Our farm is continually growing! We hope to offer boarding in the future - making stalls and also individual and group turn-out pastures available for overnight or long-term board. We are working on a large, solid wall round pen for training and turn-out time. We are also planning work on a large, outside arena and marked trails.
We are currently working on the following facilities:
Update 11-17-09: The stalls are currently being fabricated, but are almost complete. Our custom swing out dividers for converting two stalls into one bigger mare/foal stall are currently being worked on.
Our barn plans include 10 stalls, a center wash rack, tack room, and feed room, and also two aisles. We've decided to use stall kits from Triton Barns (http://www.tritonbarns.com/). Each stall will have access to a 24+ feet run so the horses can get out and catch some fresh air at all times and weather permitting. Eight of the stalls are convertible to four double sized (mare/foal) stalls by a swing-out wall. We have some nice stall accessories planned including heat lamps for the mare/foal stalls for our babies born early in the year. We chose to put up a metal building to protect our horses from the elements providing great siding and solid roofing. Currently, our metal building is up and finished. Our concrete slab is poured for the tack room and our course brushed concrete wash rack base with drain is set. Our stalls are currently being fabricated. We will be installing those during December and January. The tack and feed rooms are currently under construction. The stall kits we chose are hot dip galvanized, post production, and include sliding doors with non-protruding latches. We wanted to maximize air flow in our barn since the South Texas weather includes many hot days so we are using vented stalls for all stall walls except those on the North side (to block the cold North wind). Vented stalls include the upper grill with vertical bars seen commonly in many barns. We chose to use #1 Southern Yellow Pine as our stall wood. There are two aisles in our barn. Each row of 5 stalls has its own aisle and the tack room, feed room, and wash rack are located in the center of the barn in between the two aisles.
Update 11-17-09: Our round pen is currently being fabricated and will be delivered about the same time the stalls are delivered. I'm thinking about footing options.
Our 70' solid wall round pen is currently being fabricated. The steel frame is hot dip galvanized and we are using treated lumber for the walls since our round pen will be outside in the elements. We will choose a soft, appropriate footing to use in the round pen.
I can't wait to start working on our in-hand obstacle course for our weanlings and yearlings. This course will include obstacles like a bridge, a blowing tarp, a car wash, brown and multi-colored poles, pipes, tires, a platform, straw bales, barrels, and various other unique objects. Obstacle courses are a great training tool on the path to a quiet horse.
The arena and marked trails will be added after the barn and round pen are completed. I am wanting to put up a simple 2 or 3 board wood fence for use as our arena walls. Prospective arena dimensions are 200' x 350', 100' x 200', and 200' x 400'.
The farm encompasses a good amount of acreage that is mostly flat terrain, but includes a large amount of wildlife. Deer, wild hogs, coyotes, roadrunners, and rabbits are commonly seen along with the occasional bobcat. At the back of the farm, a large, bay-fed, salt water lake and marsh offer exciting fishing and birding opportunities. Wildlife back there includes redfish, trout, stingray, egrets, blue heron, and roseate spoonbills.
