Building a Horse barn??

[landis1659]

There is just so much to think about. We only have 3 acers 2 that are fenced and one that we use for trails through the woods. My granddaughter wants a pony and I thought about getting her a small horse instead and one for me to ride with her. But there might be enough to graise but I don't know about really being able to ride. The trails will only be for walking. We already have a Dairy goat and would like to have a couple more to keep her company. I just don't if this would be possiable here. We have a buck too but he is off by himself in another small pen 50x100. We thought that would be big enough for him, it was full of brush about 3 ft tall when we put him there last spring, it only took him about 2 weeks to clear it out. Now we have to buy hay for him all the time. I'm hoping some of it will start to grow back this spring but I'm sure it won't be enough. The chicken coop my husband built last year is big enough for the goat and the 12 or so chickens we have but we can't keep her out of the chicken feed. No one told me when I got her not to put her in with chickens. Thank god I found this site before she got sick. Anyway I guess I'll just have to think more about this before we go any further. I defenitly need another barn away from the chickens but just now sure about the horses. I've driven around the area and saw horses beside the road living with just about everything. I want to be fair the the animals and make sure they each have all the room they need. We keep the feed inside right now in our utility room and my husband says he can make shelves in his shop for the tack but now I'm rethinking that because of saw dust. We were thinking of building a 3 stall barn. Since the horses don't need to be inclosed we would only close in one stall for the goats and that is probably only around kidding time. She like to come and go from the chicken coop so most of the time we leave it open. I haven't had any problems with prediters yet, I'm thinking my dogs keep them at bay. I have 2 huskies but it's was a problem with keeping them away from the chickens in the beginning had to build and 8ft fence o keep the chickens from flying right into the dogs path. What an experience this has all been. But I haven't given up yet. My husband just thinks I'm crasy to love all these animals.