Which way should my new stables face?

Snowy Celandine

Snowy Celandine

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The mobile stables are arriving next week as I want something in place before PP comes through (fingers crossed!!) so I can put them anywhere in the field as they will be towed around regularly for the first few months but do you normally face them south or with their back against a prevailing wind or whatever? I've just been walking round the field trying to figure it out but failing really as the wind (and it is very windy today) is coming from the S West and isn't cold. I guess I don't want the stables facing North or East though? Any advice?
 
Apparently the S West wind is the usual one. I remember a bitter east wind in winter but it was only on odd days. I think I need to go out every day and stick my wetted finger in the air don't I? :p
 
I put my mobile stables/shelter with their back against the prevailing wind, ours is westerly. I also have them close to the hedge line to give them more protection from the wind. This also put them in the shade when it's hot. Mine have the top part of the back wall as yorkshire boarding which allows the wind to go through them if we get an easterly.
 
We wanted to put ours away from the prevailing wind (west coming straight off the sea) but planners said no, they have to face it :p
 
Thanks GW :) I may try that also because I have just confirmed with the farmer that the prevailing wind is def S Westerly. If I've got it wrong I can always shunt the stables round so it's not critical but I would prefer to get it right first time if I possibly can.
 
The planners indeed sometimes have weird and wonderful ideas of where to site stables. Our big (30' x 12') shelter had to be sited 50 metres away from our preferred site, and facing north, not south ;). Having said that, it works very well where it is.

My L shaped stable block faces north and east, which works much better than you'd think - its nice and shady in summer, and protected from the strong southerly winds we get here. Also, it looks down onto the house, whereas if it faced S&W, we'd only see the rear walls.
 
They are great fun round our way,
they also thought our house would be too yellow so we had to build them a sample wall.... gran's house next door is all fake sandstone so all yellow!, the other side is all grey we were aiming for something in the middle.

the stables aren't too bad as we aren't that exposed with houses on all sides of the paddock.
 
Tp and ester, I've potentially got a lot of 'fun' to come then :o I thought the planning dept at the last house were ok but then they insisted on me resubmitting the whole plan again due to a tiny change. Other than that they seemed reasonable I suppose.
 
I'm afraid I haven't worked that out yet but I can see the merits of having it close to the stables! We need to hire a skip and a mini digger when the weather finally improves as there's a lot of ash from a bonfire in one corner that needs moving and I've asked a couple of local people round to cast their eye over the field for me to give me some help and advice. One is the stockman and the other (his fiancée) has two horses of her own. OH and I currently have different ideas from each other over where we should place everything so I'm hoping that having someone else look at it will crystallise our thoughts :D
 
Snowy Celandine said:
Thanks GW :) I may try that also because I have just confirmed with the farmer that the prevailing wind is def S Westerly. If I've got it wrong I can always shunt the stables round so it's not critical but I would prefer to get it right first time if I possibly can.
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Check the trees, they will bend away from the prevailing wind. Southerly winds here are the most destructive. I certainly wouldn't want anything with an open front facing south, the roof would be off in no time, although Yorkshire boarding would help.
 
Our planning dept made me face my stables a different way than I wanted them. They actually did me a huge favour (and I rarely say positive things about them!) because they made us have an L shape rather than straight line with the back of the V to the prevailing winds. It's been a godsend in the windy, rainy Pennines.
 
Tiddlypom said:
Close as poss to a water supply. You don't want to be humping buckets any further than you have to. Ditto feed shed, hay barn.
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OH is going to run some blue pipe up to the edge of the field so that I have water but the hay barn is quite a distance away, unfortunately. The feed shed is closer but it's not big enough to store hay in. I suppose we could build another when finances allow. I think it will be ok in the summer months but a real PITA in winter :(
 
Pearlsasinger said:
Check the trees, they will bend away from the prevailing wind. Southerly winds here are the most destructive. I certainly wouldn't want anything with an open front facing south, the roof would be off in no time, although Yorkshire boarding would help.
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Will Google Yorkshire boarding :p The trees seem fairly well grown all around so no help there but I will keep checking wind direction every day until I figure it out. I reckon the landowner is right though and it's mainly South Westerly. It definitely is today.
 
Honey08 said:
Our planning dept made me face my stables a different way than I wanted them. They actually did me a huge favour (and I rarely say positive things about them!) because they made us have an L shape rather than straight line with the back of the V to the prevailing winds. It's been a godsend in the windy, rainy Pennines.
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A cautious three cheers for the planners in that case Honey? :D
 
Back of stables to the prevailing wind, keeps them sheltered and makes everything so much easier on a stormy day as the doors aren't slamming and the bedding (and ponies) getting soaked at the front.
As for hay - you can always bring a few bales over to the feedhouse every few days - we do this as our hay is stored some distance from the stables.
 
Thanks catkin :) That's my thought re stables but OH thinks they should face the house so that we can see the ponies heads. That would be lovely but we have to keep them as comfy as possible and we'll still be able to see them, just the sides of their heads!

I will have to adopt that method for the hay but I could easily spend a fortune on buying sheds. I have previous form. I had a shed for everything at the last house, ha ha.
 
You don't want them facing the house - if you can see them then they will be watching you - it's quite offputting as the little b******s 'comment' on everything............ :) :) the 'feed me' 'fluence can be very strong, oh and they love it if you have any sort of prat-fall.

Ours are sideways on to the house so they are backs to the wind, it's nice as they are close by.
 
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catkin said:
Back of stables to the prevailing wind, keeps them sheltered and makes everything so much easier on a stormy day as the doors aren't slamming and the bedding (and ponies) getting soaked at the front.
As for hay - you can always bring a few bales over to the feedhouse every few days - we do this as our hay is stored some distance from the stables.
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Back to the south west is the best I have found you may get some rubbish or snow pile up in front of the stables but you do not usually get the rain blowing in.
 
sywell said:
Back to the south west is the best I have found you may get some rubbish or snow pile up in front of the stables but you do not usually get the rain blowing in.
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Many thanks sywell :) Someone is coming to look at the field today prior to the stables being installed next week and that is the position I have decided on so I hope they agree with me as OH is still being stubborn.
 
Snowy Celandine said:
OH is going to run some blue pipe up to the edge of the field so that I have water but the hay barn is quite a distance away, unfortunately. The feed shed is closer but it's not big enough to store hay in. I suppose we could build another when finances allow. I think it will be ok in the summer months but a real PITA in winter :(
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On hay buy one of those plastic garden storage cuboards and put in a convenient spot get a big wheelbarrow I have one of those huge two wheels ones then fill lots of nets and keep them in the plastic cupboard .
That means you can do enough nets for at least a day in one go this saves time and means you can do the horses up quickly when things are going a bit mad .
I also like to do up the boxes and have them ready in the morning water in all ready to go I also fill water buckets for top ups to save time later .
I put up feeds once a day as well .
You need a plan for muck this is always a thorny issue .it makes a mess .
If you can I would invest in a covered muck trailer and pay to have it taken away regularly.
 
Life needs to be easy when horses are at home .
They need to fit in so OH's don't feel that money chomping attention seeking herbivores are overrunning their lives .
That's why I do everything for a day in one go when I am in charge it means when other stuff goes wrong you can quickly do what's needed and move on .
 
catkin said:
You don't want them facing the house - if you can see them then they will be watching you - it's quite offputting as the little b******s 'comment' on everything............ :) :) the 'feed me' 'fluence can be very strong, oh and they love it if you have any sort of prat-fall.

Ours are sideways on to the house so they are backs to the wind, it's nice as they are close by.
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No, don't have it where they can see when you get up on a morning ��
 
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