advice on barn ceiling heights and stalls..

[sickle hocks]

I’m looking at a barn plan, deciding if it will work..

I need a couple of box stalls for calving and lambing time. I would like a double tie stall for my team…just for feeding and harnessing, they live outside. Right now I have draft crosses but I don’t want to rule out full size drafts in the future. I would also like to have a space where a mare could foal.

I found a plan for one that’s a bit more than I can afford, and a bit smaller than I need…so it’s probably pretty close to what I’ll end up with. It’s probably just adequate for light horses, so I’m wondering if it’s too low for drafts or if I might need to alter it??

Stalls in the main barn would have head room of 9’2″ under the loft joists, and the door is full height.

A shed addition has a head height that drops from over 10′ to 8′ at the low wall. The opening outdoors in this wall is only 7’4″ and I wondered if a horse would use it as a run-in?

Stalls are all 10X10. Small, but not for use as long term stabling. Too small for a draft mare foaling?
One would be a double tie stall.

Thanks for your thoughts…right now my only shelter is a coulee and some brush, so i’m really looking forward to having something more..
ps i’m not big on keeping horses who are inclined to rearing in the barn, but i guess you never know..

[drafthorsey]

When it comes to putting up a barn with the least investment …. I’m all for a metal pole barn. Mine is a 30′ x60′ on a concrete pad. Walls are expensive and so’s a roof. If you know the space you need you can at least get a basic barn up and running with a moderately low cost metal building. (You may have stockpiled other materials for construction) As far as ceiling height, I assume here the “kit” you looked at has a apartment or loft overhead. Nine foot’s not much clearance. The average ceiling in a house is 8′. If you need to back in a load of hay, for some equipment, even a big horse it can seem tight. I ran into the what goes where problem and here’s my solution. I have panels that I bolt and unbolt into postion. We do different things with barn different times of the year. I can have an area for livestock which I can either make into the shape of an “L” , “U” or simple rectangle when I want. When you build, and before you throw down a lot of money on stalling … grab a bunch of fence panels, plywood sheets or whatever and play with the formation of the floor plan so that you can see what it’s really going to look like. Movable panels give you a flexibility as your needs and seasons change.

If this takes any of the mystery out of what your finished interior of the barn looks like, think of it this way … all you’ve got after the walls and roof are up is a big cube. If you know how the future looks, storage needs etc, etc than concsider putting in non-movable stables and be done with it. If you’re just not sure, head off the local farm supply and buy a few panels that you put anywhere as the needs change.

[Big Horses]

Sickle Hocks, those are pretty small stalls… I wouldn’t want to be foaling in them. One thing you can do is like we did, make the dividing wall between stalls removeable, thus doubling the size available when needed. It’s a really simple deal and we’ve used it a couple times already and LOVE it! You can see the insides of ours on this old thread here http://www.draftanimalpower.com/showthread.php?4256-New-barn/page2
If I remember, we have about 10′ of headroom at the lowest point of the cross beams in the isles… I don’t think I’d want any less. Normally it’d never get used up high, but if one of the horses throws a head up, it’s sure best to have somewhere for it to go.
The sounds of the run in on the plan you have sounds fine to me… they’d use it I’m sure.
John

[sickle hocks]

Right, I guess I knew that but hoped to hear otherwise. I like the removable divider between box stalls, I’ll do that. And I’ll pick up a few stock panels so I can be flexible about how i configure the areas under the run-ins. I’ll see if I can raise that ceiling a foot, but it will be a nuisance.
Thanks.

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