Choosing a barn that’s right for you starts with your horses and their comfort. Second only to happy horses, though, is the way the barn will affect you: do you need extra storage? Easy access to arenas in all weathers? Accommodations for you or your staff? As we continue to look at different barn styles, one style that particularly lends itself to living quarters and extra storage comes to mind: the monitor, or raised center-aisle, barn.
Frequently built around pole construction, lending longevity and sturdiness to the structure, monitor barns are distinctive from typical center-aisle barns thanks […]
Monitor, Raised Center Aisle Barns
Barn Design Pros and Cons: The Center-Aisle Barn
The center-aisle barn: one of the most adaptable and popular equine stabling options in the United States. Many people’s brains simply default to this style of barn when they think about stables. It’s the preferred choice for horsemen across the country, spanning a variety of disciplines, breeds, and climates.
But is the center-aisle barn right for you? Last week we looked at the good and the bad of the shed-row style barn. This week, let’s look at some of the pros and cons (yes, there are cons!) to the center-aisle barn.
The pros […]
Barn Design Pros & Cons: Shed-Row Barns
Having a hard time deciding what kind of barn to build? There are so many options and floor plans out there, it can make such a serious decision extremely difficult to make! Like any tough decision, the best place to start is with a solid list of pros and cons. Let’s take a look at different barn styles one by one, starting with shed-rows.
Shed-row barns include a row of stalls opening onto an open breezeway, such as our Gilroy stable project. You might find one row of stalls, or the stalls can be back-to-back […]
5 Steps to Finding the Right Farrier
New to the area? Just getting started in horses? Taking over the farm? From time to time, we find ourselves facing the need to choose a new farrier. This is no small decision. Don’t just call the first farrier’s number you see pinned to the bulletin board at the feed store! We have five steps to finding and keeping the right farrier for you and your horse.
1. Start with the right recommendations. The first person to ask about a farrier should be your veterinarian, followed by trainers and barn owners with visibly happy, sound horses […]
3 Ways to Explore National Parks with Horse Power
Feeling a little penned in by your arenas? It’s time for a new adventure! Why not put a whole new kind of ride in the planner? As the National Park Service celebrates one hundred years of protecting and sharing the country’s most treasured landscapes, saddle up for the trail ride of a lifetime with one of these amazing national park riding experiences. Here are three very different ways to explore our national parks with horsepower.
(Feature photo: Jeff Hitchcock/Flickr)
Glacier National Park in Montana offers stunning views, diverse wildlife and geologic history, and a variety of options […]
5 Easy Ways to Make Your Barn Safer in Minutes
We all know there’s nothing like too much safety around your barn. Did you know you can make your barn just a little safer in a few minutes? Add an extra layer of safety (and improve your peace of mind) with these quick fixes.
Evacuation Halters: Does your horse live in an urban area, or even a relatively rural one, where it’s likely civilians or emergency personnel might be responsible for evacuating the animals? Unless you live right upstairs and always have a barn-sitter, there’s always the possibility that disaster could strike with no […]
Autumn Hazards for Your Horse
Another summer is drawing to a close, and you’re probably just a little relieved. Summer sounds great when you’re daydreaming through February, but this has been a long, hot summer for a lot of us. Horses and humans alike are ready for a little bit of a cool-down.
Of course, horses being horses, there are unique health hazards associated with the autumn season. We have a few things to watch out for as the leaves change and the temperature cools. These are all autumn hazards for your horse.
Have you ever noticed a horse deliberately eating
5 Easy Ways to Improve Your Barn
Does your barn need sprucing up? Sometimes just a few little changes can make a big difference to your productivity (to say nothing of your mood). If you’re a little over your barn’s design, need to organize some chaos, or just plain want a change, we have five easy fixes to make your barn a better place.
1. Install removable feed buckets, for a cleaner barn with better pest control. Even if you don’t feed sweet feed, the molasses in commercial grain mix can create a sticky mess in your horse’s feed bucket, as […]