EDITED BY DAVID ADLER

METRIC
HANDBOOK
PLANNING
AND
DESIGN
DATA
SECOND EDITION Architectural
Press
26 Equestrian design
Rod Sheard and Frank Bradbeer
CI/SfB: 565
Rod Sheard is Senior Vice President in Hok & Lobb, a practice specialising in UDC: 725.88
leisure facilities. Frank Bradbeer is an architect whose passions include good Uniclass: F5676
architecture of all periods, organs and horses

Contents 3 Housekeeping
1 General considerations
• *Cleaning
Tack room
2 Stabling and care of the horse • *Drying roomroom
• Staff lavatories/showers
1 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS • *Staff rest room
• *Office
1.01 Horse riding today
• *Vet room
Facilities for keeping horses are mainly constructed for recreational
riding, equestrian sport and breeding purposes. The use of horses for
•
commercial haulage is unusual nowadays, and together with police
or military facilities there is likely to be a specific brief. 4 External facilities
• Midden
1.02 Planning elements in private stables
• *Washdown area
Private stables range from a stable for one horse to large
• Trailer parking
complexes to accommodate a thousand horses or more, complete
• Staff parking
with full health and training facilities. The principal elements
remain the same, 26.1, and are based on the physical and
• *Carriage store

psychological requirements of the horses.

5 Health/exercise
1 Boxes
• Sand roll
• Loose boxes
• Lungeing yard
• *Sick box/boxes (50 per cent larger)
• Treadmill
• *Utility box/boxes
• Weighing machine/weigh bridge

2 Stores
• Equine pool

• Feed
• Hay *In many cases the accommodation will not require these items
• Equipment
Bedding because of their small-scale activities.
• (wheelbarrows, mowers, etc) A typical plan is shown in 26.2.

tack &
cleaning
room

feed
store

hay
loose boxes store

sick bedding
box
store

midden
(manure
compound)

bench seating for 100

26.1 Relationships between elements of the plan 26.2 Plan of Porter’s Field Riding School, Leyton
26-1
26-2 Equestrian design

1.03 Dimensional criteria

Dimensionally standardised criteria may be applied:

• Tables
The size of the horse, with and without rider, 26.3 to 26.5,
I and II
• Tack rooms,
Stabling and care of the horse, 26.6 to 26.9 2000

• 26.10

1200
ie. accepted height of horse
height of withers

2500

26.3 Measurement of the height of a horse at the withers.

Traditionally the height was measured in hands (4 inches), but a
hand is equivalent to a decimeter (100 mm) within the limits of
accuracy attainable. Table I gives the heights of a number of
breeds of horses and ponies 26.4 The led horse. a Front view. b Plan

F D

A C

26.5 Dimensions of the horse and rider, see Table II

Table I Common breeds of horses and ponies, with heights in hands and equivalent metric measure, 26.3 (I hand = 4 inches, 12.2 hands = 12 hands + 2 inches)

Breed Height in hands Height in mm Breed Height in hands Height in mm

Horses Ponies
Cleveland bay 16 1625 Connemara 14.2 1475
Clydesdale 16 1625 Dartmoor 12 1220
Morgan 14–15 1420–1525 Exmoor 12.2 1270
Percheron 16–16.3 1625–1700 Fell 13.1 1345
Shire 17 1725 Highland 12.2–14.2 1270–1475
Suffolk 16 1625 New Forest 14.2 1475
Tennessee Walker 15.2 1575 Shetland 39 to 42 inches* 990–1065
Thoroughbred 16 1625 Welsh 12 1220

*Shetland ponies are always described in inches.

 Equestrian design 26-3

Table II Typical dimensions of horse or pony and rider, 26.5

500
2500 3600
Dimension Thoroughbred New Forest pony Welsh pony

2000
A 1600 1450 1200
B 550 500 415
C 900 815 675
D 1620 1470 1215
E* 2450 2225 1840
F 1625 1475 1220
a
* Assuming that the rider is in proportion to the horse or pony

3600

b
2500 3600
200

300
500 500 to
2500 3600 600
2000

good bad

26.8 Height of the manger

service alley

26.9 Veterinary box ‘Stallapotheke’.

3600

a section.

6000 preferred
3600
2500 min

26.6 Arrangements of stables. a Stalls on one side. b Loose hose

boxes on one side. c Stalls on both sides. d Loose boxes on both

sides: doors should not be directly opposite one another

2750 3500

b Plan

1.5 H
2500
average

• Schooling, 26.11 and 26.12

• Polo, 26.14
The dressage arena, 26.13
• Transportation,
0.8 H
1300 H • 26.15 to 26.17

average

2 STABLING AND THE CARE OF THE HORSE

2.01 Environmental conditions

a b The principal requirements can be identified as follows:

26.7 The stable door. It is essential for the horse’s mental 1 Dryness and warmth.
well-being for it to see out – horses are inclined to be very 2 Adequate ventilation without draughts
inquisitive! H is the height at the withers (see 26.3). a Front 3 Adequate supply of water and good drainage
view. b Section 4 Good daylight and good artificial light
26-4 Equestrian design

600 330

225

1200

1100
400

26.11 Rails for the outside school

a b

550 550

125

500
500

500
2500 mirror

1650 500 1650

500

300

650 650

2000

20° 950

c 2160
20 20

26.12 Indoor school: batter to walls and arrangement of mirror

tilted to give self-vision

1150 850

1650

60.0
M R B P F

40.0 x 20.0 arena

for less advance tests
800
A
20.0
low barrier
H S E V K
public must be 20.0
min away
d
26.10 Tack rooms. a Saddles and bridles together, side view. b
Saddles and bridles, front view. c Saddles only. d Bridles only,
when kept separate 26.13 Dressage arena
 Equestrian design 26-5

27.43 228.5 min-274.32 max 27.43

9.14
5500

26.16 Large trailer 26.17 Small trailer

182.88
are protected up to at least 120 mm by stout timber or plywood
panelling on battens. Masonry should be painted white or a light
shade to encourage cleanliness. Horses are gregarious animals and
therefore it is normal for the partitions to be solid up to
1200–1500 mm and have a metal grille up to 2100 mm above floor

9.14
level.

26.14 Polo
Ceilings
The ceiling should not be less than 3050 mm high and care should
be exercised in the choice of materials to avoid the build-up of
1750 condensation.
1200
a
2500 Fire resistance
In large installations the fire resistance of the structure and the
location of fire separation barriers should be carefully considered
1500 2500 bearing in mind the difficulty of evacuating frightened horses and
the often rural location.
b
Doors and windows
26.15 Ramp for loading horses into horse-boxes or trailers. a Doors to loose boxes should be positioned to one side of the box
Section. b Plan to allow the horse to keep clear of the draught when the upper half
is left open. Doors to two adjoining boxes should not be placed
next to each other. The door should open back to 180 degrees and
any exposed edges be protected with a galvanised steel capping to
Siting avoid ‘crib biting’. There should be no sharp arisses and a
• On well-drained ground minimum clear width of 1200 mm. Windows should, where
• Protected
Avoid the tops of hills and hollows possible, be fitted at high level. Any low-level windows should
• Avoid sitesfromhemmed
severe prevailing winds have Georgian wired glass and a steel protective grille.
• in without free circulation of air

Temperature Fittings
The stable should moderate extremes of exterior conditions. Usually these will consist of a manger, drinking water receptacle
Therefore a degree of air circulation is helpful and adequate and two tie rings. The exact position of these items will depend to
ventilation essential. However, care should be taken to avoid some extent on the management of the stables, and to whether
draughts. automatic replenishment is incorporated. Tie rings are generally
fixed between 1525 and 1800 mm in order to avoid a horse
Size dropping a leg over the tie.
Unless a particularly small breed is kept the standard dimensions
should be adhered to. Services
An exterior quality plug socket will be required (one per six stalls
Noise maximum) for portable equipment. This should be sited outside
Sudden noise may startle horses and disrupt sleep during the night, the stall. Artificial lighting should provide illumination to both
therefore relationship to public roads or urban developments sides of the horse switched from outside the stalls.
requires careful consideration.

Drainage
2.02 Detail design The floor should be laid to a fall of between 1:80 and 1:60 to a
gulley outside the stall or loose box. Channels may be formed to
Floor
enhance drainage. Good housekeeping is the key to drainage and
The floor should be impervious to moisture, hard wearing, non-
all gullies should be equipped with a removable perforated bucket
slip, easily cleaned and protect the horse from any ground
to collect bedding and feed that may wash down the gulley.
moisture. Selection of floor finish can vary from dense concrete,
granolithic concrete or engineering brick-laid herringbone pattern
to proprietary rubber mats and seamless rubber flooring. Midden
The midden must be arranged so that effluent does not run away
Walls into groundwater. There should be a gulley and an adjacent water
The walls should be smooth for cleanliness and, wherever supply to enable regular periodic cleaning. For hygiene reasons it
possible, free from projections. It is preferable that masonry walls should be sited away from the stables.
METRIC HANDBOOK
PLANNING AND DESIGN DATA
Edited by DAVID ADLER BSc DIC DEng MICE Civil Engineering Consultant

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