Barns/Grounds

For many, this is a great time of year to plan construction projects, before the busy seasons of spring and summer. But don't schedule that move-in party yet! Construction projects can have very different timelines depending on their size and complexity.

Run-in sheds. To bed or not to bed? There are pros and cons to both sides of the issue, depending on labor, budget and how much use your sheds get.

The best way to tackle the question of flooring in your barn is to divide your space into functional areas. The decisions you make will vary based on use.

I have a client with a PSSM type 1 Quarter Horse. I need to create a dry lot for this mare. Can you offer some suggestions on how to do this inexpensively and not permanently?

The aim of the study, conducted in Poland, was to assess and analysis and impact of straw, peat moss with shavings and crushed wood pellets beddings used in the stables on the behavior of horses.

The objective for this study, carried out by researchers at the University of California, Davis, was to assess horse preference for shaded and unshaded areas in hot, sunny, summer weather.

Small farms can choose to spread or store manure. Rather than collect the manure and bedding daily, load it in a spreader and spread it immediately, farm owners may choose to store the manure until it can be spread or hauled away.

Here are tips from experts about how much room you need in a dry lot or run-in shelter.

Tips to avoid deterioration of horse stall mats.

Rotating either sheep or goats through your horse pastures enables you to target some of the weedy species that horses won’t graze.

Many things that are built grow organically out of need, without the guidance of a long-term plan. This is a charming growth pattern when applied to Italian hill towns, but not for equine barn...

Many areas of our country are experiencing a winter that brought colder than normal temperatures and higher than normal snowfall totals. This means when things begin to thaw out in the coming weeks, we will be faced with a muddy mess!

Careful management in the spring will increase the grazing potential of your pasture.

Q: Some say pipe is safest, but there are many types of pipe gates. Can you offer some information on types of gates for horses and the pros and cons?

There’s no getting around stall cleaning. The volume and frequency certainly varies with the number of horses and your management preferences.

For the sake of your horses, tack and feed, make rodents unwelcome in your barn.

Keeping fences in good repair not only extends their life but also reduces risk of injury if horses have close encounters with their boundaries.

StableManagement.com has a two-part series on barn fire prevention that should be a must-read for everyone in the industry.

By spending time minimizing the various hazards found on your property through identification and removal, you’ll take one step closer to making your barn and property safer for your horse and eliminate any potential accidents that might occur.

Fabric-roofed arenas are known colloquially as “coveralls” although this is misleading because Coverall is a specific manufacturer. There are other manufacturers that specialize in these structures as well.