Providing adequate turnout can pose a challenge at busy horse facilities, particularly when acreage is limited.
Shelby Ketcham, owner and founder of SJR Horsemanship, in Kuna, Idaho, manages approximately 60 horses on 10 acres facility, including 40 client horses, with a variety of schedules. She has designed her facility to make the most of the available space while giving horses access to turnout and owners places to ride and exercise them.
Stalls with attached outdoor runs are a common barn design at many equine facilities, particularly in parts of the Western United States. These setups allow horses to move between their sheltered stalls and a small outdoor area while remaining individually housed.
“We designed pens so horses can play in their pens and communicate with their neighbors,” says Ketcham. “My personal horses all live in a group together.” Designing pens and stall runs to encourage movement and interaction with neighboring horses over the fenceline can support both physical and mental well-being. Horses are social animals, and providing opportunities to communicate and interact with other horses helps meet an important behavioral need and can reduce the negative effects of social isolation.
Make the Most of Available Space
Ketchum’s facility includes an 18-stall barn with 30-foot runs off each stall, larger one- and two-acre dry lots with shelters and windbreak screens, two large outdoor arenas, three round pens with all-weather footing, and a covered round pen.
“Part of why we added a variety of round pens is so there are choices for people,” Ketcham explains. Multiple spaces also help prevent bottlenecks when the facility is busy. “Even when there’s a bunch of people here, there’s usually not a line (for facility use). I haven’t had issues with not having enough areas for riding or turnout.”
Ketcham also designed the facility to minimize the time staff and owners spend walking between areas. “Everything is close together, within 50 or 60 feet of each other, with lots of gates and different entry and exit points.” This makes daily chores, including turnout, much more efficient by reducing the time spent walking between turnouts and runs.
The facility remains usable after daylight hours, as well. “We are evening-friendly with solar lights in all the round pens so they are accessible even in the dark,” Ketcham says. She also offers turnout and exercise services for an additional fee when owners cannot come to the barn regularly.
For a busy boarding or training facility, consistency doesn’t have to mean every horse follows the exact same schedule. Establishing predictable routines for individual horses, while offering flexible turnout and activity options, can help staff accommodate the realities of a busy barn without sacrificing horses’ need for movement, social interaction and routine. On days when a horse isn’t being ridden or trained, turnout or access to an attached run can help maintain that routine and provide opportunities for movement and social interaction. The goal isn’t necessarily to provide the same amount of activity every day, but to avoid large swings in a horse’s management whenever possible.
Take-Home Message
Limited acreage does not necessarily limit a horse facility to limited turnout and exercise options. Ketcham uses runs, dry lots, round pens, arenas, strategically placed gates, and extended hours to make the most of 10 acres while managing approximately 60 horses. Thoughtful use of space can give horses regular opportunities to move, explore, and interact with their environment, even when traditional pasture turnout isn’t feasible.