Stable sizes

HeyMich

Well-Known Member
Joined
29 October 2015
Messages
1,998
Location
Sunny Stirlingshire
Visit site
What's the smallest stable size you would use for a chunky 12.2 pony?

Our wee herd of 3 has become 4! Yeay!! Kids are over the moon, as they no longer have to share and swap half way on hacks. The problem is that we only have 3 stables. It's only a slight problem really, as all of the beasts live out 24/7, but very occasionally it's nice to bring them in for an hour or 2 out of the Scottish liquid sunshine (today being a prime example - yuck!).

The pony stable is currently 8ft x 12ft and he has plenty of space. We also have a wee lean-to building that we could, at a push, convert to use as another stable, but it's only 6ft wide (still 12ft long). I think the pony would struggle to turn around in it. Mind you, he doesn't move much when he's in, doesn't roll or lie down, he just stands stock still at the hay feeder and munches away!

What do you all think? Good option for an extra body or do I need to think again?

.
 

WelshD

Well-Known Member
Joined
19 October 2009
Messages
7,973
Visit site
I think the turning round space isn’t too bad - ponies turn side on in horseboxes which aren’t much wider

But it would be the lying down and getting up that would worry me and I wouldn’t put mine in a stable of those dimensions personally

To answer your question I’d want a 10x10 stable although mine have both been very happy in 8x8 stables temporarily at shows
 

Goldenstar

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 March 2011
Messages
46,020
Visit site
I have had a 16.3 in an eight by 12 I was concerned but he managed fine lying down rolling ( which was ekkkk at first )he was only in At night in awful weather .
I also kept a horse tied in a four foot wide stall when it was injured and in plaster .
He learnt to lie down .
 
Joined
7 May 2020
Messages
1,401
Visit site
I think the lying down would worry me and potential to get cast as it’s not a very wide area.
Is there any chance the lean too could be widened, even by a couple of foot?
 

PapaverFollis

Well-Known Member
Joined
13 November 2012
Messages
9,544
Visit site
You could go all traditional and convert the current loose box into two pony stalls! Not ideal I know but if they are only in very occasionally for a few hours....
 

Lintel

Well-Known Member
Joined
6 February 2012
Messages
3,067
Location
Scotland
Visit site
Could they share....?
I wouldn't be keen on the idea generally but my Hipo and Shetland happily shared a stable for a period while we helped out friend with her horse.
Not ideal but again they are out 24/7 except for days like today in Scotland, they are grateful too be in for a wee while!

Sorry should add the box is 16x12 roughly but Hipo is 14.1.and the Shetland 9hh ?
 

HeyMich

Well-Known Member
Joined
29 October 2015
Messages
1,998
Location
Sunny Stirlingshire
Visit site
Hmm... Lintel and Ob4h, no I don't think they could share. The wee guy is pretty food aggressive, it's bad enough feeding hay with him in the field! The big 2 could share as they are big softies, but I'd need a mahoosive stable for them to do that safely, which doesn't help really.

Thanks for the other replies. It's good to hear that small stables are fine for short lengths of time. Getting cast isn't something I'd thought about really, as the wee chap doesn't ever roll or lie down, but I guess it's something to consider.

Splitting the other stables isn't really an option, I don't think. The biggest one is 13ft wide, which would make 2 x 6.5ft stables, which isn't much bigger than the lean-to option, and it would also mean that one of the big beasts would have to use the current pony stable.

Hmmm... Lots to think about!

.
 

SpotsandBays

Well-Known Member
Joined
7 December 2017
Messages
1,831
Visit site
Could they share....?
I wouldn't be keen on the idea generally but my Hipo and Shetland happily shared a stable for a period while we helped out friend with her horse.
Not ideal but again they are out 24/7 except for days like today in Scotland, they are grateful too be in for a wee while!

Sorry should add the box is 16x12 roughly but Hipo is 14.1.and the Shetland 9hh ?
My 12.2 and my miniature shetland shared a 14x14 When they did occasionally have to come in, (I now put them in a big barn). I just made sure that there’s plenty of hay in different spots for the little one, and a bed big enough for the two ? they also got on very well.
 

PapaverFollis

Well-Known Member
Joined
13 November 2012
Messages
9,544
Visit site
How wide are traditional stalls? I mean where they are tied up with a weighted rope... like in Black Beauty where the were all jealous because Beauty got the loose box and Ginger had been kicked out of it into a stall for being a bitch. ? I have two old stalls in an outbuilding! I could go measure. What I meant is, is the pony box big enough to split into 2 pony tie up stalls. Rather than splitting the biggest stable into two smaller loose boxes.

I don't know what the risk of getting cast in a traditional tie up stall would be.

I'm only suggesting it because they are in for a few hours occasionally! Wouldn't want to keep a horse in one if it was in every night etc. But for a few hours occasionally it's only like standing on a horse box for a while. Except the can't lie down in a horsebox I suppose...
 

SpotsandBays

Well-Known Member
Joined
7 December 2017
Messages
1,831
Visit site
My 12.2 and my miniature shetland shared a 14x14 When they did occasionally have to come in, (I now put them in a big barn). I just made sure that there’s plenty of hay in different spots for the little one, and a bed big enough for the two ? they also got on very well.
Sorry just realise I replied to a comment rather than the OP!
 

ILuvCowparsely

Well-Known Member
Joined
5 April 2010
Messages
14,394
Visit site
What's the smallest stable size you would use for a chunky 12.2 pony?

Our wee herd of 3 has become 4! Yeay!! Kids are over the moon, as they no longer have to share and swap half way on hacks. The problem is that we only have 3 stables. It's only a slight problem really, as all of the beasts live out 24/7, but very occasionally it's nice to bring them in for an hour or 2 out of the Scottish liquid sunshine (today being a prime example - yuck!).

The pony stable is currently 8ft x 12ft and he has plenty of space. We also have a wee lean-to building that we could, at a push, convert to use as another stable, but it's only 6ft wide (still 12ft long). I think the pony would struggle to turn around in it. Mind you, he doesn't move much when he's in, doesn't roll or lie down, he just stands stock still at the hay feeder and munches away!

What do you all think? Good option for an extra body or do I need to think again?

.
, my 12hh is in a 10x 9 I think
 

Errin Paddywack

Well-Known Member
Joined
20 June 2019
Messages
6,153
Location
West Midlands
Visit site
The riding school I worked for had two buildings with stalls in. Three in one and four in the other. The horses were mostly cobby types around 14hh to 15hhs. The horses were kept in overnight at weekends tied up in the stalls and they all coped fine. They all lay down and got up without problems. Split the pony box into two stalls or try the smaller building and see if it works.
 
Top