Build a Barn: Hi all, its Heidi (Julies TV show producer) again for another installment of barn progress! Today I wanted to fill you in on how we decided on our layout and what it took just to get to the point to break ground. Our place isnt huge and the barn will be modest, but I hope to employ as many safety and easy horse-keeping tips as possible. I hope youll follow along and add in your ideas for larger places, too. This size is perfect for us right now! We moved to a place with 2 acres last year. It was listed as horse property but we quickly learned that not all real estate agents know everything about selling ag land. While two of our neighbors had horses, we learned AFTER the sale that we needed to apply to the town council to get permission for hooved animals. Panic attack! We chose this home because we could have my horse at home and one day get a pony for my daughter, Savannah. The home is in a neighborhood of 2-acre ranchettes and is near a pond, dirt roads and trails for riding space. It turns out that the permit wasnt hard to get, but it was a lengthy process. Because we are in the town limits, we need to remove manure from the land. We had to send letters to every neighbor within 500 yards of our home, show our plan for keeping the place clean, show that we would have shelter for the animals, and go before the town council in case there were questions. No neighbors objected and the council approved it with compliments that I had done all of my homework --but my blood pressure lowered once all was finished. Lesson to others-- make sure you know the town as well as the county regulations for horse ownership. Learn from my panic attack! Once we had full approval, we started through tons of barn-planning books and websites. Cherry Hills Horse Keeping on Small Acreage was a great resource. Also we had a book called Small Barn Plans and a whole board of ideas and layouts pinned on Pinterest (heres my brainstorming page: pinterest/juliegoodnight/barn-planning/ We downloaded a photo of our place from Google Earth and drew our ideal places for the barn, sacrifice paddock (room to move around without having access to the limited grass), and pastures. I want my horses to have ample turn out time and as much grazing time as possible. I know that we have small acreage for full turnout, but Q will get grazing time and I am shopping for a slow hay feeder to help keep him busy and eating the rest of the time. I am thrilled to get to know my two horsey neighbors, too. Kim and Tara live on either side of us and both have two horses. Kim has a round pen and is willing to share and were planning a small dressage arena. It will be fun to share our resources (anyone know what kind of legal arrangements we should make), have riding buddies and have more than 2 acres when we all work together. The barn we selected is a custom design. We decided to work with a barn consulting company. With my husbands job in the lumber industry, he can get the lumber easily and has an interest in building. American Barn Classics founder, John, sat down with us to layout our 24x32 barn. I want the horses to be out whenever possible, so the barn will have a lean-to on the paddock side (I call it the hangover). Well have two stalls, but I dont want the horses stalled unless necessary or if they need to be separated at feeding time. Inside, well have a concrete aisle way and a prepping/ hitching post area. Ill have a small tack area (I know I can fill this up, so Ill need organization ideas soon!). There will be lots of light with a window and doors on three sides. We will run electric and water out for electric, heated waterers. Ill talk more about the grounds and fencing plans soon. For now, its all about the barn. Jared (hubby) and John from ABC barns dug the holes for the poles and we will get those inspected by the town. (Did I mention that the building permit was $800?) It doesnt look like much now, but its great to see the shape. It helps me to understand the size and layout by seeing where the posts will be. More soon! --Heidi
Posted on: Wed, 06 Aug 2014 22:39:25 +0000
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