HORSE BARN DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

A METAL HORSE BARN VS WOOD

First and foremost, you’ll need to decide what material to build with: metal or wood. With numerous benefits to the agricultural industry, durability to cost effectiveness, metal buildings are a superior building material option. We understand the importance of the safety of your horses. A metal horse barn can provide both a safe and efficient home for your horses.

 

LOCATION OF THE HORSE BARN

Do you plan on the horse barn being close to a road? It’s important to have a road that will connect to the barn for easy driving terrain when you have to load and offload your horses. You will also want to consider if your barn is close to utilities. You may or may not need electricity to connect to the horse barn but it’s worth keeping in mind if you need to rethink the location of the barn should you need electricity. Another important factor to consider is drainage. If you are bathing your horse inside the barn, you will need to consider what type of drainage is most suitable for your needs.

 

DOORS AND WINDOWS

You will need to plan for additional accessories like doors and windows for your metal horse barn. Having more than one door is important in case of an emergency. What type of door is best for a steel horse barn? Dutch doors are commonly used in horse barns. These doors are split, allowing the top section of the door to move independently of the bottom section of the door. Easy ventilation of the horse barn is also important; therefore, you should plan for plenty of vents and/or windows.

ADDITIONAL SQUARE FOOTAGE AND STORAGE

Consider accounting for a couple of extra feet to your aisles that will allow for more room for your horse to walk through. The few extra square feet will also allow for different stall sizes which may be important depending on the size of horse. Consider your horse breeds and quantity to plan for enough stalls. The average recommended size for a horse stall is 14’ x 14’ x 7’. Additional stalls and extra square footage, while perhaps not needed right now, may be relevant in the future should you add more horses or need more space for storage. Have you thought about storage? Think ahead about the space you will need in your barn for tack, feed and other storage.

 

WEIGHT AND HEIGHT

Something often overlooked is the weight of additional items added to the walls, like kickboards. Added weight to the building needs to be accounted upfront for proper estimating and engineering of your building. If your barn is going to have a riding arena attached, the inside height clearance becomes very critical.

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