Prepping the New Barn

As I planned logistics of having a third equine, an opportunity too good to pass up fell in my lap (with the help of a friend). Jen was able to connect me with the owner of the stable and pasture that's just across the hay field from Windsor. 

It's a 5 minute walk from one barn to the other.

Close up of the barn (bottom right) and pasture 

This is an older barn, clearly the result of Frankenstein add-ons, and it hasn't seen horses in about 4 years. Understandably, it had fallen into disrepair. 

The right-hand portion with the shorter roof is the section I'm leasing and using. The left-hand (older) portion is being used by the owner for storage. 

Thankfully, Jen had the forethought to make a deal with the owner where she kept the pasture brush hogged in exchange for him mowing the non-pasture portions of Windsor. Because of her time and care, the pasture itself was in fantastic shape, consisting of mostly grass with some clover, and very few weeds.

Lush

Other than her attention to the pasture, the property really hadn't seen any maintenance since the last horse tenants moved out. It needed considerable work, but it had what I needed for a place to raise my filly and retire Missy to 24/7 turnout: electricity, LED lighting, well water, an automatic waterer in the pasture, 3 stalls with dutch door access to the pasture, a tack stall, room to store hay/bedding/feed, and a 2.5 acre pasture (split into 1.5 acres next to the stable and 1 acre that can be gated off). 

Sketch of the layout

So, daydreaming of having Missy raise Nova for me where I could handle them both every day, I set to work, taking stock of the current condition and making the place safe and functional once again. 

A note on the barn owners: They're good people who I've enjoyed getting to know the past couple months, but they are very much not horse people. They want to *see* horses in their front yard... without having to do any of the work that comes with horses. In light of that, I don't think they realized how much work the property needed. Due to life having thrown them some major curveballs, availability to help with repairs was almost nonexistent. Except for the husband manning his skid steer one afternoon, I was pretty much on my own as far as repairs. (Well, besides when I wrangled my husband, Malhon, into helping me.) However, the barn owners recognized the work, as well as supplies, we were putting into their property and gave me the first month's lease for free, encouraging me to continue treating the place as my own. 

A note on the order of things: I worked on many of these projects in tandem, focusing on whichever made the most sense given the weather and help I had available. For the sake of clarity (and my sanity), I'll describe one project at a time, although it means this post won't be in strict chronological order.

The entire pasture

The front paddock connected to the stable

First, I started with the pasture (while waiting for the owners to clear things they were storing out of the barn). It has beautiful fencing: painted, 4-board wood fence along the drive and woven wire with a top strand of coated high tensile along the woods. Unfortunately, several large trees had come down on the wire side of the fence, breaking off a dozen fence posts plus a corner post. This was the most costly repair, both in time and money, and I was grateful for Malhon's help. He's no stranger to putting in fence, and I could NOT have done this job without his help. 

What a mess

There IS a fence under there... somewhere.

I had to cut back the overgrown plants from the woods creeping into the pasture so we could access the fence. That alone took a several evenings, working from after I got off work to nightfall. 

I learned to use a chainsaw!

I did my part... but Malhon with his big chainsaw and the barn owner with his skid steer (both not pictured) did the lion's share of removing the trees.

Malhon used a rented dingo to drill new post holes, and once the posts were in and tamped, we got the fence stapled back in place and patched up.

Replacing this corner post and re-bracing it was a whole Thing. I am still grateful this was within Malhon's skill set. 

Mick waiting patiently while we worked on the fence.

Tessa curled up for a nap in the leaves.

The wood portion of the fence didn't require too much effort. Within one afternoon, I was able to replace the broken boards and reinforce any loose pieces. I took the time to remove any sharp pieces of old wire, etc., that I found along the way. 

The barn owner had a small stock of pre-painted spare boards I could use.

A lot of nails had come loose, so I replaced them with screws.

There were random pieces of wire left from an older version of the fence.

BONUS: A metal pipe I found sticking straight out of the ground, ready to cut a frog, that I dug out of the pasture.

The gate that separated the front and back paddocks was missing, so we hung what we had on hand.

The gate we needed: 16'
The gate we had: 14'

Problem solved for the short term

After those efforts, the pasture was 90% ready to go. The final project was the area behind the stable where the dutch doors connected the stalls to the pasture. I completed this one all on my own, over the course of many MANY hours, and it was a doozy. 

When I first toured the barn, I couldn't even get to the back side of the stalls, it was so overgrown.

Lots of invasive honeysuckle to be demolished, plus a carpet of winter creeper hiding underneath.

The brush blade on our weed whacker served me well, mulching everything in its path, which I then raked out in the sun to dry.

It's hard to tell, but this entire area was soul-crushing, boot-sucking muck. Prior tenants apparently put down layer after layer of mulch year after year as their mud control strategy... and it didn't age well. To start with, I placed a rubber mat outside each door, but I knew it would need more than that if I wanted to avoid fetlock deep mud and lost shoes.

So, I started digging it out.

On average, I had to take 9" of broken down mulch off the top to reach the base. (THANK GOODNESS THERE WAS A PACKED GRAVEL BASE)

Of course, I had to battle roots that had grown through it all.

One wheelbarrow at a time, I removed about 300 cubic feet of muck from about a 400 square foot area.

Note Missy "overseeing" from inside the stall. At this point, the stable was move-in ready, and I had both Miss and Pyro there to start acclimating Missy.

Frodo having just cast the One Ring into the fires of Mt. Doom vibes... "It's done."

I put the 12' panel I had on hand to good use, creating a "walk out" with no grass right behind the stalls.

This would give Nova a bit more space to move around as she transitioned from dry lot to pasture.

The final product. I am diligently removing fallen leaves and manure from this area so the organic matter doesn't break down into more mud.

Moving on, the auto waterer needed work, because of COURSE the auto waterer needed work. 

Where is the water shutoff? How is does the heater get power? Where are the plugs? These were mysteries no one seemed to have the answer to, so Malhon and I got to go exploring. 

One of the plugs was indeed missing, but I was able to order spares.

It holds water! 

We finally found the water shut off (in the hole beneath the waterer, only visible if you lifted the entire thing off it's concrete base). Loose pipes were re-cemented, the heater was replaced, heat tape was applied to the portions of pipe susceptible to freezing, and a new float valve was installed. Electricity was supplied via a buried drop cord from the stable...

...which had of course been chewed through by vermin. 

Likely a groundhog judging by the size of the hole.

When I pulled up the mats, I realized it did pretty extensive damage to the corner of the tack stall and one side of the spare stall.

Malhon was able to fit a new male end on the buried drop cord so it can be reused. (Hooray for not having to dig that project!) With that, the auto waterer was working and just needed that buried cord to be plugged in prior to cold weather. 

Moving on to the interior of the stable...

Tail of squirrel, anyone? (I'm guessing a cat left that surprise in one of the stalls.)

Once the barn owner had cleared his belongings from my side of the barn, my first actions were removing old bedding from the stalls and washing all surfaces. It was amazing what just taking the thick layer of dust off did for the place. It's honestly a really cool old barn with spacious stalls. There are chutes to distribute grain and hay into the stalls from the loft, although I'm not using the loft because I don't want to have to climb up there daily. 

Grain chute that went to a feed pan

Hay feeder at the bottom of another chute

There were a lot of little repairs to be done...

Like this dutch door... 

...but one of the biggest problems was the uneven ground beneath the mats.

It's hard to get pictures of it, but there were curled mat edges and lots of low spots where moisture pooled.

So, I pulled up all the mats and started leveling.

And leveling...

And leveling some more...

Until it was smooth enough that you wouldn't feel like you needed to find your sea legs while walking across the barn. 

Most of the base underneath the mats was sand, but a layer of lime had been sprinkled on top. That lime dust had compacted into something close to limestone, so I had to break it up before using a landscape rake and a board to level. I was able to preserve the gentle grade from the stalls down to the front of the barn, and while the surface wasn't perfect, it was a huge improvement over where it started.

There were a ton of mats, which I'm grateful for, but those suckers are HEAVY.

I took the opportunity to add some gravel around the water spigot

As well as outside the dutch doors

Once it was acceptable, I wetted the base, cleaned the mats, and moved them into position.

While there weren't enough mats to completely cover the floor of the barn, I still covered all of the high traffic areas.

I trimmed mats to fit around posts, etc.

The groundhog hole was filled with gravel, and any scraps of mat were placed in the tack stall.

At that point, I was able to bed the stalls,...

...hang buckets and hay nets,...

...and really make it feel like a stable!

I got my first hay delivery, and wow, I did not know how satisfying that could feel.

First with Miss and Pyro, then with Miss and Nova, I've been getting a feel for how I want to use the space and tweaking minor things in the setup. However, as I've shared in prior posts, they're all settled in, and I'm delighted to get to care for my girls in this stable. Here's a little walk through of the barn currently!

Main entrance to the barn and pasture

I was pleased to find there was plenty of room to park Missy's carriage in the stable, and the aisle guard gives me peace of mind on days I leave the big sliding door open or am handling Nova outside her stall. 

The stalls have built in stall guards that consist of a wood board on a hinge, like you can see on the spare stall on the right, but Nova quickly discovered she could duck under them, so I added these purple stall guards. The green stall front bag holds Missy's Back On Track gear for easy use. Each stall has its own light switch and a tie ring just outside.

I've got a heated water bowl and blanket for Tessa and barn kitties on the left, next to the carriage. That water spigot on the right drains my hose easily when I turn the water off, which is such a time saver with winter just around the corner.

I move my lawn chair and side table around a lot, depending on where I want to relax (typically wherever I have the best view of my ponies). Behind the chair, you can see the black plastic pallets I'll be storing my next delivery of hay on. 

The entrance to the tack stall

I honestly haven't used a lot of this since moving into the stable, so I'm sure I'll adjust my organization as I get a feel for how I use the space. However, I'm happy to have room for Missy's dressage saddle, bareback pad, saddle pads, western saddle, harness, bridles, etc.

My cross tie and grooming area. The sliding door straight ahead can open directly into the pasture. I'm trying to decide exactly where I want to have a "wash rack" area. If I were to put it out the main door (near my Yukon), I'm afraid the water would run into the front of the stable, so I might put it just inside the pasture where there's a nice slope for drainage away from the barn.

Cool old barn that it is, there are these antique harness racks already installed.

I originally thought I'd have my feed area in the tack room. However, it makes more sense now to use this built in shelving since I have to soak Missy's feed, and it's right next to the hose.

This setup is working well, and I prep feed in rubber pans on the top shelf.

Both stalls have two water buckets, a hay net, and a salt lick, but Nova got extra toys to prevent boredom. She hasn't paid the lickit any attention, but the hay ball was a winner.

The spare stall has been put on the back burner. Besides pulling up mats, I haven't really touched it.

I'm unsure how I want to utilize this space, but the ground hog hole will have to be addressed.

The walk out and dutch doors. I hung a hay pillow under the eaves of the stable so there's always one more hay net than there are horses when I have to coop them up to share the stalls and walk out.

Nova could probably duck under this stall guard... but since it just goes into the walk out I'm not too concerned. It mostly keeps Missy from disturbing her while she finishes her ration balancer.

This VIEW 
The sign on the right is for the "Moron Mile", the barn owner's go kart track. He hosts races a couple times a year that people travel from out of state to attend. I can't wait to see how Nova reacts, lol. I'm guessing she'll be hanging her head over the fence, asking for attention.

The auto waterer, functioning as intended. I placed pea gravel around the base.

You can just make out the wooden fence that separates the front and back paddocks.

The manure pit is between the stable and that run down shed in the corner. The plan is to use the front end loader to scoop it up once or twice a year and spread it on Windsor's hay field.

I've been using several different names to reference this stable, as it can get confusing when chatting with the Windsor co-op members as to which barn I mean. It won't be the "new barn" forever, so in addition to simply "my barn", it has earned the names "lower barn" (since it's down the hill from Windsor) and "Mare-ternity Ward" (my personal favorite). 

Looking across the hay field toward my barn and pasture

While it has been a labor intensive process to get this property back up and running as a horse stable, I'm loving the setup and am so thankful to get to see and interact with all THREE (3?!!) of my horses daily.