Old ~ New

We are nearing the finish

This is what the old fence looked like a month ago

along the front road

Now it looks like this

And this

And this

I'm not completely finished painting but I will be back out there tomorrow.

Fence Painting

Just a reminder, this is what I have in the front pasture. Its fresh wood, not painted, 

just shining white in the sunshine.

I started painting the outside front black at 4:00pm.

4 minutes later I was this far along.

14 minutes later...

29 minutes after I began...

I painted the entire outside front fence in 1 hour 49 minutes.

It was DARK out when I finished so there is a chance I missed a spot.

I'll be back out tomorrow morning to do the inside of the front & head up toward the house. I have about 4 gallons of paint left, just hope its enough to complete the job.

And There It Is

The front fence is in,  

except for the electric. I could put horses out there tomorrow if I so desired but I'm going to wait for the electric fencing to go in. I really want to see Mack get hit with that.

And the field fencing isn't up yet either but we're not putting the dogs in here yet either.

Its about 5 feet tall, just enough that the horses probably won't jump over it.

New Fences

When horses go wandering, new fences are in order.

This is part of what we're replacing, its along the front of our property, bordering the road.

The posts are a mix of old & older, most rotten and only standing up because of all the bushes and weeds in the ditch. The boards are all rotten also.

It was all taken down, along with the barbed wire & field fencing. 

Then the bushes and weeds were mowed down.

To make it a little nicer looking, the front 20 feet were rototilled and evened out, 

grass hay was spread over it and the tractor tires flattened it out. 

The fence line was moved back about 10 feet so that there will be a nice area for grass and ornamental trees to be planted.

New 6x8 posts were cemented in every 16 feet and 4x4s were put in between them.

This is what it looks like today.

Up close, notice how it was done: 

All the boards are 1"x6"x16', 

the top boards were started on post one, goes over post 2 and ends at 3. 

The second board down begins on post 2, goes over 3 and ends at 4. 

The 5thrid and fourth boards do this also. Supposedly this makes the boards stronger.

Field fencing will be put up also to keep dogs in and provide additional strength, and electric braid will be put at the top to discourage horses from leaning over it and knocking it down.

Today all the old fencing was carried to the back pasture and thrown onto the burn pile.

There is an easement at the other end of this fence from the driveway that was left open, we will put a gate in it so that the easement never disappears.

August Was Busy

The horse runs are almost ready to use. One has buckshot, the rest have just builders sand.

This is the second run, behind the second stall. I think this is Wifi's stall & run. I still need to fill the post holes with gravel or move sand before I put any horses in them.

That's the first stall, probably Gus's run. Currently there are Quail in that stall and he has use of the entire arena every night.

Took a trip over to Eastern Washington for 5 tons of grass alfalfa hay. I've never had a goofier looking load before.

It all made it home & we didn't lose any. 

Coming down Chinook & Cayuse Pass's, our truck brakes were smoking.

The back of the barn from the back pasture.

The front of the farm from beside the front pasture.

The barn in the evening sun.

We got the chicken coop moved. It was in this location when we moved in, it was covered in sticker bushes and the doors & windows were falling off. 

The chickens had a touch time figuring out where to go to bed but with a little (lot) of encouragement from us, they got ended up inside.

We are going to put the big run on the right side and a small one of the left. That way we can have separate areas for new chicks or special hens.  

Barn Lights

When I came home this evening...

Electrical Wires

The electrical wiring is being installed in the barn.

Box above a stall for center light.

Mr. Electrical. 

Barn Front & Loft

He's putting siding on the top front of the barn today.

And the loft is almost finished. Its only going over the aisle of the 3 middle stalls and a couple feet into those stalls. I'll be able to stand up there in about half of it but not near the stalls. 

So glad we're got the tractor for heavy lifting, makes it safer.

From above the front door, this is what it looks like so far.

From inside the wash rack. I had him cut it back so if the horses get stupid and go up they won't bash their heads.

This is the inside of the wash rack, looking up and out through the door.

This is through the same door but up into the stall the opposite direction.

Stable Comfort 10 Day Review

We started using the stalls with the Stable Comfort stall mats about 10 days ago and I want to do a short review.

What I've noticed the most and is super important to me is that Joey hasn't been stocked up in the mornings after being locked in the stall all night. We don't have outside runs ready yet so its just the stalls. I do not know if he's sleeping a lot or just standing around but I do know he's not making laps in it. So not stocking up is a SUPER DUPER PLUS. He has laid down a few times, I can tell by the shavings in his tail.

Wifi is the same as always in her stall.

What I do not like is that the pee goes wherever it wants and in both stalls that's right to where their hay bags hang. No one likes to eat hay that's been sitting in their pee. I'm thinking I might need to hang the hay nets on a different wall or have several spots so at least the floor can dry before using those spots again. I even switched the horses to each others stalls last night to see if it would make any difference but it didn't.

The only thing we did not do when installing was crown the concrete in the middle but it was poured before I ordered the mats. On flat floors with regular mats if Joey pees in the middle it stays in the middle.

Stable Comfort Stall Mats

The Stable Comfort stall mats are in and look great.

All the sides have been trimmed and doorways attached.

Boots has approved them for use.

Valentines Day brought a nice clean aisle, all the tools and wood put away or at least stacked neatly. The stalls look great.

Tonight I'll hang bucket holders and put up the stall divider wall and it will be ready for use.

The outside runs are not finished yet, there are not fences yet. 

we're expecting COLD temps this coming week with possible snow so I've got hay nets filled, the trough heater is ready to go and IF we decide to put horses in these stalls I have Wifi's heated water bucket for her.

This is the wash rack/grooming stall. Its going to have a ceiling & the plan is to paint the while thing white. I want lights in the back, high and low so if we need to see we will be able to.

The loft will be above these 3 stalls, in the middle of the barn over the aisle way. Should hold plenty of hay but still allow enough light to get in.

Along the back you can currently see its open at the eaves but we're going to close those, have to keep the birds out.

Only One More Door

The last top half dutch door is being built right this minute. 

The Comfort Stall mat is getting there, we had to have friends come over and help get the big roll of top layer rolled the other direction, hauled out of the barn & into the stall. It didn't want to go easily but we did get it inside the stall.

Then we had to hem & haw over position, currently its sitting there thinking about being a difficult thing. In the next few days we will complete that installation then add water buckets, corner feeders, (I don't NEED them) and outside fences. Then we're good to go.

I'll be able to use it before its got fences because I can put the horses into the arena during the days.

Comfort Stall Mats In

The Comfort Stall mats have been laid down. It took us a while to figure out which direction to go with each, a bit of trial and error but we finally got them figured out. 

Each section of cells weighs about 75# so it took both of us to move and position them. The stall measures 12'6" wide x 24' long and there was no way to make them just fit perfectly. Plus there was a packed end and a soft end of each cell, from how they were made and sewn closed.

We ended up laying them all down and had 4 extra at this point, one of which we knew would be fitted into the middle there. On the right you can see the single cells we took off a few of the bigger ones and we used those for other spots like beside the upright poles that hold up the barn and where the sewn ends were just not enough.

Since there were 3 completely extra sections we were able to cut them open and spread quite a big of the crumbled rubber over the tops. Photo below is just the extra out of the single cells.

This is with the 3 extra sections opened and it being spread out. 

Tomorrow we will purchase the carpet padding that goes over the crumble and under the big rubber top layer.