PLANNING GUIDE QUESTIONS
TO CONSIDER
FEED • WATER • CARE
Every American Stalls (AS) project starts with the horses. Although we guarantee a beautiful finished product, we first start with the horses' care to ensure every barn is centered around the horses' safety and well-being.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER NOTES
FEED – HOW DO YOU PREFER TO FEED?
Feeding Proximity - Do you prefer to feed from the aisle through a feed opening or grilled feed door, or do you prefer to go inside the stall and use feeding time as an additional touchpoint with the horse?
Separation – Do you prefer to separate feed and water inside the stall (opposite corners or front to back of stall)?
Hay – Do you throw hay from the aisle or do you like to place hay in a specific hay feeder or certain stall corner?
WATER – WHAT ARE YOUR PREFERENCES?
Automatic Waterers vs Buckets – Do you have horses that drink large quantities at once? Are they used to automatic waterers, or do you prefer buckets? In your location's climate, are frozen water buckets a concern?
Do you rather use water buckets to manually keep track of your horses' consumption?
Aisle Water Lines – Will you have access to water lines in the aisle?
Integrating Spigots – Would you need integrated water spigots built into your stall front?
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
HORSES & BEHAVIOR
Size – What is the average size of your horses?
Personalities
Will you have horses with stronger personalities (i.e. stallions, less social mares, etc)?
Will you have new horses coming and going with unknown personalities?
Breeding – Will you use any stalls in your barn to breed and house foals?
Human Visitors & Interaction – Will you have new visitors often at the barn with whom your horses may be unfamiliar?
Will you want the ability to restrict human and visitor access to your horses?
NOTES
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
DESIGN & FEATURES
At American Stalls, we prioritize simple and elegant design. This simplicity is combined with thoughtful engineering, manufacturing, and finishing. We achieve this by our deep understanding of horses and riders
We are then able to incorporate the horse and rider’s needs into the client's design goals. We work together with our client, architect, and builder to achieve a product that is safe, elegant, and functional.
BARN STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS
What is your aisle's width? Will there be tack trunks or other infrastructure in the aisle? What is the safety plan for the barn in the event of a fire?
What is the flooring base of the barn? Will there be rubber pavers or a similar alternative installed into the aisle?
NOTES
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
STALL FRONT ELEMENTS
What is important to you and your team?
Ventilation
Visibility
Elegance and aesthetics
Accessibility
Safety
Ease of cleanliness
SLIDING VS. HINGED STALL FRONTS
Do you and your team have a functional preference?
Do you and your team have a stylistic preference?
Are there any design inspiration photos that show must-haves in your barn?
SLIDING STALL FRONTS
Do you prefer a centered stall door or an off-centered door?
Would you like a yoke opening to allow your horse to hang their head out?
If yes, would you like the ability to close that yoke with a removable yoke piece of hinged drop down option?
NOTES
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
DOOR & STALL FRONT BOTTOM:
Would you like mesh on the stall door bottom and/or stall front bottom?
Would you like 1" round bars on the door bottom and/or stall front bottom? If you'd like a non-wood bottom (i.e. mesh or bars), would you like a wood center and bottom rail (HVH)?
EUROPEAN (HINGED) STALL FRONTS
Do you prefer an angled, diagonal (straight) or swooping look?
Would you like a lower profile in the European swoop or a higher profile (height)?
Would you like a mesh or 1" round bar on the bottom of the stall door or stall front?
TACK:
In your operation, how important is it to have access to halters, blankets, fly masks, etc, at the front of each stall?
ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS & IDEAS:
Color – What color do you prefer for your powder coat finish?
Aesthetics – What aesthetic would you like your stall fronts to portray (i.e. traditional, ultra-contemporary, modern farmhouse, etc)?
Areas Within Barn – What are the locations of the tack rooms, wash stall, grooming areas, and farriers' work areas?
NOTES
