Hi All,

We're getting ready to build a new pole barn this spring and planning a 36x40 with a 16" lean to.

The 16x40 will be my horse area and looking for ideas on how others have set theirs up.  My horses are pasture babies so they'll have free access to this area but I do plan to put in a 12x16 stall just in case I need to keep one in or use for storage.

On the lean to, what would be a good height? Would 8 - 9ft be enough?  I've been reading 11-12 would be better.  I'm trying to decide on how much to enclose.  The lean to will be facing South so I plan to put sides on the East and West side and some to the front.  Any ideas how much? Thinking 12-14 on both sides.

I would like to build a hay feeder on the North wall and put in an automatic waterer.  I plan to use rock, lime and mats for flooring. 

Any patterns or ideas building a hay feeder?  What would be a good automatic waterer?

Any ideas pros or cons appreciated!  Thanks!

We put 12' high lean to with a sloping up ceiling. Good height for riding underneath w/o ducking. I wouldn;t go lower cause our horses have reared near the edge and had plenty of clerance. the 16' out will be a nice size, but the bigger the better, especially with several horses. We have our stalls located right off the lean-to so our horses can come and go as they please.

If I was going to place a hay feeder in the area I would look at this one http://www.klenepipe.com/store.asp?pid=20998&catid=19824 or http://www.barnworld.com/sa/p/Round_Bale_Hay_Feeder.htm even if I just placed square bales in it. Maybe you can build one similar.

Can't help you on the waterer, ours like to drink 2-4 at a time so we just use a trough

10 foot high opening or higher is best otherwise you run the risk of a frisky horse rearing up and whacking it's head either on the joist or metal roof.

For the lean-to area, you will need to either reinforce the metal wall with plywood behind the metal or place plywood within the lean-to on all walls. You do not want a horse to kick through the metal.... bad news for sure!

As far as feeding inside that can get tricky depending on how many horses will share the space. If you think about it, the horses will be facing south for wind and wet weather protection, but then need to face the North wall to eat. May have manure get into the hay feeders. If you are just feeding two horses that get along this may work by just hanging two hay racks on opposite ends.

If more than two horses, a free standing hay feeder or two a few feet away from the shelter will still provide protection from the wind and allow for the pecking order shuffle.

I would like to have a Ritchie Waterer like my neighbors have, but it is not in my budget, so we still use stock tank and decier for winter. They are nice to have though.

How many horses are you going to have in the shelter? If several and you have a front end loader on tractor, it is easier to clean out the shelter by scraping the manure out than trying to hand clean rubber mats. I have two 12x36x12 free standing pasture lean-tos and the tractor method works a lot better than trying to hand clean... I used to do this until the light-bulb went on in my head to use the tractor.  I don't have mats inside, just a deep layer of screenings that pack hard after a month of use. Just a thought.

Thanks for the ideas!  I have three horses and that will be the most I'll ever have since we only have 7 acres.  Hope to get down to two someday but when they're all good horses.....one can't pick.

Never thought about the height for usage with an end loader.  We have a small tractor now that doesn't have one but plan to get a bigger tractor someday that will.  The old barn I've been using has lower ceilings and smaller space, more set up for sheep. With a bigger area, there may be more horse play and rearing so the height just went up.

AJH those are some dream feeders, nice.  I feed small bales and don't have a big enough tractor to haul big bales.  There's definately a pecking order with my group and they always eat in the same order everyday.  I have an outdoor feeder and also feed indoors.  I usually feed where they want, most of the time they go to the outside feeder, two on one side, one on the other.  If it's really cold and windy, they'll walk inside if not already there.  When I feed on the inside they each have their own feed trough area and always in the same order. That's true about the manure in the trough facing south, it already happens.

I do plan on lining the horse area with plywood and maybe add polymax sheets over that.  If I have enough room, I may put a feeder back outside as well as inside.  Where I feed now is where the lean to will be and I'm limited on space because of a hillside on the backside. If the horses have a preference, they do seem to prefer to be outside.  I once had a big fern tree that was the horses favorite place to be until it got cut down for a duck blind, I said noooo that was my horses favorite tree.  Even the last couple of days with it in the low teens and it snowing with the wind blowing from the west, I've notice them standing on the far eastside of the barn standing outside.

The Amish are building the barn so I'll ask them for some ideas on the feeders.  I'd like to have it similar where each horse can have their own space.  I went to a couple different barns to look at their set ups and one had where the Amish built theirs and on the end of the hay trough they built salt block boxes.

The automactic water may be just a dream for now but I'd like to price them anyway. I'll probably end up using my bathtubs, one on the inside and one on the outside.  Someday....

Thanks all!