How to Build a Stallion Barn

Stallions can often be the harder horses to please on a farm's property. Your stallion barn plan must take a lot into consideration in order for the stallions to be safe and happy in their home environment. Though it is not necessary to keep stallions far away from one another, every stallion has a different personality that dictates how his quarters should be designed.

Things You'll Need

  • Building materials
  • Fencing materials
Show More

Instructions

    • 1

      Choose a location that is close enough to other barns so that stallions can be social without being in the same area as mares. The stallion barn should be separate from the breeding barn so that the stallions know to associate one area with one activity and one area with another.

    • 2

      Do not skimp on materials. Stallions will put more wear and tear on a barn than other horses will. Trisha Dingle, the breeding manager at Whitehaven Plantation, prefers tongue-and-groove boards when building barns to get the strongest construction.

    • 3

      Plan for stallion stalls bigger than normal (normal is between 10-by-10 feet and 12-by-12 feet), and add a couple more stalls than you need so that stallions who do not like being next to other horses can have their own space.

    • 4

      Build solid walls between all stalls--the safest option--or alternate half-walls with bars and solid walls. Some stallions can live with seeing other stallions through half-walls with bars; other stallions need solid walls between themselves and another stallion. No matter the stallion's preference, stall walls need to be tall enough that stallions cannot rear up to get their muzzles or legs over the stall wall.

    • 5

      Design doors into the aisleway so that stallions cannot hang their heads into the aisle. A door in the outside wall is ideal for situations where the aisle door is blocked. Stallions can hang their heads out of outside doors as long as they cannot get to one another, but if this is allowed, doors should be high enough that stallions can't jump out.

    • 6

      Add runs to your design if stallion turn-out is limited. Have solid fencing between the runs if alleys between runs are not possible. Stallion fencing is safest at least 5 feet tall.

    • 7

      Make aisles wide enough that trucks and tractors can be driven through (which is about 12 feet), but try to go for wider than that. This way, a stallion being led past another stallion does not feel as though the other is invading his space.