Meanwhile, Back at the Barn

By John Lyons Symposiums

Designing a safe, efficient, and cost-effective home for your horse is quicker and easier when you plan ahead and seek expert advice from the masters of modular barn construction.

     Building a barn will likely be one of the most substantial investments you make as a horse owner.  It'll also be one of the most permanent.  Proper planning, preparation, and construction are imperative since you and your horses will have to live with your decisions for a long time.  

    The barn you build will affect your horse's health, safety, comfort, and well being.  It can also make horsekeeping easier or more difficult, depending on the layout and design you choose.  Your barn should also be an attractive addition to your property.  If it's handsomely built and well positioned, your barn will increase your property values and be a pleasing feature to you and your guests. 

     Be sure you start with a "master plan." Think in terms of how your barn will fit and work with existing and future structures.  Consider the traffic patterns in and around your property - vehicles as well as foot and horse traffic.  You'll likely be moving horses from barns to pastures, corrals, riding arenas, and so on.  So why not make it easy on yourself?

     Keep in mind, too, that a circular drive is almost always a good idea on a horse property, what with trucks, trailers, and equipment coming and going.  Also, you'll likely want to access your barn doors and aisleways with any number and sizes of farm vehicles, so plan for easy access as well.

     You should also consider geographic and climactic factors.  Are there natural landscape features that offer protection from cold winter winds, or provide for better ventilation during hot summer months?  Local weather conditions are an important factor when deciding which direction your barn should face.

   Equally important, evaluate your prospective barn site.  It's essential to situate the barn on a piece of ground that affords proper drainage.  The last thing you need is a site where water can pool, or where connecting runs can turn into muddy lots.  It may be necessary to hire an excavating company to create a level site for the barn and to establish the appropriate slope around the outer perimeter to channel water away from the structure.  Understanding the type of soil you're building on also helps the excavating and construction company prepare the barn site properly.

   Also bear in mind that the barn should not be located uphill of your water supply or directly above streams or ponds that could potentially be contaminated by wastewater runoff.  Another good idea is to position the barn downwind of your house or living quarters.  As much as you love your horses, you may not relish barn odors for around-the-clock living.

      Remember to plan ahead.  You may want to incorporate additions to your barn in the future.  Horse interests commonly grow, and a modular barn system, such as the one Barnmaster has developed, can let you easily do that if you’ve allowed room for it.

      For safety reasons, consider situating the barn where you horses will be housed at least 75 feet from other outbuildings, such as hay storage and machine sheds.  This provides a degree of fire protection.  In the event of a fire, it’ll help keep the blaze from spreading from one building to the next.  The space between buildings will also make it easier for firefighters to get equipment in position to control a blaze.  Barnmasters' fire-resistant construction is an additional safety factor.

    When developing your barn plans, be sure to consult a professional barn builder, advises John Lyons.  When John was developing plans for his Cowboy Up Ranch, he talked to many builders, including the people at Barnmaster.  He eventually decided to work with Barnmaster because he liked the idea that he was dealing with horsemen and -women who understood perfectly what his family's horsekeeping needs were.  He quickly realized they had the experience to offer practical advice regarding design, setup, and construction, and the work could be done in a timely fashion.

    Barnmaster has been manufacturing safe, comfortable, and cost efficient barns for more than 20 years.  The barns are horse- and people-friendly.  High-quality modular construction allows for countless configurations and design options from traditional-looking barns to more contemporary structures.

    Because they understand horses, Barnmaster's engineers have incorporated features that provide maximum safety for horses.  Because Barnmaster barns are constructed of heavy-gauge, galvanized steel with no sharp edges, your horses can't get hurt.  The interior and exterior walls actually come with a "kick through warranty." Zincalume steel laminate stall interiors are also chew-proof and can easily be cleaned and disinfected.  This wins high marks with veterinarians, because it's easy to maintain sanitary conditions and reduce the spread of disease.  Barn and stall walls are also fire-resistant, with a zero fire-spread rating.

    Barnmaster barn exteriors are baked enamel on textured steel or insulated hardipanel.  Roofs are 26-gauge galvanized steel with siliconized polyester, which is warranted against fading or chipping.  They come in a vast array of colors to compliment any property.  Roof colors hold up under intense sun, and withstand the abusive conditions that Mother Nature sends.

    Barnmaster exteriors are virtually maintenance-free, a definite plus from John’s perspective.  When he returns to his Parachute, Colorado, ranch after a long stretch on the road, the last thing he wants to worry about is barn up-keep.  With his Barnmaster barns, he doesn't have to.

    The barns are built to be strong and solid.  They're engineered with a minimum 80-mile-per-hour wind load capacity and a 20-pound snow load capacity.  Higher load capacities are available if you live in coastal and mountain regions or other areas of the country where extreme weather conditions are common.  Barnmaster's construction engineers check code requirements with local building officials to make sure your barn meets or exceeds all specifications.

    Because Barnmaster's builders are horsemen, they have the expertise to help you design a barn that will work well for you.  They know how to set up professional training and breeding facilities for maximum efficiency, as well as small family-oriented horse operations that allow for  expansion as hobby interests grows.  They know how to design barns to compliment existing homes and surroundings, or they can work with homebuilders on new construction to make sure the barn fits the plan.

    You can incorporate a special roof design, Dutch doors, and other exterior and interior features into a Barnmaster barn to give your structure a "custom" feel.  Roof pitch, door and window placement, vents, louvers, and cupolas can enhance the barn’s appearance, but they’re more than just pleasing aesthetic features.  They also affect your horses’ overall comfort and health by providing light and ventilation.  Barnmaster designs and positions these features for maximum practical advantage.

    Barnmaster can also finish barn interiors to your individual specifications.  Custom stall sizes and a choice of solid or grilled stall fronts and divider walls are options for you to consider.  Sliding stall entry doors come with heavy-duty hardware, and they're completely assembled to bolt in place.  Solid swing-out feed doors have latches you can work with one hand.  Since your other arm is usually full of feed, this practical design makes feed chores easier.

    Barnmaster has two manufacturing plants, one in Lakeside, California, the other in Midland, Texas, so orders can be filled quickly.  The modular nature of Barnmaster barns ensures that they go up quickly and flawlessly.  Among the many reasons John Lyons decided to go with Barnmaster was the overall quality of the barns, the knowledgeable service of the staff, the guaranteed on-time delivery, and the after-sales follow up.  The company cares about keeping its customers satisfied, John confirms. 

Copyright © 2004 Barns Northwest