Levi Salmans | Orlando Horse Properties

A few tips for your feed room.

• Line your grain bin with sheet metal to keep rodents out. If you use two or more feeds, add partitions to keep them separate.
• Keep only about a week’s worth of grain and a day’s worth of hay in your feed room. Store the rest in another building, for both cleanliness and cost. (Storing hay in the barn may increase your fire insurance premium.)
• To minimize mess, load one day’s worth of hay (one or two bales) in a wheelbarrow and wheel it over from your storage area in the morning; stow it in your feed room between meals.
• Install cabinets to store supplements. First, though, measure what you’ll be storing; gallon jugs and quart bottles won’t fit on shelves of a width and height meant for coffee mugs.
• If you’re installing a washer and dryer, put them here (not in your tack room; they’d add too much moisture to the air).
• A “utility room” in your barn is a great place to store mucking and cleaning tools away from feed, tack and other equipment. The area does not need to be large, about 3 by 8 feet – more if you add a washer and dryer.

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Good air flow in your barn is crucial to your horse’s health. Warm, stale air is a breeding ground for fungus and lung problems.

A loft can create low ceilings, trapping warm air.

Install a roof exhaust fan. It’ll cost about $140, and a cupola to house it may cost $200 from a contractor (or $50 to $100 from a home-supply company such as The Home Depot)-but it’s an investment in your horses’ health. (An alternative: Install two exhaust fans, one at either end, near the roof peak.)

Ceiling fans over stalls improve circulation.

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A well-designed, well-built horse barn is light, airy, pleasant to work in, easy to keep clean-and every bit as comfortable as your home. In the long run, it pays off in lower upkeep costs, fewer vet bills, and added property value.

Your barn should be on a site that is well drained and offers easy access to utilities and the road. You’ll want good ventilation; however, you don’t want your center isle to be a wind tunnel. Therefore, the center isle should be positioned on a 45 – degree angle to the prevailing wind. Also, position your delivery and parking area so that it won’t mix with horse traffic.

I hear more and more stories of good people buying a home with property and assuming that horses can be kept on it.  One couple I read about, bought their dream home with lots of open land. They were so excited that they were finally going to get their 12 year old daughter the horse she had asked for every Christmas since she was 3! They found the perfect Paso Fino horse and gave her the surprise of her life!

Three weeks later, code enforcement knocked on the door to let them know that they had to move “Patches” immediately, that he was not allowed to be kept there. As you can imagine it was heart breaking news.

When looking for property remember; just because the place you have in mind looks like it is out in the country doesn’t mean that it is zoned for horses or other livestock.  If you are in the market for horse property, your Realtor can supply you with zoning information. If you are in the Orlando area you can check with the City of Orlando zoning and planning or Orange County Zoning.

Some More Tips:

• Do your research. When buying direct from the home-owner, be aware that some information might not be divulged.

• Find out how many horses can be kept on your Orlando property.
• Use a qualified Realtor whom specializes in property zoned for horses.

If you are looking to purchase or list your equestrian real estate, contact Levi Salmans. Call me at 407-291-6952.