My daughter and I had boarded our two horses where we took lessons for 4 years. We learned so much about taking care of them we found we were prepared to design our barn for what our family wanted.
Planning
After going to our municipality and asking what we were allowed to build we had plans drawn up. This depended on our property size as well as where we could put it on our property. We had to have set backs and distance from our property line and neighbours’ homes. We love that it is a bit of a walk from our home especially in the fly season.
Our plans included three stalls, an area for hay and a tack area. Another item on the want list was a water line to the tack area and heat to keep that waterline from freezing.
Another item was a upper viewing area or loft for my daughter to hang out in. This really wasn’t needed and became a storage area in the end.
Construction
When we were ready to build we had a concrete floor put in and rubber mats in the stalls. It was framed up and we had aluminum siding put on that matched our home. We added the stalls and accessories ourselves like insulated bucket holders and corner feeders. Of course, nameplates and halter hooks were included for convenience.
We use our barn for our horses, barn cats and chicken brooder area. As you can see our farm animals seem to approve. What kind of animal shelter are you going to have?