Help me design a maintenance free/ low maintenance farm.
I find we spend most of our time, especially the nice riding weather days (limited in the Midwest - it’s either too damn hot or too damn cold) on projects that could be less time consuming or completely eliminated by better design (ie instead of fixing the fence 1000 times, a metal pipe fence with a stand or two of hot wire would be low/ less maintenance; instead of filing, dumping, cleaning waters auto waterers ideally Bar A Bar A style where you don’t have a heating element to mess with; instead of painting the fence or other outside items a million times or replacing the rotted/ soft wood using composite lumber). This is a day dream project so no budget restrictions (and I find that in life it’s often worth paying more, even substantially, up front to have the peace of mind/ time saved that you won’t be constantly messing with it). Pile the ideas on!
I feel you. My farm is already pretty low maintenance but I went on a crusade this summer to try to make things as easy/fast as possible.
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My horses have private 24/7 turnout with access to their stalls. I graded the stone dust base and added mats. No longer have to use shavings… once a week I pick up all the manure, sweep and it looks good as new.
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Maybe not in a cold climate but I got larger troughs so I only have to deal with them once a week.
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In my dreamssss I would have a hay barn and tractor large enough to handle bundles of hay. I hate stacking hay and it’s a huge time sink every summer/fall.
Looking forward to other ideas here!
Good pasture and big water tanks. Of course having “good pasture” takes work. 
Mud-free paddocks, thanks to grading and stone dust, are pretty much life-altering.
And the private paddocks off the in/out stalls, and the group dry lot, and the generous rolling pastures at my dream farm are set up so that you only have to open a few gates and the horses can turn themselves out. And those automatic hay feeders, that dump hay into the stalls, would be helpful.
How did you accomplish the Mudfree part?
I have tried:
10+yrs ago, had sacrifice paddock dug down 9", geotextile base laid & road base (gravel in various sizes from fist-sized to less than an inch) laid & tamped over that.
Everywhere is mudfree except an area in back of the stalls. About 6’ out from stall doors.
Horses have free access to stalls 24/7/365 - even in Midwest Winter.
That area gets disgusting, worse with wet weather.
Think: ankle-deep boot-sucking muck 
Twice I’ve had the place dug down to the geotex & new gravel added.
Last attempt was 2yrs ago & it’s back to Square One.
June 2019 (new gravel not yet down):
I do pick the area, not 100%, but damn close & especially make sure to keep the area shown poopless.
What else can I do?
Otherwise my Low Maintenance comes from having horses Out more than In.
I might pick a pile from each stall in a day & thats usually after a night when they’ve chosen to sleep in the stalls (evidenced by bedhead & shavings on sides)
I have a 50gal food grade barrel that serves as a trough right out front of the barn. Easily filled by hose attached to the hydrant inside the barn.
In Winter, when I’m too lazy to drain a hose, I keep it topped up bucket-brigade style with old 3gal supplement buckets.
Stalls have heated buckets that get a lot less use than the barrel.
I have a large farm with 20 stalls that we’ve essentially shut down and no longer do boarding and training…just have my personal horses (it was just too much work and we didn’t make enough to make the headache worth it). So the design is super for a lesson/training barn. It sucks for having just my 3 horses! LOL
I wish I could have stalls with dutch doors that go out into private turnouts (that would then go direct out to larger grass turnouts)…right now it’s all walking them in/out.
We actually just installed 2 Bar Bar A waterers!! I am so excited about those! We ordered two more…that will cover us for the fields we use in the winter. No more chipping ice is like the best thing I’ve ever invested money in! Can you tell I’m excited!?! Those were my early Christmas present from my family:)
We have water piped to the stalls which is very easy…but we do have to shut it off and drain it in the winter if it gets too cold. Usually that’s only for a week or two in the winter, but it is still a nuisance…but overall having the water pipes run to the stalls is way easier than dragging a hose.
Dealing with hay is another issue - we have a loft and have switch to a company who will deliver and stack. I still have to drop down and stack some for the week, but not sure how to make that easier.
Ooh, I love topics like this. We’re about to put in 2 big sheds – one for hay, trailer and a tack room and washbay, and one with 3 big yards for the horses. I’m trying to make sure they are as perfect as possible (on a budget). On Mon we measured them out then I pretended to use them – who knows what the neighbours thought 
. I live in a climate where the horses live out 24/7 for 8-9mths and come in overnight through the wettest part of winter.
My key things -
Least number of steps – big things like having the barn/sheds in the center of the property and small things like being able to tack up without walking back and forth multiple times.
Everything works / no awkward things – gates can be opened/closed with one hand, swing easily and are located in the right places. We’ve replaced small gates with bigger gates and put 4 new gates in – it’s made a huge difference. Good retractable hoses in the right places. Auto filling troughs in all the pastures. Really good lights.
Good access for things like hay making tractors, fertilizer truck
Fencing that is low maintenance – I have 2 strands of electrified horse rope, lowest strand is about 2’ off the ground. This allows the horses & cows to graze right under it and I can also easily duck through it.
Technology – everything runs off my phone – electric fences, farm water pump, flood lights, shed lights, garage door, electric blankets ……
Layout that is efficient – our place is flat and it’s all pasture. There are two long boundaries that are fenced off ditches that we have to keep maintained – other than that there are no awkward areas.
At some point we’re going to have to replace all the fence posts (they are very old and rotten and we joke that the horse rope is the only thing holding them up). Will definitely have a think about changing up the layout of the paddocks to be even better.
So last year, my mom and I decided to replace all the turnout fence (we were stuck home with Covid so why not? And we had actually bought the lumber right at the start of Covid, before the prices went sky high).
So a few areas, we have dense woods along the post/rail fence. So we went around and trimmed back most of the branches (there used to be a riding path all the way around but the woods had overgrown it). As we trimmed some of the wooded sections back…several sections of fence fell down!!! LOL Made it easier not to have to pull those posts…we just made sure to change the fence line a bit so we weren’t drilling new holes where the old ones were.
I’ll say it again: Dutch doors that open into the paddocks/pastures. Leading horses to/from the barn is such a huge time suck.
I also think round bales in covered feeders are a lot lower maintenance for paddocks and pastures than feeding small bales outside. Of course, you need the equipment to handle them and a good place to store them.
I have none of the above at the moment.
If you’re keeping horses in a small herd situation, I like the setup of central shared dry lot with water, hay, shade and shelter, and with gates leading to each pasture. This is then “home base”, and you can leave one gate open and let horses come and go, or close the gate to contain them in the dry lot. To rotate pastures, all you have to do is close one gate and open the next one. It saves having to set up water, shade, shelter etc. in each pasture, avoids having to turn horses in and out and means one central area to keep clean + standard cleanup after rotating pastures.
If this is at all possible (horses can be kept in herd and have similar pasture/hay needs etc.) I think it is the simplest way to do it.
Mud season is well established here in Maine. It gets underway in late March, and depending on who you talk to runs into May. Then there are a few weeks of spring and a couple of days of summer and then it’s Labor Day.
The thing about mud season is that it overlaps shedding season. I’m trying to find one of those touchless car wash machines modified for equines. All you have to do is send them in one end with all that muck mixed with all that hair. Then run around to the other end where you wait for them to glide out under the blow dryer, clean all over and beautiful. Ideally there is a switch that you can set for vehicles. Think of it! 10, maybe 15 minutes when all the horses and all the trucks and trailers are clean and showing off their natural colors.
2Dogs, obviously, the horses are collecting all the poop from other areas of the paddock and piling it onto this one spot, just to spite you! 
Otherwise, I don’t know what to tell you that you aren’t already doing. The picture makes it look like the area outside the stalls, even if filled in with gravel, is lower than the paddock area around it, and with all the rain coming off the roof and into the paddock, maybe just too much dirt from the surrounding areas gets washed down into the stall area and collects there? Maybe build it up higher and use different gravel, that packs tightly instead of shifts around? My horse’s paddock is quite hard; I can walk on it wearing pretty shoes even after days of rain, and be fine. The next paddock is always a tiny bit squishier, and there is one low spot that never firms up completely. I’m assuming the stonedust used for the second side is different (both are some version of stonedust over gravel base; no textile, done by the same guy, one year apart).
I think your best answer to getting rid of the mud in that area is to add a big fat overhang, but… $$$$
A lot has to do with the initial construction. We went with a Morton barn that I do not have to paint. We use Ramm flex fencing that I do not have to paint. The house is entirely clad in hardy board which I do not have to paint. The porches are Trex which I only have to wash on occasion.
You can’t make it maintenance free but at least lower the maintenance. All of my projects these days are about reducing the overall maintenance. I have taken dozens of trees out of the pastures to improve sunlight and get better pastures. Now I am removing stumps to make mowing easier.
I have been improving drainage around the farm to eliminate repeat maintenance after heavy rains.
I’ve redone some fencing so we can turn horses out in the paddock by the barn and they can then make their own way to the field we want them in.
Just things like that.
Move to “horse country”, which is “semi-arid”. That’s what we did. Tired of the work and expense of fighting the environment to keep horses in a healthy manner where it rains a lot, and mud happens. Living somewhere that is actually “horse country” allows you to keep horses outdoors, not locked into stalls at any time (unless injured or ill, or for some specific reason). Big run in shed that can be used, if they want to. Horses kept outdoors and together exercise themselves, eat at will, run and play together, avoid hoof issues from lack of motion and impaction colic issues. Avoid stress issues with herd life. Keep warm in winter with thick winter coats, running and playing together. “The herd” looks after itself, posts sentries, keeps watch. Yes, they do that even if not born feral. It’s instinct.
Land in “small towns” is still “comparitively” cheap to buy, supply chains for feed are more local (or supplied by your own farm). Without stalls and bedding to worry about, amount of manure that must be picked up and “dealt with” is far smaller, and easier. Manure without a lot of bedding included becomes a “valuable resource” and can be composted and used on the farm, rather than employing a trucking service at high cost to “truck it away”.
My own horses hooves have improved so much in a dry environment, it’s amazing. I don’t need to shoe anything any more. Walls thick, soles thick, ring work, horse shows and light trail riding is OK barefoot with everyone I ride. TB and TB cross horses. With little mud and low humidity, the hoof quality is much different than what it used to be. Yes, just the low humidity in the atmosphere makes a huge difference.
I highly recommend looking at the possibility of “keeping horses in horse country”, rather than in areas that get the amount of rainfall that becomes problematical, causing the human to fight the elements constantly, at high cost and high effort. It’s bad for horses, and for people. We made this move 14 years ago, and celebrate it (as do the horses) every day. The savings on not battling the environment makes it far more affordable to be a horse owner.
PS. They don’t shrink if they get wet.
- Gutters if you do not have them. Omg the rain that comes off metal roofs is insane!
- If you have gutters, are they draining out underground thru pipe or do they just spill out? We had to take a hose to each gutter drainline on our house… all 6 to 8 of them, then walk out and find the wet spot by stomping around and waiting for a squishing feel to find the clogged one and then redid the slotted pipe with normal drain pipe just to get water away from the house n out of the basement. Water is the enemy!!!
Do this if you have the $$
- Dig down to the base, remove loose dirt.
- French drain, right in front of your stalls and at the part where the mud and regular dirt meet.
- Landscaping timbers or railroad tie logs around that rectangle area and fill as below:
- Geo fabric, then some sort of geo cell grid, google around, lighthoof is the most expensive!
- Bigger angular stone, to at least an inch over the cells.
- Stone dust
Keep that rectangular area picked, daily!!!
Water and mud gone and ponies dry base in front of stalls, viola!
Gutters, definitely agree. Not the puny house-sized ones, but real barn sized ones. With gutters and drainage you are practicing prevention of this mess.
Obviously the answer to having a maintenance free barn is to have staff to do the maintenance.
Sigh… Yup, overhang (which I missed in the initial Build Euphoria ) would fix it.
But until I win the lottery…
Believe it or not, horses mostly poop away from the muckplace.
I think it is the bedding they drag out - in spite of 4" sills added to doorways - that makes the mess worse.
The rest of the paddock remains Pretty Shoe walkable for the most part.
In front of the barn & side not by stalls is rockhard & drains well.
PSA:
*Check & Recheck plans before approving 
*Then check again
Thanks, but 
Anything costly ain’t gonna happen soon.
I may have helpful neighbor dig it out in the Spring & see if I can afford enough hoofgrid to at least keep a portion dryer.
Gutters are not barnsize & most likely a big part of the problem.
Birds (starlings! 
) nesting & clogging them in one spot is a constant battle.
See above re: replacing gutters 
@carman_liz Trust me, if nowhere else, that area is picked poo-free daily, sometimes 3X daily!
This is what I have and yes, it is easy.
There’s a large water trough that can be accessed from the “home base” dry lot and I fill it about once a week. A spigot and an outlet is right next to the trough so I just use a 4" small hose, which is easy to drain in the winter, and plug in the de-icer.
The large corner stall I use to provide low hay nets for 24/7 forage, with the entrance area 4"x4" full of rocks for hoof conditioning. I used to put the hay nets on the ground in the dry lot but since I also use it as an arena cleaning the hay situation was terrible, as was trying to find empty hay nets in the dark or in mud/ice. I’d rather they be able to eat off the ground but I’m trying the hay stall this winter. So far cleanup has been far easier than trying to muck the large dry lot. This stall I leave unbedded so they don’t pee in it, so it’s been fairly easy to remove manure and hay. The rocks need occasional filtering as they catch mud and manure so I don’t think it’s a perfect situation but I have seen a noticeable increase in their ability to tolerate rocky footing!! Whatever rocks I find in the dry lot/arena I toss in the hay stall entrance.
Two middle stalls are where the two horses are fed their meals. I don’t use the other end stall since one corner floods during heavy rain. I use that stall’s run for jump/pole storage.
Each stall (four in the barn) has a small turnout run (12’ x 25’) connected to the home base. The dry lot/arena is about 100’x110.
Mud happens but compared to many I’d say it’s not bad. This spring we did put in a French drain (excavated, lined the trench with with geotextile, lay or large rocks surrounding pipe, slope checked, covered pipe with rocks and then wrapped it all in the geotextile burrito) in the worst area - where the runs meet the dry lot. But I think our dirt/clay doesn’t drain well so I suspect not much water reaches the drain. I’m not sure if it’s helping but winter weather hasn’t arrived to know for sure.
Ideally I’d like to scrape away 6-8" in both the runs and the dry lot, put down geotextile, add drains, put in a base, and top off the runs with pea gravel and put actual arena footing in the dry lot area. But the quote I got for such an arena was 25K and I’d also have to get a new driveway after all the trucks tear up the current one getting material in and out! I think I may just do the runs myself to at least get pea gravel footing rather than mud! With our utility trailer and the supply yard 13 minutes away I can hopefully fill one run a weekend with big rocks and then pea gravel. I got a 500$ quote from a bobcat guy to scrape out the runs. I have a small tractor but I’m not sure I could scrape the topsoil out with the bucket myself.
Horses are out on pasture April-Nov, dry lot Nov-Apr. I only closed them in their stalls two days last year when it was absolutely frozen and miserable and icy overnight. Minimal use of bedding since they aren’t in their stalls much at all although they will go in to just pee, lol. Sometimes I will find bedding in manes/tails so I know they lay down occasionally in the stalls.
