How to Design Horse Stalls
Every building project requires a building plan. Designing and building a horse stall should not be taken lightly, because your horses will live in there and their health and life depends on the comfort, freedom of movement and housing the barn will provide them. However designing and building a horse stall is not difficult. Plan, research and sketch the horse stall before you start building it.
- Decide about the size of the horse stall. A common size is 12 feet by 12 feet, and in this size horses of different sizes can live there. For ponies and horses of the smaller breeds, a good size is 10 feet by 10 feet. For larger horses the required size is 14 feet by 14 feet. If you want to use your stall for breeding horses 12 feet by 24 feet is a sufficient size.
- Decide what you will use for flooring. If you have a barn with floor made out of concrete, do not rip off the floor if you decide you want to convert your barn into a horse stall. Instead add stall mattress, so that your horses can have a comfortable place inside the stall. If the barn has clay as floor, you can add mats or leave it like that. Adding mats to your horse stall will prevent the destruction of the barn floor by the movement of the horses.
- Consider the height of the stall and the ventilation inside. The height of the wall should be at least eight feet. The gaps between the wall boards should be around one inch, so that the stall will have adequate ventilation. If you live in a warm place, plan for a gap between the wall board and the roof to improve ventilation. To prevent the hooves getting stuck, place the bars with a gap of at least two inches between them.
- Build a door or window to the inside wall for the feeder. With this door, you can be outside the stall and feed the horses.
- Plan for a door or window to be built in the back wall. This is to provide additional ventilation, and in case of emergency, an additional door. The best choice is a Dutch door.