# Building New Barn



## dwhipple99 (Jan 7, 2022)

Guys, looking for some feedback or recommendations on best layout for a new horse barn that is multipurpose.

I need a stall barn, an indoor training arena, and potentially some hay storage. I've seen allot of options such as building a single 60x140 building and just using 20-30' on one end for stalls. Or building a 60x120 with a T'ed 36x60 stall barn, or a 60x120 arena with a 24'x120' shed roof attached for the stalls. I don't really need allot of stalls, probably < 6 for now.

I am assuming one large physical pole building will be the least expensive. Just looking to see if anyone has some opinions on the best way to design this.

Thanks.


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## Trillium Farm (Dec 18, 2014)

dwhipple99 said:


> Guys, looking for some feedback or recommendations on best layout for a new horse barn that is multipurpose.
> I need a stall barn, an indoor training arena, and potentially some hay storage. I've seen allot of options such as building a single 60x140 building and just using 20-30' on one end for stalls. Or building a 60x120 with a T'ed 36x60 stall barn, or a 60x120 arena with a 24'x120' shed roof attached for the stalls. I don't really need allot of stalls, probably < 6 for now.
> I am assuming one large physical pole building will be the least expensive. Just looking to see if anyone has some opinions on the best way to design this.Thanks.


I'd give a fabric barn a good look, it's a newer concept, but the more I think about the more it intrigues me.


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## danwi (Mar 6, 2015)

There is a large riding arena in the area that uses a fabric/ coverall building, that one is huge though, something like 100 x 200. They had an open house we went to when it was new, haven't been back since but it was really nice inside. 2 that I am more familiar with are like you want in the 60 x 120 area. One has a solid wall and a lean to on the side, the arena is tall so they ended up with a 30 foot wide lean to, On the solid wall they have a tack room, wash stall, bathroom with sink toilet and shower, an enclosed viewing area of the arena, and some room for there daily feed. They bring in big squares of hay on a cart and feed them. Then a walk way and stalls along the outside wall. The other barn I am thinking of has an open wall with solid planks 4 to 5 ft tall then a walk way and stalls along the outside. on the one end instead of stalls they have tack room and wash stall. Most people don't like to store hay long term in a riding arena because of dust and most would recommend separate storage for hay in case of fire. The layout of the barn may have a lot to do with how it fits your property, When we wanted to build a machine shed with shop we were going to put it below a hill because we didn't think we had room but a good shed salesman suggested we move some dirt and move it up the hill, it was good advice but did leave our doors on the north side which I don't always appreciate. Also Think about large horse trailers and hay deliveries when placing the shed.


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## Edd in KY (Jul 16, 2009)

I would look at them as 3 separate issues. 1)How will you use the arena? Do you just need a space to break horses and long line? Or do you really want to gallop them around and do serious performance training? 2) do the stalls need to be adjacent so you can move the horses from the stalls into the arena or is it just a convenience factor? Would isolating the horses from the arena actually be an advantage for keeping them calm? 3) hay storage. Just enough for a couple weeks or a years worth? Until I hear your input, I can offer no advice.


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## danwi (Mar 6, 2015)

When you do build an arena, if you build a pole building put some form of insulation under the roof tin to control noise and help with temperature. If you want to dream big or need a place to live, I know of a arena they put living quarters on the end and you could look into the arena from the living room and upstairs balcony. If I win the lottery I might havto build my wife something like that.


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## Hayman1 (Jul 6, 2013)

A couple of thoughts having built a number of buildings over the last 20 years and having to live with them. Also considered an indoor but when my daughter quit horses for a family, i decided that was not in the cards.

I do not see issues with combining the stable and indoor, actually the Va Horse center in Lexington has several really nice set ups like that with concrete walled stalls. They are sanitary and indestructible and if I were doing it over, that is what I would build. 3 solid walls to seven or so feet, then metal grid in the front with metal sliding doors. Lots of damage to wooden stall walls at my place from 20 years of boarding ops. Other than incidental storage of known dry hay, I would not mix hay storage with stalls. Too much chance of fire from many sources, not just lack of curing in the hay. Also easier to keep clean. I would also never mix my shop/workspace for equipment with hay storage again. Separate buildings which is better for both. Hay makes dust and hay mess in your shop, welding and grinding are a constant problem with starting fires in the hay. Make your hay storage building at least 14' clear height with at least one 12'wide sliding door. That way, you can get any vehicle in there you want, stacker wagon, kicker wagon and tractor trailer or big trailer depending on how you haul and get hay. No matter what your future path (hay technology wise) is, you can adapt to it. Good ventilation is a must so I would orient the long axis of the building with the prevailing summer winds and put doors on both ends. Adding height is the cheapest additional storage you can build. On roof insulation-the commonly used foam rolled insulation does not hold up. All of mine has become shredded in 20 years. There is probably a product that is now available that has a better track record, I just went with the prevailing stuff at the time I built. I am actually not sure it is worth it but you might want some sound muffling in your indoor. Here in Va we have plenty of humidity but I am not convinced that I have suffered any loss of quality in stored hay due to condensation from the roof. 

Another thing on the barn, I lived with stone dust for floors with the common 4 x 6 mats in stalls for 18 years. Constant struggle with bedding getting under the matts, then making a mess, horses making holes in the floors, etc. Finally several years ago, I had some poured with concrete, then the original 4 x 6 matts, then put a heavy thick one piece matt on top of those. We love them. Breeze to muck, uses far less bedding, no leg issues with horses at all (the combined matt thickness is about 1-1/2 " and the edges are caulked with black silicone. 

For your shop/work area, you want something that is two bays wide and longer than you need to get your biggest tractor and biggest towed piece of equipment into with a concrete floor. make sure that floor is really good high strength and durability concrete. Mine was carried around in the truck too long on too hot a day and mealed out really badly. The only fix is to jackhammer it out and repour which is a real pain.

HTH with some things to consider


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## danwi (Mar 6, 2015)

Hayman recommended at least 14 ft high hay shed, that would be minimum, I would consider a 16 or 18 depending on needs. I would strongly recommend a 20 x 14 door. Less chance of hitting doors backing in bale cages and 13,6ft legal height if you were to have hay hauled in or in the event you ever wanted to park something else in there, just for an example a motor coach.


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