Facilities

Facilities for horses range from simple, fenced pastures with run-in sheds, which provide shelter in hot and cold weather, to riding and precipitation, to riding and training facilities with multiple-stall stables, indoor and outdoor arenas, roundpens, hot walkers, and even swimming pools for rehabilitation of injured horses.

However, the basic needs of every horse are as follows: fresh water in sufficient amounts; food; shelter for inclement (including very hot) weather; space for exercise outdoors; daily observation and, if needed, care by a knowledgeable person.

Note that if a horse is recuperating from an injury or surgery, he should be rested in a stall large enough for him to walk around, lie down, and get up easily. When you are designing a place to live for horses, there are several basic considerations that should go into your blueprint:

Each horse should have a stall that fits, so a barn is best built with more than one size stall available. A pony may live happily in a 10' x 10' stall. Most horses will do fine in a 12' x 12' stall, although large thoroughbreds and warmbloods, and even the racing type of large quarter horse, are bulkier animals that would do best in a 14' x 14' enclosure. Mares with foals, too, need at least a 14' x 14' space to live in; better still, build one pair of stalls side by side with a removable portion, and remove the partition when your mare has her foal.

Pasture is necessary for exercise, sunshine, and food. A good pasture will be large enough to support the number of horses assigned to it. It will offer them grasses, a mixture of clover (except alsike clover, which can be toxic) and other legumes. The pasture should be of sufficient size and variety to prevent overgrazing of the field. It should also be uncontaminated with plants poisonous to horses. It should be checked regularly to be sure it is free of holes (from burrowing animals and other causes), sharp objects, and slick spots. Naturally, the fields should have fences that are both safe for horses and sufficient to keep them contained.

The field, pasture, or paddock should also contain a water supply sufficient for the number of horses using it, unless the horses are turned out for no more than a couple of hours at a time and then let back into their stalls for fresh water. The outdoor water supply can be in troughs, either self-filled or manually filled, or fresh streams, ponds, lakes, or rivers on or adjacent to the property.

Some horses prefer to live most of their lives outside. Some farms acquire extra horses that cannot be accommodated in the barn. And some farms offer field board. In any case, provisions must be made for the horses to shelter themselves from the worst weather, and a run-in shed can be the answer.

These three-sided sheds should be large enough to accommodate all the horses living or grazing in the field, about 140 square feet per horse, which will give them room to jostle for position. Like the barn the shed should be built on high ground to allow for drainage and the open side should be toward the south, to keep cold north winds out in winter. The proof should slope toward the closed back side so puddles do not form in front of the shed.

Most horses will drink between 8 and 12 U.S. gallons of water per day, and more if they are in strenuous work, the weather is hot, or their feed is primarily dry hay. They may drink less in cold weather and when they have abundant, lush pasture available. In the stall, water should be provided in buckets kept full at all times, with refillings no less than two times a day in warm weather.

Water in pastures and paddocks may be provided in troughs that are filled regularly, or by lean ponds, streams, and rivers. If you provide water in buckets and troughs, that are filled regularly, or by clean ponds, streams, and rivers. If you provide water in buckets and troughs, be sure to clean them frequently to prevent water quality from declining as horses drop food bits into them. These will disintegrate and cause bacteria to grow.

If you live in a cold climate, providing drinkable water year round is a big challenge. First, you'll have to bury water lines at least 3 to 5 feet deep to prevent their freezing. The hydrants, however, and the pipe leading out of the ground to them, might also freeze.

Depending on climate, wrapping the pipe with insulating material might be enough; but in some places, an electric heating element will be needed. Remember, any wiring in a barn is a potential hazard, all the more so around water. Drain hoses after every use and/or store them in a heated area.

See also Barns; Fencing Materials