Okay, sorry in advance…I know this has been addressed in other threads, but I need some friendly hand-holding/advice. I am retro-fitting a nice old cow barn into my breeding facility. The barn had been raised (prior to me) so the ceilings are nice and high. The situation is rather that I built in gorgeous/safe stalls at 12x16 (slightly less when built out), but now everyone around me is cautioning me that I can’t foal out in that size of stall. I initially thought it would be fine, but 2014 being my first year of actually foaling out on my property, I am suddenly starting to think I made a stupid mistake and will still have to ship the mare to the vet to be foaled as the dimensions are too small. I really am trying to be self-sufficient and do this all at home, so any advice would be much appreciated. Do you all think this is really too small and I need to re-think foaling here? My mares are QHs or Arabs, all 15hh or less. Tell me what you think and feel free to be honest. I’m not going to do something unsafe, so if everyone agrees this is a bad idea then I’ll just have to go back to the drawing board when I build out the rest of the barn in a couple of years…and foal out offsite until then. 
You will be fine. For me, it’s not the actual hour or so that the mares spend laying down to have the foal, it’s the 5-6 months that they have to live together in the stall. My 16h mare has always had a 12x24 and that is more than generous - truly it just makes more work to clean it. I think 12x16 sounds fine.
Thanks! Though I have a feeling an awful lot of people around me are going to really badger me about trying to foal in that size, thus contributing to my anxiety level. I did read about this considerably before having them built and have seen plenty of facilities that are foaling in 12x16 or 14x14, but I’m really doubting my judgment now.
So, follow up…would 12x16 be too small for the mares and foals (at night only) during those 5-ish months?
I have 12 x 18 stalls, and warmbloods. That is enuff. However when mares are cranky. I put plywood over the stalls… So for 11 months of the year, my barn is wide open with stalls that have the vertical pipe. I have privacy panels where their feeders are 4’ of the 12’. Then when the mares are close… I put up a piece my husband fashioned for me… that has hangers attached… just fits over… gives my mares the privacy they want.
The reality is… My gf foals out in a 3 acre field… and the mare foaled against the only tree in the field, the foal died. You can’t over think it. I have foaled my 16 hh… AQHA mare (with twins) out in a 11 x 11 converted granary.
Someone will always be quick to tell you that you arent doing it right… That is the nature of people.
12 x 16 is fine!
Good luck
12 X 16 works for warmbloods so I’m sure that you will be fine. If you are watching them on camera, you will notice that even in the biggest of stalls, they will often still lie up right next to the wall anyway!
This makes me feel SO MUCH BETTER. Unfortunately 12x16 was the biggest size I could eke out of the available space in this barn – not my ideal plan, but it was such a savings to use the existing structure – and while it seemed totally fine initially, I started doubting myself when they were finished up today. They are beautiful stalls, completely smooth edges, able to be disinfected, and bright and airy.
I plan on installing stocks this fall and then the barn really will end up being my dream facility. I just didn’t want to think I was actually being unsafe after spending all this money on trying to get the most possible space (and this is after adding in two more paddocks with no-climb wire – hopefully one day I’ll get some money back after putting this all into the mares! :lol:)
Like I said, my two mares are 15hh tops! And one mare is a very petite 14hh. They currently live in 11x11 stalls very happily, with room to spare, so it seems like 12x16 should be more than sufficient.
Agree with everyone else, 12x16 should be fine. I helped foal out mares at a TB farm where we took the wall out between two stalls (to make 12x24) but it was too big (difficult to clean, and we needed an “extra” stall for mini donkeys), so we put in a plywood-covered gate to reduce it to about 12x16. We did move the gate at times if a mare went down to foal with her butt up against the gate, but that was just because we could, not because we had to.
That was the only foaling stall we had (10 mares), and within 24 hrs the mares and foals were moved back to a 12x12 stall. Average TBs had no issues with that size.
You will be fine. My mares are between 14.3-15.1 hh and my foaling stalls are 12 x12 and a little smaller. I have had no problems, thankfully. But, as someone mentioned, they do tend to lay down right next to the wall, no matter how big the stall is. The most important thing is to be present at the birth just in case they do.
Thanks everyone. And yes, I expect all of my mares to be right up against a wall when they start to foal – that would be guaranteed whatever size my stall. Definitely murphy’s law here on my farm. So, I plan on having cameras on the mares and the barn is literally 50-60ft from our front door (with foaling stalls in front) AND I work from home (though I know they will foal at 3am in the morning!), but regardless I have no worries about being present in case issues should arise. Anyway, as anxious as I’ll be, I fully expect to get no sleep for weeks prior to foaling.
My biggest foaling stall is 12 1/2 x 16. My smaller ones about 12 x 13 1/2. I think 12 x 16 is dandy!
I breed warmbloods.
I know other warmblood breeders whose foaling stalls are smaller, and they do just fine.
