Buying a Horse: Build Your Facility Before You Buy

     Your options for housing your horse are owning your facility, leasing land, or boarding. If you are in a situation where you live on land, it is important that you build your facility, with the basic needs for your horse, before you purchase. I have made the mistake of having horses on my property before my facility was ready. Doing this not only made it difficult to deal with my horses from feeding to handling, but also made it very tough to actually build our facility.

Basic needs in a facility include: A fence to keep your horse safe and secure on your property; Shelter to keep your horse out of the elements; A feed room to keep your feed/hay dry and easy to handle; An area under cover where you can store your tack, groom, saddle, doctor and care for your horse. You will also need to set up for power and running water convenient to your facility.

Fencing: There are many options of fencing for you to choose from when building your facility. With many choices come an array of costs. Work within your budget to build the safest fence you can for your horse. What is most important in building your fence is using a material that cannot cut, scrape, or trap your horse in any way. Gates should swing easily, be free of anything that can hook a hip or shoulder, and be wide enough to comfortably lead a horse through.

Shelter: Most effective horse shelters are two sided, with a roof. I like to see shelters twice as long as they are deep (i.e. 20'wide X 10'deep). The height should offer comfortable clearance for the horse at its lowest point. This type of set up keeps the horse from feeling confined, while sheltered from the elements. It is also important to have safe walls on your shelter. If the walls are metal, you will need to line the walls with wood to prevent a potential hazard for the horse.

Feed Room: A good feed room offers enough space to store feed during all seasons in a safe, dry environment. Be sure to have enough room to store hay, as well as, feed if utilizing the same space.

Covered Area: It is important to have an area where you can store your tack, groom, saddle, and care for your horse. This set up can be a free standing building or within a barn. Regardless of the setting, be sure to offer plenty of room for multiple horses and build in a way which allows you to expand in the future.

Water and Power: Be sure to think through your water and power set up. Use an installation plan that is safe and convenient for you and your horse.
Regardless of how simple or elaborate your plan is for a facility, what is most important is safety for horses and people. Keep in mind, the more room you can allow in your plan the safer the facility will be for you and your horse. You cannot have too much space.

*If you lease the land your horse lives on, all of the above should apply. Work with the land owner to provide the safest environment possible for yourself, and your horse.