How to Make a Lean-To for a Horse

Providing proper shelter for horses is a must for horse owners. Horses will seek out any form of shelter during inclement weather, and providing your horse with a shelter while in pasture can be surprisingly simple. Lean-to structures are simple buildings consisting of a sloped roof held up by for or more wooden posts and two enclosed sides. Having two open sides, a lean-to provides ventilation necessary for horses who would be more than content to be outdoors more often than inside, and are a cheaper alternative to more complex horse shelters.

Things You'll Need

  • Spray paint
  • Post hole digger
  • 4 Pressure-treated 4-by-4 wooden posts; 12 feet long
  • Level
  • 50-lb Bag fast-setting concrete
  • Water source
  • 4 Pressure-treated 2-by-4 boards; 10 feet long
  • 3 10-by-10 plywood sheet 3/4 inch
  • 24 8-inch lag bolts
  • 24 1.5-inch wood screws
  • Ladder
  • Circular saw
  • Power drill
  • Measuring tape
  • Carpenter's crayon
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Instructions

    • 1

      Measure a 10-by-10-foot area; mark the four corners with the paint. Mark a line between the two corners that will be left open in the front, and along the one open side. Make sure this area faces away from prevailing winds and weather.

    • 2

      Cut 4-by-4 wooden posts at angles with circular saw to suit desired pitch of lean-to roof.

    • 3

      Dig four holes 2 feet deep at each marked corner with post hole digger. Set your 4-by-4 wooden posts into the holes one at a time, making sure to level each of the posts.

      Pour fast-setting concrete into each hole around the posts, and add water until the concrete mix levels with the ground. Allow the concrete to set around the posts until sturdy; roughly 20 minutes per post.

    • 4

      Measure and mark with a carpenter's crayon 8 inch in on each 2-by-4 board; cut the 8-inch excess off each board with circular saw. Set a board at ground level and at the top of posts along the sides of lean-to that will be enclosed. Use 16 of the lag bolts, two bolts for each end of the boards, and screw the bolts through the wooden posts and into the 2-by-4 boards to make two box frames.

    • 5

      Attach two of the plywood sheets to the enclosed lean-to sides with the 1.5-inch screws. Secure the plywood with two screws at each corner, plus two screws in the center of the plywood at both the top and bottom 2-by-4 board supports.

    • 6

      Propa ladder against back of lean-to at one of the corners. Hoist the third plywood sheet up to straddle corner posts, then climb the ladder to position the plywood roof into place. Screw two of the remaining lag bolts through the plywood and into the corner 4-by-4 wood post. Move the ladder around to each of the remaining three posts, and screw two more lag bolts into each post to secure the roof of the lean-to.