A fire early Thursday destroyed a horse barn used by a prominent Thoroughbred breeder and seller in Jessamine County.

The 20-stall barn on East Hickman Road, which typically houses mares and foals for Taylor Made Farm, was empty when the fire began. The farm had been moving horses recently, and no horses had been in the barn for a couple weeks, general farm manager Tom Hamm said.

"The most important thing is ... no people or horses got hurt," he said. "That's the positive out of this whole thing."

A neighbor reported the fire about 6:30 a.m. By the time firefighters arrived, the fire had engulfed the barn's tack room and about a third of the roof line was on fire, officials said.

Firefighters focused on preventing the fire from spreading to neighboring structures.

"We pulled up and we knew the amount of water it was going to take to extinguish it would be a little bit more than what we carry on the trucks," Jessamine Fire Chief Michael Rupard said.

Horses were being housed in another barn about 50 yards away, and farm workers got them outside safely, Rupard said. That barn had minor heat damage.

The cause had not been determined Thursday; Rupard said foul play was not suspected. There was electricity running to the barn, he said. State police were called in to help investigate, he said.

Josh Kegley: (859) 231-3197. Twitter: @HLpublicsafety.