Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
7 Barn
A
barn should provide a safe, comfortable, and healthy home for your horses. Keep this in
mind as you design it. Decide what features you need in your barn and then select a plan
with those components or choose a builder who can create a custom barn for you. A com-
mon mistake is to accept a package deal that may not have everything you want, yet includes
features that you may never use.
Barn Site
The site for your barn should be properly prepared. The barn floor should be 8 to 12 inches
above ground level and located on well-drained soil. The addition of 6 inches of crushed
rock covered by tamped clay is a traditional barn favorite if the existing subsoil is well
drained. Poorly drained soils should be excavated to between 3 and 10 feet, and several feet
of large rock should be laid at the base of the excavation. Crushed rock of decreasing sizes
should follow in layers, leaving about 1 foot for the barn's topsoil. This can be tamped clay
or a mixture of three parts clay to one part sand.
