Looking for your experiences on Shedrow barns - the Pro’s, the Con’s and any other interesting tidbits on that type of layout.
Thx!
Depending on your location, having to shovel snow before you can even open the stall door gets really, really old.
Well, I think what part of the country you are in, and the weather you have to deal with will make a big difference when it comes to the pros and cons of a shed row.
Out here in CA they are pretty common.
For me, the pros are:
Lots of ventilation
Lots of natural light
Horses get to see “out” and not into a barn aisle
Cons:
Not as protected from weather - rain and blow in under the over hang. Wind will howl right through.
Not ideal for keeping tack trunks in front of stalls
No “indoor” area to groom / do vet work etc when you need to get out of the weather (besides the stall)
I like shed rows for CA where summer heat is a bigger concern than winter weather. I prefer to keep my horse in one over a darker, more “closed up” center aisle barn.
BUT I do like having access to a “regular” barn with a totally sheltered center isle to get away from inclement weather and groom etc.
Right now I feel I have the best of both worlds at my boarding barn. My horse lives in a very open shed row type barn, but I have access to a traditional barn, and will use it for grooming etc in the winter.
I am in NC so it’s a bit hit or miss these days with the weather. We’ve had a lot of rain this year, more snow last year than normal (but rarely have to shovel:) and blazing humidity this summer.
I was looking for a design that could optimize having 4 stalls on one side of the barn so they could all open to pasture… and of course trying to keep costs down:)
We’ve got 4 shedrows and a conventional 8 stall center aisle barn. In the winter, with the top doors shut and 4 horses inside, the shedrows stay warmer (water buckets are much slower to freeze). In the summer, the center aisle barn stays much cooler. Think about orientation of your shedrows and don’t put the door or window (therefore the long side) of your barn facing the summer sun. The sun shines in a good chunk of the day making the horses have to stand in a smaller space to get out of the direct sunlight. Do position the long side towards prevailing summer wind. If your horses are wood chewers, they will destroy the outside of your shed row (unless you use some type of top door stall guard).
The only advantage of a shedrow barn is aesthetics, some like the look of those.
For horse management, there is nothing but drawbacks, that may not be important for some, but don’t make sense for most.
Drawbacks, you are out in the elements, which denies you much of what it means to put a roof overhead to protect you from the elements.
No, there is not more airflow in a shedrow, you can have as much airflow as you want in a center aisle by how you build and what you open and close.
You have more protection from the sun and wind if you want to close some and open other.
We had the worst of both, a 22 stall training shedrow barn built around four sides of an open middle.
We had in that middle a 2" drain grate and pipe to the outside to carry the rain and melting snow that fell in there.
We still had to use curtains in front of the aisle to keep rain and snow from blowing into that aisle and the stalls.
It was first, a fire trap, second way too much labor involved in caring for the horses where you don’t have an aisle to drive thru.
Everything had to be hand labor and many steps to do anything, carry dirt to refill holes in stalls by the very heavy wheelbarrow full, no way to get any vehicle or tractor in there, no matter how small.
It didn’t have openings to the outside but one not very large door and the back part had runs for the four stalls there with runs, that were used for the stallions.
We considered remodeling it by adding a roof over the middle, but the termites had eaten it so badly, we decided to finally just tear it down and start from scratch with a regular barn.
Many barns in race tracks were shedrow barns years ago and had a large overhang in front and screens on that to keep the weather out of the aisle in front of the stalls, which defeats the shedrow principle anyway.
Then, many such barns were temporary, for traveling trainers, not used year around, just during the meets.
In our area, shedrow barns generally are built on an L, so there is a bit more protection from two sides, mostly North and West, better than a straight line with little protection but from the back side.
There is a reason the best design in barns is a center aisle with stalls and other on both sides.
If someone only needs two to four stalls, they can put those on the South side with runs and use the North side of the aisle for wash/groom/farrier stall, tack room, feed room, supplies and storage, extra stall, etc.
That kind of barn can be oriented however it will give the best protection and air flow for where it is built.
Center aisle gives the most coverage for the structure and roof built and the least labor/steps involved to care for the horses in there, plus being out of the weather completely in there.
Even in the West where it is hot all the time, a center aisle barn that is just a roof, no sides but pipe panels, is better at providing a place out of the sun and rain, compared with shedrow barns, just by the larger area those same feet of cover provide you in a center aisle.
Now, again, some just prefer shedrow barns and, well, they are the ones that decide what any trade-offs are worth, for them to decide on those.
I think it depends a lot on layout and orientation. At the farm where I board they have a fairly old shed row barn that works really well.
It orients to the south east and is much warmer and brighter in winter than a traditional barn. The stalls are arranged in aisles perpendicular to the shed row opening, which creates traditional aisles (albeit short ones) with four stalls on either side. The stalls are thus protected being fairly far back under the shed row, and we have an end aisle with 2 stalls, a wash stall, and a grooming/tacking/vet/farrier space.
The shedrow barns I’ve been in were enclosed. You could gallop around the perimeter if desired. In the wider barn, it was 15’ wide outside the stalls, some 20’ deep at the ends. Once you were inside, you never dealt with weather, except for dumping poop. People trained all winter, set up jumps, drove horses, hacked horses, galloped horses. Hell, I ponied in that one, easily.
[QUOTE=Lady Counselor;7738271]
The shedrow barns I’ve been in were enclosed. You could gallop around the perimeter if desired. In the wider barn, it was 15’ wide outside the stalls, some 20’ deep at the ends. Once you were inside, you never dealt with weather, except for dumping poop. People trained all winter, set up jumps, drove horses, hacked horses, galloped horses. Hell, I ponied in that one, easily.[/QUOTE]
I have been in those barns also, but they were not considered shedrow barns, that means the stalls are open to the outdoors and you have to access them thru the front, some times with an overhang making an aisle, but other than curtains they didn’t have walls to enclose them.
I have a shedrow style barn with a 14 foot overhang. I do not get wet in bad weather and we get a lot of bad storms during the summer. Mine is oriented so that the eastern breeze coming off the ocean runs through the barn so it’s very cool. The horses have huge windows on the back wall which i can close up if I need too. The roof has a 2’ over hang on that side so they don’t get wet either unless it’s raining sideways with gale force winds. In that case, I can close the windows. I have a large 12’ porch on the east side as which is also covered. So a really “protected from the elements” shedrow.
Thx everyone:) I am thinking probably not the best for me personally - but felt I should explore the layout option.
I’ve now had both, and the center isle is by far superior! It’s so nice to have the option of getting out of the elements. My old wash rack could be closed up on three sides. When you need to spend extended periods of time medicating, scrubbing, soaking or grooming, it sucks. Your vet will thank you.
I adore my glorified shedrow.
I’m in west TN and it’s hot and humid and this barn has been wonderful. I got three stalls 10x14 stalls, a feed room, and a washrack in 960 sqft. I also have a corner that I can put a gate in front of and get a 4th stall if needed.
Pros:
Easy to work out of
Everything is at my fingertips
Lots of airflow
Horses can (and do) hang out under the overhang in bad weather
Cheaper to build
Cons:
It is kind of hard to clean the corners
Would I love a center aisle barn, absolutely (if someone else was paying for it). I do think they are prettier, but that’s really it.
[QUOTE=fatappy;7741051]
I adore my glorified shedrow.
I’m in west TN and it’s hot and humid and this barn has been wonderful. I got three stalls 10x14 stalls, a feed room, and a washrack in 960 sqft. I also have a corner that I can put a gate in front of and get a 4th stall if needed.
Pros:
Easy to work out of
Everything is at my fingertips
Lots of airflow
Horses can (and do) hang out under the overhang in bad weather
Cheaper to build
Cons:
It is kind of hard to clean the corners
Would I love a center aisle barn, absolutely (if someone else was paying for it). I do think they are prettier, but that’s really it.[/QUOTE]
I really like your barn. It also can be enclosed, which is pretty nice.
[QUOTE=TrotTrotPumpkn;7742830]
I really like your barn. It also can be enclosed, which is pretty nice.[/QUOTE]
Thank you! I built it with door in mind, but ran out of money. I made it through last winter just fine so we’re going to see how it goes.
Mine is ‘like’ fatappys ONLY in the way that: the doors are on that long side ‘facing’ stall fronts…hers is BEYOND gorgeous and much bigger, and MUCH nicer, but…if you were looking at a small barn, I would not say center aisle is necessary…IF you can ‘enclose’ the overhang and put your entry there, and keep each long end with dutch doors for full ventilation : front, end, end, and stall windows/or doors to runs/paddocks. I couldn’t have the dutch doors to runs from the stalls in mine (almost right on property line) but do have very large barred windows. And, each ‘end’ of the ‘aisleway’ is a dutch door one: into feed /hay storage shed adjoining, one: into adjoining 12 x 24 run in.
Good ideas everyone:) Nice barn fatappy - so clean!
I had a shedrow barn in VA I loved. It looked like the one I am linking to, but had the feedroom on one end and the tackroom on the other with a 12 ft aisle and room to cross tie 2 horses. It had 3 stalls. Very warm in the stalls in the winter, and cool in the summer
https://www.google.com/search?q=shedrow+barns&rlz=1C1CHWA_enUS603US603&es_sm=93&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=jI4GVIKpIY-iyATyyoHIBQ&ved=0CDYQ7Ak&biw=1536&bih=481#facrc=&imgdii=&imgrc=fc0frKlfkfZbyM%253A%3BcU9TpsqFZO2NgM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.pennypincherbarns.com%252FPortals%252F0%252Ftrailers%252520%255B320x200%255D.bmp%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.pennypincherbarns.com%252FBarnKits%252FShedRowsRunIns.aspx%3B285%3B200
Believe it or not the barn rustbreeches linked to was the inspiration for mine… Obviously took some departures to fit my needs, terrain, budget :).
I still adore that barn. I think it’s the cutest.
