Stall Fronts Are In

In the last week four of the five stall fronts were installed and they look good.

It looks a bit dark in this photo but so far its not dark in there at all. But there are no exterior walls built yet either. We might start building those in the back & work our way to the front.

Some day I'll put all of these in a book to flip through so we can see all the changes as they happen.

Wifi

Joey

Our home

Our barn & arena

The large white pallet on the left is the Comfort Stall floor mat, can't wait to get that installed and have the horses try it out. 

Canada trip

I'll be taking a trip to Canada for the stall floor mats next week.

The horses are going to love them

It will also be good for Joeys old days and Wifi's young days.

Can't wait to see the horses walk on them for the first time.

The barn roof is nearing completion, tomorrow the insulation nd tin will do up above the first stall. Once we have the roof finished I can start with the interior. Stall fronts will be a bugger since they are so heavy but the tractor should be able to assist with that. I will be able to build stall dividers myself, those are incredibly easy. 

We sold the little red camper and the money will pay for new fences, which is another big chore.

Barn Roof Update

As I walked out to the barn last night I saw lights

The lights on the left are in the arena, on the right those are new, in the aisle way.

You can see the beautiful job he did, insulating and then metal on top of that. He's been working his butt off. Now its getting dark so early that he had to put lighting up. Its very bright.

Same view but other end, toward the chicken house and the house would be behind the chickens.

I love it.

The farmhouse table is almost finished, just needs stain or poly or whatever we decide to use. It was darn near perfect for out Thanksgiving meal.

Stall Floors Are IN

Barn

When we first bought this farm there were 3 rotten stalls alongside the arena. They weren't usable for horses but we did use them for pigs for a couple months but they were prone to flooding, badly.

Last year 'We' started tearing them down and all last winter the horses had a lean too without walls to get under in the nasty rain and cold. We brought in a lot of sand, which kept their feet dry.

We could put round bales under it too and they were good for a lot longer.

Then the roof came off and new post put into the ground.

Forms were build, metal grid put down.

Everything was leveled perfectly.

And concrete poured last week for the new aisle way. We had a good crew of men, a couple who have done this for a living and a few who have never done concrete ever before.

They did a beautiful job which couldn't have turned out better. 

As a final touch, I added Joeys last set of shoes, which we removed last month when he was officially retired, in a canter pattern about 15 feet inside the doorway. I'll see them every time I walk in.

Today was the planned pour day for the stall floors but the concrete companies were booked so next Friday is stall floor day. 

The roofing will be metal and its waiting in the arena but we still need all the roofing wood. 

Barn exterior will be T1-11 and the inside will be plywood walls with 2 X 10 dividers between each of the end stalls but the center stall (there are 5 stalls) which is going to be the grooming area/wash rack, will have plywood. There is a drain in center stall and water will be there with a small water heater and utility sink (somewhere).

Last May I purchased 5 used stall fronts for $1100, (what an incredible steal!) these are 8 feet tall and 12 feet wide made with heavy duty metal and true 2 inch wood fronts. There are feed doors and all the rollers and door track. The doors weigh over 100# each and the fronts are about 400#; they are HEAVY and difficult to move.

They are all rusty but not in terrible shape. I will be sand blasting these and repainting the metal black and freshening up the wood.

I've got 4 new corner feeders and 5 automatic waterers which will go outside for spring/summer/fall use and buckets for winter use.

 I was thinking of adding at least 1 Stable Comfort floor, a super soft rubber floor. Its nice for lame/old horses to have a soft bed. Its $786 and I can go to Canada to pick it up.

Table Clamps

Purchased the clamps to hold the table top together after we glue the top boards together. I didn't want to glue it but it will certainly be sturdier with glue.

Now There Are 12

All 12 of the supporting posts have been cemented into the ground.

Here you can see the aisle to the right and the stalls on the left.

 You'd think the arena would be measured correctly but this middle stall will be 10.5 feet wide. Its the one we're making into the wash rack/grooming stall. Really hoping the stall front will fit onto it since those measure out at 12 feet wide.