Show me your converted barns to stables and a few Q's

[Sauerkraut]

We are looking into moving to a farm house to get the horses home. The house has a barn with one big room and a smaller one next to it, just divided with stone wall. The front is open as it was used for storage and sheep in the winter.
The double one would be big enough for a 14x14 and 12x12 at least.

Now here are my questions:

Would you close the front with Walls and just leave it open with stable doors to keep wind and cold out?

Would you just use 2 gates (that's what they have used for the sheep)?

Would you rather build two boxes with an aisle between so the doors would face inwards and even less elements get to them (but would also mean it's getting darker inside).

Would you use wood instead of bricks?

Have you got some pictures of your converted stables?

Thank you very much!
Porridge to share

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

it would help with some pictures .
my friend had an old 18 listed barn really tall but it had two open sides in the middle. She blocked one off and the other she put massive American doors .

This idea I like big either single or double doors.

she then built the stables inside at one end the other end she built a raised area so all the hay is above .

Personally i like the old american way where you drop the hay down into the hay rack from above.

My friend did this years ago and now has converted the barn to a house.
would help with pictures to get some ideas.

 

[becca1305]

Hmm we converted ours not entirely sure what they were before but it was pretty obvious how it had to work as it was a U shape and only one stable deep and the location of supporting walls meant we ended up with a few huge stables. The only advice I can give is dont put hay up top unless you have a doorway big enough for a tractor of some kind to push the bale through the upper door/ get it up there somewhere and the floor is strong enough to take the weight. The top of ours was an old hayloft so we thought we would use it as such but cant get big bales through the door and trying to do little ones on the pulley takes forever. Its also a pain in the arse to get them down and gets hay everywhere! It was a lovely romantic notion and would have been a great use of space (perhaps if you can use a tractor and do like above poster said it would be good) but essentially now our hay is in the spare stable and we have haylage made off the fields instead so can store it outside! My only other advice is be prepared to find some problems if its an old building so budget with some leeway for new problematic discoveries! Aside from our old hay loft which is now used for storage- fencing supplies spare rugs etc so still pretty useful- i love ours

 

[be positive]

If you are going to build a dividing wall with bricks/blocks they need very good foundations and would be permanent, I would look at wooden panels, you can get them from stable companies or get something made for you.
The fronts would be fine with gates, these could be lined for more weather protection, horses are healthier with plenty of fresh air and a nice big stable gives you more options for the future, if you put an aisle in you will lose a fair amount of floor space.
The other useful thing with gates at the front, if you can fence a yard in the front they could live in that with the choice of going inside, perfect for saving your land in bad weather.

 

[Sauerkraut]

I haven't got a picture of the actual barn but I searched on the net for something similiar:

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=outbuildings&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1280&bih=685&tbm=isch&tbnid=85kHsgdhmNBqmM:&imgrefurl=http://yorkshireoakframes.co.uk/outbuildings.htm&docid=ZPQwhrpMfwaQOM&imgurl=http://yorkshireoakframes.co.uk/photos/outbuildings/Two_Bay_Garage.jpg&w=608&h=405&ei=A17CTpnIF8eW8gPC6c2MBA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=179&vpy=306&dur=9026&hovh=183&hovw=275&tx=157&ty=117&sig=111555384535110416172&page=4&tbnh=129&tbnw=193&start=54&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:54

Obviously the barn is a stone barn but with 3 bays. At the left side is already a brick wall to the front of about 1.5 wide and 1.20 high. Above it are some bars. It was build so that an iron gate (hinges on one of the pillars) fitted to keep sheep in. The 3rd bay on the right is totally seperated from the others with a wall. We will use this side as hay, bedding and feed storage.

I think just a gate is too cold , isn't it?

I really need to get down there again and take a picture for you to see.

Unfortunately there isn't enough space in front of the barn to create a paddock for them.

I'll have a look now on stable companies for maybe front panels and dividing the two.

 

[Enfys]

Hello Kitty, quite difficult to say without seeing the building really. I would probably just use the gates as it is for the stables.
Putting up a wall would depend how sheltered the building was, if the rain/snow/wind was going to make it very uncomfortable then I would put up a wall.

Personally i like the old american way where you drop the hay down into the hay rack from above.

Bank barn?

"two-story barn usually built into the slope of a hill and oriented so that the ground floor is protected from the prevailing wind. An inclined driveway leads to a large sliding door on the upper floor, which contains an area set aside for threshing grain, storing grain, and storing animal feed. The level below provides housing for animals and is entered at ground level from an enclosed yard."

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/bank-barn-1#ixzz1dmtfrMvP

 

[Tnavas]

Regardless of the weather it is by far the best for the horses to be breathing in fresh air. When doors are closed and ventilation reduced, bugs start to multiply and if one horse gets the snuffles the rest get it too.

I genuinely prefer the open to the outside stables with a good overhang to prevent rain being driven in. Horses stay far healthier and are also able to view activities.

 

[Polotash]

I'd get stable fronts made to fit, it doesn't cost any more than standard sizes. Then you can have wooden fronts with stable doors, and choose grills over if you want.

Mine came from Graham Pluess who I found the cheapest nationally.