Tie Stall Recommendations

[Marshall]

If it is nasty out they are turned out for at least an hour a day. When I go out to do chores I turn them out. After everything is done I let them back in. If it is nasty they are usually ready to come in. If it is a day I am home I will go out in the middle of the day and let them out for a bit. No problems so far.

[Carl Russell]

Mine are out almost all of the time I am not working them. I only use the tie stalls for before and after work, or in lousy weather, or when the fields are too wet to have them out.

If I am working them regularly I don’t get too concerned about their exercise, but I try to turn them out every night anyway, and bring them back in the morning.

If field are wet I usually try to catch a good afternoon, and turn them out for a short period…. Or I put harnesses on and find some work.

Carl

[Scott G]

Just goes to show regional differences…

Tie stalls are a rarity out here, box stalls and run in shelters are the norm. My horses are loose all of the time except when they are working. Exception being a couple of show paints we keep down low, close to town.

The heathiest horses I see out here are the ones that are allowed to roam in a corral, paddock or pasture (provided the pasture isn’t too rich that they founder). Once they get cooped up in a barn, eat out of an elevated manger, and possibly get turned out (and blanketed) once a day into a run; that seems to be when problems develop. Out in the open, as long as they have a windbreak, they thrive.

My personal routine, feed hay on the ground a.m. & p.m. If we are going to work, close the gate on the corral, come back when ready, harness/saddle up and go. If not, leave the gate open and let them roam up on the hill…

Stock tank is always filled, open, and available.

The only time I’ll feed elevated is if we’re out and about with a hay bag tied to side of the trailer. Dusty hay (common out here) fed in an elevated confined space (manger) seems to cause issues, coughing/snotty noses in the short term, heaves in the long run if not managed properly.

Monday Morning Sickness (azoturia) is usually caused by out of shape horses that are subject to extreme exertion and then confined again. It is an ” ignition off, run full tach, ignition off and put back in the barn” issue.

When I was involved in backcountry outfitting/packing, guiding hunting trips, etc. for making a living, it was (still is) fairly common to come across hunters whose horses did nothing but hang out on pasture 50 weeks a year and then “go like hell” for two weeks and end up in really bad shape, unable to move. I almost had to put a bullet in the head of one guy’s horse while trying to get him back to trail head, which was 35 miles away…

[dominiquer60]

I think that they called it Monday morning sickness because the horses would get shown or fox hunted hard on the weekend and then Monday was the grooms day off so there they stand in the stalls all day to tie-up. At least this is what I was taught.

[Carl Russell]

I was told the same story as Mitch. Old timers around here would feed salt-petre on the grain and bran mash on Sundays to help keep the blood cool and clean. Logging horses were especially prone, fed lots of grain 6 days a week and worked hard, then left in the hovel for a day.

Carl

[jac]

I seem to recall my grandfather saying that he used to cut the grain ration in half on the friday night and non on sat then not grain again till monday morning…
John

[LStone]

In my small barn I had tie stalls for feeding and vetting etc. I had water and grain buckets hanging on the front waite high with a steel wall hay manger about 5 feet high at the top. No real issues for three years. The stalls were 6×8 feet with their noses to the front wall. I thought they were wider than they needed to be and shorter than they should have been. But I could move around fine with a horse tied in it. My short bodied geldings would actully lay down in them too. I started out with a tie chain attached to a cleat on the head wall but changed it over to being shackeled to the manger and it would travel up the manger rod if a horse pulled back on it. I guess similar concept to Blue80. They would generally not get the leverage to pull the manger down before backing into the butt chain, and would not test either end. The farrier could work comfortable in them too.

I am building another barn 24 x 36 with the center aisle measuring 24 x 12. I am thinking 5×9 tie stalls with a 3 foot feed aisle along the outside wall and their butts on the main aisle. I think 5×10 from what I have read was popular with the old timers. I am also watching this thread for ideas.

[Jim Ostergard]

I just put my tie stalls in the new horse supplied timber frame barn Jason Glick and myself built. The main stall is 10′ by 12′ deep. The ties come off the hay manger I built across the front. It starts chest high and slopes inward toward the floor. Feed boxes on each out edge. The ties come off the top of the hay manger and are just long enough so the snaps will lay flat on the floor. I once had a horse with a tie that was too long get it caught around his rear foot when he lifted it to scratch it with his teeth. A mess and cut into his leg before I cut it.
I have butt chains back about 9′ or a little more. Just enough room for me to get behind them to muck out. I built the 10′ stall to convert into a box stall for Rusty as he may need it with his age a factor. A third stall would then be just a 5′ by 10′ tie stall for Zeb. So far it seems to be working really well. I hang water buckets just below the feed boxes.
Jim O

[karl t pfister]

I keep my horses out unless working ,mud is a problem around the hay feeders . I started a few years ago getting chips from the tree clean up crews , that keeps things high and dry . Then clean the whole thing out when time allows , it keeps the rocks to a minimum .I don’t like the rocks kicked back off the spreader at the horses and me ,etc .
I buy a truck load of whole tree chips if the tree guys haven’t brought enough , in a wet year we use more too . It seems to be working well all things considered … Ok after an inch of rain last nite they are not ” high and dry ” but neither are they hock deep in muck . Sorry for the wandering off topic .

[Jim Ostergard]

Karl,
Grand idea about the wood chips. I hadn’t come up with that and we are always getting the tree guys to drop off chips. My paddock with today’s gale and rain is a wicked mess and I was going to scrape it when it was dry enough. Four months of the horses using it has almost 6 inches of muck. I would use the chips around the round bale feeder and back enough so they would be dryer. Would be nice when it freezes. Thanks for sharing

[grey]

Shredded/chipped wood or hogsfuel is GREAT the first year. Not too shabby the second year either. But by the third year it starts to break down. By the fourth year you’re looking around, scratching your head, saying “Didn’t I have a bunch of wood chips here???”

You will need to remove and replace it at some point because it decomposes to the point that it is just dirt and then you’re back to having the mud problem again. To remove it, you need access to a Cat or a tractor with a back blade or some similar equipment.

It helps if you grade the area first, too. If you scrape it down to hard pan, but leave dips and wowies, the water is going to pool under the wood chips and make a bog in high traffic areas.

Also, make sure that you know what kind of trees/brush were shredded to make the chips. Black walnut is bad news. That’s the only one I know for sure to watch out for.

[Author]

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