Page 26 - The Hunt - Winter 2019/2020

There are more than 10,000 horses in
Chester County, Pa.—about one for every 50 residents. Even after years of gradual suburban encroachment, a special part of the county remains hunt country. To experience it, leave Unionville and head out in almost any direction toward Embreeville, Marshallton or West Chester (to the northeast), Coatesville (to the north) or Cochranville (to the northwest).
To be more accurate, perhaps we should call it horse country—as not every horse owner mounts
up to follow the hounds across streams and fences. And while elaborate party barns and stately bank versions may be more in vogue these days, it’s the simple pole variety that serves as the staple of stables. “To be truthful, the basic look of stables hasn’t
really changed that much in recent years,” says West Chester-based Archer & Buchanan Architecture’s Richard Buchanan, who’s built many custom horse
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winter 2019-20
barns. “At the same time, owners are looking for ways to make barns better for the horses.”
And for themselves. Jacki Russell recently decided it was time to build something new for her horses. “The old stable was pretty ugly and had been used for smaller polo ponies,” says the former banker. “I have a pleasure horse more than 17 hands (about 5-foot-9) and needed more room.”
Russell’s new stable has seven stalls with a center aisle. She was able to install a back door and window to each stall, so her horses have a view of a bucolic fenced-in area. The stable has a bathroom and rooms for storage and other usages. It also has an automated watering system and a sturdy washer and drier. “Horse blankets are particular smelly,” notes Russell.
On the outside, stable barns may not have evolved much in recent years, but the interiors have. The trend is toward larger stalls like Russell’s. “They also tend to have higher ceilings than those before the 1960s, because the stalls in older barns often housed cattle,” Buchanan says.
Cattle are generally docile animals. Horses, Buchanan notes, “have a tendency to act up and hit their heads if the ceilings are too low.”
Many of today’s riders want (or need) bigger horses. Some are a cross between sturdy Percherons and lighter breeds—even thoroughbreds—and are thus a good size for sporting activities. “Fences look a lot smaller when you’re on a bigger horse,” says Buchanan, who’s a rider and member of a local hunt.