Horse Shelter Ideas

It is important to provide your horse with quality shelter, no matter what breed of horse you own or what type of riding you do. A good horse shelter allows the horse to get out of the wind, as well as the extremes of hot and cold weather. A good equine shelter does not have to be expensive, but it does need to be sturdy, well built and safe, without any sharp edges, protruding nails or other hazards.

  1. Run-in Sheds

    • Run-in sheds are very simple horse shelters, but they are also very effective. A run-in shed is simply a three sided structure that the horse can enter for shelter and shade. One of the big advantages of a run-in shed is that the shed can be purchased fully assembled and delivered to the facility. On-site the delivery truck can simply drive into the pasture and set the run-in shed in place where you want it. The number of run-in sheds needed on a property will vary, but there should be one run-in shed for every two horses on the pasture.

    Pole Barns

    • Pole barns are among the easiest horse shelters to construct. These barns are much easier and less expensive to build than a traditional stick built barn. When designing a pole barn it is a good idea to build in some storage space (for hay, feed and other items ) as well as space for the horse stalls. You may also want to consider building in a tack storage area--this will make it easier to saddle and groom your horse.

    Traditional Style Barn

    • A more elegant, but also more expensive, option is to construct a traditional barn. One of the most popular styles is a barn with a row of stalls on each side and a large aisle in the middle. This is a good choice if you will be running a boarding facility, since it gives every horse owner his own space. The wide aisle makes it easier to groom horses in cross-ties. When building a traditional barn it is a good idea to make the center aisle at least 10 feet wide--this will provide plenty of space for two horses and owners to pass one another. The stalls themselves should be a minimum of 10 feet by 10 feet, but stalls that are 12 feet by 12 feet are preferable.

    Indoor Arena

    • Another interesting option is to build stalls into the sides and ends of an existing indoor arena. An indoor arena provides an excellent place to ride when the weather is bad, but the design of the structure often includes some wasted space around the perimeter. Many boarding facilities have solved this problem by building a few stalls into the corners and along the sides of the arena. This design works particularly well for pony stalls, which can be smaller than standard horse stalls.