Creating my horse barn

[EddieWalker]

The history on the horses is that they belonged to a couple that work at the hospital with my wife. He was hit by a drunk driver a few years ago and wasn't expected to survive. He did and is probably 75%. He walks with a bad limp and is in pain all the time. They are in their late 60's and have decided that it's time to downsize and find good homes for their horses. Originally we where given the two babies, but as they saw what we where doing here, they asked if we would take two more. Their favorites. One of them is probably pregnant. All the signs are there. The other was in heat all week and there is a good chance that she is pregnant also.

As for gravel, I've thought about just a walkway to get to the the tack room. From what I've heard, but don't really know, it's easier to clean up horse manure from the dirt. With the stalls being open, we don't even know if the horses will use them for shelter or if they will just stand out in the rain. So far, they are just out in the middle of the field eating grass.

It's a wonderful feeling to see them out there. Hard to describe. I started clearing the land and building the fence 12 years ago. It was never a priority until we where given the horse over the summer. Then it became something that needed to get done. There is still a list of small things to do, but overall it's finally done!!!

Eddie

 

[ultrarunner]

Was at my brother's yesterday evening... as always... his horses are right there watching as I drive up to the house... they don't say much but are very expressive in other ways...

I'm zoned for two horses and started building a level pad and paddocks and then other projects came up... not really a horse person as they go but had alway thought having one... even if I was keeping them for others is something I wanted to try... had my own saddle for years...

My nieces are/were crazy about horses and their dad said no way... so you know where they like to spend their time...

Are you planning on riding or getting a buggy... I can see a new chapter starting for you and Karen...

My Dad always loved horses and would often saddle up one of my brother's geldings and go for a nice leisurely Sunday afternoon ride in the East Bay Regional Park... as a teen he work at Stateline Stables right behind the casinos on the California/Nevada border... place is now a State Park...

 

[Xfaxman]

Eddie, the barn looks great. But I see two things not great, halters on horses turned out in a pasture is a disaster waiting to happen and ribs showing on the malnourished horses.

 

[ddbackhoe]

Eddie, the barn looks great. But I see two things not great, halters on horses turned out in a pasture is a disaster waiting to happen and ribs showing on the malnourished horses.

View attachment 420500

Very good point. Sometimes leaving halters on is an ok thing. We use a breakaway.

The nylon halters this crew has on, have very little give. If the horse were to get caught on fence, tree branch, etc. the halter won't break before the horse does. A breakaway has a leather strap on the headband that will break if the horse gets tangled in something. You can get leather replacement headbands, or our nearby leather shop makes a buckle and short leather tab that goes inline with the existing halter. He charges 2.50 for them.

 

[EddieWalker]

The ribs are a concern and where wormed yesterday. We have a farrier coming out in the next week or two. Since they have been here, they have not stopped eating. It is our goal to get them healthy and happy.

From what we've read and learned so far, we are going to keep the halters on for now. That may change as things progress.

I do not have any desire to ride a horse. I've been on pack trips into the Rocky Mountains as far as 20 miles each way and couldn't wait to get off of the animal. I just don't care for it. Karen and our soon to be daughter in law, Lily, love to ride. Lily has the most experience, and we're hoping will be the one who rides them regularly. My desire and satisfaction comes from watching them and seeing them eating the grass. It's fun seeing them interact with each other and the other critters out there. The geese get right up in the middle of them, the ducks stay far away and Oscar seems to be oblivious to them, but they are very watchful of him.

Eddie

 

[WM75Guy]

The ribs are a concern and where wormed yesterday. We have a farrier coming out in the next week or two. Since they have been here, they have not stopped eating. It is our goal to get them healthy and happy.

From what we've read and learned so far, we are going to keep the halters on for now. That may change as things progress.

I do not have any desire to ride a horse. I've been on pack trips into the Rocky Mountains as far as 20 miles each way and couldn't wait to get off of the animal. I just don't care for it. Karen and our soon to be daughter in law, Lily, love to ride. Lily has the most experience, and we're hoping will be the one who rides them regularly. My desire and satisfaction comes from watching them and seeing them eating the grass. It's fun seeing them interact with each other and the other critters out there. The geese get right up in the middle of them, the ducks stay far away and Oscar seems to be oblivious to them, but they are very watchful of him.

Eddie

I would worm them again in two weeks, especially if you do not know if they had been wormed regularly. As far as wearing halters in the pasture we have done it till you can catch and halter the horse easily. After that they come off when out. Having a treat for them will help get them to come to you instead of walking away. Our horses come running up when we walk outside.

 

[jejeosborne]

I'm still trying to figure out how you find the time to get what you do done. Do you ever sleep?

 

[EddieWalker]

It's been a couple days now and they have calmed down a lot. They have started to spread out while feeding, but still follow the biggest one around. Today they finally came to the barn to eat out of the trough. Karen filled it with something called Ranch Pro Performance.













The tack room is 12x12 on the outside. It's just big enough to put everything in it and not be too crowded or cluttered. I'm guessing that we can store 40 square bales in there easily.







Eddie

 

[ultrarunner]

Eddie... how did you build your fence?

Is it wood with metal anchors to the ground with metal rail brackets?

 

[EddieWalker]

Fence is just standard white vinyl three rail fencing from Gardner Fencing. Since it's not very strong, we ran three rows of hot wire around it. One at the top for the horses, one down low for Oscar and one between the bottom and second railing for the coyotes and raccoon's. We have ducks in the pond and we loose one from time to time to predators. We are hoping the hot wire will keep them out. It took ten minutes for one of the horses to touch the wire. She jumped straight up, all four feet off the ground, then spun around and rain away from the fence!! Later on in the day, another one did something similar. Those are the two that we saw get zapped. Hopefully that will be enough and they wont challenge it again. The charger is rated for 2 juels and my fence reading voltage meter tool maxes out at 7,000 volts when testing it. If you stand close enough to the fence, it will arc over to you. I got hit that way, it went right through my sweatshirt and it felt like a static electricity shop. Strong and to the point. While setting up the fence I got zapped real good by touching the wire while trying to adjust it and that was much worse then anything I've felt while working on a house. Right down to the bone!!!



Eddie