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Horse Barns

Horse barns are complicated entities with tons of things to know about them, such as safety recommendations, types of barns, how to build one, how to maintain one, how to add amenities, purchasing and maintaining farm equipment, how to reduce pests and critters and thus reduce the chance for disease, seasonal considerations and clean-up and maintenance, conservation of resources, avoiding hazards, restoring an older barn, and much more. Equine facilities house precious, and often expensive, inhabitants. The best horse barns are safe, functional, stylish, clean, airy, and have healthy occupants. Regardless of how perfect a barn can seem, there is always room for improvement in some area. Learn more about where you can improve with Horse Illustrated's articles, and take tours of various equine facilities.

Today, financing and building a horse barn does not have to be a mere pipe dream for many horse property owners. Barn manufacturers abound and offer everything from turnkey projects to construction of basic buildings that are finished by...

Wash Rack

It can also be used as an area to groom horses out of the aisle or to hose injured legs and wounds. Plan for a minimum space of 8 by 12 feet with no windows or doors, a roughened-cement...

Delivery of Materials

Several flatbed trucks turning onto your property will give you the first view of your new barn. Your main responsibility is to make sure that all delivery trucks and construction crews have total access to the site, not only...

Site Work

You, your sales representative and an excavator—either one you’ve selected or one supplied by your builder—meet on location to discuss the details of site preparation. You’ll mark out the boundaries of the barn; then work can begin on creating...

Aisles and Walkways

The best floor surface for the barn aisle is slightly roughened concrete (a.k.a., cement) because it aids hoof traction. Smooth concrete is more suitable for tack, laundry and toilet areas because it is easier to sweep. Concrete is extremely...

Foundation

A secure, level foundation is one of the most crucial elements of your barn because it affects the stability of the entire structure. Wind, rain, ice, snow and seismic forces all put significant stress on buildings, so the foundation...
The biggest dilemma you’ll face is choosing among the vast array of options and combinations available; again, safety and ventilation should be the most important factors.A general rule of thumb for how big your stalls should be is no...

Roofing

Obviously, choosing a fireproof and water shedding roof to eliminate structural damage is more important than aesthetics, but today you have many choices for roofing materials that combine beauty, safety and function, including: steel, asphalt shingle, tile and slate....

Plumbing

If the water pump for your barn has ever shut down or frozen up, you are familiar with that panicky feeling you get when contemplating hand-carrying enough daily water for even one horse. Clearly, water is the lifeline of...

Framing

Most horse barns today are post-frame buildings, so the “side walls” are 6-by-6 inch columns spaced from 8 to 12 feet apart depending upon the design of your building. Horizontal boards (“girts”), typically 2-by-6s, are nailed to the outside...
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