1 Siting
Important factors when considering siting are:
• Weather
- The Sun. Familiarize yourself with the path of the sun and how it changes with the seasons - the area you find shaded
   at the time of planning may be exposed at another time of year. Hint: for row stables, avoid facing them directly into the
   afternoon sun. Paddock shelters should where possible face east as a first preference, north as a second.
- Prevailing winds. Again, familiarize yourself with where your main winds come from during different times of the year and plan
  the siting to provide the least impact from winds and rain. Hint: site to prevent prevailing winds and rain to the front of your row
  complex or end breezeway doors.
• Terrain - slope of the land and excavation. Significant cutting and filling has a cost factor - additional costs for excavation,
  footings, retainer walls, the input of drainage, etc.
• Drainage - carefully site the complex to reduce drainage requirements and problems.
• Access - the siting of your stable complex must provide the maximum efficiency for the movement of horses, personnel and
  suppliers. Consider:
- access for vehicles, parking, floating and the layout of adjoining roadways and laneways
- location of the stable complex in relation to the main house, office, other horse facilities (arenas, round yards), paddocks,
  day yards, manure pits, etc
- deliveries of feed, bedding, etc and the removal bedding, manure, etc to pits.
  Good planning, allowing ease of movement, reduces time and labour costs.

2 Building Materials
A wide range of building materials is available for the construction of horse facilities.
• Concrete wall panels are now the most popular choice for both large and small complexes, wash bays, round yards, manure   pits, etc. The external wall panels and the breezeway fronts of stables are painted in colours to suit your colour scheme. The   internal stable walls are usually left unpainted. The concrete wall panels provide the least maintenance and provide a   healthier   all-round choice. The cost of using our concrete wall panels for your stable complex is only marginally more than a   standard   colorbond exterior with internal timber linings.
• Colorbond external walls with timber lined stables in a range of timbers.
• All timber external walls (treated pine/cedar) with timber lined stables, again in a range of timbers. This choice is more costly
  than using concrete walls or colorbond/timber lined.
• Weathertex (a man made weatherboard, long lasting and more durable than timber). A low maintenance but a more
  expensive choice.
• A combination of any of the above.

3 Size
The industry standard for a horse stable is 3.65m x 3.65m (or 12ft x 12ft) but, with larger horses, clients may prefer a larger box, say 3.65m x 4.2m, 4.2 x 4.2m, or any other variation of sizes. Larger stalls are required for foaling or stallion bays. Wash bays are generally 3.65m x 3.65m. Feed and tack rooms can be sized to suit, but are generally 3.65 x 3.65m for each bay. Decide whether you require a combined feed/tack or for them to be separate. Some people do not like the possible dust from the feed getting into their tack and so they have a separate, lockable tack room. Breezeways are generally 3.6m wide (12ft). Verandahs to breezeway style barns for aesthetics can either be a roof extension or a verandah with posts of about 2.4m. Both these give added protection if using windows or rear swing access doors. A verandah to the front of a row form is also generally 3.6m as a narrow verandahs to row complexes do not provide adequate space to groom and saddle up without part of the horse being exposed to the weather.
A round yard is generally 15m wide in diameter.

4 Floor Plan
Firstly, establish your requirements for your stable complex:
• How many stables are needed?
• Do you require any foaling bays or stallion boxes?
• What other facilities do you require: wash bay, lock-up tack room, feed room, separate tie-up areas, hay storage, other
  storage areas, float storage, vet room or crush area, workshop, staff room, kitchenette, laundry, toilet, office, accommodation,   etc.
  Once determined, this will give you an indication of what best floor plan will suit. For smaller complexes, row form are less   costly, but with 6 bays and beyond, an L-shape or breezeway complex may be preferable and more functional.

Some stable complex options:
• Row form (no verandah or roof overhang)
• Row form with roof overhang to front
• Row form with large verandah to front (enables undercover protection when saddling up, grooming, shoeing).
  Row form complexes with a verandah: decide if you require the verandah ends to be built in for additional protection from the   weather or to use part of the verandah as a wash bay or tie-up.
• Breezeway complex (with bays either side of a centre walk-through) in which the centre breezeway is used for saddling,
  grooming, tie-up, etc.
• L-shape complex.
• U-shape complex.
• T-shape complex.
• Back to back stables.
• Combination

5 Roof Types
A zincalume roof (the plain silver colour) reduces the heat factor moreso than a colorbond roof, however some Councils will only allow the use of colorbond roofs. Check with your local Council as to their requirements. There are many colorbond colours now available.
  Breezeway complexes:
• Low loft
• High loft (with or without upstairs floor)
• Vented ridge roofline
• Standard gable
• Adjoining skillion roof sections to storage areas
  Row form:
• Standard gable
• A-line gable with skillion verandah
• Skillion
• Extended roofline
  Other:
• Hip type
• Combination

Clearlites - these provide good light, but have a heat factor. For breezeway complexes, we recommend that clearlites be installed over the breezeway section only of the complex and not over the stables. Should clearlites be required to the stables, feed, tack wash, etc, we suggest that one clearlite be placed in the roof at the intersection of two bays - instead of one panel to each bay – this will reduce the heat factor whilst still providing adequate light.

6 Flooring
  Consider what flooring you require for your stables and breezeway/verandah:
• Concrete slab
• Earthen
• Sand
• Rubber
• Combination, etc.
• Wash bays to have drainage

7 Doors & Windows – but not limited to:
  Various options, for example:
• Swing, stable doors (internal): choice of a bottom solid door only or twin swing doors (solid top or a grill or mesh upper door -   with or without yoke).
• Sliding, stable doors (internal): generally a solid lower section with the top section in grill or mesh. The top section can be
  with or without a yoke, or a swing section within the upper section if required.
• Back access swing doors from the stable to day yards or laneways.
• Window opening for ventilation or to reduce boredom in the stabled horses - with shutters and with or without grill or mesh panels.
• Criss-cross effect on external doors and shutters.
• Glass swing window with grill protector.
• Doors to breezeway ends can be either twin, sliding doors (colorbond or timber) or a roller door. Swing doors are generally
  not preferred, as these are hard to handle if the wind catches them.
• Roller doors to external of feed rooms or storage areas to allow external direct access.

8 Optional Extras – but not limited to:
• Pull-out feeder doors to stable fronts – hay or grain doors or combined.
• Hay racks.
• Feeder bins.
• Auto waterers.
• Rug racks.
• Electricals - lights, double power points.
• Plumbing for hot and cold horse wash, taps, automatic waterers.