diff --git a/src/Plots.jl b/src/Plots.jl
index 834117bd..1a043782 100644
--- a/src/Plots.jl
+++ b/src/Plots.jl
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ export
     scatter!,
     bar,
     bar!,
+    barh,
+    barh!,
     histogram,
     histogram!,
     histogram2d,
@@ -163,6 +165,8 @@ scatter(args...; kw...)    = plot(args...; kw...,  linetype = :scatter)
 scatter!(args...; kw...)   = plot!(args...; kw..., linetype = :scatter)
 bar(args...; kw...)        = plot(args...; kw...,  linetype = :bar)
 bar!(args...; kw...)       = plot!(args...; kw..., linetype = :bar)
+barh(args...; kw...)        = plot(args...; kw...,  linetype = :barh, orientation = :h)
+barh!(args...; kw...)       = plot!(args...; kw..., linetype = :barh, orientation = :h)
 histogram(args...; kw...)  = plot(args...; kw...,  linetype = :hist)
 histogram!(args...; kw...) = plot!(args...; kw..., linetype = :hist)
 histogram2d(args...; kw...)  = plot(args...; kw...,  linetype = :hist2d)
diff --git a/src/backends/pyplot.jl b/src/backends/pyplot.jl
index 2eb177ca..a934366e 100644
--- a/src/backends/pyplot.jl
+++ b/src/backends/pyplot.jl
@@ -458,20 +458,15 @@ function _add_series(pkg::PyPlotBackend, plt::Plot, d::KW)
 
     # bars
     if lt in (:bar, :sticks)
-        barx, bary = if isvertical(d)
-            x, y
-        else
-            y, x
-        end
-        handle = ax[:bar](barx, bary;
+        extrakw[isvertical(d) ? :width : :height] = (lt == :sticks ? 0.1 : 0.9)
+        handle = ax[isvertical(d) ? :bar : :barh](x, y;
             label = d[:label],
             zorder = plt.n + 0.5,
-            width = (lt == :sticks ? 0.1 : 0.9),
             color = pyfillcolor(d),
             edgecolor = pylinecolor(d),
             linewidth = d[:linewidth],
             align = "center",
-            orientation = (isvertical(d) ? "vertical" : "horizontal")
+            extrakw...
         )[1]
         push!(handles, handle)
     end
@@ -483,7 +478,7 @@ function _add_series(pkg::PyPlotBackend, plt::Plot, d::KW)
 
     # add the colorbar legend
     if plt.plotargs[:colorbar] != :none && haskey(extrakw, :cmap)
-        PyPlot.colorbar(handles[1], ax=ax)
+        PyPlot.colorbar(handles[end], ax=ax)
     end
 
     # this sets the bg color inside the grid