Horse lovers and professional horse breeders know that fresh air is beneficial for their pets. The constant presence of a horse on the street prevents the development of many diseases. Therefore, the pen for horses is the necessary space to maintain their health and good physical activity.
The horse enclosure should be spacious and as safe as possible for the animal. The shape of the pen should not be narrow and long. It is better to build a corral of a round or oval shape. So the horse will run in circles and will not stop at the corners. The area of the pen should be as large as your site allows. Often the diameter of a round professional shelter ("barrel") is about 15 meters. Horses should have enough space for both easy running and galloping.
The corral fence must be strong. Avoid thin boards - their horse will easily break and may hurt itself on sharp edges. Place the fence posts at a distance of no more than 2 meters so that the crossbars can hold a large load. Fasten the crossbars on the inside of the corral, raising them above ground level. Make sure that there are no gaps between the parts of the fence and the gate. This is to prevent the horse from sticking its head into the fence, which can lead to injury to the neck, eyes or ears. Variable height of the fence is about 1.7–2 m. This is an ideal height so that the horse could not jump over it.
The soil in the pen should be sand or field, well-compacted. Many horse breeders, making a corral, spread the entire surface with a rubber coating with cells. Grass grows easily through such cells, and excess moisture goes deep into the ground. Rubber coatings are safe, it is difficult to slip on them, and the elasticity of the rubber will dampen the momentum from the hooves. In the corral, you can leave some trees, if any, originally. But you have to cut all the lower branches. Oaks and fruit trees should not grow in the pen, because their fruits can be dangerous for horses.
Make lighting in the horse corral so you can see your pets constantly. This is especially true from autumn to spring, when daylight hours are short. Spend all electrics in the zone of inaccessibility of the animal. “Hide” the wires in special metal-plastic cable channels so that the horse doesn’t get them in case of an accidental bite. The box with the wire should not pass through the corral; guide them along the fence from the outside. Place the lamps so high that the horse does not reach them, even standing on its hind legs. Lamps must be waterproof, especially for street lighting. Choose lamps with natural light, so as not to spoil the vision of horses, but also to illuminate a large area.
Also do not forget about the fire safety system of the corral. There must be an emergency gate in the pen through which you can get the horses out. Get fire extinguishing agents (sand, shovels, buckets, fire extinguishers), take care of the access of fire engines to the corral. Driveways never load, and in the winter clean from snow. After all, trouble in the form of fires can happen at any time of the year.
