Also, even if you don’t have stalls, you will want a work table to create the meals and keep the meals ready, add meds and supplements, etc. Get an old cabinet tacke dup there for meds and things. You will be happy you have a place to work on this near the paddocks, and you will be happy to have cross ties to work on horses out of the rain.
Think through your processes (turnout, feeding, cleaning paddocks, etc.) so you have on hand what you need to get it done in every season. My manure pile was a breeze to get to before the snow came… wish I’d located it elsewhere once we turned to the land of ice!
Also, I’d give a limb for a green machine with dump cart. Never thought I’d want one, and I worked on a farm with a similar setup to my farmette. Now that I am home, yeah, I’d kill for one!
Think through your processes (turnout, feeding, cleaning paddocks, etc.) so you have on hand what you need to get it done in every season. My manure pile was a breeze to get to before the snow came… wish I’d located it elsewhere once we turned to the land of ice!
Also, I’d give a limb for a green machine with dump cart. Never thought I’d want one, and I worked on a farm with a similar setup to my farmette. Now that I am home, yeah, I’d kill for one!
Yes, yes, yes to the automatic waterers. Lots of heat tape and have a spare heater also.
I have eight stalls and the horses hate to stay in; I think it’s why they are so healthy and old. They use the indoor for their run-in shed.
There is nothing better than having your horses at home.
luckily our place came with auto waterers outside already! makes me so happy and life a lot easier
[QUOTE=Hunterkid;8037209]
Does anyone else have horses at home and not have stalls?[/QUOTE]
Yes. I do. Dry lot is connected to pasture. Run-in is connected to dry lot on high ground. That’s all we got done last year. My pasture is boarded on the north and west by a very tall/deep shelter belt too.
This spring I am thinking about building a 12x 10’ lean-to off the far side of the run in, which is really tall (you also have to picture how the run-in is on higher ground) and a small paddock around it. The lean-to will be shelter for my mower and some tack (whips, long lines, halters, stuff that won’t get chewed on by mice), but I will build it tall/wide enough that it can double as a temporary shelter/isolation paddock for any of my animals that may need to be apart for some reason.
[QUOTE=Hunterkid;8037209]
Does anyone else have horses at home and not have stalls?[/QUOTE]
I do. I was totally set on having a barn and stalls with runs util my husband looked at me and said, “in your perfect world your horse would have free access to his paddock and his pasture mate, right?” And I realized I was putting in stalls because I thought I had to, not because I actually wanted to use them. Instead we created a dry lot with a shelter and it am happier, the horses (including the stall baby) are happier, and our poop management and mucking time are shorter.
