Standing Stalls

I like the tie stalls that have a hanging beam separating one horse’s body from the one next to him. I like this for a lot of reasons.

– Easier to clean the stalls if you don’t have partitions that go clear to the floor.
– When you’re in there cleaning the stalls, the hip beam is permitted to be pushed aside by yourself or the horse if necessary.
– A horse won’t get cast by a hanging hip beam.
– If a horse gets his hip or shoulder a bit under the beam while laying down, it will articulate somewhat to roll it off the horse when he rises

My hanging beams are fixed at the manger end (in my case, I have an eyebolt in the end of the beam and one in the wall, with a bolt and nut pinning the two eyes together) but suspended from a ceiling joist by a chain at the butt end. Then I enclose each tie stall with a chain across the back – a butt chain. The butt chain goes to the butt end of the beam so that when everyone’s butt chains are shut, the hanging beams are fixed in position.

If you have a manger that you can put hay into without entering the tie stalls, so much the better – especially if you anticipate ever needing to have someone feed who isn’t entirely comfortable around the horses. However, young horses or horses new to tie stalls can sometimes get their front feet into their mangers, especially if they are eager for breakfast. If the manger backs up against a wall, or has an access door that you can shut behind it, you’ll likely avoid that problem.

Mangers should be shallow enough that the horse won’t hurt his windpipe trying to reach everything at the bottom.

A piece of heavy pipe that runs along the edge of the manger is useful:
– to keep the horse from chewing on the lip of the manger
– to absorb some of the abrasion/wear on the wood
– to fix the horse’s rope/chain to

The tie stall needs to be gently sloped to the rear to encourage drainage so they aren’t forced to lie in a puddle.

What are your absolutes? What’s the spacing of support poles for the barn?

I used to have a good-sized collection of pictures of tie stalls but I’ve misplaced them. I do have a few, though.

Some people like tie stalls they can drive a team straight into, with nothing between the two horses. Others like tie stalls that prevent one horse from being able to see the horse next to him and squabble. Myself, I don’t have any rank horses or horses that fight, and I’ve got a separate place to tie up a team that doesn’t require taking them into their stalls. So I do have a hanging hip beam between horses, but no solid partitions. Each horse does his get own manger, however. I find that a communal trough can make it difficult to ensure that everyone is getting their fair share and can encourage nipping. My tie stall width and the horses’ tie rope length are such that no one is getting their nose into anyone else’s manger. I do have a 5 gallon water bucket within each horse’s reach.

The side of the manger that presents to the horse should be at an angle rather than plumb to the floor. This helps keeps the horse from bonking his knees on the manger or kicking the bottom of the manger, if that front panel goes all the way to the floor. My mangers don’t rest on the floor, so there is a void under mine. But the fronts are still angled. Makes it easier for the horse to reach the bottom of the manger as well.

Here is a site with plans that I based my stalls on, demensions etc.. with my preferred or own modifications from stalls that I saw around my neck of the woods. http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/extension-aben//buildingplans Go click on horse and plan 5175 gives you some direction.
Also Lynn Miller has plans in his book “Work Horse Handbook” pages 100 and up, so with those plans and the ndsu’s I could pretty well build stalls that suited me well, with always a possibility to modify. Good luck have fun.

Mike