Thursday, March 29, 2012

Extreme Make Over: Barn Edition

Ahh, so my mother is here for a week helping me get started on all of those two person (or more) jobs. It's a great relief having her up here to help get everything sorted, and just getting started on some of these jobs. I had a family event where we were asked "what are you going to to up there for a week?"
That person obviously does not have a farm. A week is hardly enough time to get anything done. As a matter of fact, I'm starting to hyperventilate even now about how long my To Do list is even now.

Breaking the inertia seems to be the hardest step... But isn't it always?

OK, so this Extreme MakeOver is all about stalls. Well, mostly about stalls, I'll probably brag about some other improvements too, so skip over that if gratuitous excitement over someone else's work isn't your cup of tea. 
All right, we'll start with the improvements that I can't take credit for: roof and siding.
Before

After, halfway done...
And now for the work that I can take credit for... The stalls. We'll start with the 'before' which I'm not proud of. I realize it looks somewhat like a USPC "spot how many ways your horse can kill its self in this picture", but one does what they have to, and it was cold and raining outside. The horses were much happier in the dry if messy barn than out in the rain....
Not the best barn set up
Now, It was not ideal, but when I moved in, the barn had 30 years of junk cluttering it up (including three non working riding mowers). The above pictures is actually the improved version, believe it or not.

Before: Electrobraid stalls (not hot)

After: real working stall doors and real stall walls!
Now, there are no horses in my barn (yet) and there is still a fair about of work to be done... (see that old license plate above the stall? That is so gone). Also, for those math wizzes around, you may notice that two stalls has become three... When I layed out my plans, I came to the conclusion that RC and Delight did not need 12' x 15' stalls, and I would be wiser to make three 12' x 10' stalls, so that I could use that last stall for storage. Great idea, right?
Of course then I bought Tilly, so that third stall is now spoken for. Delight and Tilly are going to have to draw straws for who gets stuck next to RC.
Before: Yikes

After: Stall mats!
This last pair of pictures is like the easiest game of "spot the differences ever. The windows have been replaced with windows that open (wohoo!), the white washed log sides of my barn have been covered with plywood for protection from kicking or chewing, the stalls have walls and a door. And MATS!
OK, so my piece d'resistance is (are?) the stall mats. there were 15 mats total and they cam together nearly perfectly! Sure there was one or two that had to lay under the stall walls, but for off the shelf mats in a 100 year old barn (where the corners are not quite square) this is as close to perfect as I am capable of! Also, my hands hurt from cutting holes in the mats so that they could lay around the support beams. Ow...

Now I just have fencing, a bridge, gardening, mowing, driveway, shavings bay, and possible manure spreader to plan for....

3 comments:

  1. Nice work - I'll show to my husband for when we re-do our barn for horses. Thanks for sharing!

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