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Member:
Gwen

Posted on Monday, Jun 28, 2004 - 6:13 am:

I am building a barn that is 30'x16'. I am planning to put two stalls on the outer sides and a storage room between them. The stalls will be 10'x16' and the two horses will have free access to them. The openings will be as wide as possible. I am a little bit worried about the stalls being too narrow, so that one could get trapped in by another. Am I being overly cautious?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Jun 28, 2004 - 6:51 am:

How big are your horses Gwen?
DrO
Member:
Gwen

Posted on Monday, Jun 28, 2004 - 7:53 am:

One is about 16.1 and one is 15.2.
Member:
Ajudson1

Posted on Monday, Jun 28, 2004 - 7:58 am:

Gwen,

For years we had only an old "shed" with 3 stalls. One was 12 x 14, the other 2 were less than 10 one way, maybe 9 x 10. For the most part the half doors were always open. With as many as 6 horses at a time, (usually 3 or 4 horses) it wasn't ideal but they managed. They worked out where everyone went if hay was put inside during wet/cold weather. Sometimes one would be left out, but no one got hurt. I would be amazed to find 3 horses in one of the smaller stalls, and one hogging the bigger stall. (I had mostly smaller Arabs at that time) They would carefully move and adjust themselves and let each other out.

I understand your concern but I think if we give horses credit for working things out and adapting to their environment we'll find they do just FINE.

Now I have 5 sharing a 28 x 14 stall, with 2, four foot wide openings. I can feed hay on the floor and they all do just fine. Only found one horse had a scraped flank when they were first allowed in the new barn. (eventually I will have 4- 14 x 14 stalls)

If I had a horse who was very dominate this wouldn't work as well of course, so it depends on your horses personality. We had that situation twice, and always locked that one in to keep peace. Notice I said HAD--I prefer not to have horses around that flunked kindergarden and never learned to get along well with others!!!

I think that with making the doors as wide as possible, you'll be just fine.
Member:
Gwen

Posted on Monday, Jun 28, 2004 - 8:50 am:

Thanks Angie. The two I have now get along well. One is pretty dominant with others, but his brother actually stands up to him well and seems to be pretty smart at getting out of his way when he needs to. I think I worry about them more than I need to!
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Jun 29, 2004 - 6:18 am:

I think your concern is real Gwen. As Angie suggests most horses will adapt to most situations in time but accidents happen daily. One thing you could do to minimize disagreements when you start is avoid putting food in the stalls when both have free access.
DrO
Member:
Ajudson1

Posted on Tuesday, Jun 29, 2004 - 7:02 am:

Gwen, We all worry about our "babies" more than we need to I think. Nothing wrong with that. I am leaving today for 3 whole days, and leaving all 5 home, plus 2 dogs, a momma cat and her kittens. Even after making sure the fence is working great, putting out extra hay, letting them into the biggest most grown up pasture, filling an extra tank, I will still worry. And don't ask how much I worry about the dogs!! (one is my Jack Russel, King of the house) And yes, someone will check in on them daily.

I hear what your're saying Dr O. Horses are the most accident prone of all critters I think. Because their feet move before brain kicks in.

Our littlest 2 yr old filly goes after a much bigger than her 2 yr old gelding. Don't need food in the area even. Yup, that gets worriesome when they are all in one stall with 2 doors. So I did an experiment at graining time; put a small amount of grain in each bucket (they get hooked 5 across the front of the stall) and let each horse pick where they wanted to go. I was standing gaurd of course! As soon as a horse picked a bucket, it was hooked in that spot. No blood shed, and my sissy 2 yr old gelding made it clear where he felt safest, and the little brat ended up in the corner next to the oldest dominant mare. Peace at last!! And my gelding started to eat slower too in his new spot.

Truthfully, I am anxious for the other 2 stalls to be done, and one horse sold so each has it's own area at least at night. Hopefully by this winter.



Member:
Gwen

Posted on Tuesday, Jun 29, 2004 - 8:39 am:

I don't want to over think it, but what about feeding in inclement weather? The current configuration of the barn is 30'x16' total, with posts at 10' apart for stability. Both stalls are on the outside, with a storage room between. So I thought that maybe I could put the storage room on an end and take the middle wall out to have one big stall 20'x16' for both to share. There is a bigger opening for escape, but they would both have to share and there is still that pole at 10' that one could clip. Which is worse I guess?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Jun 30, 2004 - 8:28 am:

Assuming they are both in a single area, the more room they have the safer the situation.
DrO
Member:
Bonita

Posted on Wednesday, Jun 30, 2004 - 9:09 am:

It "might" work, but only if you have completely - & I mean completely - separate grain-feeding areas.

I have had - on occasion - doubled up 2 youngsters of mine (full brothers a year apart in age) in a 14' x 14' stall for short periods of time. While they normally adore each other & initially would eat out of the same tub, it didn't take long for one of them to commandeer the feed tub & give the other guy a run for his money around the stall. Hay wasn't a problem - they'd munch happily together for hours. Grain was an entirely different matter.
Member:
Dres

Posted on Wednesday, Jun 30, 2004 - 9:51 am:

i would make sure that you also have two entries/exits so that if there is trouble, one can get out faster..

Ann
Member:
Gwen

Posted on Wednesday, Jun 30, 2004 - 11:17 am:

Okay, so would you all recommend doing the separate 10'x16' stalls (with 10' spearating them), or one 20'x16' to share?
New Member:
Paintluv

Posted on Wednesday, Jun 30, 2004 - 11:39 am:

I have individual 12x12 stalls that open into the pasture. My two horses can go in and out as they please. I have no trouble with this arrangement. When they come in, they are always standing in separate stalls. At meal times, I shut one door till everyone is finished with their grain. If they want to play musical stalls with the hay, that's okay. The less dominant mare is usually smart enough to always be on the lookout for the boss and not get herself trapped. The stall door openings are 4 foot wide. I like separate stalls in case one gets sick and needs to be locked in. Right now I am fighting insect allergies so I have to keep the allergic one in during the day.
Member:
Terrilyn

Posted on Wednesday, Jun 30, 2004 - 11:39 am:

I had the same configuration, a 20x16 run in, but with two openings, shared by three. There was one center pole. I never felt the doors were big enough, and that stupid pole bothered me (I didn't build it!) as they rubbed on it, bumped it, etc. -- I always felt it was a safety hazard. I had one other stall, 8x10, and a feed room, also 8x10. I could use the stall as needed to keep them separated when necessary. It was my experience that the pecking order of the horses really determine how you will handle things like inclement weather, etc. One was always shut out of the 20x16 in the rain as my mare wasn't fond of him-- she sometimes let him in during fly season. Graining the three together was not possible...only two would eat peacably side by side. I used the extra stall A LOT. However, with two, and two that get along, I'd probably opt for the larger area but with very adequate exits. They're going to hang out together regardless of the space available. The only problem is that you won't have a place to separate them if you need to (stall rest for injury, etc). AND if you don't always have these two horses, the dynamics will likely change...there's really no easy answer here! What about building a half wall between the larger 20x16 space that can be secured should you ever need to?
Member:
Bonita

Posted on Wednesday, Jun 30, 2004 - 11:51 am:

You know what - if you have a choice, I'd vote for separate stalls.

Think ahead. What will you do if they really beat each other up at feeding time? Some do. Also - what will you do if one of them becomes ill or injured & needs to be kept away from the other? How will you manage this with just one covered area?

I'd go for the separate stalls. I think you'll find that you have more flexibility in the long run.
Member:
Jerre

Posted on Wednesday, Jun 30, 2004 - 12:09 pm:

I have a 12x16 run-in but the whole 16-foot front is open, except for a post at the 12-foot mark. The building is actually 14x24 with 14-foot-high roof. An 8x8 feed/tack room takes up one corner.
My horses are a mare and her yearling filly, so sharing isn't much of an issue. The mare is the boss, but will generally share the grain; they swap buckets several times during feeding. I have a couple of extra gates that I can hang to create a stall relatively quickly. The only problem is the mare bends them if she's confined too long.
Member:
Sunny66

Posted on Wednesday, Jun 30, 2004 - 12:11 pm:

Can you have separate stalls with runs. Have a gate on each run that opens to a larger paddock?

This way you have a little bit of both. Good luck!
Member:
Gwen

Posted on Wednesday, Jun 30, 2004 - 7:32 pm:

You guys are so great with your ideas. I really appreciate you all taking the time to brainstorm with me! You all made good points about some variables. I thought about the option of putting the boards that can slide in and out in between the 20'x16' area if need be, but then thought that if the dominant one won't let the other guy in, then the other stall is within reach as well! They are living outside together now where I board and get along quite well. Their grain buckets are side by side and they share hay too. I wish that I could utilize Aileen's idea of separate little turnouts for the purpose of feeding, but I have the barn tucked into the corner of the only paddock I will have for a while. I think I will go with the separate stall thing for now. Thanks again everyone!
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