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.

New Post

The first row of upright posts have been in the ground for a few weeks,

this is the aaisle

Last weekend we got 2 posts for the second row,

these are the stalls

See that hill in the background? Our old farm is over there so we drove past today to see how they've changed things. Not much, if any changes. 

See the indent in the trees? That's a road, its directly across the valley from our farm. We drove down the road and checked out our farm from over there; nothing is hidden, that's for sure. If they are paying attention, they will see this new barn as it goes up.

Two days ago a coyote was in the yard, ready to catch on of my chickens so I had to scare it away. Now we're got a rifle out there for just in case. His paw prints are all over.

Barn Roof Plans

This rusty metal would be the PERFECT roof for my barn

But this is what it will look more like.

This is not a bad thing, just that I prefer the rusty stuff.

Chris is coming out this weekend to give us a quote on what a roof on the barn, shop and garage would cost us. The shop & garage are not included in the plans for the money we have now so those will be quoted for future project funds.

Maple

We have decided on a butcher block solid wood top on the island and thought we could purchase a premade one, maybe at IKEA or online, maybe at Lowes or Home Depot. We were wrong, we could order them from companies that charge an arm & a leg but not from a box store.

I put an ad on FB for one & the places were wanting $1,500 for a top, quite a lot more than I had planned on paying.

Then last week Ryan posted that he was selling his stash of boards that he had been hoarding for 7 years so I bought enough to make the island top, about 4x3.

 

 

We will have these cut down to 1x1 pieces and put it together. My dad has a nice shop with all the tools we'll need, all the cutting machines, all the flat spaces, clamps, correct glue, etc.

One more step closer to being finished.

 

This morning we installed the new Bosch dishwasher, finally figured out how to use it and I CAN'T HEAR IT GOING. I am upstairs but I've never had such a quiet machine before.



The first time we were ever here the back pasture was all weeds and sticker bushes,

sections of it were 20 feet high.

We've worked hard to get them under control and keep grass growing and its coming along nicely.

 

Now that the new barn is going in its time to get the ground ready but the bulldozer is out of commission so the Kubota is doing the work.

This is where the stalls and runs will be, the lean-too on the left will become the aisle way and the stalls will be on this side of it, with runs in front of the camera extending out to about the tractor. Its slanted to create run off and about another foot of dirt has to be removed so we can bring in sand for the runs.

 

This is where the gate to the back pasture is, I could barely get through all the weeds

back in October 2015.

 

 

There isn't any scotch broom growing here, because the ground has enough nitrogen for

grass to grow instead of just weeds.

 

 

 

 

 

 I really like the view of the barn from this angle, from under the maple tree.

It's going to be nice to update this in the coming months.

 

 

Two more views I can't wait to update, from inside the arena.

 

What Was, What Is

 
























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