Keeping Horses in loose in big barn...

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Jellymoon

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So we are moving house 😁 and the new one has a large barn purpose build for horses and an enclosed hard standing area outside. Currently there are no stalls inside the barn, it is completely open with a concrete floor, large double doors on the side into the yard and double doors on the end straight out into the field. There are some metal partitions inside the yard which make two stalls if one ever needed to separate any horses, but they can be pinned back against the wall. Very handy. Previous owner designed it quite well really.

I have 5 Small equines, 12.2 and 14.2 kids ponies, and three x 15.1 Connies. All good doers, some extremely good doers! They all pretty much get on, most of the time.

I have limited grazing so need to look after my one field! Therefore I am going to keep them loose in the barn with the doors open into the yard all winter. I need to make it as easy for me to do them all as I possibly can. Currently, they all live out all year round, and have done for years, so mucking out 5 horses every day is not something I’m used to! But I do have to traipse through mud and feed hay in the field, so I’m looking forward to them being mud free tbh.

There will be automatic water troughs and hay feeders to make that part easy.

My questions is, how to bed them? My thought is to deep litter and then get the local paddock maintenance chap to come in with his gear to dig it out in the spring.
The floor is concrete and flat, so i’m wondering if I need to put in some drainage channels?
I have quite a few mats I can take from my current yard, but not enough to cover the whole area, but maybe enough to cover a largish area.
Has anyone used this system before? Any suggestions?
 
Lucky lucky you. Sounds a super set up. Some friends of mine run a small private stud and they have a barn system. Some share, some have individual sections. It’s all deep littered on straw (poo picked daily).
 
Not me but I knew someone who did this once. Deep littering straw is easiest and what farmers do and that’s what my friend did, just mucked out the poo and topped up. It didn’t get too wet on concrete and I don’t think there was any drainage either.

I did keep mine in a large metal barn with pens made out of scaffolding poles for a while. The pens were about 25ft x 30ft and were great. I didn’t bed the whole lot of mine, but again somebody did and deep littered with straw. If you have mats that aren’t slippery I’d probably save them for any parts which aren’t bedded. They probably won’t do a lot of good under straw anyway.
 
I would love that set up for mine! I've used it previously on studs for youngsters and it works really well!

The only thing I would change is instead of coming out straight onto the field, I would run a track around the outside. Perfect for good doer. They can use that all spring/summer/autumn and the foggage that grows in the middle can be strop grazed over the winter
 
Sounds fantastic. I would think to put the mats in the area where you are putting the hay, hopefully most of the dung will be in that area so easier to pick up. Would probably deep litter the rest on straw just removing droppings daily. LW's idea for the field is good, it will allow you to move the access point to the field to prevent it all getting churned up.
 
I have a section in a barn- basically the size of 4 large stables, or 6 standard ones, for my 2 horses. I bought a job lot of rubber matting to put on the concrete but then got free wood chip from tree surgeons next to us to make a giant bed that takes up about 1/3 of the space. which can then be dug out in the spring. I haven't had a top up recently so do put a small layer of straw on top
 
I am lucky enough to have this type of set up. Floor is hardcore. Have used straw and poo picked. End of winter a digger cleaned it out. I kept 3 youngsters who all get on fine. Fed ad lib big bale (in feeder) but they wasted a lot. I then used a big bale net which slowed them down. Straw is great if you can get long clean straw. The modern combines tend to mash it to short dusty bits

I have also used coarse wood chip which was great but in summer it became dusty. One load I bought had nasties in it too. Green wood chip might be tempting to eat so that is something to consider.

It is a good way of keeping them and far easier than loose boxes. The horses are mature now and I have had to give up on the big bale system as they demolish a bale in a nano second. I now hang nets around the walls to control intake. That is labour intensive. The space lets my bonkers carthorse stretch out for afternoon snoozing ! When they were young it was lovely to see them all down together in a heap, they don't tend to do that now.
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Another horse has a barn and paddock set up. His floor is earth/road plannings base with a think layer of pea gravel plus rubber mats with pellet base and small flake shavings on the top. This works really well and the base is dug probably once a month. A third of the area is bedded with the rest rubber. I feed him on the rubber which helps keep his 'bedroom area' clean and tidy. He is rarely shut in there as he gets upset and equally I can't shut him out of his house either. He throws a strop if he can't get in.
 
What a great facility 😊 agree that straw directly on concrete is best bet for deep litter - be very scrupulous when poo picking and use more straw than you think you need 😉

The rubber mats would be best placed just inside the barn at the entrance from the field - it will get muddy & slippy when they are walking in & out in wet weather - good luck in your new place 😎
 
AA love your set up, so much nicer for the horses to have room to move around, muszt be better for them than a standard stable set up. if ever i got my own place i would try and do the same...
 
I'm a bit jealous - we're on heavy clay here and I've said to my OH a big barn for the worst of the winter would be perfect.

My draft was deep littered in a concrete floor barn overnight with the riding school ponies when I first had him. We used straw. No poo picking either - literally layered clean stuff on top. It was really, really deep by the end of winter but was dug out by tractor when the muck heap was collected for spreading.

That set up suited him a lot better than the stable I now have. He could wander round more.
 
Tihama said:
What a great facility 😊 agree that straw directly on concrete is best bet for deep litter - be very scrupulous when poo picking and use more straw than you think you need 😉

The rubber mats would be best placed just inside the barn at the entrance from the field - it will get muddy & slippy when they are walking in & out in wet weather - good luck in your new place 😎
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interested to know why you say straw is best for deep litter in a barn....i would have thought shavings would absorb more of the wet ,would provide a firmer base and would be easier to poo pick.. the advantage to straw would be that it is usually cheaper , disadvantage is that piggy horses/ponies will eat it:oops:
 
Yes I used to do this in a covered foldyard and deep littered it with straw as I was able to use a tractor to muck it out in spring. It worked well with a small group of youngsters who knew each other. Like the others, picked the poo off the top and made sure that wet was well covered with straw. The floor also drained ok.
 
Brilliant suggestions, thank you.
So straw on concrete should be fine. I’ll buy some big bales and put them at the side of the barn and then fork down clean straw as and when. It can all be trailered away in the spring and layered down again the following winter. In the spring/summer/early autumn they can have the field to pee in!

I like the idea of using the mats where they eat their hay. Good idea.
And the bale nets look fab.

I had also thought of a strip system round the edge of the field for the real fatties for the summer, and their bit of barn can be separated with the existing partitions.

Then the not so fatties can have the rest of the field plus access to their side of the barn. The barn has two large entrances.

It needs to be easy and time efficient as I have young kids and non-horsey husband. I do have some help but not every day, so I need to be able to do them myself without it taking hours.

I’m also quite keen on the idea of a poo picking thing to go in the back of the quad bike!

It is exciting. I don’t have as much grazing at the new house as I have currently, but I think the barn system will work really well. It will keep everyone clean and dry all winter and save the field, but they will still have loads of space to move around and interact. And in the summer, I can use it to keep the fat ones slimmer. 🤞 it all works out.
Thanks guys 😘
 
MrsMozart said:
Love this thread.

Shamelessly place marking as I might have the option to have something similar, though smaller and without the field attached. They'd have to be walked or transported to the field.
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My current house has stables but no land so I rent fields nearby and therefore have to walk or transport them, depending on which field they are in. It works fine, been doing it for 9 years, and have done different systems. The one that worked quite well in the winter was keeping them in for 24 hours, then chucking them out for 24hrs, then I’d only have to walk them up/down the road once a day!
 
This what I was going to do, build a big barn, but with 8/9 ponies couldn't just afford the size I really needed 😐 have settled on some field shelters and a big hardstanding of mud mats, ponies coming in this weekend, hope it works well
 
This floor is concrete with sand on it then wood shavings/peelings rotted down. It does not drain. I have kept up to three horses in it overnight in winter and during the day in summer for over ten years. The wet has never been removed, I take poo out every day.

It's a great way of managing horses.

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I've done similar in different places with less horses. First place I had a barn (26 x 16) with a fenced area of hardstanding that had a gate leading to a 2 acre paddock. No electric or mains water but probably the happiest I've been keeping horses (direct off road hacking)-1 horse, two ponies.

Currently in the winter they share a byre overnight/when I want them in but unfortunately no direct access to field (although do have off road hacking)-have had three in it but currently 2. Its 30ft x 20ft

First barn had sawdust in, then easibed (which worked well-floor was well worn hardcore). Currently shavings under straw on a concrete floor-poo picked as used and wet taken out occasionally if needed.
 
splashgirl45 said:
interested to know why you say straw is best for deep litter in a barn....i would have thought shavings would absorb more of the wet ,would provide a firmer base and would be easier to poo pick.. the advantage to straw would be that it is usually cheaper , disadvantage is that piggy horses/ponies will eat it:oops:
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I find deep littered shavings smell & are also very heavy and hard to dig out when saturated - I've never had piggy ponies so can't comment on that - you will always have the debate of straw v shavings - it really is each to their own I guess 🙂
 
My two horses have access to a building with a concrete floor, they have a deep litter shavings bed. The bed has been down 4yrs, it’s easy to maintain, economical and they love it, the top is thick and dry and the bed doesn’t move or smell. It’s poo picked everyday.
I like straw bedding but never had much luck with straw over concrete or deep littered.
 
splashgirl45 said:
interested to know why you say straw is best for deep litter in a barn....i would have thought shavings would absorb more of the wet ,would provide a firmer base and would be easier to poo pick.. the advantage to straw would be that it is usually cheaper , disadvantage is that piggy horses/ponies will eat it:oops:
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not easier imo but a lot cheaper (or it was lol). right now I am not feeding hay, they're bedded on oat straw-they can eat that as they have grass and they are not needing the rather lovely hay from last year. The other benefit to straw is there is nothing quite like it for drying legs and cleaning muddy feet all by itself-its really rather good for feet if its well done.
 
The building I use isn’t very big (they are never shut in) it’s two 14ft loose boxes with the dividing wall taken out and the doors fastened open.
I’ve got a 16’2 and 15’2, they use it year round (unless it’s raining of course - if it’s raining, they stand outside!) and they are often both flat out asleep in there together - lazy boys.
 
I’d love to have this sort of set up. I’ve something similar but it’s a stable onto a concrete yard, so if he is in he isn’t ever shut into the stable, which has a gate that opens onto a wood hip/all weather type area which is quite small, so handy for when it’s too wet in field. That then opens into the field! My problem is that when it’s icy horse can’t be on yard, I want to pour on rubber the yard but it’s too expensive and also the only flat place in yard to shoe horses lol.

Other horse on yard is kept in a stable about 16x24, deep littered straw with open access to hard standing yard, which then has access onto a small grassy paddock, about half acre.

I saw this when visiting family, it’s the shires set up. Seriously impressive, all concrete floor with the back deep straw bed and they also have stalls along side that they go into for getting hard fed/standing etc. That can be opened from the front of th stall and you can also close the back of the stall over as required. Probably the best set up I’ve seen tbh. The horses all looked fantastic and very happy, very impressed!

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First remove any hind shoes.
I would deep litter with straw and find a local farmer who can dig it out in the spring with a tractor. Assuming you can do this do not put any rubber mats as they will get caught under the bedding and make it difficult to dig out with a machine. If you are wealthy use shavings but not necessary.
 
sport horse said:
First remove any hind shoes.
I would deep litter with straw and find a local farmer who can dig it out in the spring with a tractor. Assuming you can do this do not put any rubber mats as they will get caught under the bedding and make it difficult to dig out with a machine. If you are wealthy use shavings but not necessary.
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Why remove back shoes when the ponies all get on well together? As long as the shed is big enough it won’t be an issue. The shires in my photo are all shod (every 4 weeks 😮) and are a mix of young and old.

Neighbour did a fab thing where they put a telegraph pole at the end of the straw bedding, keeping the bedding in and separate from yard and mats at the front of stable bit.

Also OP just though it might be a good idea to put up brackets for 2 five bar gates so you can create an “emergency stable” in a corner of shed in case one is injured or one needs separated for any reason. Then at least it’s easy to insert when needed!
 
I had 6 ponies in a neighbours barn / cattle court one winter when l moved house. It worked better than expected, although we did have to remove an older pony to a separate area as she was getting bullied. They were deep littered on straw, same as cattle, and had a round hay bale at each end, plenty room for them to move about and no one got wet and muddy. They weren’t being ridden but were happy and cosy, ventilation was good and didn’t have to worry about them. The cattle court was mucked out with a tractor at the end of the winter.
 
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