Standing Stalls

[amh]

Hi Every one! I would like to put 3 standing stalls in my barn yet this fall but I need DIY plans! Does anyone have any? Or any idea what works best and what does not? Please advise I am open to ideas. Thanks

[grey]

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.

[amh]

I am starting fresh from the ground up! No support beams or post in the way. So I have lots of options!

[grey]

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.

[grey]

You should give some thought to whether you’re going to want to pull a manure spreader or a dump cart or such in to clean the stalls into it. That might narrow down where you’re going to put the tie stalls and how you want them oriented. Make sure there’s plenty of circulation available. Having it be too closed-in is going to make it more likely for a horse to develop breathing problems.

There needs to be somewhere for the urine to go. Some people make a solid floor and channel all of it to the back of the stall (you really only need like a 1″ gradient). Other people put down a good deep gravel base and then put 2″ thick rough-cut lumber (2x6s usually) on top to allow the urine to drain between the planks into the gravel. I currently have thick stall mats on top of a graded and compacted gravel base but one day I’m hoping to get some concrete poured. I’ve been saying that for the last six years, though, and it still hasn’t happened.

[grey]

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.

[grey]

Here’s a nice set of photos of the tie stalls at the Kentucky Horse Park.

http://pets.webshots.com/album/560674652erkWFv

Three different kinds depicted in this set. Some interesting design features of the first type of tie stalls in the set include:
– the angled manger
– the cement curb that the manger sits on top of
– the chewed edges on much of the timber
– the location of the tie chains
– the location of the grain bins in the manger
– the damage to the lowest board of the solid partitions
– the alley behind the mangers to deliver the feed

[Michel Boulay]

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

[grey]

That is a great resource, boulami! Thanks!

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