updated building stables....thoughts on this type of structure

[4whitesocks]

Posted a few days ago about what am hoping to build on a limited budget...got pics of something similar someone else has built & just wondered what you though....wanted to get it all in one space rather than put in wooden & straight block building working out too expensive
OK - here's some pics of what am planning to build - the first one with the open side I think he hasn't laid it out well - I reckon two stables side by side facing towards where round bale currently is would make better use of space - want to have 4 walls (see other shed from a distance) and in the rest of the space block a tiny lockable tackroom (bags of hard feed can also go in there) leaving space for round bales & if necessary trailer to be parked up if we're away. OH also suggested putting something into the cement when we are laying it like an upside-down U that trailer can be locked to....(like a bicycle stand I thinK?)

What are your thoughts on having a sliding door? (see distance shot) would roller or straight opening be better?

Ideally would concrete a decent enough area in front of shed for hosing off, shoeing etc. and fence whole area off away from feed. Dung heap (or buy old trailer to put dung directly into which someone on here suggested then just need someone to take it away & bring back trailer?) to one side
and in an ideal world if at all possible would like to put a second table door at the back of their stables leading directly into field...so that in depths of winter I can leave this door open & if am late home all OH has to do is give them haylage & close doors.....have no idea if this is possible in this type of strcture or if am starting to make it bespoke which will cost more...questions questions...

should also point out haven't worked out all the measurements yet son don't actually know if two decent sized stables will fit side by side....!!
anyway - thoughts?

 

[mandy4727]

Those look okay to me. A couple on our yard are similar. 3 in an l shape. But no gap inbetween as I think you are suggesting. they are built within a dutch barn so the other two sides are open but stables down one side (2 stables) and then 1 at a right angle to them. All the haylage (6 bales at a time) and all the shavings also get stored in there but there is still more than enough room to get the horses out and tie them up without being in the way of the haylage. The haylage is used by everyone and we only open 1 bale at a time. I will get pictures if you want. That may be a better idea. But everything is under cover. Other stables are in a block with a corridor down one side. So the horse in the bottom stable cant see out only opposite a brick wall. And then the other block is all open to the outside so they can see what is going on. That is the type i am in. Which I like the best for me and my horse.

 

[Patches]

I don't like those block stables.

Not sure if I have a picture of mine anywhere. Mine are internal stables with a gangway/aisle up along the front. Windows to the back of all stables and three full height, into barns vaulted ceiling walls...but he front wall is only 6 blocks high..same height as the doors on the stables so that the horses have a full length aspect they can look over.

 

[henryhorn]

Don't like the look of them for some reason, and can't quite decide why.
I think it's because of so much blockwork and it looks odd and sort of detached inside.
I prefer block walls to half that height with grills above, he end walls can be full height to stop through draughts but the enclosed whole blocl types stables feel prison like inside.
we are about to build a block of six inside a building that we used as an indoor school. We've looked at lots of options and recall from the last 20 stables we built that solid block eventually starts to crumb;le where the doors are fixed and it's a real heachache to fix again.
Our options are half height walls (block ) and metal bars above.
Instant stabling as in Monarch type ones .
Monarch fronts and block half sides with bars made to fit from a local firm.
I fancy those feedbowls that you flick round into the stables, and would prefer either weaving grill doors or half doors.
The biggest cost for us is the concrete, the building is 28 m long and about the same wide, but the plan is two rows of boxes on one side and another down the middle facing them. Because of the cost we will do it in stages. They should be about 16' x 12' which gives plenty of space for a 2/3rds bed and free eating area at the door end. We use auto water system and in over twenty years have never had a horse dehydrate! Plus they don't absorb the taste of the ammonia smells like water in buckets do, I bet if half the people who insist on using buckets tasted that water after a couple of hours they would gag...The auto empties completely and refills every time, giving fresh water as against stale...
Our previous barn system had two massive sliding doors on either end, they were fine but one idiot tied her horse to the handle one day...luckily we managed to get it free before it killed itself .
A big opening door can be very dangerous in high winds, you can't physically hold it, I'd go for two doors one you can bolt into the ground to shut .
Your system sounds ok , and the metal bar a good idea, you could however just have a bar you lock in front of the trailer that blocks its exit, that may be less hassle to put in.
Good luck, I have to sell a couple of horses to finance ours, we can afford the concrete but not the boxes!!

 

[vicijp]

Totally agree with HH, apart from one thing.
Please dont get the top half of the walls done with bars.
A few years ago we had them all round, until a horse rolled and got her foot stuck in them. L:uckily she slid it straight in and straight out.
So we put light steel sheeting up in between the stables, and did half of the front.
The other night we had a horse stick his foot in there, stuck fast - not nice. No one ever believes it can happen, but it can - my physio says she sees about 7 a year that have done the same.
We were lucky we didnt have to shoot the horse.
Another thing with a structure like that is that however you do it, the tack room isnt going to be very secure. I guess there is see through corrugated plastic in the roof for light? That can be cut with a pair of sharp scissors.

 

[claireross]

I have a stable inside an old barn. All sides are thick plywood up to door height and then open with a single bar above. I would have thought plywood would be alot cheaper and if it's decent it is strong enough. I would be really interested in what you have done as I am intending to purchase some land and need to know how much stabling will cost me. If you don't mind could you PM when its all finished, i'd love to see what it looks like.

 

[Gingernags]

Ditto V here - I've known a horse get its jaws stuck through these before - broke its bottom jaw and had to be put down as it lost all the teeth to and would never heal well enough to eat.

I really don't like bars, though my current stable has them, I'm trying to see if I can get them removed...

 

[Patches]

Can't find many pics of mine....certainly no decent ones, which may be because I don't have decent stables! LOL

This was Patches having a doze on her wall! I felt guilty as I woke her up...looked like she was going to hang herself (she'd been sedated to remove a dressing from her knee post surgery.)

Can just make out the small window to the back of her. She does have a guard over it now though. They're perspex windows that we remove in the summer to keep them cooler.