Stable Sizes and design ideas

[pengapenga]

Hi

Finally I am about to start building stables on my property.

I was thinking about building the stables about 14' x 12' . Do you think that would be big enough for frits?

What else would you put into a stable block if you could design one? :)

So far I have

stables, tackroom/feedroom. crush, wash/grooming bay

If there is something I have left off, please remind me :o :D

[nirikina]

Bigger is better when it comes to stables, up until they get so huge you can't afford the shavings to fill them! If you groom/tack up in the stable you need space to walk all around your horse without getting squished, and space for feed/water buckets. I'd suggest 14x14 for a 15hh-ish horse.

What I really like about my current yard is that the block of 4 stables is inside a little dirt yard which is fenced all round so the horses can wander round and be sociable, especially good for laminitics that need time off the paddocks. It means 2 gates to get out of the yard, so more security.

If I could design my own stable block I'd include:
Running water with a hose that reaches into the stables for filling water buckets
A little shelf for soap for washing hands by the hose
Space for storing barrows, skips and shovels etc out of the rain
A foldaway saddle rack near the stable for convenience when tacking and untacking
Lots of hooks in the tack room for riding hats and coats
A well-positioned bench to sit and watch the horses play in the paddock.

It's the little things that make the difference.

[cvb]

Even if you have your main storage place somewhere else, it can be useful to have a small area to store bedding and hay for the short term. e.g. we have a bale of shavings and a (small) bale or 2 of hay up at the stables, but the rest of the hay is in a hay barn.

Also think about where you will put your muck heap in relation to the stable.

One of teh yards I was at in Sweden had a hose pipe you could unroll down the aisle to fill up all the water. The other had pipes with little taps to each stable so you could fill the buckets. Both neat solutions.

Where will you hang rugs ? (We have a rug drier in the tack room, but it takes up space.

Again - one of the swedish yards had a small room with a washing machine and rug drier in for washing saddle cloths etc. (rather than make your home washing machine produce furry underwear when you wash clothes after horse things ;) ) We also used this rea to store sacks of carrots in the winter.

[Jessey]

Hi penga, If your thinking of breeding in the long term it would be good to think about that now, you may want a foaling box - about 12' x 24' is a good size but you may be able to come up with a solution that this could be used as 2 boxes (if you had 2 doors of course :p ) when not needed for foaling.

I would also consider having:
- a small fenced in area round your stables, its great for extra security but also if you have a horse, like nirikina said, who has lammy or one who just dosen't need to be out in the field due to injury or something (semi box rest but with some out doors :D ).
- the gradient of your floors and the material of them, I know it sounds menial but it can make a huge difference to the functionality of your stables.
- If your stables are external ones a good overhang at the front can be good esp on those wetter or sunnier days or if they are internal extra ventilation is always benificial (esp. in Aus. I guess :D )
- Making sure you have enough water points around will help and also make sure there are enough safe electrical points.
- good lighting in the stables can also make day to day stuff much easier.

I could think of loads of things but for some really good advise see if you can get hold of 'Horse keeping on a small acreage' by Cherry Hill, its really good, gives you loads of tips about what to put where and what materials are best to use, gives you loads of different layouts to look at and talks about things to consider. It also has loads of useful info on pasture maintainance etc.

Best of luck

J x

[KarinUS]

Consider ventilation and airflow.

[pengapenga]

Thanks for your replies :) I knew there were things that I had thought about and then promptly forgot, thanks for the reminders :) .

nirikina the soap shelf is an excellent idea, one I did not think of :D and I love the idea of the bench, will include that to the list :D

cvb I was thinking of a hose pipe to fill water buckets but like the idea of a tap so will include that idea. I have just bought a new washing machine and was going to throw out the old one, which works ok if I just want to do a simple wash so that will now have a new home in the stables. Forgot about the rugs so will think of rug hangers :D Muck heap has been thought about a lot :rolleyes: :D I have to submit in a Manure Management Plan to my local council!

Jessey - I will be breeding so your idea of the foaling box is a good one, really like the idea of making one stable into two :) . Floor gradient will be included, any water I use in the stables I want to be able to recycle as water saving in Australia is a priority. Lighting is something I had forgotten about.

KarinUs will definetly plan the ventilation and airflow :) it gets really hot in Perth in the summer not unusual to be 40 degrees centigrade.

[cvb]

pengapenga

and don't forget "parking space"... e.g. for trolleys. The first Swedish yard I mentioned was a barn conversion and nicely organised :D All the boarders made up a day's worth of feeds (the dry element) in buckets that were stacked, by horse, in time order. Then when you came to feed you just grabbed the top bucket off each stack, fed, and put it back at the bottom. But as well as their dry feed they all got sugar beet, which was soaked in a BIG bucket on a trolley. Then as you feed you move the trolley down the aisle giving each horse a jugful. So you need parking space for the trolley.

The other thing we did in both yards was pre-weight the hay/horseage in Ikea bags ;) Each one was marked with horse's name and time. (I suspect you could use stable number to make it easier). Then they were stacked somewhere out the way - more "parking space".

You may not want to do it this way, but you will need some extra space just top be able to move things out the way.

In your tack room,. a sink and running water is useful for both bit and tack washing AND for coffees/teas :D

[MissFliss]

When planning the stables, give some thoughts to fire control. The stables I was at once had a large fire hose in the breezeway and fire extingushers in the tack shed. A smoke alarm may be useful, but only if you can hear it from your house!

I found Cherry Hill's book "Horsekeeping on a small acreage" very useful.

Lucky you, my stables are in the 10 year plan!!! Getting a round yard and arena first : )

MissFliss

[pengapenga]

Thanks cvb for your suggestions, I never thought of a sink in the tack room :D and I have a spare sink in the shed too :D I know where it is going now :) . The swedish stables sound very effiecent :)

MissFliss thanks very much for the fire fighting equipment idea, I can not believe I forgot that one :eek: especially as I could get a bushfire coming through, let alone an fire starting in the stables itself! Will have smoke alarms fitted, as it happens the stables will be close enough to the house to hear them :)

Got lucky and the stables moved up the ladder :) they were in the five year plan but then I bought Frits and Mystical so they have jumped up the list :D

[cvb]

The swedish stables sound very effiecent

I was very impressed as well, tho the stable concerned had no loo so if you got took short you went through the door to the muck heap and hoped no one caught you with your pants down :D

I guess its cos of the weather extremes - good summers and cold winters. The barn had double doors each end as well, one end closed all winter but in the summer they could open it up and have a through draft. Tho by that stage the horses were out 24 hours anyway.

They also had their paddocks arranged so you just moved the right ropes and called the horses up, and they all went in loose. All you needed was a person inside to open and close the appropriate stable door. We liked to let them in with the furthest stables first...so an extra person to let them through in order and that was 8 horses in, in super quick time, with only 2 people :D

[pengapenga]

tho the stable concerned had no loo so if you got took short you went through the door to the muck heap and hoped no one caught you with your pants down :D

I know that feeling well :D Where I have Frits stabled at the moment has no loo, been a few times when I had to go behind the muck heap (so to speak) nothing like a little noise to give you stage fright too :D