If You Could Build the Ultimate Horse Barn......

Howdy all....I'm new to CBN and come here by way of TBN. Fair wife and I are in the early planning stages of building the ultimate horse barn. Our plan is to not only board our horses there but several others for "profit" as well.

Everyone that has ever had a horse barn of their own or has boarded at a barn elsewhere has seen some good things, some great things and some REALLY HORRIBLE THINGS!!!!

Here's what I'm looking for....if you were going to build the quintessential horse barn, how would you design it, what would you put in it, what have you seen that you would NEVER DO IF YOU HAD TO DO IT OVER AGAIN?

Background: We're buying 20 acres of tilled farm land that is contiguous with our home 13 acres. There will be at a minimum 60x120 indoor riding arena with attached heated observation area/office. Stable section will be attached directly to the Riding arena. That's it...that's the only thing that is set in stone.

What would you do if you could do it........

Thanks in advance for your feedback.....

Windknot aka Sean

First thing I would do is make the riding arena 80x180. 60x120 is too small to do much.

I would also have my riding arena completely closed off from my stall area and tack/office room. The reason is because of dust. No matter how much you do dust control it's still there. It's really hard on horses in stalls breathing that.

My stalls I would make concrete floors with 1" rubber or the stall skin mattress. I'd put a full drainage system in under the stalls that is tiled away from the barn. I would have electrical and automatic waterers in every stall.

I would have a separate vet/washing room that was completely insulated and heated. I would have stocks in the washing room. It makes it so much easier for the vet and when doing anything with horses. I would also make this area big enough that all of the shoeing could be done here, especially in the winter. Make it EXTREMELY well lit. White walls and good lighting.

Make sure at least the ceiling is insulated both in the riding arena and the stall area.

In your office/tack room I would have a break area complete with a/v equipment for working on problems, a viewing area, and plenty of seating. The reason why I say this is because if you ever want to have any kind of clinics this is a must. I would also get the tack organizer systems and have a separate cubicle for every boarder. Having all the tack out leads to problems with borders.

I would think out 10 years and do one of two things. If you can afford it build the building you think you will need then or make sure you build your present building so that it is easy to build on in the future.

Any future grading or ground prep work make sure it's done BEFORE you start to build. It's 100X the work once everything is in place.

Make a separate storage area for hay and bedding and have sprinkler fire control system in place here with smoke detectors. Too many barn fires.

Situate your paddocks so that it is very simple access in winter to turn horses out and bring them in. Grade the area so there is no possible way for water to pool around your barn. Either tile the water away or grade it so that all the water flows off. With alot of traffic around a barn any problems here quickly become huge problems.

I would put roll-up doors in and not put in sliding doors. Make sure at least one access door to the barn is at least 12' high and 14' wide. You never know what you will need to get in.



That's all I can think of for now.

Sean,
I agree with most of what Richard has provided with a few changes based on personal preference. Take some time to talk with folks that do the same type of riding you do. What makes a really great facility can vary by discipline.

Rather than list what I would not do, I listed what I think works.
1. Depending on what type of riding you are going to do I would look at a 100x200 covered pen. Generally the real expense is driven by the width of the arena since length is not as expensive as width. We usually like a 1:2 width:length ratio but that is what works for our events. A lot of the folks in our area run 125x250 and bigger for indoor pens.
2. Completely agree with the dust issue.
3. We don’t find a well compacted floor to be a problem with matts lifting, so we saved the money. If we had more horses, more horses coming in and out or ran it as a business I would consider a concrete base.
4. In terms of ease of maintenance, safety and hygiene I think that the MD/Barnmaster type barns are the best. I like the metal clad walls for kickthrough, chewing and they are easy to clean/disinfect. For stall doors get the sliding type as they don’t take up aisle space.
5. Not sure what your fly/mosquito situation is but consider getting an automated fly spray system. For West Nile it can be a real advantage. This is another reason to have a completely sealed office/tack room/feed room.
6. I agree with the wash room and being able to shoe inside. Once you find a good farrier you want to keep them and this is a good way to do it.
7. Restroom
8. We find it important to monitor our horses water intake as it can be a leading indicator for colic. As a result we use water tubs. Keep a faucet close by
9. If you are going to use fans or lights, set up a timer system that allows you to set the timing for them to go on and off. Also make sure that all fans, lights and their cords are well out of reach of the horses.
10. Pay attention to how you situate the barn according to your local weather patterns. Driving rain/wind can be a problem.
11. I agree on the turnouts and drainage around your barn and indoor arena. If you are going to use another material to firm up local soil then consider adding to the current slope as you add more material. I would also recommend not using a crushed rock base as they tend to wedge between shoe and hoof more easily than the aggregate type.
12. Parking and trailer storage. You might find a lot of people that board may want to store their trailer at your place. If that is ok then plan for space to store them. Also think about a way for people to trailer in so they don’t have to back up. Separate car parking and rig parking so cars are taking up trailer parking and loading. If you can, set up your facility so people that trailer in, can get their horse and tack indoors as quickly as possible.
13. I agree with having a separate locker for each boarder and a fire system.
14. For each stall try to have a couple of blanket holders for different weight blankets.
15. Have a hook on the same place for each stall for a halter and lead rope. Done right fire wont be a problem but if a halter and lead are in the same place for each stall then in an emergency its faster and time can be important.
16. Erasable message board that people can share.
17. Set up a feed exercise board so everyone knows what horses have been feed what and when as well as knowing what horses have been worked on a given day. Same for being turned out. If you are going to administer any meds or special treatment make sure that you have a way of tracking that as well. Shots, worming, doctoring, etc
18. Rotational pastures with 3 sided run ins and water. Nothing keeps a horse healthy more than being outside and being a horse. Just make sure you don’t overgraze horses.
19. Provide a place where people can set out boots and pads in the sun to dry off. If anyone ever brings in fungus, it sure helps to dry things out in the sun.
20. Hot walker. Take a gander at the Priefert system where horses are not tied but rather have a divider between the horse in front and behind.
21. If you have a property line set back for building you might think about setting up as much of an all weather loping track. Something around the perimeter of your place.
22. Perimeter fence the horse area.
23. Automated gate as the only normal access point to the horse area. If a horse gets loose it is contained in an area and cant get to neighbors and out on the road.
24. Don’t use barb wire.
25. Outdoor wash area for the summer. Not sure how warm your summers get but for our area its nice to have a wash area to keep the pressure off the indoor wash area and allow more people to get their horses cleaned and cooled off. I would keep the outdoor wash area a cold water one only.
26. Have a place for manure away from homes and barns to keep flies down.
27. If you are going to have a separate place for bale feed and shavings then you might consider making it big enough to store tractor/implements.
28. Liability Insurance!
29. Outdoor arena
30. 12x12 stalls but go bigger if you can swing it. 12x32 is not too big for big horses, pregnant mares or injured horses.
31. There are many other consideration if you are going to bring cattle into the mix so I will hold off on my thoughts there.

Obviously it is easy to set up a really great facility with unlimited funds. You can do almost all of it over time if you plan it out well first and add when funds allow.

Is “Windnot” have anything to do with flyfishing?

Best of luck and welcome to CBN!
Mark

A few more things -

My ultimate barn would have stalls with two doors, one inside on the aisle, and one outside, opening into its own paddock/or into a shared paddock (there is another thread that talks about a gate system that allows two horses to be let out into the same paddock, or not, based on gate position). I'd make the outside door a dutch door.

Also, your lounge or office should have a refrigerator, or you might want two - a small one in the office for medicine, and a larger one in the lounge for soft drinks. Plus you would (probably) want a coffee maker, and maybe even a water dispenser.

Don't forget about running power out into your arena for overhead lights as well as task lights.

Separate areas for each border's tack - thats a great luxury. Our boarders show up with a lot of 'stuff', and keep bringing more.. do you want to provide extra storage? One of our boarders has a sulky in our barn.

Might be nice to have intercoms between the house and barn, although cell phones would probably be enough.

Here is something I've always wanted to do, but don't have the bucks - hook up wireless video cameras in key locations and receive the signal in the house, first for security. But second, have it sent to your own web site, and made available to your boarders, so they can watch their horses from their home or work computer.

I sure agree with all those additions and like that last one.

I know of some places that set the cameras up in the foaling stalls but I never thought of using them the way you suggest. Good idea.

ALL of the suggestions thus far are making my head spin.....some of them I had already thought of, and others I'll definitely add....

On another note....when planning my arena, what does everyone think is an acceptable height for the ceiling? I'll most likely sheath it and insulate the ceiling and then hang lights from there.

Yep Windknot is a representation of my first few years as a flyfisherman.

My buddy told me once "I've always said that there's no such thing as a bad cast, till I saw you....."

LOL.

Sean

Absolute minimum would be 12'. 14-16' would be ideal.

Take a trip down to the Kentuck Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky. I really don't know anything about horses, but the barns there are really something!

Very funny and, based on my own skills, I can say you are not alone. Nonetheless, there is a lot of fun throwing a line around.

It sounds like you are going to do a wood truss arena. Assuming that is true, then I think that Richard is right. If you can get above 12' you will be happier over the long run as will your horses.

Steel arenas, tend to be pretty tall regardless as long as your side walls are 10-12'.

Its nice to see people care about thier horses as much as you do.

Mark