Building Horse Barns

Tips on Barn Styles, Barn Layouts and Practical Horse Barn Features

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The style of your barn is an expression of your personality and horse-keeping philosophy. It is defined primarily by the shape of the

building and by the materials you choose for the visible parts, such as siding and roofing. City ordi-nances or homeowner covenants might dictate materials and style, making your choices considerably quicker. Climate will influence function and shape.

Unfortunately, like other prod-ucts of human design, some barns look great but do not work. Don’t sacrifice your horses’ comfort, health and safety for making a fashion statement. Take the axi-om “form follows function” (by American architect Louis Henri Sullivan) to heart, and consider the purpose of the barn as the starting point in your design.

Floor Plan The floor plan of a barn affects style by determining the overall shape of the build-ing. Most barns are rectangular and single story, but L- or U-shaped layouts, some with a second floor, are not uncommon and may suit your purpose better.

Common Barn LayoutsRun-In Shed—Though not a barn per se, the ubiquitous run-in shed, or loafing shed, is the simplest shelter to build, having three sides and either a single-slope roof (shed

Adapted from Horse Housing: How to Plan, Build and Remodel Barns and Sheds (Trafalgar Square Books) by Richard Klimesh and Cherry Hill

Planning a new stable or barn?

Here are some important points to consider regarding

design, materials and features.

roof) or an offset gable roof. The open side allows a horse to enter and leave the shed at will. It is often one room for a single horse, but it can be made as long as desired and divided into many com-partments to separate horses.

Shed Row—Put a front wall on a run-in shed and you have a shed row barn with stalls open on one side. A gable roof of-ten replaces a shed roof in order to gain

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Though your barn is an expression of your personality, city ordinances or homeowner cov-enants might dictate materials and style.

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Tips for Better Barn FunctionAdapted from an article by Sally Silverman

Whether you’re building or redoing a small private setup or a large

professional training operation, the fol-lowing tips will help you create a better dynamic.Building Placement Situating a barn well affects working conditions in that building. The experts advise avoiding low-lying areas or those at the bottom of a hill, for example, be-cause runoff from rain and snow will be a problem. Build downwind of any resi-dential buildings to minimize the flies and odors. Orient the barn so it takes ad-vantage of winter sun, avoids the hottest summer sun and catches summer winds for ventilation. The location of roads should also be considered, and give ex-tra thought to those parts of the barn in which you spend most of your time.Convenience and Storage Well-planned storage can save time and supplies while preventing clutter, which is a fire hazard. If you must keep feed, hay and bedding in the barn, locating them in the middle, especially in a large barn, means less travel distance. By creating a storage area that opens both to the outside of the barn for stocking and to the inside for removing, there will be a constant rotation of hay. While it’s quite convenient to store hay in a loft and drop it into the aisle, it is not only a fire hazard but adds to the barn’s dust and allergen levels. And if machinery is kept contiguous to the barn, it should be separated by a fire-rated wall.Ventilation Experts agree that ventilation is probably the single most im-portant consideration, since horses in a barn can’t respond to their natural instincts to get warm, cool off or seek fresh air. Wind moves most of the air in a stable, so every barn needs a minimum of two sets of openings throughout the horse-occu-pied area to allow air to enter and exit. For example, there can be openings or vents along the eaves (where the walls meet the roof) and along the ridgeline (highest part of the roof). During cold weather, the warmer, stale air inside rises and es-capes through the upper openings. Other ideas: Dutch doors or windows on the outside wall or fans in the cupola(s) on the ridgeline of the building.Stalls The most common stall is 12 feet square; super-sizing that

space makes for increased maintenance, a need for more bedding and a bigger area to clean. Partitions between stalls should be at least 8 feet high to prevent a horse from getting a hoof over them, but they don’t necessarily have to be solid from top to bottom. Spaces of an inch or so between wooden boards will enhance ventilation, as will a barred or mesh portion on the top. This configu-ration also has the benefit of allowing horses, which are herd animals, to see their companions—and provides easy observation of the horses by their hu-mans. For the same reason, doors that are open on top or an open door with a stall guard or safety gate will increase visibility, light and ventilation. Bars, however, must not be more than 2 to 3 inches apart, and openings in heavy

gauge wire mesh should not be more than 2 inches across to prevent a hoof from getting caught in the mesh.

Doors should be wide enough for a wheelbarrow to pass in and out (at least 4 feet), and sliding doors are preferable to swinging doors for both safety and space reasons. Also con-sider rounding all edges in the stall, installing a casting rail, providing easy access to feed buckets from outside the stall, and installing frostproofed automatic waterers with hydrants between every couple of stalls.

In the feed room, metal-lined bins will keep feed safe from rodents, and if you must have a wash stall, include a drain with a removable strainer and position the hose overhead, fas-tened with an apparatus specifically designed for that purpose. Also think about a recessed area for a muck bucket and a way out of the back in case a horse gets difficult. The same goes for a grooming stall; recessed areas keep necessary tools handy while keeping the environment safe.Waste Management When cleaning stalls, the person pushing a wheelbarrow full of manure will appreciate a straight shot to the manure pile. In larger facilities, aisles should be large enough for a pickup truck or tractor to pass through when delivering grain or hay or clearing manure. Some experts advocate a short-term pile near the barn and, if you don’t have manure removed, a lon-ger-term pile farther away. Taking advantage of elevation with a ramp from which manure can be dumped makes it easier,

Light and ventilation are important con-siderations in any equine building.

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an overhang for more protection from sun and rain. The shed row is popular in warm climates where it’s not critical to have inside aisles in which to work. It is not practical for areas with snow, where more protection is needed.

Back-to-Back or Racetrack—Attach two shed row barns back to back for a racetrack barn. Since the stalls share a common back wall, a racetrack barn is an economical way to house a large number of horses. Like the shed row, it is not practical for snowy areas.

Center Aisle—Two facing rows of stalls with an aisle between is the most common enclosed barn configuration. It offers complete protection from weather so horses can be fed, groomed and tacked without having to leave the barn.

Trainer—This is like two center-aisle barns side by side and covered by a gable roof. There is a double row of stalls down the center of the barn (like a racetrack barn), an aisle on each side, and then another row of stalls along each outer wall. Often an indoor arena is attached to the end of the trainer barn.

Breezeway—Any barn with a large door at each end of the aisle, which can be opened to allow a breeze to

blow through the barn.Raised Center Aisle (RCA)—This term

refers to the roof style, monitor, rather than the floor plan. It is a center aisle barn that has a raised roof over the aisle.

Clerestories, short walls with win-dows between the roof levels, let light into the center aisle. In hot climates, the clerestories are left open for ventilation.

Mare Motel—A series of pens, usu-ally of steel pipe panels, covered by a roof. Used in hot climates to maximize airflow and provide shade.

Roof Shape and Overhang Roof shape determines the appearance of a barn, the volume of air inside the barn and how well the roof sheds rain and snow.

Common Roof Shapes Shed Roof—Also called a pitched flat roof. The shed roof is all one plane and is often used for three-sided shel-ters or small stables. It is also com-monly attached to the eaves of an existing gable roof or to the wall of a barn.

A breezeway or center-aisle barn with equine-friendly footing is the most common configuration when it comes to enclosed barns.

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and you can drop it directly into a spreader.Flooring No stall flooring is perfect, but you want a surface that gives, is non-skid and durable, does not retain odor and is easy to clean. Mats in the stall offer the easiest cleanup op-tion and can cut down on bedding require-ments. Under the mats, some like popcorn asphalt, which has some texture for safety and drains well, but which collect hays and bedding if used on the aisles. Stone dust alone will hold urine, and bare concrete floors without rubber mats are too slippery. For these reasons, many barn builders ad-vocate interlocking rubber brick because it is soft, recycled, durable, drains well and is attractive.Lighting and Hardware Inside the barn, you want good lighting for ease of work and general good cheer. If the climate allows, skylights, transparent panels or openings on the upper sides of the walls can provide a lot of natural light. A good plan is to put lights on either side of the stall at least 10 feet high with a switch and an outlet at each stall.

When selecting hardware, go for latches that you can open or fasten with one hand while leading a horse or carrying a bucket with the other. They should also be durable enough to withstand the elements, horses leaning on them and years of use.Safety Fire is the greatest catastrophic threat to a barn. A few simple precautions can protect your barn and horses: Install a lightening rod; install enough outlets to avoid over-loading; modernize your circuit breakers; don’t store flammables (including hay and bedding) in the barn; protect wires with rodent-proof conduit metal or hard plastic; and use recesses to accommodate items such as fire extinguishers.

With function, efficiency and safety in mind, you can build a new barn or renovate an existing one to provide a better environ-ment for your horse.

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Gable and Offset Gable—Also called saltbox. The gable roof is a roof with two planes. If one side is longer than the other, it is an offset gable. It is per-haps the most popular of all roof styles. It often extends past the barn walls to provide additional shelter for horses or equipment.

Monitor—Also called raised center aisle or RCA. Lets in light to center aisle, and the added height increases airflow. The monitor is essentially two shed roofs with a gable in the middle. This is good for long rows of stalls. The area under

the upper gable roof can be windows, vents or clear panels.

Gambrel—A double-pitched roof popular on two-story barns having a sec-ond floor because of the increased head-room and useable floor space it allows. Gambrel trusses eliminate the need for interior post and beam supports, which allows you to create any floor plan you wish.

Rafters and Trusses Rafters extend from the top of the walls to join in pairs at a ridge board along

the top of the roof. They exert a down-ward and outward force on the walls. To contain this force and prevent the walls from spreading, a ceiling joist or collar tie connects two opposing rafters to make a joist in place. In wide barns, rafters often require support from posts and beams on the inside of the building, which can limit floor plan flexibility.

Trusses are engineered to transfer lateral forces directly downward onto perimeter walls with no outward pres-sure. This clear span (free span) design eliminates the need for support posts and beams within the structure itself, and allows you to place non-load bear-ing interior walls anywhere you like.

LoftTwo-story barns with hayloft storage were popular when horses were used to power agriculture and hay was put up loose. They are still used for dairy and other livestock operations. It can be tempting to consider adding a loft when considering all that wasted space that could be used for storing hay, bedding, equipment and general overflow. But consider this option carefully.

In the first place, potential fire hazard alone should be enough to clear the loft idea from your head. Many experts agree that the bulk of hay should be stored in a building separate from the stable.

Second, that huge volume of space overhead is not wasted. Quite the con-trary, it is serving to keep your horse healthy. A large volume of air helps dis-sipate stale, humid air that should be allowed to rise and escape through roof vents to be replaced by fresh air drawn in through lower openings. A loft drasti-cally reduces air volume and traps dank air in stalls and aisles, necessitating the use of electric fans for ventilation. Hay stored overhead adds dust, mold and fungal spores, and other pollutants to the air, especially when hay is thrown down for feeding. Make your barn two stories high; then leave out the second floor.A stable with a raised center aisle boasts increased light and airflow.

The shed row-style barn is popular in warmer climates.

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Live-In A stable/apartment combination can of-fer permanent living quarters for a stable owner, worker or broodmare manager, a place for a barn sitter to stay while you’re away or a retreat for visitors want-ing a horsey experience. Living in close proximity to your horses enables you to keep close watch on them to nip trouble in the bud.

Framing Type Framing is the skeleton of the barn to which the inside and outside coverings are attached. The type of framing you choose can affect the shape and appear-ance of the finished barn.

Pole Barn (Post Frame) Pole framing utilizes posts and beams to minimize the number of framing ele-ments in walls. It is economical, strong and relatively simple to build, making it the most popular framing method for

custom barns. A pole barn frame con-sists of 6- to 8-inch round or rectangular pressure-treated wood posts set 3 to 6 feet below the ground. Poles are typically set at 8- to 12-foot intervals and rest on a pad of concrete at the bottom of each hole. Poles and trusses or rafters are gen-erally visible inside the barn. Pole barns are easy to build in part because they require no trench work for a foundation,

only holes; and these can be dug using a tractor auger or a hand posthole digger.

Timber Frame (Post and Beam) Timber framing is another type of post and beam construction, but rather than plugging into the ground like a pole barn, a timber frame barn sits on a con-crete foundation. A properly constructed

Storing hay and straw in a separate building minimizes the risk of fire.

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The Joy of Keeping HorsesThe Joy of Keeping Horses is a celebration of how to best keep happy and healthy horses at home. With an emphasis on the differences between owning a horse at a boarding stable and keeping that same horse at your own small farm, this beautiful, clear guide is written specifically for horse lovers who are considering taking the plunge into farm ownership. $14.95, ZF769

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timber frame is incred-ibly sturdy—some have lasted for hundreds of years. It is typically comprised of 8- and 10-inch square timbers for main members and smaller timbers for roof purlins and floor joists. Major joints are traditionally dovetails and mortise and tenon, often hand cut and secured with wooden pins, like fine furniture construction on a larger scale. Craftsmen using traditional timber frame methods don’t use nails or other metal fasteners unless they are required by local codes. Timber frame barns are some-times built in or near the builder’s shop and shipped to the site to be erected by the builder, a local contractor or the owner. Timber-frame kits that use metal connec-tors to secure joints are available.

Wood Frame and Masonry Wood frame construc-tion is the most popular style for houses but is not widely used for barns. It is generally not as strong as either pole or timber framing and requires more material to build.

Masonry barns are especially popular in desert climates because the thermal mass of the walls tends to keep the inside of the building cool during the day and

Building Flexibility into Your BarnAdapted from an article by Wendy Lind

When it comes to designing, building and improving horse facilities, a little

added flexibility helps prevent headaches and protects your investment in the long run.Designing Flexible Barns You can build a barn that will allow for future expandability or even a different use that doesn’t involve horses.

The most adaptable barn employs a clear-span structural system with no inter-nal columns. Stall partitions can be added or deleted as needed. Should you sell the property later, that building will appeal to a larger number of people, as the stalls can be removed and the building can be used for anything from vintage car storage to a workshop.

Be sure to lay out the facility in a way that will allow for expandability. If building a “combination facility” of a barn and in-door arena, be careful to lay out the facility in a way that best addresses site and weather conditions, as well as allowing for future flexibility.Stall Partitions Many types of prefabricated stalls are on the market. Safety is paramount, especially since the horses will be in such close proximity. A stall partition with a solid lower half is con-sidered safer. It is possible to use panels to set up barn stall partitions. However, if hors-es start to squabble, they are much more likely to injure themselves kicking through a panel or rearing over it.

When choosing stall partitions, look at the welds, construction, durability and over-all quality of the system. It is also important to evaluate how the partitions connect to each other, and if they allow for flexibility in connecting to a permanent barn wall or freestanding column. Ideally, you should be able to convert two stalls into one by removing the center partition should the need arise to create an oversized foaling or lay-up stall.Temporary Stalls and Barn Structures If you are not expecting to need permanent structures, or you need stalls that can be

easily taken down and reassembled, sev-eral stall and barn systems fit that purpose. Some are made of high tensile tube and puck board, the same high-density plastic used in hockey rinks.

The stalls anchor to the ground at regular intervals via a welded loop that can be at-tached to an anchor connector appropriate for existing site conditions. Stalls such as these are not appropriate if you are look-ing for a long-term, totally enclosable barn structure. However, if you are in a warm, temperate climate, or only need them for certain situations, they might be just the ticket due to their modularity and cost effectiveness.

Regardless of what type of barn you build, be sure the structure is compliant and appropriate to the codes in your area, which are influenced by local site-specific elements such as wind, fire, snow, earthquake and existing soil conditions. It is also advisable to check with design covenants if you live in a development, as there may be certain material or aesthetic restraints.

In the end, flexibility in an equestrian facility often comes down to doing your research to find the best product for the job, while still thinking of how you or an-other owner might use the operation in the future. It also is wise to get referrals from other horse owners who have been using the products you are contemplating, with safety a priority.

Prefabricated stall components can come in handy when flexibility is your goal.

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radiates heat at night. A masonry barn typically consists of concrete block or wood-framed walls faced with brick or stucco. The advantages of concrete block walls are that little or no inside finish treatment is required, and they are generally impervious to damage from chewing or kicking horses.

Like timber framing, wood frame and masonry buildings require footings and foundation walls to transfer the load of the structure to solid soil and to elevate the walls from the ground. Concrete footings are formed and poured in a trench where the outer walls of the building will be. The trench must be dug to below the frost line or accord-ing to local building codes. Foundation walls, either poured concrete or concrete block, set on the footings and extend approximately 16 inches above grade. The wood framing or masonry portion of the barn sits on the foundation walls.

Modular Modular barns generally consist of a steel framework with steel-framed

panels fitted in between. The panels are typically comprised of a plywood or OSB (oriented strand board) core with sheet steel laminated to the inside sur-face and steel, wood or other siding ma-terial laminated to the outside surface. An advantage of this framing is that damaged panels can be replaced rela-tively easily. Some modular barns have a “warehouse” appearance, but many manufacturers offer a variety of styles, siding and roofing materials. If you don’t see a plan you like, most manu-facturers will modify an existing plan to suit your needs. Modular barns gener-ally go up quicker and with less expense than custom barns. They are especially fire resistant because of the steel fram-ing and steel-skinned wall panels.

Used with permission from Trafalgar Square Books, 388 Howe Hill Road, North Pomfret, VT. To order Horse Housing: How to Plan, Build and Remodel Barns and Sheds, visit HorseBooksEtc.com or call 1-800-952-5813.

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Custom-designed modular barns (not to be confused with kit barns) are a unique and attractive option.

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CreditsBuilding Horse Barns:

Tips on Barn Styles, Barn Layouts and Practical Horse Barn Features

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