Tie Stall Recommendations

[Michael Colby]

I’m just finishing up my first tie-stall renovation project and I’m wondering what people like/dislike about their designs with regard to feeding. At first, I thought I’d build feed boxes at chest-level of the horses. But now I’m considering simple water bucket/grain bucket hangers while feeding the hay on the floor.

For you tie-stallers out there, I’d love to get some advice/feedback before I start pounding nails.

I’ve always been a box stall/free roam kind of guy but my new gig involves taking three of my horses to an Inn that had roughed-in tie stalls attached to their “barn.”

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

[Carl Russell]

I like tie stalls. I build mangers to feed hay, with grain dishes inside. I don’t keep water in the stall, and water them 2x daily at the tank….. saves spilled water=ice (more often when they’ve been worked).

I like mangers with tie bar at chest level, sloping down all the way to the floor. This allows for them to place their feet forward without kicking the box, and the deep manger saves hay from getting spread about the stall. If the manger is too small they will throw their hay around and it will end up behind them in the manure…..

Carl

[Michael Colby]

Thanks, Carl. Got a photo by any chance? And how long are your tie-chains?

[mitchmaine]

the amish barns all seem to have a hay rack head high, usually made of lumber, built to hold a couple flakes of hay that they can pull down a mouthfull at a time with a box underneath for grain and fallen hay. i always admired them and thought they were great and always wanted to make some, but it never appeared too high on the list at any time, enough to get done.

[blue80]

I like tie stalls a lot. Sometimes takes some patience initially as buddy sour horses can tend to pull back until the gear breaks, usually for me they have seemed to do this when the chain is tied lower, say only 2 ft. up. When I set up a chain almost as high as the withers, for some reason they don’t pull back as hard, rather quit before putting all their weight into the effort and breaking things….. Also patience needed for nervous horses as they can get a leg over the chain when pawing with their head down, but I try to put the chain through the front of the stall with a small weight/ball of chain on the end so the slack is always taken up.

I have been told that eating off the floor is best, even if you have a high (which would make it deep) manger. Digestive juices are increased when the horses head is fully extended and colic is reduced. Many racehorse barns are done away with the clean, high hay nets because of this…. I like just a 3 by 8 about 18 inches back from the front of the stall to keep the hay from getting pawed to the back of the stall when they are eager to get the leafy stuff first….

Also been told mangers can be bad because the saliva laden morsels grow mold and spores which can later be ingested and cause other horse problems, so ability to clean the manger is important.

We quit putting water in the stalls also 80 percent of the time.

[mitchmaine]

that reminds me of mucking out for this old guy (neighbor) when i was a kid. he had a line of tie stalls with one old horse, and all his animals, cattle and horses, ate off the floor. he said it was natural for a grazing animal to pull grass and when they did, they shut off their windpipe to dust and dirt, and he thought it kept them from heaving. any thing they didn’t eat (he thought) was by choice and got dragged back for bedding. hadn’t thought of him in a long time. thanks for jogging the memory. mitch

[Andy Carson]

I am interested in this concept of watering horses periodically. I have always kept a water tank (heated in winter) so the horses can drink at will, but I can definately see the practical benefits of periodic watering at some times (especially in winter). For those of you that do this, how do you determine how much water is enough? Is it much they can drink in x minutes? Or possibly x gallons per horse? It’s a little scary to break my 4H rule of “always make sure your animals have water”…

[Marshall]

My horses eat hay off the ground. For grain I took a 15 gallon plastic barrel and cut it in half lengthwise. I screwed one edge to the front of the stall and put in a couple of angle supports. That left enough room to put a water pail at the end of the barrel half. The chain is fastened high so it is harder for them to get a foot over it. It is just long enough to reach the ground so they can lay down which they sometimes do. I use a light snap on the end so it is the weakest point if something needs to break rather than a halter.

[jac]

feeding hay on the floor has the added benefit of keeping the horses jaw in alignment. Hay racks and hay nets have the horse eating at an unusual angle which effectivly brings the lower jaw back and helps to create hooks which then cause all sorts of problems with the bit…
John

[Michael Colby]

Thanks everyone. DAP rocks (again).

It’s nice to know you can throw something like that out there and get such an informed (and instant!) response.

[Rick Alger]

County Mouse, in my experience hungry horses don’t drink till they have eaten their fill and thirsty horses don’t eat until they have drunk their fill (or close to it) Unless they are working hard, all you have to do is give them all the water they will drink after they have had their feed. Then you can wait for the next feeding before you worry about water again.

[Carl Russell]

I use butt ropes across the back of the stalls to stop them from backing out…. breaking gear. Also keeps them in when I get distracted and forget to clip the leads.

Horses in nature only drink when they get access to water. They will learn to swish mouthfuls of water, but they don’t need water with their feed. I make sure they get a chance to drink all they want at least twice a day. Water lightly after work, and before work. Water before grain, after hay.

I feed hay first in AM, clean barn, feed pigs, milk, etc, then water, then feed grain. Harness about an hour later. Water when we get back, lightly if hot. Feed hay, water, grain, turn out, or if they’re staying in feed more hay in the manger.

Carl

[jac]

Do all you guys with tie stalls have a corral or turn out area if the weather turns really bad ? if you dont then how long can you leave the horses without exercise.. I have loose boxes but like the idea of stalls. Im a bit concerned about the lack of movement tho.. mind you i suppose they dont get a lot of exercise in a box either…
John

[mitchmaine]

hi john, hard worked, hard grained horses run the risk of blackwater in a tie stall. some called it monday morning sickness, cause they came down with it after spending sunday off tied in their stall. just a walk down the barn floor wasn’t a cure but a good precaution, and a box stall gives them plenty of motion to help. horses don’t get worked like that in most cases, but i try and turn out our horses every day in some pretty mean weather for at least an hour. ounce of prevention, right?

[jac]

Our problem Mitch, is mud… Our fields would resemble the Somme {its rememberence sunday here tomorrow BTW} with 5 Clydes I might need to build a sand corral so I can turn them out..I dont have enough work for them in winter and end up hitching them up just to get their legs stretched.. but the rain we get here makes it a miserable operation for us all sometimes:D… I often wonder how that pregnant mare urine thing they do works out.. are they not all stalled….
John

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