Experienced horse people that we are, we'd like to take a minute to tell you why you don't want a barn. (Well, you might want one but your horse doesn't want it.)
First off, consider the nature of the horse. He's a prey animal and as a prey animal wants to see what's coming at him. Enclosed in a 12" x 12" box stall within a horse barn is exactly what his genetic history tells him he does not survive well in.
Build a horse barn with connected turnouts to each stall in the horse barn and see how much time your horse spends in the stall. He'll eat there if that's where you feed him but as soon as the chow is gone, he'll get out of there. If you're in a cold climate, put heat lamps in each stall and make it as cozy as possible he'll eat then leave and go stand in the snow with his tail to the wind. In a hot climate, you can put ceiling fans and misters in the stalls of your horse barn. Same thing—he'll eat where you put the food then go outside and stand in 114 degree heat, literally frying his brain inside the skull.
The only way a horse will stay in a horse barn is if you make it so he can’t leave on his own—you have to lock him in!!!
“I know this because I’ve done it the first way in Flagstaff, Arizona at 7000’ elevation and then dumb enough to do the other down here in Phoenix, Arizona!”
Absolute Steel & Storage
Increase Your Horse's Comfort - Reduce the Flies
Flies love to hang out in those totally enclosed stalls in a horse barn. A horse barn is practically a fly barn when you think about it.
An enclosed barn gives them exactly what they like during fly season—a nice little summer bungalow! Great shade and most of all, some protection from the breeze so they can hang around, not be blown away and bother your horse and you. So now the solution is to use chemicals to get rid of the flies and your horse gets sick.
Shade or shelter from the elements is all a horse wants.
The only exceptions to this are a commercial horse operation that has to house a quantity of horses and doesn't have the required amount of land to do so. Then you need full time help to clean the stalls twice daily and turn each horse out into a run of some kind every day so they don't go crazy from being boxed up in the horse barn!
“But I want a feed room or a tack room,” you say.
Well, take one of the 12' x 12' stalls in one of our structures for example. Using our channel on each vertical upright, slip 2 x 8 or 2 x 6 boards into the channels and make yourself a sturdy feed and tack room!
“Simply affix the 1 ½” channel to the vertical upright and insert 2 x 8s”
No payments and no interest for 6 months!