Safe, Snug Stalls

In this excerpt from Horsekeeping on a Small Acreage, Cherry Hill provides all the information you need to consider in designing a "room" for your horse.

A horse barn can be simple or elaborate. The most expensive barn is not necessarily the best environment for horses, nor does it ensure efficiency and convenience of routine management. Decide what the main purpose of the barn will be, where you will be spending the majority of your time, what work areas need to be roomy and well equipped, and how many stalls you will realistically need. Spend time with a pencil and some graph paper sketching out your ideas.

Whether you are designing a new barn, remodeling an old one, or making a few changes in your horse’s present stall, keep your horse’s comfort and safety foremost in your mind. Considerations include durability, sanitation, and convenience of cleaning and feeding routines.

Box Stall Size
A 12-foot by 12-foot box stall is appropriate for most horses. The 144-square-foot area that such a stall provides seems to be optimal when considering the horse’s comfort and the stall’s maintenance. This size offers enough room for a horse to confine his defecation and urination to a certain portion of the floor and still have plenty of clean space for eating and resting. A smaller stall can result in a horse inadvertently churning manure into the bedding and his feed every time he moves. This means more labor for stall cleaning, greater waste of feed and bedding, and a greater potential for parasite infestation. Stalls much larger than 12 feet by 12 feet may allow more space between defecation, feed, and rest areas, but the cost of building space and bedding may be prohibitive.

An important aspect to consider when determining stall size is the behavior of each individual horse. It may be to your advantage when planning a barn to have a few 10-foot by 10-foot stalls for small horses or ponies or for the horse that defecates anywhere and everywhere and minces manure into the bedding regardless of the size of the living quarters. In addition, you may wish to consider a few oversized stalls for the very large horse, for the horse that rolls frequently, or for the rehabilitating horse.

The foaling or nursing mare requires a double stall. You can plan your barn so that two of the regular-sized stalls have a removable or hinged partition between them. This will allow you to use the space either for two single horses or for one mare and foal. You may want to locate the foaling stall in a position in the barn that allows observation, such as from a tack room. You might consider an isolation stall, separated from the others, such as for stallions or for quarantining incoming or sick horses.

Stall Walls
Stall walls are often made of wood, metal, or cement block. They must be specially designed to withstand kicking, rubbing, wood chewing, and the rotting and corrosive effects of urine and manure. Be sure the interior, especially, is smooth, free of any projections, and durable and has no exposed wood edges. Even the end of a bolt protruding to the inside of the stall can be a potential hazard, because, as you probably know, if there is a way to get hurt, a horse will ultimately find it.

The lower 4 to 5 feet of a stall wall should be solid. If lumber is used, it should be a full 2 inches thick to withstand kicking, and this wall lining should have no spaces for legs to get caught in when the horse rolls. Unless lumber is ordered rough sawn (RS), it is planed so its actual dimensions are less than the dimensions by which it is ordered. An RS 2x8 is a full 2 inches thick, whereas a dressed 2x8 is only 1H inches thick.

Most lumber for construction comes from softwoods, pine and fir being the most common. Fir is the stronger species but is harder to drive nails into, splits more easily, and will splinter, posing a possible hazard to horses. Two-inch pine boards would be fine for the stalls. Choose boards that are straight-grained, free of large knots (where breaking usually occurs), and not warped. White oak, a hardwood, is more expensive than pine but is a very strong wood. Plywood, which comes in 4-foot by 8-foot sheets, can also be used for the lower portion of stall walls if sufficient backup framing is provided and the total plywood thickness is at least 1H inches.

The top portion of the front stall wall is generally made of mesh, pipe, or bars to allow the horse to see out and to ensure proper ventilation. Spaces larger than 2 inches between bars or in the mesh can be dangerous. A nibbling horse can get his teeth or jaws caught and inflict serious damage to himself. Because of confined horses’ tendency to mouth and play with stall fixtures, all exposed wood edges should be covered with a chemical chewing deterrent and/or sturdy metal strips.

Because mesh or grill partitions allow horses to see one another, they sometimes play and fight. To discourage fighting between stalls, the dividing partition can be solid and a minimum of 8 feet high. The ceiling of a stall should be at least 11 feet high.

Stall Doors
Stall doors should be at least 4 feet wide and hinged or sliding. Hinged doors that open outward can block the alley, making it awkward to take a horse in or out unless the aisle is absolutely clear. Hinged doors that open inward crowd both the horse and the handler and can cause either to get wedged if the door should happen to catch on horse or handler on the way out. Dutch doors, those composed of two half-doors, are traditionally hinged to open outward and are most common on the outside wall of the barn. They should be able to be opened 180 degrees so they can be securely fastened flush against the wall. The top can be fitted with a wire-mesh panel if the horse lunges at passing horses or handlers. Otherwise, it can be fastened in its open position so that the horse can put his head over the lower door and see other horses and perhaps get some fresh air and sunlight. Sometimes a horse will develop a habit of leaning on the lower door, which can be damaging to the hinges and latch.

Sliding doors are convenient and space efficient because when open they fit closely along the front of the stall wall. Therefore, they are suitable for the aisle side of a stall. It is important to be sure the sliding door is secured at both ends of the bottom when closed to keep the bottom of the door from being pushed outward when a horse rolls against it. Sliding doors are also available with a Dutch door–type feature. A drop panel in the top of the sliding door will allow the horse to put his head out. Whatever type of door is chosen, it should be a minimum of 4 feet wide and at least 8 feet tall. Stall doors that allow a horse to put his head out should have two latches, one at the bottom of the door, out of the door, out of the horse’s reach.

The Stall Floor
Because a horse can produce up to 50 pounds of manure and 10 gallons of urine daily, a good deal of thought must be given to the stall flooring and bedding. As you make your decision, compare the initial cost of installation versus the durability and longevity of each product. Weigh that along with the margin of safety and comfort for the horse provided by each type of flooring. Be sure to consider what type of bedding you plan to use, as some flooring-bedding combinations work well and some can be undesirable.

The Subbase and Base
If the barn site has been properly excavated and prepared with well-draining materials, the stalls will function best. All you’d need to do is add at least 2 inches of base material, tamp it well, and apply your flooring.

If a barn site has not been properly prepared or if the barn has been in use for some time and the soil under the stalls is no longer draining well, excavate the soil in the stalls at least 6 to 8 inches, taking note of the type and smell of the material you uncover. Depending on what you find, you may be able to use the native material as is, disinfect and dry the material before reusing it, mix the material with some gravel, or replace it with about 4 to 6 inches of new subbase material. Something like 1H to 2 inches of gravel works as a subbase. Top it with 2 inches of a base material. Dampen the base material, then tamp with a hand tamper or a mechanical compactor from a tool rental store.

Stone dust works well for the base. Don’t use topsoil, sand, or gravel for the base. Topsoil tends not to drain well and encourages mold growth. Sand and gravel are too shifty. Some commercially prepared products used for sports fields (such as baseball diamonds) may be suitable for base material.

Flooring
Stall flooring must be comfortable and safe for your horse, easy to clean and disinfect if necessary, and dust-free, and work well with the type of bedding you plan to use. Avoid flooring that requires constant maintenance, mixes in with your horse’s feed, and absorbs urine or allows urine pooling.

Tamped clay. Tamped clay was a longtime flooring favorite for stalls because it provides cushion and good traction and is warm and quiet. However, clay does not percolate well, and stall floors must slope to allow drainage. In addition, urine pools soon become potholes of enormous proportions, requiring that the clay floor be leveled routinely and overhauled annually. Two to 4 inches of the original 6 to 12 inches are removed each year and replaced with fresh clay and retamped. Pure clay may be difficult to buy in some areas, so if you decide to go with clay, you can extend the life of the stall by allowing it to rest periodically until dry. If you have at least one extra stall in your barn, rotating horses will allow one stall to be empty at all times.

Mixtures of clay and crushed rock. Mixtures of clay and sand or crushed rock may be more readily available than pure clay and will have improved drainage while retaining most of the clay floor’s desirable features, except that the mixtures tend to be shifty, which results in bedding and feed being mixed in with the flooring. Road base in your locale may be such a mixture — a blend of crushed limestone and clay. These blends may result in better sanitation and comfort than clay, but because they are soft, they invite pawing. Generally, these materials are better used as a base for other types of flooring, such as rubber mats.

Concrete. Concrete makes a permanent, low-maintenance floor that is fairly easy to sanitize. However, it requires very deep bedding (more than 12 inches) because it is hard, cold, and abrasive. Concrete floors must be designed with proper slope for drainage and should be finished rough or scored to ensure good traction.

Asphalt. Asphalt has the same drawbacks as concrete and is not as durable.

Wood. Wood, an old-time favorite for tie stalls, is not appropriate for box stalls. Although it is warmer than concrete and fairly durable if appropriate wood is used, it can be slippery, is difficult to sanitize and deodorize, and can be noisy under a nervous horse. Because of its hard surface, it requires deep bedding to provide comfort and prevent sores.

Rubber stall mats. Rubber stall mats can be thought of as part flooring, part bedding. The mats are usually up to 1 inch thick and 4 by 6 feet or 5 by 7 feet and made of a combination of rubber, clay, nylon, and rayon. Some mats are made of recycled rubber tires. If the rubber particles are revulcanized, it means the material has been remolded with heat.

Stall mats act as an intermediary between the soil and the bedding. In this way they prevent horses from ingesting dirt or sand with feed they eat off the stall floor. Mats have superior cushioning for comfort, can be easily sanitized, and make stall cleaning easy.

When purchasing stall flooring, note the type of warranty that comes with it. A limited warranty might not cover damage from pawing or hooves. A pro rata or prorated warranty decreases over time. A warranty that covers wear and tear is better than a workmanship warranty.

If flooring needs to be disinfected, ask your veterinarian what you should use and check with the flooring manufacturer to verify that it is safe to use on the flooring. Nolvasan is usually safe.

Stall Details

Ventilation should have been considered in the overall plan for the barn, but certain stall features will help ensure that horses get adequate airflow without drafts. If part of the stall front is fitted with bars or mesh and a 2-foot by 2-foot window is located on the back wall of the stall, the stall will be set up to take advantage of additional light and warmth from the sun or cool breezes, depending on the season and time of day. All windows should be covered with heavy wire mesh or close-fitting bars on the stall side for safety. Translucent panels can be used in the roof to increase natural light and take advantage of heat from the sun. Unless the panels are fitted with shades, however, this may not be the best choice for the summer season in a very sunny or hot climate.

The feeding and watering features of a stall should be convenient for the manager and should allow the horse to eat and drink easily and safely. Feeders should be located for easy filling and have a capacity of up to 20 pounds of hay. It is best for your horse’s health if he can eat from a feeder at ground level.