Planning Stable Yard

[Kacey88]

I'm planning a stable yard, will probably complete in phases but I like to have a long term plan to work towards. Ideally, end up with 3 stables, a tack room, feed room and somewhere for hay/bedding. Maybe a wash area. Considering all weather turnout area. Also want to account for the possibility of a small arena. It also has 4 acres of grazing.

Going to go concrete built as had them before and just prefer over timber.

Anyone have a wishlist? If you were to design from the get go what would you include?

 

[cloverlea]

Layout will be your personal choice, but what about water and electric. Are you close to the house? If you have electric a kettle and coolbox would be my first exrta.

 

[Mrs G]

Ooh lucky you! Id def have big stables - 12ft x 12ft is not big enough for a 'normal sized' horse imo. One livery yard I was at had 14ft x 14ft stables and they were lovely. They were easier to muck out too as horse had enough room to move without trampling poo in. Id also have a nice wide aisle or plenty of space outside but under cover to tie up and I def think a designated wash area is a good idea - maybe with a wash boom - another yard I was on had one and it was v handy! Could you/would you have your turnout area leading directly from your stables so that the horses could come in and out of their own accord? - a friend has open fronted stables (that she can close up if she wants) with a big overhang above and a hardstanding area in front with a little fence around it all (so each horse has their own sort of patio outside their stable!)

 

[reynold]

Take into account the prevailing wind and sun in the layout - an L shape orientated the right way for you site will provide some weather protection.

If possible bring up the water supply inside the building with room for good insulation and only put the tap out thru the wall - I put a stop cock inside the building on the water riser and turned that off when frost was forecast so that the tap outside was empty of water. The only time my tap froze was when it was -9

Plan out your fields at the same time as you build the stables and put in the water suppy. Lay on the water supply to where you want the field troughs so that the pipes can be put in before you fence/improve the land. Don't put the troughs right in the corner of the field by the gate - it's just a muddy mess. Put the troughs at least 10m away from the gate so that in the summer you can electric fence off the poached gateway to allow it to recover without denying access to the trough.

Definitely put in electric. I did nearly 20 years without mains using a large generator and a combined wind/solar system. I was an early adopter of green tech as that was installed in 1997.

If the site is attached to your house and garden then definitely put the stables (and arena if possible) in the garden curtilage as that means they will not be subject to non-domestiv rates. With a new application the council will definitely know your site exists and will start to charge you non-domestic rates if the site is not part of your house (check voa.gov.uk to see what local stables are paying in 'business' rates)

Good luck and have fun planning your dream property.

 

[Kacey88]

Layout will be your personal choice, but what about water and electric. Are you close to the house? If you have electric a kettle and coolbox would be my first exrta.

Yep I'll have water and electric thankfully, its just behind the house

 

[Kacey88]

Ooh lucky you! Id def have big stables - 12ft x 12ft is not big enough for a 'normal sized' horse imo. One livery yard I was at had 14ft x 14ft stables and they were lovely. They were easier to muck out too as horse had enough room to move without trampling poo in. Id also have a nice wide aisle or plenty of space outside but under cover to tie up and I def think a designated wash area is a good idea - maybe with a wash boom - another yard I was on had one and it was v handy! Could you/would you have your turnout area leading directly from your stables so that the horses could come in and out of their own accord? - a friend has open fronted stables (that she can close up if she wants) with a big overhang above and a hardstanding area in front with a little fence around it all (so each horse has their own sort of patio outside their stable!)

I was thinking about slightly bigger stables alright. OK so 14 X 14 sounds good. And an overhang! Thank you

 

[Kacey88]

Take into account the prevailing wind and sun in the layout - an L shape orientated the right way for you site will provide some weather protection.

If possible bring up the water supply inside the building with room for good insulation and only put the tap out thru the wall - I put a stop cock inside the building on the water riser and turned that off when frost was forecast so that the tap outside was empty of water. The only time my tap froze was when it was -9

Plan out your fields at the same time as you build the stables and put in the water suppy. Lay on the water supply to where you want the field troughs so that the pipes can be put in before you fence/improve the land. Don't put the troughs right in the corner of the field by the gate - it's just a muddy mess. Put the troughs at least 10m away from the gate so that in the summer you can electric fence off the poached gateway to allow it to recover without denying access to the trough.

Definitely put in electric. I did nearly 20 years without mains using a large generator and a combined wind/solar system. I was an early adopter of green tech as that was installed in 1997.

If the site is attached to your house and garden then definitely put the stables (and arena if possible) in the garden curtilage as that means they will not be subject to non-domestiv rates. With a new application the council will definitely know your site exists and will start to charge you non-domestic rates if the site is not part of your house (check voa.gov.uk to see what local stables are paying in 'business' rates)

Good luck and have fun planning your dream property.

Oh brilliant loads here. The trough idea is a good one, hadn't planned for the pipes yet but this makes a lot of sense. Definietly want to avoid muddy gateways. I'll have water and electric thankfully!

I'm in Ireland so the rates won't apply.

Currently thinking L shape which will face East and South, the west is most exposed on the site. I want to get planting some nice trees so I really want the long term plan locked in even if its years before its all finished. Thanks!

 

[nagblagger]

A toilet..

 

[Squeak]

Depending on how you like to keep your horses a barn is a very nice to have - My horses live out 24/7 so having a barn they can come into from the fields themselves (potentially linked to your all weather turnout area) where you can hay and feed and they know they can come in to in bad weather is really useful, although I am lucky that I also have stables if needed but I'd have thought there could be a clever way of doing a barn so that you can section it into stables if needed but also have it completely open the rest of the time.

 

[rabatsa]

We put up a large barn, with Yorkshire boarding down to 6' from the floor. Internal stables were placed inside, with plastic boarding instead of wood. Mesh gates to fence off the area at the end where hay and straw is to be stored. The covered area in front of the stables is great for dry hard standing. The end where the stables are has one solid gate and one mesh one. A roller blind is above these, this can be lowered completely in bad weather, left half up for everyday use and raised fully to allow tractor access. The long side opposite the stables has four solid gates and a mesh gate, which is normally fastened open allowing access to the outside loafing area. The way ours is set up only two of the solid gates can be fully opened at once as they get fastened back to the other gates.

All visiting professionals, vets/farriers/dentists ect have been impressed with the ventilation and horse comfort.

 

[SEL]

I bought mine 'as is' so pros / cons

- make sure back of stables facing prevailing weather. I have two that face into the rain and any rugs on the hangers get soaked.
- my most useful building is the 3-sided hay store. I use 1/2 for hay and have a tie up area in the other half. Brilliant for farrier, vet, tacking up under cover and I also have hooks for hanging wet rugs. Easily accessible for the tractor
- plan your drainage because a lot of water comes off the roof and its much better if you can organise where it goes before it all ends up in your gateway. I'm having drainage dug this year so it can be directed into the ditch.
- my muck heap is in a concrete area with railway sleepers. Also accessible for the tractor although query if current regulations would allow the run-off from it into the ditch
- I've got two gateways to the fields which was really useful in minus 14 when one froze solid
- I'd like a wash bay at some point in the future
- I've got more stables than I need so tonnes of storage which is helpful because it they were full of horses I wouldn't have enough storage
- If I was building from scratch I'd have some sort of run-in barn instead of stables because I only use them for feeding, waiting for farrier / vet and about a week in winter when the rain was awful.
- However much storage you think you'll need plan for more!!

I also with the current design would struggle to have a trailer there because there's nowhere to turn it round to park up. I'm getting a 3.5 tonne lorry for driving preferences but if you're planning from scratch then that's worth thinking about too.

Enjoy!

 

[blitznbobs]

Somewhere dry to tie up and shoe in crappy weathrr

 

[Quigleyandme]

I built my stables inside an existing cubicle house. Three Monarch stables with sliding doors and a big bay with cross tie posts, a solarium and electric shower. The dairy on the end of the building is my feed/tack room. I can’t give my horses access to grazing year round but I don’t close the doors and my horses come and go as they please out into the yard and down onto a 20x40 metre arena. They sleep outside by choice on dry nights. Each stable has a big opening window with a matching window on the opposite wall so I can control the flow of air. My tips would be have a vented roof as high as you can made with non-drip materials and install good LED lighting. Have covered electric sockets in a handy place for your farrier/EDT/vet. Choose recycled PVC boarding instead of wood. It’s lovely to work inside in Irish weather so if you can opt for stables inside a barn instead of loose boxes with an overhang. Have a sink with draining board in your tack room and enough sockets. A hot horse shower is a really useful addition.

 

[splashgirl45]

One of the yards I was at had an outside toilet and a big washing machine in the same building and they also had a rug room with heating which was lovely .. I would prefer a barn with internal stables over loose boxes so you can muck out etc without getting soaked

 

[nagblagger]

If thinking of a barn have a big fire door/wall between areas eg tack room, hay storage etc, so in a worse case scenario it could be contained giving valuable time for horses to be let out.

 

[Kacey88]

Thanks so much for all your input everyone.

I need to decide if I'll go for one big barn or an L shaped block. I never minded the elements when mucking out loose boxes before, and I have allergies so maybe that's why I'm biased? I can see the advantages though. If I had a covered wash bay I think I'd be happy.

 

[Merry neddy man]

A nice yard I was at had tack/feedroom and 6 stables, (I know you are only having 3) the end stable was a mare and foal box, 16 x 16 there was a passageway behind the other 5 stables 12 x 12 with door into each stable, (leaving a nice 4' passageway ) the front doors had windows at the side of each door, and plenty of clear roof sheets for good lighting, a nice 4' overhang for shelter, and good strip lighting, and a 10' concrete section in front of the stables for tieing up outside and still room to walk a horse past, all little touches that make life easier.

 

[rextherobber]

Wasn't there a study which showed horses preferred/ were less stressed in conventional stabling rather than in barn stabling, which really surprised me, as I'd have thought the opposite. My only comment to add to the above would be looking at fans or something, if we are going to get hot summers? What an exciting project, good luck !