Let's talk about layout. I would like to have my stalls by 14x14 feet to allow the horses to have plenty of room. Ideally each stall is going to have a turnout pen that's at least 14x28. The turnouts will be covered and have skylights in them to provide lighting. Here's a very general outline for what I want the layout to be:
For some reason the right hand outside wall got cut off, but it will be there. This shows 12 stalls though I haven't really decided how many I want. Maybe 12 or maybe 16? Then there are the turnouts, a wash stall & grooming stall, tack room and feed room. There also needs to be a restroom downstairs, possibly in the tack room area or?? The lined block is stairs leading up to the loft. I would like to have a "House Barn" with my living area on top of the barn area. That way I'm closer to my babies, I can hear what's going on, and it is possibly a bit cheaper than building a separate house and barn. I really like the general layout idea that this builder presents, with a few tweaks it would be exactly what I want:
Tack Room
The tack room is pretty important. I want it to be perfect because I almost live in my tack room. It needs to have a fridge to hold medications and people drinks/snacks. I want to have counter space to do things and a place to sit down and clean tack. An industrial type sink might be nice for rinsing off little things.
These two tack rooms are good examples of what I like. There needs to be shelf space for things that don't get hung up or aren't used as ofen. I don't want my saddles to go up that high because I want to be able to easily pull them down without killing myself.
This is my favorite system for saddles and pads from Innovative Equine Systems. I like how the pads hang separately. Obviously I would need several of these systems :)
I want a window to let light in and the room must be heated so that my tack doesn't get moldy. It needs to be insulated so that there isn't any dampness.
Other things that I want in my barn is a washer and dryer specifically for horse stuff. Possibly an industrial washer because that would hold up to horse stuff better. Probably like this semi-industrial from Primer. This shouldn't be in the tack room because it will produce moisture which can damage leather. It might end up in the feed room where there'll be enough space for it.
My feed room will hold grain, I'll probably just use garbage cans because they're pretty perfect for holding feed. Shelves for supplements and hooks for feed scoops. I'll have a small outdoor hay shed and only store a couple bales inside because of insurance issues (I've heard that it can be harder or more expensive for insurance if you store your hay inside because of fire risks).
Next post will be about some different materials, footings and turnouts.
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