opening up a horse boarding stable need ideas.?

Question

we have bought 33 acres outside of ottawa and need building ideas, we want to build a house with a separte apartment, an indoor arena, a barn with stalls and tack room and we need turn out paddocks.

right now there is nothing on the land, but i`m looking for ideas on what to build, and how stalls should i put in, i would like as many as i can.

any ideas would be great thanks.

i don`t want a wash stall.

i already have a insurance company working for me.

Answer 1

If you have 33 acres you have to remember "one horse per acre."Than there is fencing around all acres, barn area, hay sorage barn,How much hay,round ,or squares,shavings or straw, feed room,bulk grain bagged,size of stable,stall size,tack area,wash stall sizes.Than there is your income to support all so than you have to decide if you need to teach lessons,show ,race,or have other means of income to aford to feed your boarders, and what you will charge each boarder.Insurance is a big thing here in ontario, and release and hold harmless agreements must be involved,(lawyers advise)...

Answer 2

The smartest barn that I ever saw was 15 stalls on each side of the indoor arena. That made all one building. Each side had a feed room, tack room, 2 wash stalls, 2 grooming stalls, and a bathroom. Lesson horses and boarders who never left the grounds were kept on one side, and the owner's show horses and the boarders who went to shows were on the other. Hay storage was on both sides directly over the stalls. They had sliding doors so there was never an issue with open doors being in the aisle.

If I am not mistaken, the 1 acre per horse rule is for horses that live outside. I know plenty of barns that have more horses than they have acres.

Answer 3

One thing that many stables don't have are bathrooms. Put in a good bathroom! A changing room by the tack room is also a dream that many neglect.

AI think the best thing to do is to go around and see what other people have built, and what you like. Some have the indoor arena seperate, while others will have it directly connected. You need to see what layout plan works for you.

There's no one set style on barns and stables and they will even vary based on location. The sables in the north east where I grew up were very different from those here in the midwest.

Answer 4

A barn with a wide hallway between two rows of stalls is great, but the idea of an indoor arena separating the rows of stalls sounds wonderful. You can have hallways in front of the stalls, then the rail separating the arena. Bathrooms are a great idea, and I would install a lounge/kitchenette for boarders and visitors.
I'd have turnout paddocks behind the stalls - a separate one for each stall, with a gate for exit outside and a door leading into the stalls, so you can either give the horse freedom to go out whenhe wishes, or keep him inside.
Feed doors can help you feed and water without having to enter the stall.

Answer 5

We used a prefab metal barn when we built ours. They are easy to assemble, all you have to do is have a foundation poured. And best of all since it's wood, your chance of a fire is slim to non. I recomend choosing a number of stalls that you think you will need now and have them built on the inside, and have a shed coming off the back of the barn. For now you can use it for a patio, tracktor shed, hay storage, etc. In the future if you find yourself needing more stalls you can just call and order more that will fit right under the back and creat a simple shed row. We just did this to ours to add 4 more stalls. The metal barns are also very easy to keep clean, twice a year we pressure wash them inside and out. We also had rear doors installed on our first four stalls, and built paddocks outside, so that on rainy days or if we need to keep a horse up they can have a paddock and a stall access. Best of luck, and let me know if you want any pictures for more ideas!

I recomend barn masters, they have alot of options
http://www.barnmaster.com/

Answer 6

Get your house built first, then worry about building your barn with paddocks. If you build your barn right, you can always add new stalls. Then you can see how much money you have left over to determine how big to build your indoor arena.

Answer 7

if it was my barn. i would shape the stalls like a horse shoe. stall doors on the in side. hitching post in the middle. and your house just in front. have your back doors open to the courtyard. then you could place paddock doors on the back of the stalls with a little bit of area for the horse.