A new barn purchase likely stretches any horse owner’s finances with the initial capital expense. Despite the option that larger construction companies provide with financing availability, not everyone wants to invest in a large horse barn, but everyone wants to enjoy the ‘best bang for their buck.”
How can you solve the dilemma of building a budget friendly horse barn that will serve multiple needs without the need for a major investment? The increasingly popular Double Wide horse barn offers a functional solution.
Modular horse barn companies have long offered shed-row style structures for horse housing, and this style of building is very popular for many good reasons. But with hot sun and driving rain, the shed-row style cannot offer full protection from inclement weather and provides no interior storage space for supplies or equipment or a place to groom and tack up a horse.
The Double Wide barn solves the issue with provision of a shed row with the affordable enhanced shelter of a side aisle addition created by an enclosed overhang construction that follows the long side of the barn on the stall facing side of the shed-row.
The advantage of minimal site preparation being necessary, (principally a level pad with support footers/sonotubes for the overhang pillars), quick set up and an attractive price point, make the Double Wide a popular choice. A modular building company will deliver the building in one of two ways depending on the configuration you choose…
- Two pre-built pieces that are assembled on site. This alleviates the noise, stress and time delays of having to wait on a pole or stick built construction project.
- One pre-built shedrow section. The overhang/’aisle’ section is erected on-site/after delivery. The side walls beneath the overhang and at the gable ends may be enclosed entirely or partially enclosed, to create a protected space for daily chores to be completed by equine caregivers, vets or farriers to work, and storage needs for hay, tack and equipment to be secure.
The key factor that makes the Double Wide so attractive from a financial standpoint is the simplicity of the design. The barn can be entirely functional with an aisleway available without the additional expense of a center-aisle design barn.
The double-wide design is also an excellent barn choice as it provides the utility of a totally enclosed barn/workspace with a smaller overall ‘footprint’ if available space is limited.
There is the option to add sliding stall doors and grill stall fronts to increase ventilation and give the ‘feel’ of a center aisle barn. Installation of sliding ‘aisle’ doors with windows either on one or both, of the gable ends also gives the feel and utility of a ‘big boy’ center aisle barn in a smaller, sweeter package.
Property owners don’t always have the luxury of large wide expanses of land where a new barn can be sited. The Double Wide barn provides a valuable alternative design, that can easily be placed in a more confined area that may offer plenty of length but not much width to accommodate stalls on each side of a 12’ aisle.
It is a design well worth considering if you’d rather pay less than a center-aisle barn will likely cost, but don’t want to compromise on enjoying the benefits that an aisleway will provide for daily life at the horse barn or have limited site options on your property that will facilitate the build.
Savings due to reduced site prep costs also apply when a Double Wide design is chosen over the standard center aisle barn. This is because the former requires fewer footers (*sonatubes) and generally less cubic feet of crushed stone, stonedust will need to be purchased and installed for a Double Wide site versus a standard Center Aisle barn construction. Thus, eliminating the center aisle section saves money beyond the cost of the structural materials used for the build.
Aside from cost savings and the site match, another advantage of a Double Wide barn design is for breeding facilities, such as stallion barns. The horses are not able to see each other across the aisle, which can equate to a more harmonious environment for stallions, as there is less opportunity for intimidation or angst that can be created when stallions see each other ‘eye to eye’.
If you’ve ever found yourself racing to saddle up your steed in the rain, mucked stalls with Dutch doors being blown out of your hands in gusts of wind and been pelted with hail while figuring out where to put those hay bales, then doubling down on your investment with the Double Wide design might be the answer.
Nikki Alvin-Smith is a seasoned freelance writer who loves to share her lifelong experience with everything horse, farm and travel. Her work has been printed in more than two hundred fifty equestrian magazines worldwide and her published articles number in the thousands including travel and lifestyle press.
A Brit who has called New York home for more than 37 years, Nikki brings a unique perspective to her writing.
Her experience as an international level Grand Prix dressage competitor, coach and worldwide clinician, with a youth spent showjumping and foxhunting, provides lots of educational truths and fun moments to share with the reader. Additionally, she has been a horse breeder and importer of Hanoverian, Dutch and Iberian horses for more than 25 years.
Visit nikkialvinsmithstudio.com to learn more.
