There are websites where you can purchase "canned" blueprints for stables. These are just a few sites I came up with:

http://www.applevalleybarns.com/
http://www.stablewise.com/barn_plans/index.htm
http://www.coolhouseplans.com/housestyle.html?Specified=PlanType+%3D+%27Stable%27&Title=Horse+barn+plans+or+horse+stable+plans+to+build+your+horse+shelter.&ordercode=&SponsorID=&SearchURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.coolhouseplans.com%2Fhousestyle.html

There are also books on the subject:

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Plans-Building-Horse-Barns/dp/0914327615

Those are just starting points. My advice would be to get a book or two and look through that, just to get some familiarity with the terminology and what building plans look like.

Simultaneously, check out some stables near your home. If you are polite and ask people who have stables about their experiences building stables, you should get a ton of information, and quite likely a tour of the barn showing things they like about their construction, and things they would do over. You will also get some real horror stories about construction, because everyone loves to tell horror stories.

I have never had a barn built, but we remodelled our home completely– from foundation up– a few years back, and here are some things I can tell you:

1. When you go for bids, use the same bidding form for all your contractors. When you get bids, some contractors will exclude some things from their bids, others will not. In our case, some bids included painting interior and exterior, and others didn’t include these things. Made them hard to compare. Get a line-item bid form and insist that all your contractors use it.

2. Keep your seasons in mind, and plan for construction to start and finish during the best weather season. Weather complications can add weeks/months to the schedule at thousands of dollars to the cost if you have to re-do things because of weather or there is damage.

3. When you get your bids and choose your contractor, keep a reserve of at least 50% more than the bid cost for unplanned eventualities. No, I am not exaggerating. 50% reserve. Not a dime less.

4. When your contractor tells you how long it will take to build the project, double his estimate. Bear in mind that a contractor’s definition of "finished" and your definition of "finished" may not be the same.

5. Before you choose a contractor, visit a building site for each contractor you ask to bid the job. Take a good hard look at what you see, because that’s going to be your place when the work gets started.

6. Get references. Questions to ask the references: how well did the contractor communicate with you? Did he spring things on you as surprises? What were things you didn’t like about the way he communicated with you? Was he good at returning phone calls? How did he get along with his subcontractors? Were there any periods of time when it seemed to you that all progress on the project stopped or slowed to a crawl?

7. Talk to the material suppliers the contractors use and ask them how the contractor is at keeping up with payments to subs and material suppliers. (Most contractors are slow to pay their subs and suppliers, and sometimes the subs or suppliers get irked about this and start calling you and threatening to put a lien on your property in the hopes that you’ll call the contractor and get him to pay them immediately.)

8. You mentioned your fiance, so…gotta tell you that when I told my sister-in-law, who had just finished remodelling her house, that my husband (her brother) and I were going to remodel ours, she took me by the shoulders, looked me in the eye, and told me "If you have any firearms in the house, get rid of them, and you might want to talk to a divorce lawyer in advance, because the chances are good you’re going to want to kill him or divorce him, or he’s gonna want to kill you or divorce you, before this thing is over." She was not kidding. You would not believe how having a major construction job going on can stress a relationship. Yes, my sister-in-law is still happily married to her husband and I’m still happily married to mine. Yes, there were moments when I had doubts we’d survive the experience.

Good luck. And bear in mind that the better prepared you are before you start the construction job, the less agonizing it will be.

Karin C’s answe was awesome!!

I would like to add to her #7 in that make sure anytime you make a payment lets say a partial payment, make sure you get a "Partial Release of Lien" from the contractor and/or material supplier proving that proper payments have been made by the contractor. Same for the final payment, you should get a "Release of Lien" which will prove that the materials have been paid for.

Many times a Contractor will give you a release from them which does not prove that they have made payments to the material supplier or any Sub-Contractors.

Check with your State as to the legalities of the Lien Laws to protect yourself. Where I live many suppliers nowadays send out "Notice to Owners" which many think is a "bad thing". In reality it is putting you on notice that X contractor has purchased materials from them destined for your job. It also makes the owner liabile for the purchases should the contractor decide not to pay them. Getting releases from the SUPPLIER everytime you pay the CONTRACTOR will prove that they have paid their bill.

A "Partial Release" should be for the exact monies paid…releasing you from that partial sum. Many final releases have a dollar figure of $10.00 even though it might be greater..but it releases you from any further indebtness for that particular portion.

Also, make sure proper permits are pulled and inspections made and approved.

Also, make sure you have a plan as to how the monies will be dispersed based on the project moving forward. Don’t give too much up front..kinda keep dangling that carrot of payment in front of them so they will complete each phase in order to get paid. And watch out for the cry babies and whiners who might underbid to get the job and then continually ask for additional money. Sure the unexpected can happen and budgets change but too low a bid in comparison to other should raise a flag.

Also, you might want to check into taxs credits being given for energy efficiency and sustainable building!!

Good luck to you!!