# Can you post pictures of the inside of your barn?



## Gemma_ponypilot (Dec 14, 2020)

Hi! My husband and I turned our 100 year-old barn into a horse barn! It was... a LOT...of work. But he built my stalls and put my wash stall together. Here are photos of what I could get off of my facebook. I hope they help!































I added this last photo because it has an old door in the back of the stall which is really nice. I can prop it open when we have bad weather or when the ponies need some shade. Also, the back of our pasture gets really muddy and I have slipped and gone down pretty hard, so now my ponies know to come when I call right into the stall on slippery days!


----------



## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

Can you give us a starting point? What does your barn currently look like? My horses are not in a barn I have a shed row where each horse has its own 15 x 15 shed and a run out in front of it. I like this set up as it allows me to feed each horse as an individual with no quabbling. They are in their shedrow pens about 8-10 hours per day (overnight) and in a dry lot or pasture the other hours of the day. @Acadianartist and @egrogan have both shown many photos of their barns/sheds in their posts. If you need help configuring a current structure its best to see that structure. Is this at the place you will be moving in a few years? How soon will you be renovating?


----------



## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

You know I'm always happy to show my barn, even when it's dirty and the weather is gloomy. It's not fancy, but it's very functional. We opted to keep things simple enough that we can fix them ourselves. No sliding doors with hardware that I have to order online, just regular barn doors on hinges I can adjust easily. Here are some pics. This is only the barn portion of the building. We built a 48 ft x 32 ft building which is divided into two parts with a full floor-to-ceiling wall and double barn doors. One side is an equipment bay/hay storage and the other side is the barn. I won't bother showing the equipment bay side, but it is quite large with high ceilings to accomodate a full-size tractor. 

Here is a view looking out to the back of the barn. 










And a panoramic view (image is distorted, obviously, the front of the stall wall is not round, lol). 










On the right of the image there are two stalls converted into one so this space is used as a 10 x 24' run-in with two ways in and out both inside the barn and outside leading into the paddock. On the left I added a third stall which is smaller at 9 x 10'. We only use it to separate our pony Bella (not pictured) if we are riding Rusty and Harley, or to feed Harley because he gets separate food and supps. He eats slowly too, so this allows us to make sure he gets all of his ration. We leave him in there a few minutes, do some chores, then let him out with the others. he rest of the time they live outside and come in when they need to get out of the elements. I have seen all three in the double stall without problems, but obviously, you have to have compatible horses to do this. 

This is also Harley in the double stall eating hay. Note the high placement of the windows so we didn't have to put bars on them. 











The reason the third stall is only 9 x 10 is because I sacrificed a couple of feet for hay. I can throw down the hay I need for the week in this small space so I don't have hay in the aisle. Here is what that looks like (that is not Bella, it's Harley who is 14.2 for reference and the stall looks much smaller than it really is in this photo):










Finally, the tack room (10 x 12') is also on that side. It's a mess right now. We started with two saddle racks thinking 2 horses = 2 saddles. Silly me.... now we have 3 horses and 6 saddles not to mention a lot of bridles, girths and various other things. We are in the process of completely remodeling the room so everything looks more organized. I recommend you save yourself the headaches and just do it right the first time by putting in more saddle racks and hooks than you think you'll ever need. I will do a before and after when I have everything rearranged. Right now it's just a mess. 

Oh, and access to the hay loft is in the tack room as well, using a narrow staircase with railing for safety. The loft spans only the center aisle and only this side of the building (for a total span of 14 x 24' holding about 200 square bales). Note in the photos above that the stalls don't have ceilings. We left them open all the way up to the roof for good ventilation. I put tarps on both sides of my hay loft to help contain any dust and bits of hay, but this works well for us as the hay is exposed to lots of good air circulation as well since my barn is never closed up except once or twice a year for a few hours if there is a raging blizzard.


----------



## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

This photo gives a better idea of the size of the 9 x 10 stall with Harley in it. It's really not so bad, but if I thought I'd be stalling my horses a lot, I'd have kept it at the original size of 10 x 12. I dislike small stalls, but in this case, we only use it a few minutes a day for feeding or separating a horse, so it's not so bad, and gives me space to store about 12 square bales between this stall and the tack room. That's a week's worth of hay so it means I only have to go to the loft once a week to throw down my week's supply.


----------



## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

Let me see if this works. These are pictures from the sale listing two years ago. I took some when we were up there, but I can't find them now. We're currently renting the place out.

Supposedly the stalls were built for minis. The wash room area is because the last owners had show dogs and that was where they would wash them. I want to take the walls out of the wash area. The stalls are currently 8x10 if I recall correctly, and there are four of them. I'm thinking about making three of them 10x10 and one 10x12, but I'll have to see if that would work. The other side is open and it's wear the "farm equipment" currently lives (golf cart and lawn mower), but I'd like to move that stuff to the garage and put a flex space in there. It could be a large stall for a horse that needed to be separated or stalled for a longer time, or I could put hay in it.

I am thinking about making the loft area partially for hay storage (yes I know many people disagree with storing hay in barns) and partially as an office for me. It's a nice area and I'd hate for it to just be barn stuff.


----------



## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

@*carshon *yes it's the place we'll be moving to in a few years. Renovations will probably not start for another year or two. I'm sure things are backed up with construction up there right now, plus it might be hard with the tenants (although the husband is a GC so we were trying to think if we could give him a discount in rent in exchange for doing some work) being there. Fixing the fences, which are actually down in some places, is a higher priority, but we've got the fencing company and I just need to get out there (easier said than done) and walk it through with them, then get them going on it.

I forgot to mention my horses are 13'2hh, 14'2hh, and 14'3 hh. I don't imagine ever having a horse bigger than 15hh.


----------



## ClearDonkey (Nov 27, 2016)

@ACinATX Your future barn has me drooling - ESPECIALLY the crafting loft. I might have to save these pictures for when SO and I eventually find a house... He can have the basement for a man cave, as long as I get a barn with a loft for my sewing!


----------



## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

The thing that I don't like about the loft is that it's insulated. I don't know how necessary that really is in the normally mild PNW, and I'm concerned it might lead to condensation and moisture in the main barn. I don't plan to have the horses in stalls except for feeding, tacking, and in case of injury (just like I do it now), but I was also thinking about doing what @Acadianartist did and combining two of them into a run-in for them. But three horses and two doors doesn't seem ideal -- if Moonshine got trapped in the middle it's possible that she would be unable to get out. Maybe if I combined three into one run-in and put three doors in there, that would be safe. Then use the third one for hay as in that picture. If I used the third one for hay, then that open area on the other side could always be a stall rather than hay storage, so if someone needed to be separated it would be easy. Hmm.

I really want to set it up so that I can use the stalls as run-ins at least part of the time, but I am not sure I can do it safely. Right now they have a shelter in their pasture that's divided into two parts, and they all have designated spots -- two on one side and one on the other. They could all fit into one side but they don't seem to want to. So I'm not sure about expecting them to do that in a barn.


----------



## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

ACinATX said:


> The thing that I don't like about the loft is that it's insulated. I don't know how necessary that really is in the normally mild PNW, and I'm concerned it might lead to condensation and moisture in the main barn. I don't plan to have the horses in stalls except for feeding, tacking, and in case of injury (just like I do it now), but I was also thinking about doing what @Acadianartist did and combining two of them into a run-in for them. But three horses and two doors doesn't seem ideal -- if Moonshine got trapped in the middle it's possible that she would be unable to get out. Maybe if I combined three into one run-in and put three doors in there, that would be safe. Then use the third one for hay as in that picture. If I used the third one for hay, then that open area on the other side could always be a stall rather than hay storage, so if someone needed to be separated it would be easy. Hmm.
> 
> I really want to set it up so that I can use the stalls as run-ins at least part of the time, but I am not sure I can do it safely. Right now they have a shelter in their pasture that's divided into two parts, and they all have designated spots -- two on one side and one on the other. They could all fit into one side but they don't seem to want to. So I'm not sure about expecting them to do that in a barn.


Yes, this is a dilemma. The only 100% safe way around it is to have separate run-ins coming out of each stall, but then they don't get to socialize with each other. 

My three did not always share nicely. Bella took a very long time to decide she'd take the risk of coming in. But now, finally, she will, especially when the other two are off to one side standing together as they often tend to do. But at first, she would often be stuck outside. I didn't worry too much because I also have a 10' x 24' overhang that covers the front of the stalls so she would just stand under there. I also blanketed her a bit when it got really wet and cold (freezing rain is the worst), but since she is part Newfoundland pony, she has a really shaggy coat that keeps her comfortable even in that weather. 

And you'll definitely want ventilation in an insulated loft. That's great for what they're doing in there now, but not so great for storing hay. 

Amazing barn though, with tons of potential! You will love it there.


----------



## farmpony84 (Apr 21, 2008)

I was too lazy to walk down to the barn so these are pix I found on my computer. You can see in one of the pix that we have now put millings down in the barn. I still want to do that to the stalls (and then put my rubber mats back in) but haven't yet.

Looking at your barn - you should be able to do quite a few neat things. It has a great start.


----------



## Zimalia22 (Jun 15, 2021)

I have been looking for a pic of the inside of my barn. I know I have some, just not been able to find them yet. Anyway, my barn was built back in the late 1960's. Lumber was much less expensive back them. Its built of 2 x 4's laid flat and stacked, so the walls are 4 inches thick solid wood. 6 stalls, plenty of hay storage. I always wanted to add another 6 stalls on the other side. I will continue to search for pics.


----------



## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

Zimalia22 said:


> Its built of 2 x 4's laid flat and stacked,


Wow! That's got to be super sturdy.


----------



## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Before and after pics of my tack room. I highly recommend starting out with a clear idea of how everything will be organized rather than do it piecemeal like we did. I started with some saddle racks going parallel to the back wall, then added some that are perpendicular, with a bunch of random bridle hooks in the middle. 

Before: 










After: 










I made a total of 6 wooden saddle racks from leftover deck board and other bits and pieces of wood used in building the barn. It was really easy. I had a local woodworker make me the bridle rack. Unfortunately, I just sent him a photo without measurements, and he made the bridle supports wider than they needed to be. I wish they were smaller - the size of a normal bridle hook would have been better, but we'll make do. I put a hook below each semi-circle for hanging girths and other things, and the semi-circle was painted on the front with chalk board paint so we can write each horse's initial on them. That way, my daughter's riding students know where to get the right bridle and where to put it back! Here's the pic I sent the guy for reference since ours is dark in the photo so you can't see it very well. Something like this is really easy to build, and has a nice, uniform look that keeps everything neat and organized. I highly recommend. 

For reference, this tack room is 10 x 12 so lots of room for 6 saddles + lots of other stuff.


----------

