see how much money it saves, I’m a convert!

[Nova2000]

That is so freaking cool!! I’ve never seen anything like that!

[Willesdon]

A design habit in New Zealand is to have a slim gap between the gate post and the fence post such that livestock can’t get out but humans can squeeze through so there is no need to open the gate for access. Simple genius.

[frugalannie]

@ElementFarm, feel free to adopt me at any time. What a lovely set up you have in a perfect location!

@Willesdon, we have that at one of our gates, but we also will overlap fence sections (split rail) by about 2 1/2- 3 feet leaving an 18 inch gap or so to accomplish the same thing wherever a crossing makes sense. If we have a weanling who’s ambitious, we put a couple of ropes across the gap until it gets too big.

[sascha]

@Willesdon

a slim gap between the gate post and the fence post such that livestock can’t get out but humans can squeeze through

Love this and it works great … and then there are calves … and heifers who think they are still as slim as calves LOL!

[Bluey]

Wow, those pictures are great, what a neat set-up!

We will consider something like that here, is such a great idea!

Thank you very much.

[JB]

A neighbor has this, and I thought about it for our farm but didn’t really have a need with our layout

[a1eventing]

We just finished building. Everyone’s need are different. I have 2 personal horses.
Barn is connected to the house. This is not everyone’s ‘cup of tea’ but it is perfect for us to be able to easily access the barn by walking through the laundry room of the house directly into the heated/ cooled tack room.

LOVE’s

• 12x14 stalls
• Water built into stall wall (has short 5ft horse that allows you to fill buckets by reaching through bars). Horses can’t tug on the hose
• Dutch doors on front and back of stalls. We had them build taller than normal so no fear of horse challenging door or leaning too hard on them
• I have a 6ft x 4ft closet with sliding barn doors in the wash stall. The closet stores all grooming supplies, sprays, soaps, etc. and saddle pads. Keeps everything you need tidy and with doors closed no problem with getting wet
• We had electric outlets installed above stalls for fans. They are operated on a wall switch.
• Lot of lighting. I have lots of different ways to light up the barn or just have dim lights for enjoying hanging out in the barn
• Half bath in the tack room. Large laundry sink in the tack room with full laundry
• 12 foot overhang off side of barn with stalls
• Small paddock outside barn with footing

[Bluey]

Wow, very spiffy, what a neat barn and so beautiful also.

[frugalannie]

What Bluey said!

[baybrio]

@sascha

and then there are calves

I have a cow named Amelia Earhart because she went through these spaces as a calf to be free . Her mother was not pleased. Works great for horses.

[baybrio]

@a1eventing

but it is perfect

Yes it is! Did you design this yourselves?

[Pally]

@a1eventing

This is not everyone’s ‘cup of tea’ but it is perfect for us to be able to easily access the barn by walking through the laundry room of the house directly into the heated/ cooled tack room.

Maybe not everyone’s cup of tea, but after seeing those pictures, I’m packing my bags to move in with you

Seriously though, beautiful!

[a1eventing]

Actually yes. I drew the plan for the house and barn on my computer. Tropical storm coming through here today. It’s so nice to walk out in flip flops to check on the horses and to top off hay and water =)