Getting Started with Your Horse Barn Kit
Assess the Size You Need
Pole barns come in vast range of sizes. Our kits start at 24’x24’ and go all the way to 70’x120’ – and everything in between. That gives you a lot of room to find a horse barn kit that will be ideal for your homestead.
Choosing the right size for your barn means considering everything you want the barn to offer. Simple horse barns can just be shelters, but for the dedicated equestrian, it makes sense to investigate expanding your barn to have an interior suited for keeping your horse or horses happy and healthy!
If you have several horses, you’ll want to make sure your barn has enough room for stalls. A good starting place for the average horse is around 12’x12’ space for each stall. However, if you have a Clydesdale or another large horse breed, you’ll need to plan for a bit more space.
For those who want their horse barn to more than just a basic shelter, it’s important to think about the space it will take for additional rooms. One of the best benefits of a pole barn is how easy it is to customize the interior with all the open space available. Take advantage of it! It’s surprisingly easy to make use of available space in a barn, but adding more space down the road is another story.
Research Local Zoning Laws
While you’re planning what type of horse barn kit will work for you, it’s critical to spend some time researching your local zoning laws. While all structures have unique laws and guidelines surrounding their construction, barns for animals like horses can include special provisions.
These can cover anything from where your barn can be built to how large it can be and even how the horses are allowed to be kept inside!
Horse Barn Kit Essentials
Natural Lighting
Basking in natural sunlight is important for horses just as much as it is for people. Just like us, horses need the ultraviolet rays from the sun to create Vitamin D. Unlike us, however, their need is greater – which means they need even more sun than we do.
Likewise, a horse’s circadian rhythm is critical for their health. Everything from daily life to breeding can be affected by circadian rhythm issues. Natural sunlight helps promote a healthy rhythm!
Adding natural light to a horse barn kit is easy. Adding options like pole barn windows or Dutch doors can go a long way to creating a beautiful, naturally well-lit barn that your horses will love to call home.
Ventilation
Equally as important as natural lighting in a horse barn kit is ventilation and air flow. Any home for animals needs to have ventilation in mind when it comes to construction and on-going maintenance. Planning for great ventilation avoids a lot of issues:
- Reduced odor
- Avoids mold growth and other humidity issues
- Improves horse’s respiratory health
- Avoids illnesses in horses and caretakers
The easiest way to improve ventilation is incorporating more openings through windows or doors, which conveniently helps with lighting too! However, Landmark Barns’ kits can have additional ventilation options added to further improve air quality in your barn.
Lastly, don’t underestimate the value of powered ventilation options like fans. Not only can these help regulate the air quality in the barn and keep air flowing, they’re useful for regulating temperature. In the sweltering days of summer, a little extra breeze can go a long way!
Tack Room
Planning for a tack room with your horse barn kit is a fantastic idea to expand a shelter into a full equestrian building. They’re not necessary, but most equestrians will agree that a tack room helps simplify life when it comes to storing and maintaining equipment for their horses.
Remember to include the tack room in your air quality planning. Leather equipment is resilient, but susceptible to issues with humidity. Keeping your tack room environment clean and clear can save you time and money down the road!
Wash Stall
A horse wash stall is one of the best additions you can make to your horse barn. It gives you flexibility to groom your horses even when the weather isn’t cooperating.
If your horse barn kit will have room for multiple stalls, you can simply add one additional stall with a few modifications. Hanging full walls that are moisture-resistant and finishing the floor with concrete and a drain is all that’s needed. For added comfort, you can find rubber mats that allow moisture to seep out into the drain.
Storage
Lastly, you’ll always want to think of leaving some extra room for storage. This could be anything from hay storage to additional tools or equipment that may not belong in a tack room.
The easiest way to know if you’ll have the room you need is to look at your current space and compare to what you’re building. If you have a small storage room of tools and equipment, use that as the baseline for planning how much extra room you’ll want in your new horse barn kit. The beauty of designing your own pole barn is that you can create the space you need!