Before and After: Barn

When we bought Oak Creek Ranch, there were pens and paddocks everywhere.  I'm sure they were all put to good use in its years as a riding school and boarding facility but we sure didn't need a million pens -- and it looked like a cluttered mess next to the barn.

First step, shortly after moving in, was taking down the pens.

We thought the area would be perfect for tacking up the horses since there is a door directly into the tack room along the barn wall and a nice deep area under the eaves.  Brett started digging post holes for the tie rails but it was slow going.  The ground is very hard with a road base type layer around the barn.  After chipping away at the holes for weeks, he got them dug and the posts installed.  He needed a small chain saw to finish the job -- he wanted to notch out the poles to complete the tie rails.  Guess what he got for Christmas (early):

While I was at work, he was busy working on the tie rails.

After completing construction of the tie rails, he brought in a load of decomposed granite and spread it out, leveling the ground a bit.  Then he put down stall mats and, voila, we have an awesome area to groom and tack up the horses.  Does he do exceptional work or what?