If you're an avid horse enthusiast, one of the best things you can do is to build a barn with some horse stalls on your property. Instead of having to keep your horse at a farm and travel to and from this location whenever you wish to ride or care for the animal, you'll be able to take just a handful of steps across your yard and be in the quiet environment of the barn with your prized animal. Horse barns and the stalls themselves can be attractive to all manners of pests, given that this structure not only provides shelter, but also holds a selection of food. Here are some useful tips that you can employ to keep pests at bay.

Seal And Maintain All Openings

Pests such as squirrels and mice can slip through tiny openings and seek shelter and food in your horse stalls, so it's imperative to ensure that every opening is adequately sealed. You should caulk around each of the windows in the barn, as well as install the proper size of trim around doors so that there's no gap between the concrete slab and the bottom edge of the door. It's also critical to maintain the caulking and trim, as these can break down over time and allow pests inside.

Use The Right Traps

A variety of different traps can be effective for killing or controlling different pests that may gain entry into your horse stalls. Mouse traps around the openings to the building can kill mice and other small rodents before they can damage the building or consume the feed. Live traps are ideal for capturing larger pests such as raccoons, which you can then release far away from your property. On the smaller side, sticky traps around the windows are useful for attracting and killing flies and other airborne pests that could bother your horse.

Use Bird Deterrents

Birds may not cause as much damage as mice, but you don't want these feathered pests getting inside the barn, as they'll be hard to get out. You can think about installing bird spikes along the peak of the barn's roof and any window ledges; these won't cause harm to the birds, but will simply discourage them from congregating around the barn. A plastic owl mannequin hanging from a nearby tree can also be useful; the owl's predatory nature means that most small birds are frightened by it — even if it's not real.

For more information, contact companies like Rarin' To Go Corrals.