Building A Quick Horse Shelter

Ideas & Tips 1 Minute

Sharing our solution to building an affordable Run In Horse Shelter.

The paddock had an existing, strong and sound, structure with pipe panels and metal roofing.

At 12×12 ft it offered plenty of room, deep enough to create shade at most angles, but with no wind-break and very beat up footing.

The large feeder also took up way too much space.

run in shelter

Easy to improve on!  First I dug out the rocks, filled in the holes, and made the ground more even by using a tamper after spreading out layers of hog fuel.

Then 4 stall mats at 1 inch thick on top.  Anyone have two extras to sell?  It will of course be a lot better with the entire space matted.

The space needed a total of 9 OSB (Oriented Strand Board) Wood Panels at 8×4.  The OSB is around half the price of plywood.  Painted with quality outdoor paint they should last for some time.

open run in shelter

Keep cost low by using various leftover outdoor paint for the interior of the shelter, unless you really want it color coordinated.  Never mind Miss Piggy in the corner there.

Hay spread on the ground for some time to encourage her to keep the shelter clean.  (Um, yeah, it’s working so so.)

Then enter my Supah Stahrr Husband, to attach the wood panels to the outside of the pipe paneling!

walls for horse shelter

With minimal yelling he worked hard in the Sacramento Valley late summer heat.  Dousing your crew with Fly Spray helps minimize stomping.

We tried with 2 simple sets of hinges to attach the feed door.  Since Valiosa is on record as the fastest hay-eater, she eats from a hay bag hung in through the “door”.

feed door on horse shelter

And there it is – Completed run in shelter from Dressage On A Dime!  In the main barn color to boot!  With horse actually in it.  Which is a rarity.

run in shelter with feed door

Planters below made by painted feed buckets.  Not endorsing this idea in any way.  She immediately ate the fresh planted oak trees and pulled out the ivy…

horse shelter

That’s why we love them.  (?)

Find the next, updated, post about the shelter here:  Mud Season

Published by aHorseForElinor

Rider dedicated to doing my best with dressage. Or saddle up successfully each time. Or how about just stay on. This is "Dressage On A Dime" - Come read about it all at: https://ahorseforelinor.com/

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15 thoughts on “Building A Quick Horse Shelter”

    1. Älskar honom!
      Svårt att engagera familjen i hästeriet. Men när det verkligen gäller så ställer dom upp!
      I vinter får det komma upp bilder på killarna när dom hästar sig lite 🙂

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  2. Lovely! She will be much more cozy when the rains come. Looks like a good design, and I think matting it was a good call. Should help keep it dry (we hope). If you find the water runs that direction (hope not), you may have to build it up with some base rock and then put the mats on top of the rock, but you’ll just have to see how it drains. Meanwhile, she will be super snug in there. I love your planters…now to find something she does not like to eat. Maybe check the list of “deer proof plants”? Those are probably unpalatable to horses, too.

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    1. She is a menance and will eat anything, even if it’s tied down. I’m moving the planters!! Darn horse 😉

      Agreed with building up the base. Not sure how many wheelbarrels I’m up for pushing (have been working on filling the paddock with additional hog fuel to make for some soft spots to lay in (yeah, serious spoiling.), but I bet once the rain starts coming it will be clear that it has to be done.

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    1. Oh my. Cannot remember. I did, however buy just one to start, and brought it in to fit on the pipe as they are fairly expensive when buying so many.
      Got mine at Home Depot. They really only come in three sizes. I picked the Medium size and it fit no problem. Just cannot remember the actual circumference measurement, sorry!

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