Horse stalls are high traffic areas that receive a lot of wear and tear, so in order to extend their lifespan, it is best to paint wooden boards to protect them from rotting. Now that you’ve installed your horse stall, constructed your barn, or have built your wooden horse fence, you need to choose a barn and fence paint to finish your project and protect your handiwork for years to come.
First, and most importantly, the paint you use for livestock enclosures and horse stalls should be non-toxic to animals, and second, it should be highly resilient to provide protection to surfaces that will receive a lot of traffic – and consequently many knocks and bumps – on a daily basis. A few options of barn and fence paint that are suitable for painting horse stalls and paddocks are discussed below.
Van Sickle Barn & Outbuilding Paint
Van Sickle Oil-Based Barn & Outbuilding Paint is a lead-free, non-toxic livestock friendly paint that is suitable for painting horse stalls and livestock barns as well as paddock fences. Made from resins, linseed oil, and fade resistant pigments, it is a hard-wearing paint specially formulated for exterior wood surfaces such as farm buildings, barns, and farm fencing.
Van Sickle Oil-Based Barn and Outbuilding Paint is available in 1 gallon, 5 gallon, and 55 gallon units and in an economy, premium or super premium quality depending on your budget and performance demands,. It comes in a range of colors, including black, white, green, red, and flaming scarlet in a choice of semi-gloss, gloss or satin finish. Surfaces need to be properly prepared and primed with Van Sickle Oil Primer prior to using it.
Farm Paint Barn & Fence Paint
Farm Paint Barn & Fence Paint is a livestock friendly acrylic water-based paint that is non-toxic to animals when dry, and thus suitable for painting horse stalls, barns, and paddock fences. This environmentally friendly product comes in black, white, red, grey and green, and can be applied by brush, spray or roller with one coat coverage.
It is available in 4.75 gallon and 0.9 gallon pails. The coverage is approximately 95 to 100 square feet per gallon (a 4.75 gallon pail will cover an area of approximately 450 to 475 square feet per coat), but this varies depending on how porous the surface being painted is. No primer is necessary but surfaces must be clean, dry and dirt and contaminant free. Purchase it direct from FarmPaint.com
Valspar Barn & Fence Paint – Premium (with Latex Linseed Oil)
This top of the range offering from Valspar introduces a unique paint, offering a non-toxic latex-based paint fortified with linseed oil. This paint is easy to apply, cleans up with soap and water, and offers the flexibility and breathability of latex paint, combined with the deep penetrating action of linseed oil for a long-lasting durable finish, which is excellent for restoring weathered wooden surfaces.
It is self-priming, so it requires no primer, but it does require a second coat. After applying, it is touch dry in one hour, but it is recommended to allow painted surfaces to dry overnight before applying a second coat. It is resistant to fade and mildew, and is also fume-resistant and non-toxic, which makes it suitable to paint livestock and horse stalls with.
It comes in 1 gallon and 5 gallon units. The coverage is approximately 350 to 400 square feet per gallon. Self-priming, with the first coat acting as the primer. Available in red and white.
When deciding what paint should be used to paint horse stalls or barns that house livestock, it is best to choose a non-toxic, livestock friendly paint that is environmentally friendly, durable enough to withstand high traffic, and which won’t fade, peel or weather. Barn and fence paint is the best solution, as these paints generally live up to these expectations, as they are specially formulated to be animal friendly and hard wearing, and are thus suitable for painting horse stalls, livestock stalls, farm outbuildings, as well as paddock fences.
Van Sickle Barn & Outdoor Paint is a linseed oil-based paint that penetrates deep into the wood to provide long lasting protection, but it does require a primer, whereas the Farm Paint Barn & Outdoor Paint is an acrylic water-based paint that requires no primer and can be painted directly onto clean, dry wood surfaces for a durable finish. Valspar Barn & Fence Premier Latex Linseed Oil Paint 
Featured Image By Jdshepard, via Wikimedia Commons