About Horse Shelters

Sheltering horses has long been an all consuming passion for the horseman. Providing secure, attractive and healthy living quarters for their equine companions has become a major business in the equine industry. People can often spend as much on their barn as they will on their home. In some cases, more money can be spent on options for the barn than on options for the home.

Types

Building shelter for horses can be as simple as a lean-to or as complicated as a multi-million dollar excavation that includes hundreds of stalls and top of the line technology. Types of shelters range from loafing sheds and lean-to's - which are simple structures built in the fields where the horse lives; to smaller shed-row barns which are a collection of stalls facing in one direction; to large bay-barns that have multiple wings. There are as many types of horse barns as the imagination can divine.

Benefits

Creating a healthy environment for the horse is the most important benefit of having a shelter. In northern climates, shelter is necessary to keep the horses from freezing in blizzards. In the southern climates, shelter is necessary for shade and the gathering of cooling breezes. For sick or injured horses, shelters provide a place to heal and remain secluded.

Features

Creating any horse shelter provides the same basics, no matter what size or what type. Shelter from wind, rain, sun and the elements is the most basic feature. In order to do this, a shelter at the very least must have a roof and one wall. The wall should face the wind that needs to be blocked, and the roof should slant to guide rainwater away from the inside of the shelter. Other features can include stalls, tackrooms, washracks, riding arenas, vet labs, and various other technical labs and feed storage areas.

History

Horse shelters have been noted back as far as the Egyptians, with stables being drawn on royal tombs and noted in royal inscriptions. The Hebrew bible talks of the famous stables of King Solomon. In China, stabling or horses is noted for thousands of years, with the Emperor taking great care to create and maintain a large herd of royal horses. In nearly every culture across the planet where horses have been used, shelters have been created with great care.

Misconceptions

It is not necessary to have fancy shelters for your horses. The most basic lean-to shelter can be just as effective, and oftentimes more healthy, for your equine friend than the stalls that so many modern equines are confined to today. Nature made the horse to exist outside, and keeping them in all the time has created a much more fragile creature than nature ever intended. As long as your horse has the basic elements of shelter mentioned above, you are providing what he need to stay happy and healthy.