Swinging Stall Partitions?

[Kodidog763]

My horses are currently out 24/7 and very happy. I want to have stall space available for them for extreme weather (or for injury stall confinement). I had planned on building a 36’ x 36’ 3-stall barn. Now I’m wondering if it might be a waste to have 3 dedicated stalls when they will be empty 90-95% of the time.

Would it make more sense to build a storage building that I could use swinging stall partitions to create the option of a stall? I’m thinking of in a corner of the barn to have two swinging partitions that could swing out and be connected to create one box stall.

I know the swinging partitions exist, but what about a sliding door section that would/could swing? Has anyone seen/built anything like this? Does this even make sense as I’m describing it?

[sid]

I saw this used years ago, actually in “run in sheds” that could be easily converted to stalls…where Pam Goodrich was in for a clinic.

For the life of me, I cannot remember the name of the farm. But it was a very good, practical and economical set up. In Maryland, not far from DC/Nova.

Maybe someone as old as me can remember.

[Bluey]

That is what one of our stalls is, part of the long general 54’ shed when not in use, can swing and close that end into a 14’ x 14’ stall when needed, still leaving the rest of the shed, 40’, for the general area.

Priefert has some stalls that the middle partition between stalls slides out to clean the whole row with a skid-loader, used in fair grounds, or can be taken completely out, so you have a long run there without those middle partitions.
Here is a picture with the partitions that slide out in the aisle:

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jHaJLYDM2gM/hqdefault.jpg

A stall with a swinging partition, to make a larger foaling stall, I assume:

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/d5/72/e0/d572e097998d92d132da18799f0923f8.jpg

Many use part of a regular shed for that by closing it with regular panels, if only a temporary stall is necessary, like to fed a horse separate from the others.

It is a good idea to make your facilities serve as many different purposes as you may need.

[Alagirl]

If you make it a storage shed, you waste space either way:

You either use it for storage, good luck clearing it out ‘when you need it’
Or you leave it open, just in case, you could have done the stalls anyhow.

[Kodidog763]

[QUOTE=Alagirl;8464620]
If you make it a storage shed, you waste space either way:

You either use it for storage, good luck clearing it out ‘when you need it’
Or you leave it open, just in case, you could have done the stalls anyhow.[/QUOTE]

Well, I think that needs to be a consideration. If we put the skid steer there, that can easily be moved and kept outside when a stall is needed. If we store large round bales there, then yeah, not as easy to move those to make room.

[SCM1959]

I will follow this thread as I have long had a similar idea. I would like to have a sort of run in shed that I could partition off with panels to make two stalls, if I needed stalls. I keep envisioning using round pen panels that I could attach somehow to the building.

I imagine a building with two traditional looking dutch doors on one side. On the other side, it would be completely open but I could partition it down the middle with a panel and then use other panels to make back doors/walls for the side opposite the traditional doors.

This way, I could look out at the building and have the pretty picture of my horses with their heads out the doors, but in reality the building is a run-in shed.

I don’t even know if this is possible, but it is fun to imagine.

SCM1959

[Ready_To_Riot]

Mine don’t swing, but I think the set up
Would work well for what you want.

My barn is 36 x 48. Every 12’ there is a 4x4 which is the bones of the interior. I took another 4x4 and attached it to the other 4x4s, but took a jig saw to cut out a 2in wide and deep center so I could take 2x6s and slide them into place to create a stall. My stall fronts are just cattle panels. It works out really well. I can remove all wood and panels by myself plus it was much cheaper than buying swinging partitions.

I hope my explanation was clear. I have a really hard time writing down what want to say. Lol

[Texarkana]

I’ve worked at several breeding farms that had a swinging full wall to make foaling stalls. It’s definitely possible. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a “sliding” wall, though.

Another neat idea I saw at a farm was a half wall made of “slats” of oak planks (I think they were 2x8s). Bear with me, I’m probably going to explain this poorly- I wish I had taken pictures. There was a “grove” or track created on the front and back walls by attaching a couple thin strips of wood. You slid the slats down on top of one another to make a sturdy 4’ half wall to divide the area into two stalls. The top slat was secured with a screw on each end to prevent the horses from “lifting” them back out. When it was foaling season, you just unscrewed the top slat and lifted the planks back out to open up the area. Of course, this method is a little more labor intensive to section off a stall than just swinging a partition, but it is an easy DIY project to separate an open shed into two stalls.

ETA: I just read Ready to Riot’s post above mine and it sounds like we are describing very similar set ups!

[sid]

Actually my Morton barn stall walls are tongue and groove, so I can turn 12x12 stalls into 12 x 24 foaling stalls. Once baby is weaned, I put the boards back in so they go back to 12x12.

[Ready_To_Riot]

[QUOTE=Texarkana;8465404]
I’ve worked at several breeding farms that had a swinging full wall to make foaling stalls. It’s definitely possible. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a “sliding” wall, though.

Another neat idea I saw at a farm was a half wall made of “slats” of oak planks (I think they were 2x8s). Bear with me, I’m probably going to explain this poorly- I wish I had taken pictures. There was a “grove” or track created on the front and back walls by attaching a couple thin strips of wood. You slid the slats down on top of one another to make a sturdy 4’ half wall to divide the area into two stalls. The top slat was secured with a screw on each end to prevent the horses from “lifting” them back out. When it was foaling season, you just unscrewed the top slat and lifted the planks back out to open up the area. Of course, this method is a little more labor intensive to section off a stall than just swinging a partition, but it is an easy DIY project to separate an open shed into two stalls.

ETA: I just read Ready to Riot’s post above mine and it sounds like we are describing very similar set ups![/QUOTE]

Yes!! This is exactly it only mine are 5’. You did a much better job of explaining it than I did! I also thought I was super clever for thinking this up, but alas, someone thought of it first!

[sid]

Actually, you “could” put mesh gates attached to the posts of the run-in, depending upon the dimensions, that can be in the open position to swing flat against the back and sides, then swung into the closed position to create stalls. Of course, it depends upon your dimensions.

Actually, now that I think of it, that’s what I saw at the farm I mentioned in my first post. Of course, the gates were flush to the ground so if a horse was to lie down, it could not get its legs under them. Obviously you’d want to use mesh, not pipe gates, for the same reason. It was very clever, and quite attractive as well.

Typically, people who came for 2 day clinics would board overnight, but with a full barn, this is how they would accommodate attendees’ horses staying overnight.

[Kodidog763]

These are all great ideas. Thanks everyone!

I think I’ll play around with my layout and try to do 1 permanent stall and 2 “optional” stalls. That way I’ll always have one available for an emergency. I should have fair amount of prep time if I’m going to want to have all three in at once.

[Charliezmom]

My three are older and prefer to be out 24/7, so at our new farm I designed the “barn” so that it functions like two run in sheds with an aisle in the middle, and we love it. The frame is 25x36, one section is a 25x12 run in, then the 25x12 aisle in the middle and in the third section I have a 12x15 run in, and a 12x10 storage/ tack area. We purchased metal stall channels and plan to slide boards into the channels if we ever need to confine one for any reason.

[poltroon]

Pipe panels are super versatile for this kind of thing. You could have them custom made to have plywood inserts if you wanted them solid, or with welded mesh. There are conventional clamp fittings that make it pretty easy to reconfigure the pieces around as you need them. They’re not all that expensive and they’re solid but light enough that one person can set them up and tear the down without a helper. They’re heavy enough and firmly clamped such that if you have a panel for all four sides, they are freestanding - they don’t need to have posts in the middle of your covered area or any anchor points. This is super valuable if you want covered aisle space in addition to your covered stalls. If this is your run-in shed area, or if it’s where you park a vehicle, you’re not too likely to stack crap in it that can’t be moved.

Something to think about is the hassle of bedding. It’s easy enough to lay in but if you want to park in there, you’ll want to clear the bedding out when you’re done. Making it easy to scoop clean with the tractor and dump it somewhere appropriate will make you happy later.

[Onetrickpuppy]

[QUOTE=Bluey;8464611]
That is what one of our stalls is, part of the long general 54’ shed when not in use, can swing and close that end into a 14’ x 14’ stall when needed, still leaving the rest of the shed, 40’, for the general area.

Priefert has some stalls that the middle partition between stalls slides out to clean the whole row with a skid-loader, used in fair grounds, or can be taken completely out, so you have a long run there without those middle partitions.
Here is a picture with the partitions that slide out in the aisle:

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jHaJLYDM2gM/hqdefault.jpg

[B]A stall with a swinging partition, to make a larger foaling stall, I assume:

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/d5/72/e0/d572e097998d92d132da18799f0923f8.jpg[/B]

Many use part of a regular shed for that by closing it with regular panels, if only a temporary stall is necessary, like to fed a horse separate from the others.

It is a good idea to make your facilities serve as many different purposes as you may need.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for posting the bolded. When we built our small barn, we have one 10 x 12’ stall and then a 10’x20’ stall that we divide when we have 3 horses. Otherwise, we use it as a broodmare/foaling stall. I love the swinging partition idea. Thanks!