OK..I have another question that hopefully someone will be able to help me with.  I am building stalls in my barn and am trying to figure out what type of wood is the best to use.  I'm originally from a state where there is plenty of rough cut oak, which is what I'd love to use, but in Iowa (where I live now) there's not much oak being cut at the sawmill...truth be known I don't think there's many saw mills in Iowa...too much crops and not alot of trees, I guess.  Does anyone have any suggestions of what type of wood is durable enough to use.  I've been told to use Douglas Fir and also yellow (something) pine.  Thanks in advance for any advice you can give.  Natalee

I have two types of stall walls. Style one in the almost exactly 12X12 stalls are built with one treated 2X12 on the bottom. Above that I took four and one-half sheets of 1/2 inch C/D plywood, glued and screwed together, alternating with one whole and one half sheet between two half and two long sheets with the joints done like brick work (does that make sense?) So it takes nine sheets to do two stall walls.Style two is for the stall walls that are 14 feet long. I have two treated 14 foot 2X8's on the bottom topped by enough 14 foot pine (yellow, if I can get it) 2X6's to make the stall wall as tall as I want it. a 2X6 is about five and one-half inches. So my walls are 2 2X8's (14 inches) and 6 2X6's (33 inches) tall. However, I think that plywood has gotten so expensive that using the 2X's is probably just as inexpensive. Haven't rebuilt any lately.

 You'l see lumber labeld "SPF." This stands for Spruce, Pine or Fir.

Another thing I use with the 2X's is "stall channels." These are "l_l"-shaped lengths of metal that have an inside width of just over 1-1/2 inches. I attach these to posts where the walls will end. I level the bottom board and secure it. Then I just slip the boards into the channels. If one should be broken, I just remove it, drop the boards above it down and add a new board at the top.

I designed my stalls to use 3/4 inch plywood sheets.  They are tough enough to survive any kick yet easy to replace, just unscrew and pop in another one!  Mine stand 8 feet tall and do not touch the ground(this would wick urine up the board) and 4 feet wide.  This uses less cutting and exposes the horses to less joint work.

If you are putting in pre built metal frames and inserting boards then you'll want to have the strongest boards you can afford.  Bevel the edges so that any warping will not push sharp edges out toward your horses.  Then paint them before putting them in the stall with either a stain/varnish/sealant so they won't pick-up odors or bugs.  This one step can help you cut down on your stall stripping for infection control.  The more nooks and crannys the harder it will be to get it really clean!  You'll never know how important this is unless something happens.  (Read the sucking lice thread or any about hair loss)

I used SPAR varnish for mine and they've been up and look beautiful even after 15 years and many, many tough kicks...yet I've never needed to replace a panel to date.