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Good Barn D esign: The Floor Plan
The old adage “form follows function” is at the
heart of every horse barn I design. First and foremost,
before beginning any design work, I want to
know about the horses, their people, and their daily
or weekly activities.
Why?
Because a personal barn has different
needs and considerations than a commercial
barn and, among commercial barns, a boarding
barn has somewhat less demanding requirements
than an active training and showing facility.
Above all, the safety and comfort of
the horses is my priority, so there are
some standards I try to incorporate into
every barn:
a) horses on outside walls for better access
to natural light and ventilation;
b) Dutch doors (not windows) for easy
access in case of fire or other emergency;
c) high finished ceilings to allow more
natural light and ventilation, better appearance
and far less maintenance (in
a lofted barn, 11 ft);
d) ventilation shafts to exhaust hot or
damp air;
e) use one wash stall for every five
horses as a rule of thumb for a training/
show barn;
f) locate the work area next to the
arena whenever possible – the horses
can get more rest in their stalls when
there’s more separation,
g) slip free flooring.
Also important: hay drops to each stall,
cross aisles for better air flow, group all
of the water in the same area, and a
barn can never have too much storage.
The floor plan pictured illustrates a
good floor plan for a boarding/training
facility – the owner has three horses
she actively shows, and there are
several boarders who show at selected
regional shows. This facility has three
wash/groom stalls with recessed shelving
and, when it’s not in use, the farrier/
vet/dentist stall serves as an additional
grooming area. Note that this stall has
a full access door, allowing trucks to
back up to the building so the forge,
medications and tools will be readily
available, and there are cabinets for
vet supplies, counter space, a recessed
sink, and storage under the high
side of the staircase.
The ideal location for the tack room is
directly across from the wash/groom
stalls and, as a second choice, immediately
next to them. The tack
room shown is large enough to house
the tack for the horses in the barn,
while having enough space for a few
lounge chairs. The room will also have
a cabinetry on the end abutting the
farrier/vet stall, providing space for
clean storage, appliances and a tack
cleaning area.
D
The laundry/mechanical room is large
enough to house the washer and dryer,
along with storage for clean towels,
cottons and wraps and is conveniently
located next to the wash/groom stalls.
The room will house the electrical panel
and the water heater ( I recommend
tankless). We used a mini split system
in this barn to supply climate control to
the tack room, laundry, bathroom,
office and grain room. Mini-split systems
are also a good choice for heating
and air conditioning in a barn, or radiant
floor heat if the budget will permit.
36 www.EliteEquestrianMagazine.com
The half bathroom in this barn is centrally
located (recessed into a corner
of the laundry/mechanical space) and
opens directly to the aisle so no one
has to go through one room to get to
another.
The stalls in this barn are 14’ deep x 12’
wide to accommodate larger horses,
and stalls 10 & 15 are 14’x14’. All of
the stalls have hay drops, hinged feed
doors and automatic waterers with
consumption gauges. The stall mattresses
save on shavings and labor,
while keeping the barn smelling fresh
and providing the horses with greater
cushion and insulation from the ground.
All the stalls have Dutch doors with
large top-half windows; there are
full-length yoked metal screens inside
each door so they can be opened fully
in the warmer months. For additional
light and a nice architectural feature,
this barn has large transom windows
above each Dutch door.
Normally, stalls 10 & 15 would have
been in “dead” corners, but by adding
the blanket closets on the aisle corners,
the stalls are moved over far enough
to create space for a Dutch door. The
two blanket closets will accommodate
36-38 hanging blankets, which keeps
the clutter off the aisle, and they’re
conveniently located for both ends
of the stall aisle. The recessed trunk
spaces along the front entry aisle hold
12 show trunks just inside the main door;
they can be easily off-loaded, re-supplied
and re-loaded into the trailer
between shows. The walls above the
trunks provide a nice display area.
esigned for
safety and comfort
of the horses.
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