Horse Stall Design

No matter what your management style or needs the basics of a safe horse stall are the same. Many options that effect function and cost are available for horse stall features. This fact sheet provides an over view of some basic stall features for a typical 1000pound horse. You should adjust the dimensions for significantly larger stall occupants.
Dimensions
The size of the horse and the amount of time the horse spends in the stall help determine stall size. Larger horses require more square footage than do smaller ponies to be able to turn around lie down and get up comfortably. A 12foot x 12foot stall is the standard recommendation for a 1000pound horse. Many stables are successful with stalls slightly smaller than this but walls less than 10 feet in length are not recommended. Generally the stall wall length is 1 12 times the horses length. The more time a horse spends in a stall or the more active it is a larger stall size is justified. A divider between two standard stalls may be removed to allow more space for a mare and foal or a stallbound horse.

An 8foothigh stall partition is standard. Partition height needs to be at least 7 12 feet to prevent horses from getting legs over the wall. Most horses can kick as high as 7 feet. An 8foottall by 4footwide stall doorway opening has been the recommendation for years although this is not often seen in stables. Stall door manufacturers typically supply a doorway opening of slightly over 7 feet with a 42 to 45inch width. These are the dimensions of the actual open area that the horse can pass through. These smaller doorway openings are adequate for horse and handler safety.
Horse barns are commonly built with a ceiling height of 10 to 12 feet

with 8 feet being the minimum. A low ceiling not only inhibits air circulation but also increases the chance that a horse may strike its head. In fact many stables have open truss or rafter construction with no ceiling. In this case the minimum height is the clearance to the lowest item on which a horse may strike its head such as a light fixture or truss bottom chord.
Doors
Doors come in a wide variety of materials and configurations although swinging and sliding doors are common see Figure 1. Doors can cover the full length of the doorway opening be divided into two panels Dutch door or partially cover half to threequarters of the opening which is more common with metal mesh doors.
Swing doors should open into the aisle rather than into the stall. Open swing doors decrease aisle workspace but may be latched open to alleviate this problem. They also require less hardware to function properly but heavyduty hinges are needed to prevent sagging. Sliding doors in addition to the overhead track need a stop to prevent the door from opening too far and falling off the track. They also need floorlevel guides to keep the lower portion in place when the horse is pawing leaning or kicking at the door. Fulllength doors should have less than 3 inches of clearance under them to prevent the horse from getting a hoof or leg stuck.
All doors and doorjambs need to be durable with secure latches and free of sharp edges or protrusions. For example door guides on sliding doors should be rounded and out of the traffic path. Door latches and other clasps that can be operated with one hand are an advantage at chore time. Position door latches out of reach of horses that may find pleasure in learning how