# building your own stalls



## SweetOpal

We just got the shell of our barn finished and I need some barn stall ideas. My horses have a tendency to chew each others tails so im looking for something with solid sides atleast 48" tall. Please post pictures of the stalls you ahve done yourself....thank you.


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## Marty

I have pictures of mine on my website. Click on the Farm Tour page.


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## Bess Kelly

Chewing tails? You may want to consider why as the stalls alone are not the answer. Do you have enough vit/min in their diets? Are you sure they are doing it and not tail rubbing -- maybe deworming isn't working, so adjust time, amount, type dewormer?

Just suggesting that this isn't a habit I've had in a herd of 40+ over many years. Now, sometimes goats will do this to them -- even that wasn't a problem with my goats in pastures with them but, it does occassionally happen.


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## Sandee

Doesn't have to be worms. My stallion doesn't LIFT his tail enough and his hinney, and tail dock, is always dirty - therefore, if we don't clean him up regularly, he starts to rub.

Oh, forgot the question. Here's what we have from Woodstar.


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## SweetOpal

Thank you Bess, im well aware of the reasons the horse might eat thier tails. Not all of them do it and it is out of boredome. Im sure your 40+ horses are not stalled and worked daily. It sure would be nice if you could just come on these forums and ask for what you need and recieve it! Nevermind on the stalls and pics, and for those that have posted Thank you, im sure we will figure it out......


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## Taylor Richelle

Sandee said:


> Doesn't have to be worms. My stallion doesn't LIFT his tail enough and his hinney, and tail dock, is always dirty - therefore, if we don't clean him up regularly, he starts to rub.
> 
> Oh, forgot the question. Here's what we have from Woodstar.


Oh your stalls are so cute!



Good idea!


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## midnight star stables

Sandee said:


> Doesn't have to be worms. My stallion doesn't LIFT his tail enough and his hinney, and tail dock, is always dirty - therefore, if we don't clean him up regularly, he starts to rub.
> 
> Oh, forgot the question. Here's what we have from Woodstar.


I am in love with these stalls! I want my future barn to look just like yours!





Jennifer, I just made stalls a few weeks ago at our place. When I go home next week, I'll take a few pictures for you.


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## ohmt

I love when I ask questions because I get so many different points of view and knowledge from people who have been in the mini business for FAR longer than I have, like Bess Kelly. Some people may not have considered worms or vitamin/mineral deficiency, I believe Bess Kelly was just trying to help. If you hadn't considered it yet(NOT saying you aren't very knowledgeable...everyone forgets to dot the i's and cross the t's every now and then), her suggestions could have really helped both you and your horses, right? Have to think of it that way sometimes! If you are looking for exact answers and not up to hearing the different points of view without feeling degraded, I find that Google is a wonderful, wonderful little tool.

Good luck with your stalls. I love Sandee's stalls and think they'd work really well for you. No tail chewing, but the horses could still get to peak around


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## wildoak

Jeez people, I think Bess was just trying to be helpful...

Sandee, your stalls are wonderful.



We divided ours with Priefert panels - upside is that you can see down the length of the barn on the cameras but if I had it to do over again I would use a solid base of maybe 2' and put the panels above that to make the stall divisions a little taller.






Doesn't really show the dividers but they are longer versions of the stall gates. Stalls are approx 7 x 14, and dividers can be pretty easily removed to double size for foaling stalls, etc.

Jan


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## SweetOpal

wildoak said:


> Jeez people, I think Bess was just trying to be helpful...
> 
> Sandee, your stalls are wonderful.
> 
> 
> 
> We divided ours with Priefert panels - upside is that you can see down the length of the barn on the cameras but if I had it to do over again I would use a solid base of maybe 2' and put the panels above that to make the stall divisions a little taller.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Doesn't really show the dividers but they are longer versions of the stall gates. Stalls are approx 7 x 14, and dividers can be pretty easily removed to double size for foaling stalls, etc.
> 
> Jan


Wildoak, thank you, I had seen your stalls before and really like them, I could not remember how you had the walls and gates, this is what I am looking for, big help. The other stalls are cute, my horses range from 44"-48" so the little ones would not quiet do the job. I am sure Bess was trying to be hepful, but I assure you the horses I own receive the best of care and see the vet on regular basis..If I was worried they were missing something then I would have posted about that, but instead just asked for photos of home made stalls. Thank you for responding to the stalls. I have done several searches as well, but you don't find many homemade stalls that are on google..but again thanks for the tip! .no de worming problems or mineral deficiencies here, just plain boredom, not to mention they are SHETLANDS...OMG I know it not safe to use that word here, but they are moderns and tend to run a little high strung, that would be the answer for 2 tail chewers out of the bunch....


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## LittleRibbie

Sandee your stalls are just like mine...from Woodstar except that I had the silver and hardware powder coated Green instead. And we did have the dividers done as 13 ft. which makes the stalls 8x13. I was so happy with them. My only complaint and I never thought of it untill I saw the others, is that they can only look out the front and not hang their heads out. I also wish I had ordered more...at the time I only had 1 mini and thought 4 stalls would be enough...1 = horse, 1 = future horse, 1 = hay, 1 = cart and misc.......Now 7 horses later....lets just say...the next stalls dont look as pretty...I need another barn!!

Jan, I LOVE LOVE LOVE your barn...love the idea of the priefert panel door/dividers....its nice to be able to just walk by and see the "total horse". Do you have sort of a kick board on the bottom of your door or do you just sweep the shavings back into the stall.

SweetOpal isnt it fun looking at everyones barns...its so much fun getting new ideas. Good luck with your new stalls and I hope you have someone helping you...please post a few pictures when your done...P.S. did you check out MaryLous barn yet?? that is truly a "drool over barn" for me!!


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## MountainMeadows

I like having solid walls - even the fronts - pretty much all the way to the floor. My horses tend to be very demanding and will paw like crazy when meals are coming their way - they do a pretty good job of banging on the door so I would be worried about a hoof getting caught. My front doors are all about 31" tall so they can all hang their heads over the top and the walls are "slide in" walls that I can build up to as tall as I need them if one of the "neighbors" gets cranky. I do freely admit that during weaning the foals can jump out the front doors if they get really worked up - doesn't happen often, but it does happen -- having taller fronts with a cut-out would prevent it, but that would mean more work for my hubby and that is probably not going to happen (I need to invoke him on other projects, so better not press his good nature too far!)


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## rubyviewminis

Okay, when I pm'd you I only meant to give you a few tips that HORSE friends of mine who have a lot of experience in LARGE HORSES not miniatures gave to me as a friendly gesture. I guess some people just refuse to believe there is something to be learned from all corners of the world and from all kinds of people. I have the miniatures, and this tip applied to ALL breeds of horses large or small. I myself am humble, and believe there are many other people in the world with more experience and knowledge than me, I love to learn something new everyday. I will mind my own business from now on!


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## SweetOpal

rubyviewminis said:


> Okay, when I pm'd you I only meant to give you a few tips that HORSE friends of mine who have a lot of experience in LARGE HORSES not miniatures gave to me as a friendly gesture. I guess some people just refuse to believe there is something to be learned from all corners of the world and from all kinds of people. I have the miniatures, and this tip applied to ALL breeds of horses large or small. I myself am humble, and believe there are many other people in the world with more experience and knowledge than me, I love to learn something new everyday. I will mind my own business from now on!



Im still unclear as to where I asked for anything other than pictures of stalls...I appreciate the people who have posted pictures it is very helpful. But please don't PM me with your ideas of why my horse chewed 2 tails....I am not concerned with why she does it, just want solid wall barn ideas. The mare is spoiled rotten and plain and simple didn't like her neighbor, please get past that!


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## pinkapache

Absolutely loving the stalls, particularly the ones you can see all the way down, thanks for sharing, and to op for starting this post. Just have to add tho, if they are bored sweet opal, they are not happy, isnt there anywhere you can let them out to graze with each other and be horses?


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## rubyviewminis

Just to clarify, "Straight Listerine on manes and tails works wonders!" Because it stopped my foal from tail chewing, is NOT telling you why I think your horses are chewing hair. I was excited that it worked so well so that I would not see my beautiful horses tails disappear.

To my friends, thank you. You provide an invaluable service to all of us. Your very kind.


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## Miniv

wildoak said:


> Jeez people, I think Bess was just trying to be helpful...
> 
> Sandee, your stalls are wonderful.
> 
> 
> 
> We divided ours with Priefert panels - upside is that you can see down the length of the barn on the cameras but if I had it to do over again I would use a solid base of maybe 2' and put the panels above that to make the stall divisions a little taller.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Doesn't really show the dividers but they are longer versions of the stall gates. Stalls are approx 7 x 14, and dividers can be pretty easily removed to double size for foaling stalls, etc.
> 
> Jan


Great idea and design! The two barns we've had were with big horses in mind, so they wouldn't be too helpful.


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## dannigirl

Don't have photos of my stalls, but we used 1 by 12 lumber. We also didn't want them to be able to reach each other, but did leave a small--approx 1/2 inch space between some boards so air could circulate a bit and the horses could see their buddy or at least hear them snort through the walls. We wean with a buddy in a stall together and once the weaning process is complete, we move one to the stall next door. I also have a couple of older ones that like to know they are not the only ones in the barn so I make sure they have a buddy next door. Mine cannot see over the door because I didn't want them to be able to jump out if I put a larger one in. They have the same spaces in the wood in the door also, so can see a bit into the aisle.


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## rabbitsfizz

OK, sorry to butt in here, but, just to pick hairs, if you did not wish the fact that your horses were rubbing their tails to be taken into consideration it might have been best not to put that info in, in the first place?

Basically, if you only want comments on a specific thing it is best just to put that specific thing or to state that you know what is causing it and you are taking this course of action so do not need comments on it, thank you!

I know it sounds a bit crazy but I do believe you are being too sensitive, that there are many forms of worm infestation and your worming programme may well have missed something, so a very mild suggestion that this could be a cause of your base problem (after all stalling them will not prevent them from rubbing) _could_ have saved you a lot of time and bother.

This is the way this forum works, nothing disparaging is meant by the comment, it is just someone trying to be helpful.

I see lots of really good ideas here, for stalls, but personally, I like a situation that allows animals their privacy as well as access to companionship.


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## dannigirl

rabbitsfizz said:


> OK, sorry to butt in here, but, just to pick hairs, if you did not wish the fact that your horses were rubbing their tails to be taken into consideration it might have been best not to put that info in, in the first place?
> 
> Basically, if you only want comments on a specific thing it is best just to put that specific thing or to state that you know what is causing it and you are taking this course of action so do not need comments on it, thank you!
> 
> I know it sounds a bit crazy but I do believe you are being too sensitive, that there are many forms of worm infestation and your worming programme may well have missed something, so a very mild suggestion that this could be a cause of your base problem (after all stalling them will not prevent them from rubbing) _could_ have saved you a lot of time and bother.
> 
> This is the way this forum works, nothing disparaging is meant by the comment, it is just someone trying to be helpful.
> 
> I see lots of really good ideas here, for stalls, but personally, I like a situation that allows animals their privacy as well as access to companionship.



She never did say anything about tail rubbing. She mentioned the tail chewing because of needing stalls that her horses could not get to each other with. I, too, feel it is rude to take her simple request and take it into a whole different direction and even make it sound like she is not doing what she needs to do for her horses.


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## Bess Kelly

Sweet Opal, I apologize if my reply offended you as I never meant that your horses were anything less than extremely cared for and loved. Simply, that stalls alone would not correct this situation you are experiencing. Nor did I mean to infer that you were not knowledgeable -- you just didn't say you knew it was boredom.

There are many on this forum who are NOT aware of so very many issues with minis that most of us will offer insight/suggestions into such unusual happenings -- and tail chewing is not the norm, as you know. It is a health and cosmetic concern.

You are correct, my herd is primarily allowed access to their barns at will, although a few are individually stalled nightly. But, there was a time when I stalled over 50 head each and every night!

I hope that you will reconsider the reply as just what it was, alternative insight, and not a bashing of any kind. To those who read it as such and replied to that, thank you. To those who read and didn't know the things offered for thought, I hope it enlightened you in some positive way. And Rabbitfizz had a wonderful post, solved it all nicely.

Good luck with your new barn....and new tails.


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## Bess Kelly

Bess Kelly said:


> Sweet Opal, I apologize if my reply offended you as I never meant that your horses were anything less than extremely cared for and loved. Simply, that stalls alone would not correct this situation you are experiencing. Nor did I mean to infer that you were not knowledgeable -- you just didn't say you knew it was boredom.
> 
> There are many on this forum who are NOT aware of so very many issues with minis that most of us will offer insight/suggestions into such unusual happenings -- and tail chewing is not the norm, as you know. It is a health and cosmetic concern.
> 
> You are correct, my herd is primarily allowed access to their barns at will, although a few are individually stalled nightly. But, there was a time when I stalled over 50 head each and every night!
> 
> I hope that you will reconsider the reply as just what it was, alternative insight, and not a bashing of any kind. To those who read it as such and replied to that, thank you. To those who read and didn't know the things offered for thought, I hope it enlightened you in some positive way. And Rabbitfizz had a wonderful post, solved it all nicely.
> 
> Again, I apologize if you were offended, it was not the intent.
> 
> Good luck with your new barn....and new tails.


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## Bess Kelly

ooops


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## SweetOpal

rabbitsfizz said:


> OK, sorry to butt in here, but, just to pick hairs, if you did not wish the fact that your horses were rubbing their tails to be taken into consideration it might have been best not to put that info in, in the first place?
> 
> Basically, if you only want comments on a specific thing it is best just to put that specific thing or to state that you know what is causing it and you are taking this course of action so do not need comments on it, thank you!
> 
> I know it sounds a bit crazy but I do believe you are being too sensitive, that there are many forms of worm infestation and your worming programme may well have missed something, so a very mild suggestion that this could be a cause of your base problem (after all stalling them will not prevent them from rubbing) _could_ have saved you a lot of time and bother.
> 
> This is the way this forum works, nothing disparaging is meant by the comment, it is just someone trying to be helpful.
> 
> I see lots of really good ideas here, for stalls, but personally, I like a situation that allows animals their privacy as well as access to companionship.


read the initial post, my horse doesn't rub its tail!!!!!!


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## ~Lisa~

rabbitsfizz said:


> OK, sorry to butt in here, but, just to pick hairs, if you did not wish the fact that your horses were rubbing their tails to be taken into consideration it might have been best not to put that info in, in the first place?


Seriously folks this is getting quite ridiculous- I think the OP was pretty clear here she wanted to see stalls pictures of stalls.. nothing more nothing less. She simply stated they needed to be closed sides or solid walls so her horses did not chew tails.

No where did I see an invitation or request to tell her- her feed program is not correct - her deworming is not correct- or in fact even ask one question about the tail chewing and how it related to the care of her horses

She more then once has said right here on this thread and obviously in PM's I do not want any info on anything but pictures of stalls and yet somehow a few of you are trying to make her the bad guy. I am not sure how much more clear or how many more times the OP needs to state ALL SHE WANTS IS PICTURES.

to say if you do not want answers to questions you did not ask - or opinions you did not ask for then use google not the forum is well a bit off putting

To think Rabbitfizz solved the problem makes no sense. Actually only 3 people tried to help the OP with what she asked for by showing stall pictures. Thank you for that as I love to see other peoples stalls and draw ideas from them

and remember that is all that was requested. NO more no less.

Why do we need to create an enviroment where people are afraid to ask questions?

And especially when their questions were pretty clear in the first place.

I hope we can get back to seeing more pictures of stalls and barns


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## rabbitsfizz

I'm sorry but I do not see an environment being created where people are afraid to ask questions, not at all. I do see people blowing this up out of all proportion, though.....

I have NO idea why!

That's me done with this thread, I tried, but there you go..


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## ~Lisa~

I get that you do not see that enviorment...

But in this one post when the OP simply stated once again she did not want any info on the tail chewing thanks but that was not what she was after..

she was told well then dont come here google it

that she should have posted instead something along the lines of pics barn stalls solid walls please

and been told that her horses are not de-wormed properly all due to a request over pictures..

*I can see how Bess meant no harm for sure*-- and I can see after Bess's post she once again asked please only pictures and I can see some just not being ok with the request.

Just saying perhaps we all (myself included) need to really think what question(s) were asked before we make assumptions that are opinions on everything and anything else related to horse care were what was asked for


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## Marty

I love all you guys so much, so for all of you on this thread I am serving you all a nice hot cup of apple cider on this very pretty autumn day. We just got it at the orchard over the weekend and its wonderful!

Now lets all join hands and sit on the porch where the air is brisk and crisp and sing Cum-bay-ah.

Life is good, the scenery is awesome, you guys are so sweet, lets celebrate this day!


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## Relic

Oh wow hot apple cider yummy..but man who the heck wants to have to sing Cum-bay-ah


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## little lady

Marty said:


> I love all you guys so much, so for all of you on this thread I am serving you all a nice hot cup of apple cider on this very pretty autumn day. We just got it at the orchard over the weekend and its wonderful!
> 
> Now lets all join hands and sit on the porch where the air is brisk and crisp and sing Cum-bay-ah.
> 
> Life is good, the scenery is awesome, you guys are so sweet, lets celebrate this day!



Marty-LOVE IT!!

Secondly-I would like to thank the people who did post pics of their stalls!!! Great looking stalls. I have been scratching my head and sitting in the barn trying ti figure out exactly what/how to what to do with the dividers between my stalls and now it has been answered!


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## ChromeLuvr

I love seeing the mini stalls! Thanks for the photos. More please!!


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## Cavallini Farms

What great stalls!


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## LittleRibbie

Stall Pictures? HECK NO......Now I want to see a picture of Marty sitting in her rocker on the front porch sipping hot ....and she'll be singing!!


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## TopSpout

Do you have lights set up yet SweetOpal? I'm in the same boat you are, starting out with a shed and building a couple stalls inside. I would love to see more pictures as well.

Also, if anyone has ideas regarding lighting and outlet placement I would love to hear about them!


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## ruffian

Sorry I don't have photos, but I used the mini panels. We put down 2 x 8 sheets of plywood lying lengthwise in a frame of 2 x 4's. Then put the panels on top between 4 x 4's. I used pipe clamps to hold the panels in place. The horses can see each other, but can't reach through the narrow openings at the bottom of the panels.

For the fronts I used the gates at ground level. So I can see the whole stall at a glance. If you are still interested I can get some photos.

I have outlets at 6' at the back of every other stall. Eventually I will have a light over each stall wired individually so I can turn on each stall's light.


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## RhineStone

I debated if I was going to post these photos, because I was a little annoyed by the OP's reaction to sage advice (sometimes one thing may _seem_ like it will solve a problem, when it is really another whole issue altogether, like for example on another forum there is a discussion about adding a check to keep a driving horse from eating when really what needs to be done is to go back and retrain the horse



...but I digress), here are photos of our stalls that my husband and I built in 2000 and subsequent years (we added as we needed to). We patterned them after the Woodstar stalls but changed a few of the details. We used 2"x6" tongue and groove "decking" which makes for great strength.






They are 5'x10', but the center dividers can be removed to make one 10'x10' which can be used for foaling or a big horse. The center divider can be made as tall as needed, so that the horses can either see each other or not at all, just by adding or removing boards. The tongue and groove make it pretty difficult for a horse to move a board by themselves, as the boards "lock" together.






Our horses rarely spend a lot of time in the stalls, but we keep them in occasionally, therefore, we didn't see the need for really big mini stalls. However, if we do keep one in and need a bigger stall, we put them in one of the big horse's stalls that has a pipe gate in the doorway so that the mini can get airflow and see out.

As far as lighting goes, we decided to place the fixtures on the sides of the aisle vs. down the middle. The lighting is good in both the stalls and the aisle then. If lights are in the middle of a space (i.e. stall or barn aisle), they will just light up the back (top) of a horse which is not usually where you need it. We have a 40'x32' barn and use 8 Compact Fluorescent lamps. Eventually, I would like more light in my shower stall, as the solid wall from the adjacent tack room blocks a lot of light. For lighting in the arena, we have nine 400w Metal Halide fixtures in there. It is like daylight!



We had halogen, but we were replacing bulbs left and right and at 14' in the air, that got tiring.

We also have one outlet on each of the "structural" posts, which gives each stall access to an outlet. This is especially important in the winter if we have to use heated buckets. We tried to use GFCI outlets in the barn, but some bugs crawled in them and screwed them up, so we had to replace them. Maybe there is some sort of cover other than the one that comes with it that we should have used.

We also have one tie ring in each of the stalls for water buckets, and tie rings between the stalls in the aisle for grooming and harnessing (I REALLY like this



). We also have one set of cross ties in the aisle and one in the shower stall.

If I were to change anything, I would have liked to have the water pump closer to the shower stall, but we put it in as far as the water guy could dig. We should have had that installed before the barn was done. (Actually, a hot water heater installed would have been great, but we have plans to run a hose from the house with a hot/cold spigot outside.) I would also LOVE to have Nelson waterers put in each stall or between each stall, but that again would have had to have pipes run before the walls were up. We have one outside that we LOVE! Eventually some day we want to rubber mat the entire barn, to keep the dust down without the hardness of concrete. And we still need to line the mini stalls with wood. The horses have put little holes in the wainscot metal, so we are going to replace that entire section under their shed (attached to the barn) with tongue and groove wood. The big horse stalls are already lined and the T&G works great!

There are other photos of the rest of our barn, including lighting, on this page: http://rhinestone-ri...es.com/Facility


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