Types of stalls and their characteristics. Master class on building a stable and corral for horses Which material is preferable

At home, this is a rather troublesome task, requiring the farmer to take into account all aspects. One of these is the construction of stables and corrals. In this article we will talk about how to build a building at home and what you will need for this in detail with all dimensions, standards, photos and videos.

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Stable requirements

So, the design and construction of stables with your own hands must be competent and meet the following requirements:

1. Housing for horses should be as comfortable as possible. That is, the stable design should initially provide large space for animals. A horse's stall should be spacious, warm and bright, and it should always be clean. It is very important that there are no drafts in the horse pen, otherwise the animals will get sick.
2. If you are designing a stable with your own hands, then it is better to choose a place on a hill. As a result, the humidity in the room will be significantly lower, and this is a very important nuance.
3. In addition, it is advisable to locate the corral for horses, having previously assessed the prevailing wind direction in the area. It is better to make sure that the horse pen is located according to the plan with the end part facing the air flow.
4. The stall for the horse, as well as the structure of the stable, must be thought out taking into account your budget. Therefore, we recommend that you first monitor the construction market and roughly understand how much stable projects cost. Only then can you make a plan. If you cannot correctly compare your capabilities and goals, then building a stable can take years.
5. If you design and build a stable yourself, then consult with specialists about this. Experienced farmers can give practical recommendations, which will help avoid possible mistakes.
6. In winter, the room temperature should be at least 5 and no more than 15 degrees Celsius. In summer, it is advisable that the threshold of +15 degrees is not exceeded. Humidity should vary from 60 to 75%.
7. A stall for a horse, in principle, can be built from any material, but experienced experts recommend constructing a structure from brick or wood. According to reviews, such a dwelling, which is called a stall, will always be dry and warm. If you decide to build a playpen with your own hands, then it can be installed on any foundation, as long as the foundation is on a hill.
8. It would be cheap and practical to use adobe to construct a building. But for this you will have to study the technology for producing adobe from straw and clay.
9. It is quite possible to build a clay wattle stall for a horse with your own hands - this is often practiced in some regions. The outer frame is sheathed with wood, and all cracks are sealed with a mixture of clay and sawdust.
10. Sometimes stable projects are planned taking into account the construction of a building made of natural stone. But this should not be done, because in this way the horses’ home will always be damp and cold.

Construction of a stable from A to Z

How to build a stable with your own hands? All detailed information with dimensions, layout and standards is presented below. As for the foundation, it can be anything. The main thing is that the future home for the horses should be located on a hill, and the foundation should be located no less than 1 meter from groundwater. In this case, the foundation will last a long time.

Materials and tools

You will need:

• cement with sand for the foundation;
• roofing felt for roof and floor;
• wood for walls, floors and roofs;
• polystyrene foam for insulation;
• ready gates.

Walls, ceiling and floor

Before making and arranging walls, you need to consider several factors:

• the climate in which you live will only determine the thickness, and the material itself must be durable;
• if the winters in your region are very cold, then, regardless of the foundation, the walls should be dense and thick (thickness size at least 22 cm);
• In any case, there must be a foundation: only with it can you make sure that the walls are not damp.

So, we make the walls, floor and ceiling:

1. First, a foundation is laid along the entire perimeter of your site. As a rule, the drying time of the foundation ranges from 3 weeks to 1 month.
2. When the foundation is dry, start building the walls. It is best to use wood for this. Immediately at this stage, take into account the location of the windows. The walls can be insulated with foam plastic.
3. As for the ceiling, the norm would be to make it about 3.5 m high. It is desirable that it be wooden, but on top it will need to be insulated with a mixture of clay, sand or roofing felt, as well as sawdust and ordinary earth. When designing, you also need to take into account the fact that the ceiling must be waterproof; this is a mandatory norm. Therefore, you will also need to lay slate on top.
4. You need to approach the installation of the floor with your own hands very responsibly; this is one of the main stages. When drawing up a plan and designing a building with your own hands, remember that the floor must be dry, since the health of the animals will depend on this. Floors made of wood, concrete or clay are considered acceptable standards in this regard, but ideally, rubber would be used (on top of wood). Rubber flooring will never rot, will not slip, and is very easy to maintain. Lay one or two layers of roofing felt, and then wooden boards on the floor and secure them securely.

It should also be noted that another norm that must be adhered to is the installation of the floor on a slope - towards the passage. The most important thing is to eliminate thresholds in the building, this is also the norm.

Lighting

Stable designs should be designed with lighting in mind. First you need to think about the location of the windows in the building, and only then start lighting the room. The light should not be very bright or very dim, so use a standard called luminous efficiency. This standard is 1 to 15 - the ratio of the total area of ​​the windows to the area of ​​the building as a whole:

1. Consider installing lighting fixtures around the perimeter of the room.
2. Run wiring underneath them.
3. It is desirable (in principle, this is also considered the norm) that the windows are located at a height of two meters from the floor. If your region has cold winters, then the windows need to be designed in such a way that additional frames can be installed if necessary. Equipment for the stable is also an important aspect - watch the video about this.

Door, feeders and stall

Installation of doors, feeders and stalls:

1. All doors should be about 1.5 m wide, forget about narrow doors. Door jambs in a building should be rounded. It should also be noted that doors to the building should only open outward. Taking into account all these requirements, install doors in the room.
2. It is better to use a long trough as a feeder, which should be placed near a light source. Also keep in mind that the trough should be deep and roomy - everything for the animal’s comfort. The number of feeders varies depending on the number of animals.
3. The next stage is arranging the stall. The stall must be installed so that the horse can not only stand without any problems, but also lie down freely without experiencing discomfort. For example, if a horse is 1.6 m tall, the dimensions of the stall should be 3.7 x 4.3 m. Therefore, when all the walls are erected, the floor and ceiling are equipped, start working on the stall.
4. All stalls must be equipped with appropriate gates. The gates are installed on hinges and equipped with locks so that the horse cannot arbitrarily leave the stall.

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Project of stables for 10 and 50 heads

If you decide to start breeding horses, then you will probably have interesting projects for stables for 10 and 50 heads. As you understand, a stall for 10 heads should contain 10 stalls, for 50 heads - 50 stalls. Detailed projects of stables for 10 and 50 heads are presented below.

Building a corral for horses with your own hands

Determination of area and shape

In this case, everything depends solely on your capabilities. The larger the paddock area, the better. 100 “squares” will be enough for one horse; if you have a small herd, then the paddock area should be about 60 square meters. In this case, the larger the corral, the safer it will be.

As for the shape of the pen, it should be in the form of a circle or oval and preferably without corners - this way the horse can move freely in a circle.

Materials and soil

The fence must be constructed from metal pipes or boards mounted in several rows. The fence columns must be installed at a distance of about 2 m from each other, no more, so that they are able to withstand heavy loads. Materials for the pen are attached exclusively from the inside, and the height of the fence as a whole must be at least 1.8 m. Wood is the best option for making a fence for 10 or 50 heads; in practice, metal pipes are often a hazardous material.

As for the soil, it should be sand or field soil, compacted as best as possible. Experts in the field of horse breeding recommend lining the pen with plastic cells through which grass grows. This way the water will quickly go into the ground. You will find more information in the photo and video.

Photo gallery

Video “Building a stable”

How professionals build stables - watch the video.

The most suitable place to house and live a horse is a stall. It goes by many names: pen, stall, stall. A stall is needed not only for the convenience of keeping, but also for raising and training the animal.

Where to start, what to grab onto, what to come up with. Let's start in order.

The most ideal option is a box with a paddock. It allows the horse to be both indoors and outdoors. Naturally, in bad weather, you need to control the time the animal spends outside. If funds or space do not allow this, then you can solve the problem with the help of an external box. When the top door is open, the horse also takes an active part in the life of the stable and does not get bored. Protect your horse from drafts.

Open upper door

Dimensions

In almost all stables, the size of the stall is no more than three meters by three meters - nine square meters. All these sizes are suitable for keeping horses in a “satisfactory” condition. Accordingly, we can observe trampling, hitting, gnawing - all this from a very confined space.

If we think logically and calculate correctly how to make a stall for a horse, we have the following picture: the length of a horse is on average two meters and forty centimeters. Accordingly, the side is slightly small. The ideal option for a horse is four meters by five meters. This is necessary so that the animal can calmly turn around in the stall.

Many people simply remove the top layer of soil, sprinkle it with peat, and the coating is ready. This is due to savings, but this can hardly be called savings; the costs for a doctor will be much higher. Peat, together with manure and urine, forms an excellent environment for infectious diseases.

There is an option for an adobe floor, but you have to knock it down two or three times a year and lay a new one, it is very warm and not slippery, but you need to always have a clay quarry with you, and this is also not cheap. Wooden flooring is also a good option, but over time it becomes slippery. We recommend the best option - a concrete floor. Only he will protect you from rats.

Concrete floor

The walls of the box must be made of proven brick. Horses do not chew or hit it with their hooves. But if we take into account the needs of the animal, many simply lose their will because they gnaw on a tree, suffer from it, or hit it with their hooves:

• It’s very easy to make a wooden partition and you don’t have to skimp on the profile. The dividing partition should cover half the height of the stable. Side partitions must be equipped with ventilation holes.
• The front wall can have a different appearance and production method. The front mesh made of metal bars resembles a prison, but is convenient for stables with regular visitors - the horse cannot reach out and bite.

Front mesh

• For a private stable, an open front wall is suitable. If the dividing partitions are made of brick, then the front wall is also built from it. It can also be made from a channel and a board. Or simply abandon metal structures altogether and install a completely wooden partition.

Almost all types of doors are equally good and equally bad. If your stable does not have the required width, then it is better to make sliding doors. An ordinary rotary or, as it is also called, “rotating” one, withstands the pressure of horses better and more reliably. The size of the door must be at least one meter and fifty centimeters. And pay attention to the fittings, there is, of course, a great choice here, but two galvanized bolts for a regular door are the most reliable and durable lock.

Sliding doors

Rules for placing parts

The disadvantage of the stall is that only the front wall remains for feeding and it is necessary to place a manger, a feeder, and an automatic drinker on it at the same time. This gives the horse a reason to indulge in water and food and do other fun things. If it is not possible to divide the stall, then you need to follow the rules:

1. The stall size ranges from three meters to three and a half long and two meters long.
2. Slope up to one and a half centimeters per meter in the direction of the gutter.
3. The separation pole is tightly attached to the feeding table.
4. The stable pole is attached at a level of one meter from the ground.
5. To avoid collisions with a neighboring horse, a shockproof casing is attached.

The box stall is very convenient; it provides the horse with a comfortable bed, measuring two and a half by one and a half meters. You can provide a grill on top to prevent bickering between animals.

In the end, one thing we can suggest is that the best stall for a horse is a box. First of all, this is the health of our horses, which will always reciprocate our feelings.

Stall size
The ideal stall size can vary depending on the size and purpose of the horse. For ponies and small breeds (for example, Arabian) 3x3 m will be sufficient, while for horses whose height exceeds 150 cm, the size of the stall should be at least 3.5x3.5 m. Large horses of warm-blooded and heavy breeds will need even more a spacious stall measuring 4x4 m or 4.2x4.2 m, and a mare with a foal or a stud stallion must be provided with at least 20 m2 of free space. On the other hand, miniature horses thrive in stalls as small as 2.4 m2. In general, it is recommended that the length of the stall wall be 1.5 times the length of the horse, but as they say, the longer the better.

Ceiling height in stall
When thinking about ceiling height, you should be guided by the principle “the higher the better”, both from the point of view of the horse’s safety and from the point of view of ventilation. The minimum ceiling height should be 3 m (if you are equipping stalls in an existing old building and you simply have no other choice). Increasing the height of the ceiling will not only improve air circulation, but will also help minimize the risk of your horse hitting his head if he stands on the candle out of fear. High ceilings also mean that wiring and other communications will be located higher and, as they say, out of harm's way.

Doors
There are many different stall doors on the market these days that are both beautiful looking and safe for horses. Most architects agree that doors should be at least 1.2 m wide and 2.4 m high, otherwise horses risk injuring their shoulders or hips (especially those that tend to “fly into” the stall), and also injure the owner. Unfortunately, many manufacturers rarely comply with these proportions and more often offer doors about two meters high and a meter wide.
As a rule, there are two types of stall doors - outward opening and sliding. Those that open outward create some inconvenience, blocking the passage, and can injure horses in the corridor. It would seem that you can use doors that open inward, but this is a big misconception: if something happens to the horse (it falls and cannot get up, lies down from an acute attack, etc.), you simply will not be able to get into the stall and provide her with the necessary help. Sliding doors are attached with their upper and lower edges to special gutters or hinges along which they move. They are expensive, but more convenient - they do not take up the passage and create more space for maneuver, so they are often installed in large clubs and stud farms. When using such doors, you should pay attention to the presence of a limiter - it prevents the door from opening too wide so that it does not fly out of the gutter (as happens with sliding wardrobes).
Stall doors can be solid, lattice or combined. It is best to install combined doors (half iron/wood - half lattice, mesh or pole): this, firstly, will provide good ventilation, secondly, it will allow the horse to observe what is happening in the stable, and thirdly, will prevent her from getting injured by getting her hooves stuck in the lower part of the grate.
Stall partitions are also important: if designed correctly, they give horses the opportunity to communicate with their neighbors. Specialists from companies involved in the design and construction of stables unanimously say that ninety percent of clients, when they are first asked about the design of partitions, want them to be continuous from floor to ceiling. But stable designers always recommend that such owners allow the animals to interact and just be horses.

Partitions between stalls
We tend to lock our canine partners behind bars and treat them like prisoners, but horses that aren't confined within four walls are much happier. Their mental state improves markedly when they have the opportunity to be surrounded by their relatives. This is why in most European equestrian clubs the partitions between stalls are only one and a half meters high. Even stallions, when kept in this way for several days, easily find contact with their neighbors, become less aggressive and dominant. The only exception is stables that specialize in foaling: the mare feels much safer when she is separated from other horses and from imaginary predators, so in such stables it is preferable to have solid partitions about 2.4 m high.

The material from which a stable can be built will depend on your budget, climate and your idea of ​​what your dream stable should look like. In the first place in the list of popularity, of course, is wood: it is notable for its low price and availability, but at the same time it is short-lived and quite difficult to thoroughly disinfect (especially for stalls with mares and foals). Oak is considered one of the strongest types of wood, but it is becoming increasingly expensive. Less durable species - spruce or fir - are cheap, but quickly become unusable under the blows of hooves. A good solution may be to use lumber coated with galvanized metal, which adds strength and prevents horses from chewing the wood. Galvanized steel, in theory, does not rust, but it is important that the galvanizing process be carried out after cutting the metal. Galvanized and then cut steel will have raw, unfinished edges that can rust under the influence of ammonia fumes in as little as three months. You should also avoid using powder-coated steel, as the horse can easily scrape the paint off with his teeth, causing the metal to rust again.

Floor covering
Each owner decides for himself which type of coating to choose, but in general, the floor must meet the following requirements:

Not too stiff to reduce stress on the animal's tendons
- be dry
- do not absorb odors
- be non-slippery so that the horse can lie down
- be durable, not deformed when the horse digs
- be durable
- be easy to clean
- be accessible, inexpensive

Now that we've discussed the many parameters of stall size and design, it's time to talk about what's under the horse's feet. Experts say that the health of animals' legs and hooves largely depends on the type of coating chosen. There are two main categories of such surfaces - porous and moisture-proof. The basic foundation of porous floors consists of sand and/or gravel, which allows water to penetrate into the ground, while waterproof floors are, for example, concrete covered with a rubber mat.

When choosing flooring for a stall, special attention should be paid to removing manure and urine. So, a four hundred and fifty kilogram horse produces about fourteen kilograms of feces and two and a half liters of urine daily. Floors that absorb this moisture will also retain odor. For many years, the most popular coatings were clay or a mixture of clay and stone dust over a layer of gravel. Such floors are physiological for the horse and have a porous structure, however, they also have a number of disadvantages.

Clay floors are difficult to keep clean. They need to be leveled and re-ground at least annually, and completely replaced every few years due to the holes that form when the horse digs. Also, these coatings remain wet longer than we would like, and still absorb odors. Cement and concrete floors are more durable, but too cold and hard.

A good solution in such cases is a rubber mat or mat placed on top of a clay or concrete base. The mat should not be placed on a soft surface such as sand, as it may move or bunch up. The mats have a number of advantages: they are non-slip, moisture-resistant and odor-resistant, they are easy to clean, plus some mats contain a safe antifungal and antibacterial additive. Recently, new rubber mats with a special locking system have appeared: they are more expensive than ordinary mats and are distinguished by the fact that they are assembled like a puzzle and fit tightly to the surface, so that manure and sawdust do not get clogged under the edges.

The horse's home, where he stays when he is not walking or working, is called a stable. To ensure that the horse feels good and is not at risk of getting sick, the room should be dry, warm and clean. Next, the main points related to the independent construction of a stable will be highlighted.

To build the right stable you need to meet a whole set of requirements

Preparation for work

Before building a stable, it is worth focusing on important details:

• The structure is built in such a way as to make the animal’s stay in it comfortable. A prerequisite is the presence of heat, light, cleanliness, as well as the absence of even the slightest drafts. Because they can seriously undermine the health of horses.
• When choosing the location of a building, you should prefer a site that is located on a small hill. This solution will prevent dampness in the structure, which is a common cause of hoof diseases.
• It is important to determine which winds prevail in the area. It is necessary to orient the building relative to them in such a way that cold air masses hit the end of the building or its corner.
• Decide right away how much money you are willing to invest in construction. Before drawing up an estimate, find out the current prices for materials and tools that will be used in the work process. Based on them, final calculations are made. It is worth understanding that the objectively calculated cost of the project, which fits into the existing budget, will allow the construction of the stables to be completed on time, avoiding long-term construction.
• If you have a strong desire to do everything on your own, it would be a good idea to consult with experienced construction professionals. By following the recommendations received from them, you will avoid common mistakes and save time and money.

Before you start building a stable, you should consult a specialist

Materials used

To build a beautiful house for horses, which will serve as protection for animals from bad weather for many years, you need to wisely choose the material for building walls. The most popular materials in this area are wood and brick. The frame made of them will be durable, dry and warm.

If finances do not allow you to use factory ones, then you should look towards simple materials. Adobe is a clay-straw mixture that retains heat well and has sufficient strength. Sometimes the walls are framed from boards, and the resulting space is filled with sawdust mixed with clay. There are options for erecting stone walls, but this solution cannot be called a good one. Dampness regularly occurs inside it, heat is poorly retained, as a result of which horses regularly catch colds.

The wooden stable is very aesthetically pleasing

Walls

You can make a good stable only after you have learned enough information about its walls. Because they create comfortable and cozy conditions inside the building. Be sure to watch the following points:

• The wall may have different thicknesses. The specific value depends on the area. The main requirement is that they maintain dryness and the desired temperature inside the stable. In the northern regions they are made from logs with a diameter of about 25 cm, and in the southern latitudes they are made even thinner.
• To maintain dryness inside, the structure should be built on a strong foundation. Place high-quality waterproofing between it and the walls. Ruberoid is suitable for this.
• Inside, it is necessary to maintain an optimal temperature of about 5-10 degrees above zero, avoiding rapid changes in this parameter.
• The size of the stall should allow the horse to easily change its position.

The walls of the stable should protect the horse well from the cold

Roof and ceiling

Remember, that:

• Usually, a roof with slopes is erected at the stables, equipped with ebbs and gutters that collect and discharge precipitation.
• There should be such a distance from the floor to the ceiling that the horse does not touch the ceiling with his head. Ideally, it is within 300-350 cm.
• It is better to make a gable roof with eaves with a height of 230 cm and a ridge of at least 400 cm. The single-pitch type assumes that the lower edge is located at a height of at least 300 cm from the ground level.
• The ceiling can be built from a “fiftieth” board, on which a mass of clay and sand is placed, and the top is covered with sawdust or straw.
• The material for the roof should be selected according to the price/quality ratio. Mandatory criteria will be strength, fire resistance and the ability to hold water. The most common options would be slate or metal.

The roof of the stable must withstand all weather conditions

Floor and doors

If you have a desire to build a house for a horse, then you should not lose sight of the floor in the stable. The requirements for the floor are important and simple at the same time: impermeability to water, strength, warmth and softness (so that horses do not damage their hooves). The best options are wooden and adobe.

Whatever covering you choose, be sure to make a slope (1-2 degrees) to the passage so that urine and other liquid secretions do not accumulate. A larger angle can be detrimental to the horse's health. The doorway must have no threshold and be 2 m high and 1.2 m wide. The jambs should be rounded.

The floor of the stable must be sloping and the doors must be at least 2 meters high.

Stall

The most common solution is the construction of stalls. They have their own characteristics:

• height should not be less than 2.5 m;
• Each stall is equipped with a separate lamp. Its location should exclude contact with the horse;
• The stalls are separated by partitions at least 2-3 cm thick.

The stall is designed for one horse. The room must be provided with ventilation and heating. The first can be achieved by leaving a small gap in the walls under the ceiling. The stall must have a feeder and water bowl. Heating is carried out centralized or autonomous.

The litter should be changed regularly, the frequency depends on its thickness. Do not spill food on the floor.

You can build a house for a horse on your own. It doesn't matter if you keep one horse or several. You just need to correctly calculate your strengths and capabilities.

Kira Stoletova

Arranging a comfortable stall plays an important role in keeping horses. It also helps to teach nervous animals discipline and order. The horse's stall should be spacious enough for the horse to feel comfortable.

Types of stalls for horses

Before building a stall for a horse, you need to decide what type of building will be appropriate for a particular farm. There are several types of stalls, each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages:

1. Stationary stalls are the most common. They are used to keep animals in stable conditions. Partitions are made of brick, wood or metal. The front wall of the stall is also a door.
2. Mobile stalls are used to keep horses at competitions away from home. Their advantage is that they are quickly installed and just as quickly removed if necessary. The walls are most often made of plastic or lightweight metal structures.
3. Transformer stalls differ from others in their special structure. The walls have a hinged device to facilitate cleaning in the stable or to combine 2 or more stalls into one. To do this, the walls are simply moved back. There are also telescopic partitions. With their help, you can increase the area of ​​the stall if necessary.

Requirements for a stall for horses

A stall is a place where horses are kept free-stall to protect them from adverse weather conditions, external stimuli, as well as to correct acquired behavioral reflexes.

The first and main requirement for the room is warmth, dryness and absence of drafts. This is especially true for valuable sires, mares with cubs and young stock in training.

When building a stall, it is important to remember:

1. When choosing a place to build, you should take care of groundwater. If they are close to the ground, then the stall will be damp even in the hottest summer. To avoid this, stables are built on a hill or artificial drainage is installed to drain groundwater.
2. The standard for horse pens is 3 x 3 m, or 9 m², but most often this is not enough, especially if the animal is large or we are talking about a female with a foal. Stiffness in movements provokes the horse to kick, throw and overturn feeders. The ideal room is at least 4 x 4 m in size. There the horse can lie down or turn around without hindrance.
3. Ceilings should be as high as possible: this promotes good ventilation of the room and free air circulation in it. The height should be at least 3 m. This height prevents the horse from being injured if it rears up from fright. In addition, the wiring and lighting will be at a sufficient height so that curious animals cannot reach it.
4. It is necessary to take care of insulating the stables, especially in regions with very cold winters. To do this, use building insulation or double walls. The outer wall is made of brick, concrete or wooden beams, and the inner wall is made of boards. The distance between them is at least 15 cm. This gap is filled with sand or expanded clay. If it is not possible to insulate the room, additional steam or electric heating will be required.

Walls

Most often, one or even 2 walls are shared with the stable. The rest are made in the form of partitions to limit horses’ access to other animals and household equipment.

The best option would be to install structures that are easy to dismantle. This will be useful if it is necessary to repair or replace individual parts, as well as when cleaning and disinfecting the stable. The problem is that animals often chew and break the partitions with their hooves. For this reason, many people make the side walls of the stall out of brick in one layer.

Horses are herd animals and need contact with their peers. In order not to limit the horses' communication, the walls of the stall are not made blank: lattice partitions are installed at a height of 140-160 cm above the floor.

The front wall doubles as a door and a mounting location for the feeder, manger and drinking bowl. If the size of the stall does not allow them to be placed on another wall, so that it is convenient to give food and pour fresh water, horses may spill water and turn out the food out of boredom.

The front partition or door is made of wood or lattice, as well as combinations thereof. In stables where there are frequent visitors, the stalls are equipped with a high lattice front partition so that the horse cannot reach a person and bite him. In private courtyards, you can equip a more open type of front wall.

Metal structures must have a special coating to prevent corrosion. It is important that this spray is not toxic to animals.

Floors

The floors in the stables are made at an angle so that the slurry easily flows into the gutters intended for this purpose. But you need to seriously think about the choice of flooring material. It is usually made from the following materials:

1. In the old days, the floors of stables were made of adobe. This coating was very warm and did not slip from slurry. Due to its moisture-repellent properties, the clay did not absorb horse urine and feces. The adobe floor was easy to clean, but the clay had to be replaced after a while. Now arranging such a floor is a very problematic matter if there is no clay quarry nearby.
2. Floors can also be covered with wooden planks, but this is the least practical method. Wood absorbs moisture and swells as a result. Constant contact with slurry leads to rapid rotting of the coating. Wooden floors can cause injuries to animals in the stable due to the fact that the hooves slide on it too much.
3. The best option, both economically and practically, is a concrete floor. It is durable and easy to disinfect. Concrete does not tend to absorb moisture, and it also perfectly protects the stable from the penetration of mice and rats. Its only drawback is that the floors become very cold in winter, so you should prepare straw for bedding during the cold season.
4. In recent years, private stables have often begun to use specialized flooring in the form of rubberized mats. They can be one-piece or multi-component, which are assembled like a puzzle. They are laid on a soft base: sand or sawdust. Thanks to this coating, it is easy to clean the stalls, and the mats themselves can be washed and disinfected. Some even contain special antifungal sprays. A significant disadvantage of rubberized flooring is its high cost.

Arrangement of the stall

Feeders and drinking bowls are located at a height of 60-70 cm above the ground, so that it is convenient for animals to eat and drink from them. They must be made of non-toxic materials and meet the following requirements:

1. Have rounded edges to avoid injuries and cuts.
2. Have a smooth surface without cracks so that food does not get stuck there, thereby causing mold to form.
3. The depth of the feeders should be at least 25-30 cm so that the food does not spill out during eating.

Wooden feeders are rarely used due to their impracticality, since horses quickly chew them off, and disinfection causes a lot of inconvenience. To make feeders, durable plastic, baked clay or galvanized containers are used.

Since the main component of a horse's diet is grass or fresh grass, the feeder plays a secondary role in feeding the animals. Those farmers who spread hay directly on the floor of the stall are faced with a large waste of feed: the horses simply trample it. This is why making a feeding crèche is a great solution to this problem. A wooden or metal grate is attached to the stall door, behind which hay or straw is placed.

Sometimes very cramped stalls with low ceilings are built. The horse cannot turn around or lie down fully in them. The use of such premises is appropriate for disciplinary punishments for violent individuals, but is not suitable for permanent housing of animals.

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