Another Barn Project

We love almost everything about the barn here at Oak Creek Ranch.  It's big, it's solid, it has great ventilation; it has a tack room, a bathroom, and a wash stall with hot water.

On the right: storage room/stall, tack room, wash stall, feed room/stall

It also has birds that nest up in the ceiling.  We've been using the two stalls on the tack room side as rooms rather than stalls.  The bigger stall is where we stacked the boxes of belongings from the house at Aspen Meadows that don't fit in this house -- primarily books.  We also store all the extra tack that accumulates over the years but for which we have no immediate need.  The birds poop all over the boxes and all the nests that fall down (or are pushed down during bird nest remodeling) fall on the boxes.  Its pretty disgusting.

The other empty stall, past the wash rack area, is used as a feed room.  We mix up the horses morning vitamins and supplements in here; it houses the cat and her food, goat supplements and the cabinet full of poultices, bandages and medications.  It was also caked in bird poop.  Those of you who know Brett well, will understand when I say that we both found the situation to be deeply unacceptable.  Brett has been thinking about how to put a ceiling or cover over the stall without it looking tacky.

While I was gone last weekend, he and our neighbor put up a ceiling.  When I got home, it was finished and Brett had cleaned the bird poop off of the table, the cabinet, my show tack box and the Rubbermaid container for extra bags of chicken and dog feed.  It looks amazing.

And it is staying clean.  Brett and Marv (the neighbor) were going to put wood siding over the ceiling to give it a more finished look.  I much prefer the open, rustic look so Brett has agreed to leave it as is.

Now we have a clean, sanitary place to mix the horses buckets and Passage has a clean bedroom.  We are loving it.  

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?

Hanging Out in the Barn

Our neighbor, Cindy, got us an appointment with her farrier today.  He's very good but he wasn't taking on any new clients.  She begged and pleaded on our behalf and he agreed to give us a try.  Brett vacuumed out the last bits of debris in the stalls and brought the horses in so they would be ready for their trims.  Brett wanted to have the horses settled in the barn when the farrier, Greg, arrived.  While the horses checked out their new digs, Brett put up their name plates and hung their halters.

Jackson couldn't believe his luck.  A stall!  Of his own!  At Aspen Meadows, he was out in the paddock and he missed being in the barn with the others.  It was better for his feet to be in the paddock so when Mufasa arrived we gave away his stall.  Sorry Jackson.  Are you happy now?

Greg said that Jackson's hooves are nice and hard.  He said that it was a real shame that Jackson is insulin resistant, at such a young age, and that he's an exceptionally sweet horse. (I knew that).  Jackson has been doing great since we moved into Oak Creek Ranch and I'm hoping that he does well over the winter.  His weight is perfect and he's trotting around with no pain.  Keep it up Jackson.

Flash was non-plussed by the whole affair.  Ho-hum, he's seen it all.  A new stall and a new farrier aren't worth getting excited about.  His trim was uneventful.  The thing that does get his attention is the flash on the camera.  He hates it. Can you tell?

Winston thought his stall was the rumpus room.  He tried to get his halter off the hook, he played in his automatic waterer and he chewed on the wood..  His feet are strong and healthy.  No surprise.  He was a little nervous about Greg handling his hind feet but he'll get over that.  He's always nervous around new vets, farriers, and dentists.

Greg's favorite horse was Mufasa.  He loved Mufasa's large soft eyes, his kindness and his calmness.  Not to mention what a beautiful boy he is.  Greg pulled his hind shoes and we'll see how he does over the winter.  He'll always have to have shoes on the front because of the quarter crack on his front hoof.

 Brett and Greg hit it off big time.  No surprise there.  Brett always gets along well with our farriers.  Greg said he would be happy to continue working with our horses and Brett has a new friend.  He's collecting them faster than I can keep track.  It's great -- we're getting dinner and pot luck invitations, neighbors feed carrots to our horses, and Marv toots his horn when ever he drives by.

Passage supervised from her perch above the tack room.

Barn Project No. 1

A couple of you have been begging for pictures of the barn.  There hasn't been much to show.  Right now, the barn is strictly a storage area for boxes.  The stalls aren't ready for the horses even.  Brett brought the last load of stuff from storage yesterday and crammed it all into the barn with all the other boxes left by the movers.

Outside, between the west side of the barn and the round pen, there were a bunch of pens.  We had no use for so many pens -- seriously, we have enough animals already -- and it looked cluttered.

When Al and Vanessa came to visit the other day, Al gave Brett the name of a guy he uses for general work around his property.  The guy came over this morning to help Brett take out the pens and trim some trees.
It looks so much cleaner.

Do you see the blue door on the west wall of the barn?  It goes directly into the tack room.  Brett is going to install some tie rails and we'll tack up the horses there in the shade of the over-hang.  Brett somehow knew, because I forgot to say anything, to save the butterfly bush that was planted along the fence.  I tried to grow it, without success, at Aspen Meadows so I was pleased to see a happy, healthy specimen here.  It smells divine and it attracts butterflies.

Last week we had mild temperatures, in the mid 80s.  This week has been steadily getting warmer with highs in the 90s.  The dogs love the green grass in front of the house and the shady porch.

The horses were hugging the shade all afternoon.

We've been watering the front grass in the evenings while we sit on the porch with the dogs and a glass of wine.  The sprinklers work like misters, cooling us all down, and the grass is turning nice and green.

Barn Tour: Tack Room

The tack room is located across from Jackson's stall, close to the barn overhang and tie rails. 

On the right is the washer and dryer, hampers for dirty pads and rags, and a basket of clean rags.

On top of the dryer, are tins of horse cookies.

Above the washer/dryer are pictures of previous residents.  Tuff Stuff is still around but his name plate was originally shared with Little Lorenzo, a miniature donkey who died suddenly and unexpectedly at six months old.

Straight ahead are more wall of famers -- that's Mr. Mike my first horse in the loose photos.  He was a psycho OTTB -- unlike Strider who was a very safe and sane OTTB.

Brett found this old armoire and we filled it with supplies.

Don't tell Brett that I let Passage into the tack room.  She's not allowed ever since she got locked in a few times.

On the left wall is the saddle racks and western pads.

Basket of polo wraps, etc.

My saddles on the left, Brett's on the right.  Dressage on top, trail underneath.

And lastly, on the wall shared with the door we have the bridle racks, tack boxes and dressage saddle pads.

And that's our barn!

Barn Tour: Feed Room

The barn feed room is at the far end of the barn aisle, on the left, across from Flash's stall.  The door faces into Brett's work area which is an open section off the middle of the aisle.  The calendar is actually facing the aisle.  Did you notice that it is a barn calendar?

Open the door, and walk in.  Straight ahead of you is some metal shelving and a big plastic storage bin.  The big bin holds extra bags of sweet feed, bran and cat food.  The shelves hold the cat's bed, fecal sample collections supplies, extra TP for the bathroom, extra supplements, cat litter and misc supplies.

...and the cat is still in bed...

Looking to your right is a window that looks out into the aisle.  The window functions as a cat door.  We close it at night because it also functions as a raccoon door and they make an unholy mess of things.  There are bins here as well that hold Kalvin's senior feed and, at times, hay pellets.  Right now, we have a bunch of easy keepers so, except for Kalvin's feed, the bins are empty.

Looking to the left is the refrigerator.  We keep carrots for the horses in here, water bottles for me, soda for Brett and the farrier, and sugar cubes.  In the summer, Brett stocks the freezer with popsicles (for him) and ice cream drumsticks (for me).  Right now it only holds boots for icing the horse's legs should we need to do that.

Next to the refrigerator is the shop vac and a canister of cat food.

This shelf above the shop vac, holds the scale, paper towels and a bucket of baggies.

Okay, I'll admit that on a really hot day I will drink an A&W Rootbeer. 

Turning all the way back around, there is an old work table next to the door.  It has small bins holding sweet feed and vitamins.  Above the table is a white board where I keep track of the various supplements and meds for the horses and donkeys.  Things are pretty uncomplicated at the moment for which I am very thankful!  Each horse has a bucket for his morning mix.  Kalvin's bucket is over by the window, on top of his senior feed.