Rebuilding stables, ideas or advice please !

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whiteflower

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We are lucky enough to be about to replace our existing stable block. We have looked at a few companies and the spec of the stables really varies.

We have wash box and storage in a barn elsewhere on the farm so this is just the stables themselves. Only stipulation is they have to be timber but any advice on roof types, windows and ventilation and particularly any 'extras' you would put in/around the stables that make your life easier, nice to have or is a genius idea that I can steal !!!

Particularly I have to store some rugs in the stables with horses, other than hanging them over a long bit of rope any other horse safe suggestions ?

Big project ahead so want to get it right, thank you muchly !!
 
Can highly recommend Marley Eternit artificial slate roof tiles, my roof looks gorgeous :)
I had louvre windows put in
A decent overhang and decent lighting
Taps nearby everything, saw a clever idea at one yard it had a boxed in toilet cistern outside each stable, you put your bucket in the cupboard and flush the cistern and it is exactly the right amount to fill a bucket
Decent size hard standing in front of the stables for farrier/vet if they need to trot them up
 
My advice is to take care that you don't demolish the original buildings completely before starting the rebuild. If you do you will need planning permission for the new block.
 
Mine are in an American barn style & I would have opening windows/top half doors on the outside wall to aid air flow in hit weather.
 
I've seen two brilliant feeding ideas. The first is rotating mangers, so you put the food in outside the stable.

The second is hay racks that are open ended outside the stable, so you can shove hay in without opening the door.

Automatic waterers are a must for me, too.
 
I visited a friend recently and she had a new wooden stable block. The overhang was wide enough for her to stand her horses under and I like the fact the whole of the overhang, the eaves and above the doors was open for ventilation and no wet would get in. The roof was slate. Looked very smart too.
 
Big as you can with good drainage. For rugs you can hang then outside on a rug rail, although I've got a massive 12 ft pole across the back of my stable to hang rugs over.

Overhangs are great for untacking/grooming etc :)
 
The biggest overhang you can get! You'll be thankful for it when it rains :)

We've got 12x14ft stables and a 6ft overhang on them!
 
Site your new timber buildings on a well built base and course of brick . Drill through the timber base of the building ,through the brick and into the concrete and insert steel pins to stop the timber frame being knocked off the base by horses.Pin every part of the structure all the way into the concrete base.
 
Good overhangs and plenty of ventilation. Plus what Mike007 said - I have know of two separate instances of horses managing to push wooden stables off the brick course.
 
ycbm said:
I've seen two brilliant feeding ideas. The first is rotating mangers, so you put the food in outside the stable.

The second is hay racks that are open ended outside the stable, so you can shove hay in without opening the door.

Automatic waterers are a must for me, too.
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some of those rotating mangers are really awkward for the horses to use though. We had some from Monarch which were semi circle shaped - the horses really struggled to get into the corners particularly as they fit fairly high up. it's like eating out of a more angular hook over manger on the door, only they have to press their head against the bars rather than having free space above them! I took mine off and went back to bowls on the ground. Do your research if you go for them OP ;)
 
Some fantastic ideas here, thank you all so much, I'm making a list of all the things I want to look into from this thread. The over hang size seems a big thing as does stable size. I'm going to ask the companies that gives us quotes about how stables are secured to the concrete, it is a good reminder and added to the list as part of the original problem is the horses big bottoms scratching had pushed areas off the bricks....now I know why !

We have already had planning approved as although it to replace existing I wanted to tweak the layout slightly due to inclement weather, so that's all sorted, good point though.

Loving some of the internal ideas as well thanks Millie pops, I was looking at the exact monarch ones you were talking about last night and not sure it would work for us for various reasons anyway but that confirms it but I need to look into any better alternatives to the haybars they pull everything out of !

The toilet cistern is genius ! Hubby is looking into possibilities of similar for by the hose

Also like the sound of roof tiles as I think they look smart so just need to check the viability with weight and as we are very exposed.

Any other thoughts welcomed you have given me so much to think about thank you
 
If I were starting from scratch wanting wooden boxes I would have this set up so I could use the shelter part as a work space, it depends on how much space you have, planning etc but would be worth looking into to incorporate into the plans, I am still in two minds as to what I want when I move but they are on my list at the moment.

https://hunterstables.co.uk/product-category/combis/
 
Regarding hanging rugs in stables, a lot of the liveries at my riding school used a long wooden broom handle - drill a hole in each end, thread rope (or bailing twine) through and hang up from ceiling beams so handle lies flush with wall but can be pulled out to slip rugs over. Never knew any accidents involving these in all the years I was there and will only cost you the price of a few broom handles.
 
I had some built a few years ago and I was quite specific as to what I wanted. They were timber looseboxes, built in a U shape. The overhang was pretty wide (tho i dont think it was 6ft, possibly 4ft) and the centre of the U slightly sloped to a central drain, with decorative block paviours making a feature of it.
The stables had talk grilles between them and in the rear of each stable was a window (with top door). I think the most important 'feature' was the roof construction. If the roof trusses are too far away from each other, the roof can sag if youre just having onduline. We had onduline as we were on a budget, but specified that there were more roof trusses so they were closer together. You need to watch that as not all manufacturers point this out, and when its built its too late. So as others have said, a wide overhang is really handy, but do your research on roof construction. Oh yes one more thing - dont have perspex panels in the roof - they make your stables really hot. Id get the best quality roof you can afford (tiles, slate etc).
 
Thanks for the replys, some great ideas and things to think about. The broom handle.is a good one !

The roof is one thing I really want to get right as our old roof was onduline (admittedly old) but it sagged, leaked, came loose in the wind and was generally not very good. I really like the look of the tiles suggested above but have a feeling they will be rather expensive ! Does anyone who has tiles have any form of skylight in the door to.make it lighter ??

Like the idea of the arched dry area although I think my husband may not be best pleased if I add more when I have a perfectly good dry area in the barn apparently !! It does look lovely though and such a useful space...umm may have to work on that one !
 
If you have the space I would go for doors wide enough to get a bobcat through so you can deep litter and muck out mechanically. Or just muck out mechanically!
 
whiteflower said:
Thanks for the replys, some great ideas and things to think about. The broom handle.is a good one !

The roof is one thing I really want to get right as our old roof was onduline (admittedly old) but it sagged, leaked, came loose in the wind and was generally not very good. I really like the look of the tiles suggested above but have a feeling they will be rather expensive ! Does anyone who has tiles have any form of skylight in the door to.make it lighter ??

Like the idea of the arched dry area although I think my husband may not be best pleased if I add more when I have a perfectly good dry area in the barn apparently !! It does look lovely though and such a useful space...umm may have to work on that one !
Click to expand...

Roof idea's, for and against idea's for you to decide as you know your area
Metal sheet roof, onduline, tiles, felt or wooden (Cedar)shingles, Equinox tiled roof system

Can you tell I became a roof anorak when deciding on my roof :)
 
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Skylights.
I deliberately did not have any skylights or anything that may undermine the roof, with the high winds and heavy rain I wanted it all tiles with no problems to think about,
I made the awful mistake of asking for a plain ordinary weather vane to put on the roof, bad idea of mine........... water travels and I found water in a bad storm, it was sorted out
but after paying all that money I'm not sure why I thought someone making a hole in the roof to put a weather vane up was such a good idea :)

Same as the tack room, I didn't want sky lights or windows, why would I want to give any passing thief a view of my stuff or an easy time of it
 
Try and get some with extra height, My husband actually built my stable block of 4 (we were on a budget & he is a self learnt DIYer!!) and they are probably 2 foot taller than conventional ones. This gives lovely airy stables which stay cool in the summer and being wood relatively warm in the winter. We also changed our roof from onduline (lasted about 12 years) to bog standard box profile but in green to match the rest of the Decor - looks pretty smart. We also made sure it was well bolted down and used thicker timbers for added security.
 
So pleased I put this thread on, it's helped me so much and brought up things I haven't even considered, so much so I think we r going to revise the plan slightly and resubmit the planning with a few minor additions/changes.
I've learnt a lot about roofing, some really great options put forwards here, going to be making some phone calls tomorrow. A good point re the skylights and possibility of leaking/wind issues, we are very exposed so I think we will go without, I'm hoping a higher pitched roof will give some additional light too.

I've reassessed the sizing of some of the stables, think I'm going to have fewer, larger stables. I'm thinking of doing 12x16 which is the size of our current foaling boxes as they are in a fair bit in the winter so the bigger the better I assume ?

I will add some photos when they are done in the spring, it's so good to get ideas from others and to avoid the pitfalls !!
 
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whiteflower said:
Some fantastic ideas here, thank you all so much, I'm making a list of all the things I want to look into from this thread. The over hang size seems a big thing as does stable size. I'm going to ask the companies that gives us quotes about how stables are secured to the concrete, it is a good reminder and added to the list as part of the original problem is the horses big bottoms scratching had pushed areas off the bricks....now I know why !

We have already had planning approved as although it to replace existing I wanted to tweak the layout slightly due to inclement weather, so that's all sorted, good point though.

Loving some of the internal ideas as well thanks Millie pops, I was looking at the exact monarch ones you were talking about last night and not sure it would work for us for various reasons anyway but that confirms it but I need to look into any better alternatives to the haybars they pull everything out of !

The toilet cistern is genius ! Hubby is looking into possibilities of similar for by the hose

Also like the sound of roof tiles as I think they look smart so just need to check the viability with weight and as we are very exposed.

Any other thoughts welcomed you have given me so much to think about thank you
Click to expand...
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