If you are like us, it's likely that you have spent time on Instagram, scrolling endlessly through elaborate horse barns. Chandeliers. Beautiful wood panelling on the walls and ceilings. Elaborate horse stalls.
While many barn interiors may seem out of reach, the reality is that you too can create a Instagram-worthy stable with just a few choices. While there are countless ways to do so, one of the fastest ways to achieve that elegant look is our European Horse Stall Systems.
You've probably seen our swooping European Stall Fronts on Instagram, Pinterest, and magazines. These horse stalls feature hinged stall doors and timeless, swooping designs. They are a quick way to upgrade the look of any horse barn. In this article, we'd like to explore the basics of this horse stall style and consider various designs.
The Basics of European Stall Fronts
In our European Horse Stall Fronts, there are 3 main components to keep in mind. These are:
- The Left Wing (Attached to Door Post)
- The Center Door (Hung on Hinges)
- The Right Wing (Attached to Door Post)
The above three components are the base of any European Stall Front. Their standard materials include heavy-gauge steel, 4.5" center round posts, 2" square tubing on all framing, 1" round tubing for interior bars, and beautiful stainless steel hardware. Differences in our swoops' bends, heights, and other upgrades can allow you to achieve your desired look.
"Low Euros"
Most of our European-style horse stalls have a "low" design. We call this a "Low Euro." This design grants more visibility and freedom to your horse so they can freely socialize. While some equestrians worry about their horse's ability to jump over this "low Euro," we assure you that this style is safely built to safely house even European Warmbloods. In a Low Euro, the horse stall door is actually taller than 58" tall – while the wings (to the left and right) swoop up to 8 feet tall.
"High Euros"
In contrast to Low Euros, we also have an option that we call a "High Euro." These High-European Stall Fronts feature a much taller design across the stall front – from the left wing to the center door to the right wing. This design is particularly well suited for equestrians who would like extra assurance to safely contain their horses in their horse stalls. It is also well suited for those who want a more traditional "European" look and feel to their barn.
Inspiration from Recently Built European Horse Stalls
Now that we have covered the basics, let's scroll through recently completed projects for some inspiration. We will include a variety of Low European Stall Fronts, High European Stall Fronts, and even speciality custom hinged horse stall systems. Let's dive in!
To start, we have two "low" European Stall Fronts below. The left Stall Front features our "bent" swoop design with vertical fill lumber across the bottom. The bottom is filled with our Southern Yellow Pine lumber. It also includes our Grilled Feed Door that enables you to feed your horses from the comfort of your aisle.
The right Stall Front features a similar "bent" swoop design with multiple upgrades. This includes 1" bar grilled bottoms on the door – spaced on 2.5" centers. This ensures that only 1.5" spacing is left from the end of each to ensure no hoof can get caught, but allowing ample visibility and ventilation. It also includes what we call HVH – horizontal, vertical, horizontal lumber fill. This is seen on both wings to provide a grand look.
Below is yet another "low" European Stall Front, but without a swoop! This Stall Front features a straight horizontal design that is especially built for our client's Icelandic Horses. Our client requested for ample ability for visibility, but also ventilation as this barn is located in Franklin, TN. For this reason, they choose an all-mesh design across the bottom of the Stall Front. The mesh was then paired with our HVH design – in a name plate and shavings guard format – across the Stall Front to warm up the mesh design.
Let's now take a break from our "low" European Stall Fronts and look at a "high" European Horse Stall design. Below is a gorgeous "high Euro" that includes HVH design on the left wing and ring wing. This contrasts with a "HMH" – horizontal wood, mesh, horizontal wood – design on the horse stall door. You can view more photos of this Stall Front in its Barn Tour for Icelandic Horses.
These horse stalls are in our client's sales barn in South Florida for their Hunter Jumpers. For this reason, the mesh design allows for ample visibility into the stall, but also much needed openness for airflow in the humid Summers. You can tour this beautiful black-and-white luxury barn here in our recent barn tour.
Below are two barns in North Texas which feature our custom European Stall Fronts which show our ability to customize to your needs. These barns include a hinged horse stall design that includes an impressive arched design with full mesh.
The above Stall Fronts are custom built and installed upon block construction. They include our HMH design on the door to provide warmth to the steel and block design. The left Stall Front includes a Grilled Feed Door while the right Stall Front includes a rectangular yoke design. These barns showcase our custom Stall Fronts that marry Texan aesthetics with European grandeur.
Note: You can tour one of the above barns in our recent Barn Tours of a Modern Metal Masterpiece here.
The above is an example to showcase how you can achieve a European Stall Front look, but with cost savings. This client chose our Full-Sized Stall Gate, finished it in a custom white powder coat, and paired it with beautiful grillwork. If you would like, you can learn more about cost drivers in our Luxury Horse Stalls in this helpful blogpost.
To end, below are a handful of other Stall Fronts that we've recently completed for your design inspiration.
We hope that these various renderings and past project photos provided inspiration for your future barn project. Please contact us for your upcoming horse stalls project. We encourage you to fill out our Consultation Form and one of our expert Project Managers would love to assist you. You can also reach us at (855) 957-8255 or sales@americanstalls.com. We look forward to assisting you soon!
