by Nikki Alvin-Smith
While the term ‘breeding shed’ is still in colloquial use today, the reality is that the modern-day horse breeding facilities encompass horse barn lifestyles for stallions, mares and their progeny with cleverly designed facets that make the housing both horse and human more user-friendly than ever before.
The investment required to purchase excellent quality horse breeding stock is significant, so ensuring that the animals are as well-cared for and as protected from injury or upset as possible makes perfect sense.
Whether you are a neophyte horse breeder, or a savvy and experienced equine breeding aficionado, the design aspects of the breeding shed are worthy of special consideration.
There is plenty to think about, and here are some broadband ideas to include in the planning stages of your breeding barn project that are relevant particularly for the mare/foal barn.
Choose Construction Materials Wisely
Wood construction offers a natural insulation factor and it is kinder to a horse’s joints if impact occurs due to an errant kick or fall than stone or cement. Wood should be sealed at time of construction to make the surface ‘deep clean’ friendly. Hygiene wise sealed/painted breeze block construction is popular at vet clinics and high traffic breeding barns such as Thoroughbred farms. All types of structural interior stall walls can be clad with washable panels to facilitate an easy clean surface.
The interior of a wood building offers a comfortable environment for the equine occupants both sound wise and temperature wise, and depending on the regional location it is generally easier and cheaper to construct than a stone-based product.
The advent of modular wood barns becoming available nationwide in a variety of designs, has significantly improved access across the U.S.A. to excellent quality wood barn builds, such as the renowned sturdy Amish construction.
Special Features To Consider
Freedom of movement is essential for all horses and for mares and foals it is no different. By offering in/out options with exterior access Dutch doors from large mare/foal stalls, daily turnout can be provided in all weathers without the need for handling. Horses appreciate the option of being able to choose where they prefer to be, and for foals that are by nature vulnerable to extreme weather conditions, the mare appreciates the option to choose their location.
Double access stabling with the horses’ being allowed to choose their location in or outside, also provides their human caregivers with an opportunity to thoroughly clean stalls while the occupants are outside. This makes daily chores easier and safer to manage, especially when children or inexperienced staff are working the mucking out shifts and we all know how much an inquisitive foal enjoys tipping over skips or wheelbarrows. While daily handling and leading of foals is a good idea training wise, for the busy barn this can be a helpful option.
Stall doors are generally 48” wide. While this is sufficient to bring mares in and out with foals at their sides, a slightly wider doorway to 60” can make life easier.
Sliding doors are convenient one-handed designs to use as front stall doors. Within the barn swinging doors are best avoided for several reasons. Here’s more information to ensure the design is, “Opening The Door To Stall Safety.”
All foals love to rear and prance around so a confined space needs to be well-designed to optimize safety first. It is important that stall grills are high enough and that the grill bar space is narrow enough width-wise, to ensure no tiny hooves become caught between the grill bars (ideally spaced three inches or less). Stall windows should similarly offer protection to tiny feet and legs with appropriate grill construction and heights.
Solid wall partitions 9’ or 10’ high, that are kick-boarded to full-height, are also a good idea. Neighboring horses can intimidate the foal and worry a maiden mare, and peace of mind for good quality rest periods is a positive health benefit to keeping the interior mare/foal space a haven for respite.
Quick take down stall wall partitions for seasonal adjustments to stall size between gestation/parturition and ‘foal at foot’ periods versus weaning time/regular barn use can work well ensuring larger stall sizes are available as required and lessens the need for excessive work load or time frame for conversion.
Small stalls invite accidents and injury to the foal. The likelihood of a mare inadvertently stepping on a foal’s fragile fetlock joint or tendon when the baby is laying down and Mom is moving around the stall is much higher in a small space than a large one. Though the stall should not be so large as to permit the adult horse to trot around its interior.
Tip: During my personal decades of experience as an ardent performance horse-breeder I have found substituting the required straw with shavings post-natal, once the foal’s navel has fully healed, helps prevent the foal’s legs from being hidden beneath the thick straw bed and being stepped on by Mom when it is sleeping or laying down. Note: Straw is used during parturition and immediately thereafter to avoid transmission of the potential bacterial hazard present in shavings through the foal’s naval and to also provide a soft landing for the foal should it fall over during its ‘wobbly’ stages. Avoid barley straw if possible, and instead opt for wheat or oat straw as barley straw spirals can cause an ingestion upset if the equines decide to taste its delights.
Some horse breeders opt to include a rail/bar across the corner of the stall or divide the stall and provide a barriered space the mare is unable to enter where the foal can duck underneath and find both his own grain feeder and space to sleep. My personal preference is to use a creep feed option for the foal and to avoid placing any obstacles within the stall space that can become an issue for a rearing or prancing horse.
If you plan to breed horses on site, then a large, clear indoor area for in-hand handling of the process either for AI collection or live cover should be available. An adjacent ‘lab room’ or office with hot and cold running water and refrigeration options that can serve as a vet room is a boon for production needs. Often these spaces are constructed adjacent to the mare barn in a garage style set-up with overhead doors and matted or slip-free floors and structures with higher ceilings.
AI cover of mares can easily be accomplished stall side but larger operations will benefit from a mare stanchion where the vet can complete their job in safely without worry the mare will kick out, errantly move or back into expensive medical equipment.
Rooms You Need To View
Layout of the barn should facilitate easy view of the equine living quarters by caregivers. The advent of technology and security monitoring systems now allow easy options to have ‘eyes’ on the mares and foals 24/7. But having eyes on the horses while working in the barn is still a good plan and including viewable front stall walls and locating turnout areas within view of the residence/barn is always both a joy to behold and a positive oversight option.
Fence With Thought
Fencing for mares and foals needs to both contain them and protect them from injury. Intrusion to a paddock by loose dogs or predators such as coyote packs can at best cause panic to the mare and thus her foal but worst case can result in injury or even death of the foal.
Special diamond wire coated to prevent rust and other wire fencing products are available specifically designed for horse breeding farms. But a securely board-fenced pasture is also suitable. Barbed wire should never be used to fence horse pasture due to the high risk of injury. Also take care if utilizing taught spiral electric rope fencing that won’t break easily during impact or entanglement.
Tip: As a Brit I was taught to fence horse pastures with the boards to the outside of the paddock posts, which is the opposite of the common American practice. This keeps nail heads on the outside of the fence away from horse pastures when they inevitabley ‘pop out’ and protrude over time, and more importantly if a horse is in a blind panic and runs through a fence or attempts to jump it, the fence will break away from the animal thus lessening the risk of impalement injuries.
Lighting Options
While bright LED lighting options may seem an energy saving and efficient method to light your horse barn, consider that the LED light can be unsettling to horses who cannot shield their eyes from its piercing glare.
For mares close to parturition and mares with foals at foot, consider a secondary lighting option that offers soft ambient light coverage.
Peace and Quiet
As any mother will tell you, we appreciate peace and quiet to allow both us and our babies to rest. Stress-inducing high traffic barns; fractious equine neighbors; little humans excitedly running around barn aisleways at play; barking dogs; and tractors or other noisy equipment whizzing up and down the aisleway or around the barn are all factors that can cause unnecessary angst in the mare, and thus, her foal.
Site your barn carefully to consider access and human and horse traffic flows, especially if you operate a multi-use horse facility.
Barndominium Options
The days of sleeping stall side in a cot or sitting up all night on shift watching monitors in the breeding shed are long gone. Fun times though they were the experiences were also exhausting. Between medical testing and devices that can be utilized to gauge a mare’s readiness to give birth and video monitoring systems that don’t need light to work, there Is no longer the necessity for being so close to hand in the majority of cases.
The beauty of Barndominium living, where the second level of the barn is designed exclusively for human living while horses occupy the stables below, is a great combination approach to providing staff/owner housing while staying in close proximity to the equines.
The leading modular horse barn company, Horizon Structures, LLC., has recently added four highly-functional and chic Barndominium designs to its product lines. All are factory built and engineered to the highest standards and easily implemented into any horse property design.
Customize Away
Whether you prefer a traditional Monitor barn style, a high-end and rather fabulous timber frame barn, an All-American High Profile Center Aisle barn or a more modest design such as the Shed-Row or Low-Profile barn, customizations are possible to all modular structures to fit your specific needs.
Don’t be shy to explore all your options. A great gallery of completed projects to inspire can be found here.
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Feel free to contact Nikki Alvin-Smith for further information and high-res photos.
About Horizon Structures: One horse or twenty, there’s one thing all horse owners have in common…the need to provide safe and secure shelter for their equine partners. At Horizon Structures, we combine expert craftsmanship, top-of-the-line materials and smart “horse-friendly” design to create a full line of sheds and barns that any horse owner can feel confident is the right choice for their horses’ stabling needs.
All wood. Amish Made. Most of our buildings are shipped 100% pre-built and ready for same-day use. Larger barns are a modular construction and can be ready for your horses in less than a week. All our barn packages include everything you need –
Horizon Structures also sells chicken coops, equine hay feeders, greenhouses, dog kennels, 1 and 2 car garages, storage sheds and outdoor living structures and playsets.
Headquartered in South-Central Pennsylvania, Horizon Structures, LLC is owned by Dave Zook. Dave was raised in the Amish tradition and grew up working in the family-owned shed business. He started Horizon Structures in 2001 in response to an ever-increasing customer demand for high quality, affordable horse barns.
For additional information about the company or their product line, please visit their website at https://www.horizonstructures.com
Horizon Structures LLC, Atglen, PA
Media Contact: NAS@NikkiAlvinSmithStudio.com
Tel: 607 434 4470
https://www.HorizonStructures.com
Photos are available on request.
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