Why would you want to build a timber frame horse barn? Many people choose to board their horses, but there is nothing as wonderful as looking out your window and seeing your horse frolicking in the pasture.

When you choose to house your horses on your own property you have the convenience of going out to the barn and riding your horse whenever you want.

Here are some ideas about how to build a barn for your horses.

When building a horse barn you will want to consider some important issues.

Your first step should be checking your zoning laws. You will need to make sure that you can keep horses on your property.

Just because you live in a rural area doesn’t mean you’re allowed livestock. You should also make sure you know what you will be allowed to build on your property and where.

Sometimes zoning will require you to build a certain amount of space away from the property lines. Knowing what you are allowed to do before you break ground will make for less headaches.

If necessary you may need to have a survey done of your property. When you are well prepared, you will be able to get through the steps required by your building department and be ready to build your barn more quickly.

Once you have established what you can do on your property, then its time to figure out what type or style of barn you want.

You can choose anything you want from a small timber frame barn to a large horse barn with living quarters.

Consider all the things you would need to take care of your horses and then think about how you may want to use the barn in the future.

Do you want this barn to be for livestock only or will you want to incorporate machinery storage or a workshop?

When building a barn consider what would make more enjoyable. Horses do not require fancy shelters, but you may want to add some features to your barn to make taking care of them easier.

These amenities include wash room with hot and cold water supply and a tack room.

You will most likely want to include secure feed storage to keep the horses from overindulging on their sweet feed.

Consider if you may ever want to rent out stalls in your barn for extra income. When looking for boarding for their horses many people will want to have the best features available.

Also think big. You may have only 2 horses now, but will you want to own more later?

Horse can be addictive!

Its more economical to put what you need into your barn now than to have to add on or change the layout later. You may want to look at the horse barns in your area to get an idea of what others find useful. Talking to experienced horse owners is a valuable resource.

When you’ve decided what you need in your horse barn, its time to sketch a horse barn floor plan. Here are some common configurations.

The most common horse barn would have an aisle down the center with a large double doors to the outside for driving in and unloading feed and bedding and removing manure. The stalls would be 10×10 or larger with 8 foot or more of headroom. You want your horse stalls to be roomy enough for your horse to spend time in during the winter.

Each stall would have access to the center aisle and to a paddock outdoors to make taking out animals individually or keep them separated easier.

The stalls would be lined with solid wood preferably oak to withstand kicking and smooth to make sure there is nothing the horse could be hurt on.

Don’t forget that horses are sociable herd animals and love to be able to see what’s going on in the barn and to see their companions.

In warmer climates or for summer pastures you can add a run-in or loafing shelter. These three-sided building are shelter from the rain and are shady places the horses can relax. Be sure to have a shelter large enough for all the horses in the pasture to enjoy and to leave room for horse play.

At Learn About Horses.com you can find out more about horse breeds, horse care, horse marking and even download horse coloring pages and printable horse quizzes for your children.

At horse-women-can-fix-it.comThere are several types of materials that can be used to build or repair a barn, but the oldest and most popular material has always been wood. It’s the same for fencing