Pictures of your yards

I'm slightly disappointed now, I rather fancied you were a genius of some description :p

Yes, I remembered you were in NZ. That track must be a great asset.
 
ycbm said:
Ester, there's a flipping great horse in the way in all your photos :D


Hi Frank!
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I managed one without him! That was when I was trying to take ones of their track. I feel like we slum it a bit compared to others but well they are quite close to the house. The yard is the size it is because that is the only bit we solely own. Snowy I'm home in 2 weeks I can do a bedrooms eye view which is probably more helpful!
 
Tnavas said:
Sorry :( not a genius, smart, but forget what I went in the shop to buy until I'm almost home ! :D
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Oh, me too! I am always asking OH if he knows why I've gone into a particular room and where on earth I've put my reading glasses. I normally wear the things on a string around my neck but if I've taken them off and lost them I end up patting my chest like a demented thing trying to find them. Apparently it's embarrassing to be out in public with me when I'm doing that :p
 
ester said:
I managed one without him! That was when I was trying to take ones of their track. I feel like we slum it a bit compared to others but well they are quite close to the house. The yard is the size it is because that is the only bit we solely own. Snowy I'm home in 2 weeks I can do a bedrooms eye view which is probably more helpful!
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Cheers ester, that would be helpful as I've only got a small area to work with too :)
 
Not much point in me posting pics of my place, as it's commercial sized rather than a home setup, but I have a few insights gained from the build that may be useful.

Have water points in more than one location. My tap is at the far end of one wing, and its a nuisance if I need water, say for the vet/dentist.
If you have auto-waterers, have a shut off valve for each one, so that you can turn them off to clean them.
Try and have the yard surface on a slight slope away from the stables, and decent drains. Mine are pretty much storm drains, and they've made a huge difference.
Make sure your roof drainpipes run off somewhere out of the way. Mine send a spout of water off one corner of the block, right where I walk to get to the tap! Useful for bucket washing in a downpour, but decidedly irritating when I'm not concentrating, and get a dousing!
 
Won't show you pics of mine, because it was inherited from previous owner so is not what I'd choose and doesn't really match your spec
But just wanted to add something about muck heaps - a badly placed one can make winter so much harder....some people go for a trailer that they get removed, but it's a pig to get the muck into the trailer, some people have a small muck heap that they spend a fortune getting removed every other week. I now have an ideal sized muck heap (around 2m by 4m) which is a concrete pad with breeze blocks along one side about 1.7m high. I use wood pellet bedding which rots relatively quickly and isn't bulky, so with two horses I haven't managed to fill it yet (done 1 winter with horses in approx 14 hrs in 24 and so far this spring with them having constant access to stable)
 
Re water we do have lengths of blue pipe going to both paddocks.

Out muck heap goes to the allotments so we don't use pellets though prob moving away from straw. I used to keep a nice square free standing heap, now it has earth banks on 3 sides which means you can push the barrow up and along the bank and just tip.
 
Quite a few pictures here of my set up but not one of the whole site which would probably be the most helpful, I'll get one tonight.

Barn when first put up.


Internal when first put up


Fencing: three rails is boundary fence, 2 rails is internal fencing


Gates, 12ft


Muck heap, concrete base, concrete block (on their side) walls, about the size of a single garage


Garden onto large paddock


Walkway between paddocks


Lorry parking hard standing,with muck heap beyond lorry, barn is situated behind the photographer.


Left side of barn open bays for storage
 
I'm bored so I've done you a plan :redface:. Not to scale (as you can see from the pony stables being bigger than the horse stables!) but it gives you an idea. This is a bit bigger than you'd need (10 stables) but it works well. The whole place is on a plateau on a slope so the fields to the bottom of the plan rise above the yard and the ones to the top of the plan sloe away. The school was located in the area it would get the best drainage without too much digging - the top end of the school has been built up above the field whereas the bottom is level with the yard so it drains really well and is very rarely flooded.

I love having lots of space on the yard - it's basically a big square so you can have 7 or 8 horses tied up outside their stables without risk of kicks etc. Again - more space than you need but well designed nonetheless! We also have plenty of space around the gateways so less risk of fights and horses getting trapped etc. The tack/feed room is well placed as you can reach it from the parking area easily to drop feed off or load up the car for a trip but it's also accessible for the stables. All things to think about! As DabDab has mentioned muck heaps ours is in a gap between the farm buildings. I didn't go into detail on that area!

Farm20plan_zpstbarmmpi.jpg
 
Lindylouanne said:
Dusty your yard and set up is lovely and I am very envious.
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Thanks LL, it is still a work in progress after 4 years! Next thing is an arena. Have to say we planned it out with all that we wanted at the start (masterplan) and are gradually working towards getting it all in as, and when, we can afford it. In a couple of years it should be perfect ;)
 
Dusty, yet another wonderful and immaculately maintained yard for me to be envious of. Thanks for the photos and one of the overall set up would be great, even if it only gives me more to drool over :o

Thank you to everyone else too for the flood of information you've all provided. I'm keeping a word document of all the suggestions so that I can, hopefully, avoid some of the potential pitfalls. I say this a lot but I really mean it so I'll say it again - what a brilliant place this forum is for help and advice. I sometimes wonder how I managed without you all :D
 
I have mobile field shelters which can be turned into stables. They are great and I rarely use them as stables, pretty much only when having teeth done or for some vet visits. My farrier prefers to do them outside.

They are well away from trees which is a big plus in bad weather. The only con is that the shelters are not close to the access way.

This is a field but if I ever had a house adjacent to land, a lot would depend on ease of moving horse to tack or tack to horse. I would also want the muck heap in the right place too for smells and ease of access.

Oh and I would have less stuff so it would be easier to keep tidy. Currently throwing out years of accumulated horsey junk.
 
Snowy Celandine said:
Dusty, yet another wonderful and immaculately maintained yard for me to be envious of. Thanks for the photos and one of the overall set up would be great, even if it only gives me more to drool over :o
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Thank you. I'll take some lay out pictures when I'm home from work tonight.

You've been given some excellent advice already. We started with a totally blank canvas, house was there and a 8.5 acre field with nothing in it but at times it was really difficult to decide what and how we wanted things sited because we had nothing existing to work with! It all had to go through planning and we struck up a good dialogue with the planning office and worked at maintaining a good relationship with them (hard at times :rolleyes: ). My best advice would be to spend as much as you can afford - the better the materials and workmanship to start with the less you will need to do to maintain. I haven't had to mend a single piece of fencing in four years, but it cost an arm and a leg for decent contractors and materials ;) as a comparison we bought one 'cheap' wooden gate for the driveway entrance and it has collapsed/dropped and all the joints are loose and it creaks in the wind and is nothing but a pain in the backside, I'm glad it is not used in one of the paddocks, my big boy would've walked through it by now!

Muck removal, vehicle and pedestrian access, prevailing winds and weather, storage, water, drainage and power/lighting are all things to be taken into consideration.
 
Lots of lovely yards to drool over. SC, whilst we've done a lot outside, remember the pic of our sitting room carpet complete with its years old duct tape repair which is centre stage :D. I couldn't afford a big concrete surface outside the new stables, so I put down (by hand!) a load of 3'x2' paving slabs on sharp sand, and these have done a really good job. Modelling these is the second filly that I fostered for the RSPCA, and you've said that you're getting a rescue, too. Good on you.



Other folks have mentioned drainage, this is a good point. Our old freestanding stables had guttering which ran into big water butts but they would overflow in minutes in heavy rain, and seeing as I had no hardstanding, it made everything sodden. The new ones are tee'd into existing land drains, which has improved everthing massively, and it wasn't too huge a job.

The arena is sited where for 25 years I just had a grass arena marked out with white boards in summer.

Ester, I love all the Frank photos modelling your yard, plus what a good set up. I think that I may have been nearish to where he's kept when I picked up my new bike from SJS. We did a 25 mile test ride and I peered into lots of fields seeing if I could spot Frank! Sadly, no luck.
 
Things to consider as important
Drainage, from stables and from rainwater.
Prevailing winds, need to hit the back of the building
Access for vehicles to hay barn, feed room, nothing worse than having to carry a winter supply of hay accross the yard
Access for humans from house, short and surfaced.
Siting of Feed room, Tack room to stables/yards. Close to stables
Siting of Wash bay/grooming area to tack room, close to tack room
Taps
Size, better to build horse size even if you have ponies, always remember that one day you may want to sell
Siting of muck heap, close to stables for easy access, far enough away so as not to smell, good surface to access, nothing worse than pushing a loaded wheelbarrow through mud. Also needs to accessible for vehicles for removal.
Arena, DRAINAGE, and if using sand, do use washed sand as it contains no mud it doesn't get dusty. Mix of sharp and polished for a firm surface that doesn't pack hard.
 
Photo? I could send you a CAD file if you could read it. I located and designed the American barn, school, pole barn, hard turnout and paddocks. I went through many many options considering the layout, drainage, fencing and sight lines.
 
That's what I need to do annagain, draw a proper plan :D Your yard looks good on paper and, I'm sure in real life too!

Cocorules, excellent point about trees as the spot where my stables would fit best is very close to trees but it would be too dangerous in the high winds we seem to get so much of the time.

Dusty, the post and rail fencing was already there when we bought the house and it seems pretty good. I checked one of the gates tonight as it seemed a bit wonky, only to find the fence post has rotted away so that's now at the top of my list. It's not the field gate but the second gate of three before the road so I need it making secure before the horses arrive.

I can't afford to spend much on the stables at present but they will hopefully last a few years or at least I hope they will :o I do agree with you that it's usually the best policy to get the best you can afford. Re muck removal, I keep trying to get hold of someone at the farm but they're all busy at the moment. I'll keep trying as I need to make sure I've got everything in place for my own peace of mind!
 
Tiddlypom, how could I forget your 'designer' carpet? :p I would never have thought of using slabs like that but concrete in large quantities is really expensive so it's a great idea. That filly looks sweet and, yes, I'm getting a horse from Bransby. She's been waiting for a home for 4 years so I'm really looking forward to giving her some individual attention.

Still pondering on the drainage question as there are no drains anywhere near the field currently :(
 
Tnavas, thank you :) More info cut and pasted into my 'Create a yard' document :D

case895, I think I could open a 2D document but probably not a 3D one. I would like to pick your brains/steal your ideas though because it sounds as though you considered every aspect rigorously and that is what I am trying to do but it's not my forté I freely admit :o
 
re muck heaps, it is because you need to consider winter access with wheelbarrows, not right next to the stables, and access to whatever removal you are planning so 1) do you have it at a ridiculous angle to the gate that no one can easily get at it, and 2) if you end up overflowing mid winter is having a tractor on the ground going to be tricky or wreck it.

and for us as it is behind a permanent electric line, leaving a nice big gap between the last 2 wooden posts which can be filled by a plastic one and making access easy.

Access also worth considering for any hay store etc siting, it wasn't something we really thought of and the original plan meant that people had to drive into the field and turn round and back up, fine in summer but not great for the two gateways they were driving over in winter. That is when we put the second access point in, it's no good for a tractor but our hay man will come with his landy instead in the winter and can reverse onto the yard straight off the concrete lane.
 
ester said:
re muck heaps, it is because you need to consider winter access with wheelbarrows, not right next to the stables, and access to whatever removal you are planning so 1) do you have it at a ridiculous angle to the gate that no one can easily get at it, and 2) if you end up overflowing mid winter is having a tractor on the ground going to be tricky or wreck it.

and for us as it is behind a permanent electric line, leaving a nice big gap between the last 2 wooden posts which can be filled by a plastic one and making access easy.

Access also worth considering for any hay store etc siting, it wasn't something we really thought of and the original plan meant that people had to drive into the field and turn round and back up, fine in summer but not great for the two gateways they were driving over in winter. That is when we put the second access point in, it's no good for a tractor but our hay man will come with his landy instead in the winter and can reverse onto the yard straight off the concrete lane.
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ester, I still can't decide where to situate the muck heap. I've had a total failure of imagination on that point. I really need to speak to the landowner (of the surrounding land) and see what options he can offer me. If I know that someone will be able to collect it from the area behind the stables which is nearest to his field gate then I think I will situate it there. If someone has to come up my grass track to get it then I'll have to put it somewhere forward of the stables but that might end up being too close to them and also my field gate.

Re the hay storage, I just haven't got storage for it near the field unless OH agrees to build another storage area and he's resisting that idea for the present until he sees how things go. I reckon he'll change his mind when he's having to help me lug hay across the garden in winter ...
 
I have a skip, instead of a muckheap. It's dropped in the corner of the yard, I fill it up, and it gets taken away when it's full. So much easier than getting a muck heap removed
 
Auslander said:
I have a skip, instead of a muckheap. It's dropped in the corner of the yard, I fill it up, and it gets taken away when it's full. So much easier than getting a muck heap removed
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Definately a great idea - how big and how do you get the muck into it? What sort of cost?

When I worked for Jennie Lorriston-Clarke we had a big old wagon, with a ramp beside it - we also had small dumper trucks - rear wheel steering - made for some fun adventures up the ramp!
 
We had the skip system too. It was great. Shavings were delivered in the skips, when we emptied them we filled them with muck and they were taken away. We had a concrete ramp made so we could easily tip the muck in from wheelbarrows.
 
Tnavas said:
Definately a great idea - how big and how do you get the muck into it? What sort of cost?
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Not sure how big it is (see pic), but it takes a month worth of poo if managed properly (10 horses)! Cost is around £100 to empty and replace.

Mine is accessed via a very high tech scaffolding plank, but you can get ones that open up completely

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I have a skip too. Lifted with pallet forks. They are easily bought for a few hundred quid. Perfect if you can get someone remove it for you. Mine is a bottom emptying one but you mostly see tipping ones available. Mine holds the dung of one horse per month (all dung picked up and some discarded hay. No bedding).
 
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