# Best Layouts for small barns



## GinoPaoli (Feb 21, 2014)

Hi Everyone, 

We are building a new barn on a piece of property we recently purchased this spring. Since we are also building a house, our barn budget decreased significantly. We are looking to stay around the 24x36 size. We need 2 stalls at this time and wanted doors to the outside in both stalls. What is the best layout for a barn this size? I want to make the most out of the space and have it be as functional as possible. Any advice would help!


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## twolucid (Jan 14, 2014)

For a 24'x36' I would say 3 12'x12' stalls all on one side and a 12' aisleway. With doors leading outside from the 2 stalls, and the other used for tack/grain etc. Or you could have 2 12'x12' stalls on each side with a 12' aisleway in the middle.


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

if you are just wanting it to stable the horses, just split in half, with doors on each end, you would have 2 12 x 18 stalls, a door in front and a door in back for each stall


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

Ok, first, what is the orientation of the barn? 24 long X 36 wide, or 36 long and 24 wide? Do you need to house 2 horses plus tack plus feed? Will it have lights and electricity (question for future set up)?


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

Are you building it yourself, having it built for you, or looking at a pre-built barn? and what are your storage needs?


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## Zexious (Aug 2, 2013)

I like twolucids idea. I do think a storage area (for tack and feed) is important to have inside.


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## Nickers2002 (Nov 25, 2009)

I love how my barn is ending up. It acts as a barn (inside storage for hay, feed, tack and this year cross tie area), stalls and a run in shed for 2 paddocks. The run in part is attached to the whole front of the building and I built my stalls into the back of the run in shed. This way the stalls have the most ventilation I can get, my horses have dutch doors so can hang their heads out and see everything, they can't get into the hay/feed (door to inside is latched shut) and they have shelter when they're out.

The run in part hangs off of the stalls by about 30 feet. That was all here when we bought the farm last year, but I put in the stalls (my horses are used to them and seem to prefer having them) and I am turning the inside barn into everything stated above. They just kept round bales in there.


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## Koolio (Apr 7, 2010)

We built our barn last summer. It is 36' x 36' with two 12'x12' stalls and a 12x12 tack room down one side. We placed two 10x10 sliding doors in the center at each end so there is a 12' walkway down the middle with openings on both ends. I have room for 2 more stalls on the other side and that still leaves a 12x12 space for equipment storage. We considered 24x36 and would have used the same layout, just with a stall and tack on one side and a stall and storage on the other.

The 12x12 stalls are comfortable for our horses, including my draft cross. I love the wide alleyway with the doors as I can drive a hay truck or horse trailer through the barn if need be. I gives me easy access and great through breeze in the summer. The tack room is 12 x12 and enough for tack, blankets and feed bins for 4 horses. I store my hay in portable shelter garages well away from the barn. The hay attracts rodents and can be a fire hazard. 

If you are building from scratch, it is worth purchasing prefab stalls. They are strong, look nice and will save you some space as opposed to framing stalls out yourself. Ours is a pole barn with crushed gravel floor. We out wood planks down in the stalls and rubber mats in the alley. This works well and saved us quite a lot of money since we didn't pour concrete.

Here is a picture of our setup taken before we finished the flooring, etc.


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## Nickers2002 (Nov 25, 2009)

Koolio said:


> We built our barn last summer. It is 36' x 36' with two 12'x12' stalls and a 12x12 tack room down one side. We placed two 10x10 sliding doors in the center at each end so there is a 12' walkway down the middle with openings on both ends. I have room for 2 more stalls on the other side and that still leaves a 12x12 space for equipment storage. We considered 24x36 and would have used the same layout, just with a stall and tack on one side and a stall and storage on the other.
> 
> The 12x12 stalls are comfortable for our horses, including my draft cross. I love the wide alleyway with the doors as I can drive a hay truck or horse trailer through the barn if need be. I gives me easy access and great through breeze in the summer. The tack room is 12 x12 and enough for tack, blankets and feed bins for 4 horses. I store my hay in portable shelter garages well away from the barn. The hay attracts rodents and can be a fire hazard.
> 
> ...



I wanted to try and use concrete in my stalls this year since my mats keep shifting. I didn't think of wood planks though. Can you let me know how that's been working, what material you used and how you put them down? Feel free to PM me! I don't want to steal the thread


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## Nickers2002 (Nov 25, 2009)

I wanted to add pictures to my thread but am unable to edit it?

So this is how the barn is set up. The areas that are bricked right now are the hay and feed rooms, the tack room is next. The wide open space will be matted and will be the indoor cross tie area. You can see how the stalls are too with the run in shed. We had a contractor that's a friend of my dad's build the stalls, but me and my fiance did the window bars this summer as an upgrade. It was welded wire, but my mare ripped it right out one night:


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## kmdstar (Nov 17, 2009)

Love those stalls!


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

cute idea with those pavers !


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