With all the changes in my life comes one more - the opportunity to purchase a home with a bit of property where I can park the sports cars ;)
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| Future pasture <3 |
Long story short, I went to look at one house, spied another I liked better across the street that wasn't on the market yet, tracked down the seller, and was able to make colour selections on the renos before I had even put an offer in ;) The realtors asked how I did it, and I'll tell you in one word: Google (or as my Mum says "Google-d-google"). It is crazy what you can find on the internet if you really put your mind to it, which is amazing and terrifying all at the same time LoL :D Regardless, I'm absolutely thrilled and feel so so blessed.
As this particular place has no horse set-up, I get to plan it all out, and I gotta say, the choices are overwhelming - and I'm thinking a lot about what I and the horses really need: what is non-negotiable and what is just nice to have...
Previously the both girls have lived in pasture, in "real" barns and in mare motels. Both girls cannot do 24-7 stalls. Tesla loves shelter + some shavings, Porsche just really wants to be able to see her friends lol.
Previously the both girls have lived in pasture, in "real" barns and in mare motels. Both girls cannot do 24-7 stalls. Tesla loves shelter + some shavings, Porsche just really wants to be able to see her friends lol.
A few things:
They will need some sort of shelter to get out of rain/snow/wind/sun - but overall the weather is mild here. My options are a modified mare motel-like setup or a small kit barn.
Most popular fencing in this area is vinyl, followed by electric.
so I thought I'd ask all you bloggers: what are must-have's for keeping horses at home?
(you can chime in, even if you board your horse not at home :)
(you can chime in, even if you board your horse not at home :)
Congratulations!! DO NOT DO VINYL FENCING. Before I moved to this barn it would have been at the top of my list, but it's been a maintenance nightmare. We replace on average 2-3 boards per week, and none of these are particularly young or rambunctious horses. I've even seen a horse walk over to the fence, put a foreleg over the middle board, and casually push down harder and harder until the board snapped, just for fun. The gates are weak, the caps come off the posts all the time, it's just not good fencing.
ReplyDeleteThat plus the fact that it needs washed regularly or else it turns green, and yeah, vinyl fencing is off my list forever. Giant pain in the ass.
Thanks - I'm super excited!! Yes, I am not a fan of vinyl after Tesla stepped into a vinyl gate jump and the thing shattered to pieces! (also it is super expensive!!)
DeleteI use electric and like it. I have the Horse Guard fencing with doesn’t require a ground (good if you get a lot of snow). Spend some time n the property figuring the prevailing winds and drainage patterns. If you have a few paddocks to rotate that is good because horse will eat the good stuff to the ground allowing the less good weedy stuff to take over. Figure out what you want to do with manure. I put mine in a cart and truck it to my pile far away from the barn. That works for me. I also have 3 piles so that I can age and use the composted manure.
ReplyDeleteAll wonderful suggestions, thank you Teresa!!!
DeleteThe property we moved to a couple of years ago has a Barnmaster barn, and I love it. The doors are all very smooth and easy to open and shut and I love that I can easily add onto it in the future. The backs of my stalls open into a small paddock, and there's a overhang off the back of the barn that provides shelter for the horses in inclement weather. (They're only locked in stalls during tornado weather.) The small paddock is my sacrifice area in the winter. It's about an acre, so there's plenty of room for everyone to move around. My barn also has water, electricity, and a bathroom, which I now consider essential, haha. Having an accessible source of electricity for the tank heater in winter is great because I am not running hundreds of feet of extension cord across the yard.
ReplyDeleteWe have boring old no-climb fencing (like this https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/red-brand-non-climb-horse-fence-60-in-x-200-ft) with a strand of electric on the top. It isn't terribly attractive, but it is inexpensive and low-maintenance.
Good luck with the new place!
Awesome!! Glad to hear good things about the Barnmaster! My parents have the no-climb wire fencing, as does the thoroughbred breeding farm up the street. I like that it keeps the dogs in/out too :)
DeleteCongrats! That's awesome. The vinyl fences are a mess. They fall apart so quickly for how much they cost and horses like to break them. I like a mix of wood for visual and electric to keep them from touching it. I like some of the more visual electric ones they make now. Try to find an Equine Affair/Convention sort of thing and go browse all the various options for fencing, housing, storage, amenities. I found that really helpful.
ReplyDeleteI'm thrilled to pieces! Yes, I'm thinking the girls will stay in pipe corral runs/ electric pastures until I decide what would really work best for them & me :) Overwhelmed by all the options really lol.
DeleteCongratulations! I've had my ponies at home for 20 years (10 acres in a rocky canyon on the outskirts of Los Angeles). Big things......Vehicle access everywhere-I fence with pipe corral, leaving panels removable so I can bring footing in, manure out, and I'm sorry this is grim, but one of my boyz passed in his stall a few years ago and I was glad I could remove panels/walls for access so that the aftermath wasn't more miserable than necessary and that I could get a vehicle to him rather than vice versa. Lights, again everywhere the ponies go. Stuff happens in the dark, trying to deal with flashlights makes drama worse. Cameras, because we're on a canyon wall I can't see all of the ponies from the house. Cameras let me do quick checks that all is okay without constantly running to the barn. WiFi in the barn for the cameras. A refrigerator in the barn for medications, water (especially for those 100 degree SoCal days), beer (just because ;), and carrots. Drainage, we built French drains all around the ponies' areas.
ReplyDeleteAll Fabulous points! Thank you!!
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