Horse Barn Questions

MissDanni

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Thanks in advance to anyone who replies here :)

Ok a few questions:

How high should the walls be? (full walls)
I want a dirt floor so should cementing the corner and support posts be fine?
Any kind of wood I shouldn't use?

I'm sure I'll think of more questions but these are off the top of my head.
 

WallTenters

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How big are your horses? Also, do you plan to stack hay in part of the barn as well, or is it just a run-in? As to the cement, yes just doing corner posts is fine, but make sure that you bury that deep enough so your ground doesn't get dug out around it and then you have a huge tripping hazard.

Some say not to use pressure-treated wood because of the chemicals (if you have a wood chewer), but ironically many people recommend using them for wood chewers to deter the chewing because of the taste.. kind of a personal preference I think.

I would use 2x6s if you can at least half-way up the walls, then plywood from there. The plywood is cheaper, but will also get broken easily with a misplaced kick at a fly (etc.), and then you have an unsightly mess.

I saw a very nice run-in (a friend's) with 6x6 pressure treated corner beams, the rafters, etc. with 2x4s, with 2x6s about 4 feet up the walls. Siding wood (not sure what the technical term is for that!) was wrapped around the whole outside, looked great inside and out, very effective, and easy to clean. Theirs was about 6ft walls going up to maybe 8ft, and was 12ftx24ft to use for two horses (one was a large TW, the other an Arab pony).
 

patandchickens

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Honestly, you really don't need to, and IMHO should not, cement your posts in. It just makes them rot faster, and is extra work and expense, without giving any meaningful benefit. Use good thick posts -- pole-barn type poles at least 6-8" diameter, or 6x6 pressure-treated posts -- and sink them well and properly and tightly at least 3 ft deep and preferably more like 4 feet deep. And that will be FINE.

Walls should probably be 8'. Note that if your ceiling or doorways are 8', a rearing horse will be at risk of clocking its head into them with potentially terrible results for the horse -- however it takes about 12' to actually remove that risk, which is often not realistic to build (esp. for doorways), and a good argument can be made that it is better for a horse to hit its head low (without a full windup) than higher up. But lower than 8' is definitely a bad idea.

I would not personally use pressure treated wood anywhere it can be chewed on -- there are better ways of deterring chewing, with less risk -- but you need it for your posts and sills. Otherwise, use either 2x6 or larger lumber (plain pine is fine, fir or hemlock are better, roughcut fully-2" lumber is best) or for siding in areas that are unlikely to be kicked you can use 3/4" plywood, appropriately primed and painted. Don't use metal siding anywhere a horse could kick it; and make sure metal roof overhangs are high enough to be out of the way of heads waving around, or are fenced off so the horse cannot accidentally scalp himself or remove an eye.

Frankly a good all-weather shed is more important than a barn as such -- horses are generally healthier if they live outside all the time, barring illness.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat
 

freemotion

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Yes to all of the above! I like dirt floors and my little barn (two stall with a storage area) was built on cement piers (sp?)

As for hay storage, I found out the hard way that the only way to NOT have mold on the bottom bales is to not buy too much at once, and to stack TWO pallets on a layer of bricks, then stack the hay on that. In a damp year, three pallets would be better. Get a cat. Rats love to live under pallets. They also store horse poop under pallets. They also steal chicken eggs and store them under pallets. Ick.
 

michickenwrangler

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Dirt floors are nice for mucking out stalls. All the urine drains away and the manure composts--after you've picked up the big piles of course. I've worked at several boarding stables and would prefer to clean stalls on earthen floors than cement or stall mats. Mats are heavy and a pain. I would only use them if I had cement floors.
 

debiraymond

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I am a complete and total rookie here so take it for what it is worth. The shelter we are building is 10' tall, in case one rears up they won't bump their heads. We used 12' 2x4's and buried 2 feet in the ground. Plywood around and above. We have dirt and are planning on keeping it that way unless I read something that makes sense.
 

MissDanni

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I am SO glad that I joined this site ( Good call hubby:) )

You guys are great! Thank you so much for all the great information and advice.
 

debiraymond

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I forgot to add that we built ours this way on the advice of a trainer. For what it's worth. I know nothing!
 

patandchickens

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freemotion said:
As for hay storage, I found out the hard way that the only way to NOT have mold on the bottom bales is to not buy too much at once, and to stack TWO pallets on a layer of bricks, then stack the hay on that. In a damp year, three pallets would be better.
And a tarp under the pallets, too. I find that helps a lot. I do have to replace the tarp most years on account of rodents chewing holes in it (although if you are on higher drier better drained ground than my barn, a few holes in the tarp might not be such a problem).

Pat
 

MissDanni

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Hey pat,

Thanks for the tips, the tarp is a great idea.

As it is, we have an existing small barn that will be used for storage.
We have decided to go with a pole style barn for the new guy. Basically it will be a big box stall. This way when we are ready to get him a friend we can just build another box on to this one.

I read a lot of people keep the horses out 24/7 365, however we live in eastern Canada and it gets crazy cold here and the winters are brutal.

I guess we will just have to see how he gets along. Maybe come winter we will just leave his barn open so he can come and go.
 

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