When dressage rider Kristen Becker lost all four of her horses in a barn fire earlier this year, she was first faced with trying to recover from the catastrophe. Becker had been aiming for the Young Adult “Brentina Cup” Grand Prix classes in her final year of eligibility before her top mount Ramses was one of 18 killed in the fire at Brookwood Equestrian Center in Bishop, Ga.

A fast-moving brush fire tore through hunter/jumper trainer Julie Winkel’s Maplewood Stables in the Pleasant Valley area of Reno, Nev., on Jan. 19. No horses or humans were injured, but there is significant damage to the property, and Winkel’s home was destroyed.

Around noon Winkel was at home and saw the fire in the distance.

A fire has destroyed the barn at Over The Hill Farm in South Abington Township, Pa., killing 23 horses.

More than 100 fire fighters from a dozen departments were called to the scene at 6 p.m. on Sunday, July 24. Six horses that were kept in the barn survived the fire, and 23 horses perished. Of the six horses that survived, three were badly burned and three escaped unscathed.

At 12:30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 31, a fire destroyed Boyd Martin’s barn at Phillip Dutton's True Prospect Farm in West Grove, Pa. Six horses died and many others were injured.

Martin’s assistant Lillian Heard was staying with a friend above the barn for the night and smelled smoke shortly after midnight.

“They rushed downstairs and started pulling horses out,” said Kate Brown, who works for Dutton and lives on the farm. “We don’t know what caused the fire.”

Check back every Wednesday through Feb. 24 for our continuing series on Farm Design, sponsored by VirginiaCountryProperties.com.

It’s hard to forget the terrifying barn fire scene in Black Beauty. While we no longer use kerosene lamps for light these days, fire is still a frightening and very real threat to the safety of your farm and horses. However, fires are also preventable if the right precautions are taken.