However, when I moved to Canaan, I knew my options for fulfilling my dream would be more limited. Land of any amount in Canaan comes at a premium price, unfortunately, because it is a vacation destination for so many. Additionally, very few real estate offerings were suitable for horses, within my budget, and/or had the kind of acreage I'd dreamed of. Even adjusting my original dream of 10-15 acres of pasture to 5-10 acres of pasture proved to be a big ask in this mountainous vacation destination ripe with more wetlands than firm ground.
Over time, I surrendered to the reality that no matter what I found in Canaan, it was going to have to be a small acreage farm in order to be affordable. This came with the acceptance that I'd have to feed hay year-round, designate and construct a durable sacrifice area, implement pasture rotation, and devise a manure management plan.
A small a commute would be critical to successfully implement this plan, which made real estate shopping all the trickier! Gaining permission from my HOA to bring the horses home to the lots next door was the best possible scenario. I was so very relieved when it became an option!
Making the Best Use of the Land
Once I received the go-ahead from the HOA in October, my mind began whirring anew with farm design options. Of course, I'd looked out on that land for years in advance dreaming about how I would design the fencing, fields, and barn, but those dreams were just that - dreams. Now, knowing that they would become a real, tangible thing, my planning took on a new fervor. I plotted and schemed how to design a farm in the best way possible on what would soon become my land.
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Draft Plan demonstrating how topography and prevailing winds play into the placement of the barn, dry lot, and pastures.
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The topography of the land is the biggest factor that contributed toward my options for farm layout. The pasture is gently sloping from the gravel road down toward the treeline (light yellow lines above roughly demonstrate the slope). Obviously, I want to make the most of this available pasture!
But I also want to do my best to provide adequate shelter from the elements for the horses because environment is much less forgiving up here on this ridge than where they currently live! Case in point: our old, heavy, vapor-soaked hot tub lid coupled with a very hefty chunk of wood was blown off the tub and off our porch last night. Anything I can do to get the horses out of the wicked winds that prevail from the west and northwest (and increasingly from the south as I'm noticing lately...thanks, climate change!) is preferred.
As luck would have it, achieving the goals of maximizing the available pasture & providing the horses with the best shelter is simply met by situating the barn and dry lot within the treeline. This allows the pasture area to remain open for rotational grazing while utilizing the forested area as a windbreak from the worst of the winds.
Oddly enough, this option didn't seem as obvious to me at first because the hillside that begins just beyond the treeline boasts a very steep slope (red lines in the image above). Fortunately, there is an old logging road bench at the start of the treeline that provides level ground before the steepest drop off (as Dave demonstrates, above)! What's more fortunate is that the area surrounding that road bench closest to my house is very mildly sloped in comparison to the surrounding land, making it an absolute perfect place for the barn!
Well, for one, finances helped determine what was possible. As much as I may wish and long for a barn with a covered arena, that simply is not within the realms of my financial abilities. Second to that, the land was going to limit anything too crazy (see: above). And third, I had to think about it from a pragmatic standpoint (not hard for me!): how could I provide shelter, hay/feed storage, and tack storage within one structure utilizing the available space in the best way possible?
After a lot of internet browsing, day dreaming, and endless sketches and doodles on any piece of paper that ended up in front of me no matter where I was, I settled on a rough-idea: A three stall, center aisle barn with a closed tack/feed room, a sizable area for ground-level hay storage, and an overhang where the stalls open up into the dry lot. The barn will have a roof with architectural shingles to match our house and the siding will be wood to meet the HOA guidelines - color TBD.
Reasons I selected this design
- The center aisle was just plain functional. It gives me room to groom, room for farrier work, room for vet work, room to unload hay and feed, room to generally maneuver and do horse and barn related everythings.
- I've grown up around a lot of barns with ground-level hay storage and they're a lot simpler and allow me to not purchase a hay elevator to store my hay. I will simply line that area with pallets to stack the hay. This achieves a long-time goal of not having to leave the barn to feed in the winter & will help encourage the horses to get out of the elements.
- I don't have, nor do I need, a ton of tack. A 10' x 12' combined feed and tack room will be more than sufficient for my needs. It will be closed off from the rest of the barn to protect from dust and will have a wooden floor that will be easy to sweep.
- The stalls opening to an overhang in the dry lot will provide the horses with a sheltered loafing area within the dry lot and will help minimize any precipitation blowing into the stall doors if I choose to leave them open. Additionally, it will prevent the need for me to fetch the horses for feeding as I'll be able to simply open the stalls for them to come eat.
So, how am I planning to achieve this? Well, for starters, the stalls opening into the dry lot is huge. The horses won't have to stand in mud or track it into the barn, and I won't have to walk through mud to feed or fetch them. I cannot tell you how freaking thrilled I am that this winter is my last fucking winter dealing with high-traffic barn areas that resemble the above. I am over mud caking to my boots and coating my horses legs!
The dry lot construction has a lot to do with how mud-free it remains (a post for the future as plans move forward). Beyond proper dry lot construction though, I've got to minimize the amount of sheet flow from the slightly uphill pasture into the dry lot. This will be accomplished with one hell of a French drain. I'm really grateful that the contractor doing my earth work is not only freaking amazing at his job but also has a lot of livestock and understands what I'm looking to achieve. It's a lot of money, but it's something that I'm happy to fork over in favor of mud-free feet!
Beyond the dry lot and barn being one contiguous area with a solid uphill French drain, a manure management plan and pasture rotation will be paramount to minimizing the amount of mud. For manure management, I will be mucking the dry lot often and mucking and/or dragging the pastures as often as necessary.
My pasture rotation will be contingent not only on the health of the grass within them but also the weather. If the weather has been exceptionally wet, I won't turn the horses out. I know how quickly horse hooves can destroy a wet pasture around here and would much rather preserve the pasture quality for years to come. I'll exercise the beasties enough by riding that it shouldn't be too big of a deal. Regardless, this will be a big change for us all. But I think it will ultimately benefit all parties while also keeping my land as healthy as possible! Which pleases my little conservation biologist soul to no end, and meets my other goal of doing this whole horse farm thing in a way that is best for the health of the land.
Fencing
My horses are pretty smart about fencing and have a lot of respect for every fence I've put them in, something for which I am very grateful! It means the world is my oyster so far as fencing options go. Though I do have to abide by my HOA, which requires building materials to be "natural", thus limiting the options to wood and metal.
As beautiful as a post and board or split rail fence can be, my feelings toward those aren't very warm and fuzzy. A large chunk of my husband's business in the summer revolves around re-staining/painting houses and decks to protect them from the weather. In the 4 years we've been together, he's re-stained several of the same places twice! Our weather in "Can-Rain" Valley is not kind to wooden exteriors. Having a wooden fence in this clime is basically a money pit. I would spend more time than I care to replacing and/or re-staining the damn thing. Just, no.
So, that leaves high tensile electric - a very popular option around here. And fortunately, I've got more than a few options for help to build the damn thing in short order at a good price. Winning! Two other bonuses to this type of fencing for my HOA are: (1) it will keep the viewshed open - a bargaining point of mine during my presentation, and (2) it will not change the way the snow drifts at all on the road along the top of the pastures - something my neighbor will appreciate in the winter.
Water
All of the farms I've grown up around, including the one where my horses currently reside, have perennial streams on the property. The pastures are designed so that the horses always have access to them. It's easy and stress-free.
But my farm is on a ridge top. There are multiple springs on this mountain of ours (our water system is connected to one of the bigger ones), but no springs exist on my property for the horses, which means I have to have a trough. No big deal. That's easy enough to fill and clean - especially with a couple goldfish residents! Add a de-icer in the winter and it's good to go year-round.
However, when the horses spent time at my friend's place for 2 months this past summer, I got to experience the sheer brilliance of their water system for the horses. It was such a simple improvement for a trough scenario.
They designed the gutter on their barn at a very slight angle so that the water would feed into their trough. They also added a small hole for overflow that allowed for a pipe connection to funnel the water away from the horse area. Absolutely brilliant when you consider how much rain we get! It basically guarantees that the only time necessary to fill the trough is when we have a drought period. (Drought? What is this foreign concept you speak of?). It is my plan to have Dave construct a similar gutter situation so I can have a nearly-identical setup. Not as simple as a stream, but pretty damn close!
But I also want to do my best to provide adequate shelter from the elements for the horses because environment is much less forgiving up here on this ridge than where they currently live! Case in point: our old, heavy, vapor-soaked hot tub lid coupled with a very hefty chunk of wood was blown off the tub and off our porch last night. Anything I can do to get the horses out of the wicked winds that prevail from the west and northwest (and increasingly from the south as I'm noticing lately...thanks, climate change!) is preferred.
As luck would have it, achieving the goals of maximizing the available pasture & providing the horses with the best shelter is simply met by situating the barn and dry lot within the treeline. This allows the pasture area to remain open for rotational grazing while utilizing the forested area as a windbreak from the worst of the winds.
 |
| For scale, Dave skiing on the old road bench just below the treeline. The pasture is above. This is just beyond the limits of the future dry lot. Fortunately, the area in front of Dave where the dry lot and barn will be has a much milder slope that will be more easily manipulated to level ground for the dry lot and barn. |
Oddly enough, this option didn't seem as obvious to me at first because the hillside that begins just beyond the treeline boasts a very steep slope (red lines in the image above). Fortunately, there is an old logging road bench at the start of the treeline that provides level ground before the steepest drop off (as Dave demonstrates, above)! What's more fortunate is that the area surrounding that road bench closest to my house is very mildly sloped in comparison to the surrounding land, making it an absolute perfect place for the barn!
Designing the Barn
I have dreamed of designing my own barn for literal decades. Strangely, once I knew my dream stood a chance at becoming reality my mind went totally blank for a few days. The options! I just... How could I possibly choose?!Well, for one, finances helped determine what was possible. As much as I may wish and long for a barn with a covered arena, that simply is not within the realms of my financial abilities. Second to that, the land was going to limit anything too crazy (see: above). And third, I had to think about it from a pragmatic standpoint (not hard for me!): how could I provide shelter, hay/feed storage, and tack storage within one structure utilizing the available space in the best way possible?
After a lot of internet browsing, day dreaming, and endless sketches and doodles on any piece of paper that ended up in front of me no matter where I was, I settled on a rough-idea: A three stall, center aisle barn with a closed tack/feed room, a sizable area for ground-level hay storage, and an overhang where the stalls open up into the dry lot. The barn will have a roof with architectural shingles to match our house and the siding will be wood to meet the HOA guidelines - color TBD.
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The current state of the Sketch Up design Dave is working on. I love having a contractor for a husband!
Tiny human (red shirt) in near corner for scale.
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The sliding doors won't actually have windows in them, but Google Sketch Up thinks they should. The back wall of my
tack/feed room WILL have a sizable window though. And the outside stalls will have small windows. I may also put one at the end of the aisle where we omitted the second sliding door because it will open to a steep hillside. |
Reasons I selected this design
- The center aisle was just plain functional. It gives me room to groom, room for farrier work, room for vet work, room to unload hay and feed, room to generally maneuver and do horse and barn related everythings.
- I've grown up around a lot of barns with ground-level hay storage and they're a lot simpler and allow me to not purchase a hay elevator to store my hay. I will simply line that area with pallets to stack the hay. This achieves a long-time goal of not having to leave the barn to feed in the winter & will help encourage the horses to get out of the elements.
- I don't have, nor do I need, a ton of tack. A 10' x 12' combined feed and tack room will be more than sufficient for my needs. It will be closed off from the rest of the barn to protect from dust and will have a wooden floor that will be easy to sweep.
- The stalls opening to an overhang in the dry lot will provide the horses with a sheltered loafing area within the dry lot and will help minimize any precipitation blowing into the stall doors if I choose to leave them open. Additionally, it will prevent the need for me to fetch the horses for feeding as I'll be able to simply open the stalls for them to come eat.
Mud Management
A HUGE component of my farm plan is preventing mud. See, I hate mud. I hate mud so fucking much. Unfortunately, mud is commonplace around these parts for much of the year. Such is life when you live in a temperate rainforest with the affectionate nickname of Can-Rain Valley (instead of Canaan Valley, which is pronounced ke-nayne as opposed to the Bibical kay-nen)! But still. I've thought long and hard for many years about how to avoid mud as much as possible if/when I designed my own property. |
| Current state of the high-traffic areas where I board the horses. YUCK. |
So, how am I planning to achieve this? Well, for starters, the stalls opening into the dry lot is huge. The horses won't have to stand in mud or track it into the barn, and I won't have to walk through mud to feed or fetch them. I cannot tell you how freaking thrilled I am that this winter is my last fucking winter dealing with high-traffic barn areas that resemble the above. I am over mud caking to my boots and coating my horses legs!
The dry lot construction has a lot to do with how mud-free it remains (a post for the future as plans move forward). Beyond proper dry lot construction though, I've got to minimize the amount of sheet flow from the slightly uphill pasture into the dry lot. This will be accomplished with one hell of a French drain. I'm really grateful that the contractor doing my earth work is not only freaking amazing at his job but also has a lot of livestock and understands what I'm looking to achieve. It's a lot of money, but it's something that I'm happy to fork over in favor of mud-free feet!
 |
The current state of my horses on blanket-free days. FML.
Also, the worst photo of Q ever because I couldn't back up
any more to take the photo & her front end is in a low spot.
Sorry, mare. |
Beyond the dry lot and barn being one contiguous area with a solid uphill French drain, a manure management plan and pasture rotation will be paramount to minimizing the amount of mud. For manure management, I will be mucking the dry lot often and mucking and/or dragging the pastures as often as necessary.
My pasture rotation will be contingent not only on the health of the grass within them but also the weather. If the weather has been exceptionally wet, I won't turn the horses out. I know how quickly horse hooves can destroy a wet pasture around here and would much rather preserve the pasture quality for years to come. I'll exercise the beasties enough by riding that it shouldn't be too big of a deal. Regardless, this will be a big change for us all. But I think it will ultimately benefit all parties while also keeping my land as healthy as possible! Which pleases my little conservation biologist soul to no end, and meets my other goal of doing this whole horse farm thing in a way that is best for the health of the land.
Fences & Water
The two remaining major aspects to complete the farm layout are fencing and water.Fencing
My horses are pretty smart about fencing and have a lot of respect for every fence I've put them in, something for which I am very grateful! It means the world is my oyster so far as fencing options go. Though I do have to abide by my HOA, which requires building materials to be "natural", thus limiting the options to wood and metal.
As beautiful as a post and board or split rail fence can be, my feelings toward those aren't very warm and fuzzy. A large chunk of my husband's business in the summer revolves around re-staining/painting houses and decks to protect them from the weather. In the 4 years we've been together, he's re-stained several of the same places twice! Our weather in "Can-Rain" Valley is not kind to wooden exteriors. Having a wooden fence in this clime is basically a money pit. I would spend more time than I care to replacing and/or re-staining the damn thing. Just, no.
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| My friend's beautiful fence and even more beautiful pasture. |
So, that leaves high tensile electric - a very popular option around here. And fortunately, I've got more than a few options for help to build the damn thing in short order at a good price. Winning! Two other bonuses to this type of fencing for my HOA are: (1) it will keep the viewshed open - a bargaining point of mine during my presentation, and (2) it will not change the way the snow drifts at all on the road along the top of the pastures - something my neighbor will appreciate in the winter.
Water
All of the farms I've grown up around, including the one where my horses currently reside, have perennial streams on the property. The pastures are designed so that the horses always have access to them. It's easy and stress-free.
But my farm is on a ridge top. There are multiple springs on this mountain of ours (our water system is connected to one of the bigger ones), but no springs exist on my property for the horses, which means I have to have a trough. No big deal. That's easy enough to fill and clean - especially with a couple goldfish residents! Add a de-icer in the winter and it's good to go year-round.
However, when the horses spent time at my friend's place for 2 months this past summer, I got to experience the sheer brilliance of their water system for the horses. It was such a simple improvement for a trough scenario.
 |
| Rain-fed trough with overflow being piped away from the field. |
They designed the gutter on their barn at a very slight angle so that the water would feed into their trough. They also added a small hole for overflow that allowed for a pipe connection to funnel the water away from the horse area. Absolutely brilliant when you consider how much rain we get! It basically guarantees that the only time necessary to fill the trough is when we have a drought period. (Drought? What is this foreign concept you speak of?). It is my plan to have Dave construct a similar gutter situation so I can have a nearly-identical setup. Not as simple as a stream, but pretty damn close!
: : : : :
So, there you have it! A rough plan of how the farm layout will be constructed on the landscape in the coming months. I'm still the very embodiment of excited and am creating lists upon lists of things to do to prep in the mean time. I'll keep the updates coming as things progress and continue to share more details on each step of the process as it unfolds.
I'd also like to extend a big thank you to everyone for your well-wishes on the first post of this series endeavor. It's fun to celebrate with the greater horse community and I'm looking forward to sharing more!
I'd also like to extend a big thank you to everyone for your well-wishes on the first post of this series endeavor. It's fun to celebrate with the greater horse community and I'm looking forward to sharing more!
So exciting! When do you break ground on the barn??
ReplyDeleteWeather-dependent, late April or early May! I'll be doing some pasture prep next month, I hope. They've been unmowed a few years and need some minor TLC to get back up to snuff.
DeleteI love seeing your thought process and what you're planning on doing. I'd love to have my horses at home on 20+ acres but I realize that it's so cost prohibitive that 10 acres would be worth it if I could swing it!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing
10 acres would be perfect with just a couple horses!
DeleteYour barn plan is pretty much exactly what I have at my house. It is a very nice set up! Given how my barn is situated I would only add a slider door opposite of the existing one to make it drive through-able. I don't think that will be an issue with how you're planning your barn and lot placement.
ReplyDeleteI originally had the barn turned 90° so the aisle ran basically parallel with the road bench and would open into the dry lot. But when I realized the increasingly common southern winds were going to be blowing straight into the stalls, I had to rotate the whole thing. That put the back sliding door opening to the hill totally negating the need for it! Hay deliveries will be made from the pasture, so plenty of space to turn around and maneuver for hay deliveries.
DeleteThat's good! The way my property is set up, the slider also opens to the pasture, but the only way in with a truck is through the covered part of the run. So if a truck is loaded high with hay, there's a significant clearance that needs to be factored in. There's no other way to access the pastures as a previous neighbor got very upset with the previous owners and revoked an outer pasture gate that used to exist. I've been scheming of a place to put another outer gate for a while that doesn't impede on neighboring property.
DeleteUgh, that is so frustrating about the issue with your neighbor! Fingers crossed you get things finagled soon.
Deletei love your plans - so thoughtful, so practical, so pretty!!! i gotta come out and see this all actually start to take shape :D
ReplyDeleteAusten has planted the seed for a possible barn raising party or something along those lines as things progress! I'll absolutely let you know. At the very least, perhaps y'all can come up for a long weekend of riding/visiting at some point.
DeleteYes plz to all these ideas! :)
Deletewow i missed part 1 somehow and now just caught up. How exciting and your barn (to be) is similar to my layout except I have the mud (UGH). BUT I plan on an overhang over the stalls in the future just for that. How cool that water system.We get so much rain here I will have to figure out something like that for us in the future. Our hay is also on ground level. So much easier to finagle. I am so so so excited for you! Can't wait to watch it all happen!
ReplyDeleteI do have two slider doors (one on each end) one has windows one doesn't. If you have a hill behind I can see not having the back one but it works for me. Also without the extra door it should be that much warmer in winter for your guys! YAY!!
Yay for ground level hay! And the prospect of an overhang! And that's a really good point about the warmer in winter without the door - I hadn't thought about that benefit. Definitely will be a plus next winter when the winds are rip-roaring.
DeleteI never thought I would have to worry about cold in the winter in my barn but yeah the doors let a lot of heat out and cold in!! So def worth NOT having with the cold (AND SNOW which would blow under door)! I am so excited for you!! this is a total dream come true! :)
DeleteNot sure how your water will be but if i were you i would put the pump/spigot IN THE Barn rather than out by the trough. SO much easier to keep from freezing.
Oh, yes! The spigot will absolutely be in the barn. That seemed like a no-brainer to me. But maybe not so much in areas that don't freeze like we do...
DeleteThat gutter system is SO GENIUS. SO SMART. Holy mackerel. Now I want every barn to have something like it.
ReplyDeleteI adore these posts, and can't wait to read the next one. :)
Right? They had so many little genius things like that around their property. They've offered to help me during any step of the process for my farm, which will be a huge asset!
DeleteThis looks great! I love it! I bet you're so excited too!
ReplyDeleteI'm basically vibrating with excitement on the daily lol
DeleteI like the sketchup. It's a good barn design. Mud management is huge. We're going to have to dig out dirt and replace with gravel and add a lot of french drains to redo the whole pasture/barn area this summer. We knew it needed doing when we bought the place, but didn't have time to get to it before winter. It's crazy to me how many horse people just accept mud as a requisite part of horses, but it really can be managed.
ReplyDeleteAGREED! 110%.
DeleteThis is so much fun, isn't it? And yes a french drain is essential. Are you building a riding ring?
ReplyDeleteYou are essentially building the same barn as I have! I have to say that I love it. And your's is better because it has an overhang. That's my next big project for Ed...(shhh don't tell him). Mine has sliding doors on both ends but your's make sense. The only change I made to mine was to shorten each stall by about 18 inches to have a small 'straight' stall at one end. That is handy to hang up farm implements and to have my fence charger. I find that my other side is packed to the rafters with hay and it's not quite enough for my two so I have to put the overflow into a shed. However, you get spring sooner so it's probably fine.
I am not building a ring - yet. It might be a possibility down the road though. This endeavor is all I can do financially right now. The contractor mentioned moving the dirt to an area that I think *could* become a small ring one day though! So we will see. For the time being, my downhill neighbor has one I think I will be able to use sometimes, and some other friends are building a covered one about a 10 minute trailer ride away! It's a really good time to be a horse person in Canaan.
DeleteTHAT IS SO COOL that this barn is so much like yours! 'Cause you basically have my dream property setup. I drool over all of your posts about it all. My stalls will be 10' x 12' because I don't have (or plan to have) very big horses nor do I plan to have them in the stalls much at all. The stalls at my current barn are even smaller (by about 8 inches), so I'm pretty confident these will be okay for my purposes.
Great point about hanging implements! I figure I will probably do that at the end of the aisle.
And hay storage - yeah, I figure I'll need to have a few deliveries throughout the year. My hope is to purchase it up front from the producer and then transport it as needed. People around here always seem to put it up and sell it throughout the season so there has to be a way to make that work. If not, another downhill neighbor has an empty barn I may be able to use!
A great plan. You might want to check out the many options for poly-electric wire instead of high tensile. All the same benefits, but easier, cheaper, longer lasting and much, much safer. I have seen soooo many horses maimed by high tensile wire. If a horse runs into that stuff in any way, it acts like piano wire and cuts them to ribbons. It won't break under pressure, it just stretches thinner and sharper, which is a major flaw.
ReplyDeleteCheck out PremierOne or Kencove for great alternatives. Have fun building.
Thanks for the advice. I'll look into it.
DeleteAwesome!!!! I have to admit I read this with a big smile on my face for two reasons! 1) I'm super excited for you and 2) I have almost an identical setup at my place. I have 3 sets of sliding doors (flat as a pancake here) and one set divides hay/implement storage. I just don't have the overhang for them to come and go from the stalls. I've thought about adding that, but the 2 main stalls would open right into the prevailing wind and would drift in like crazy.
ReplyDeleteI didn't design this place (would've added an outdoor pad for a wash rack when they poured the foundation) but they followed a lot of the same principles you mention. I just need to work on mud management now. There is 1 drain, but with 4-5 horses here now, it isn't enough. I need another drain off to the west side and some gravel to build the footing back up.
Also - funny you mentioned the south winds - we are just coming out of a blizzard that was totally from the SE!! I had to bring the horses in since they had no shelter.
I have electric braid (thick rope) and wood posts - it works really well 99% of the time. My fencing is 20yrs old, so I'm starting to have to replace some posts that are rotting. We are on wet clay and have a creek, so some spots are quite damp. I get a lot of snow, so I have some sagging wires from the drifting, but that is easily fixed in the spring.
Aahh! So exciting to hear that this general setup is so successful for many others. Thank you for sharing.
DeleteAnd thank you for the fencing recommendation. I'm definitely not married to the hi-tensile and am open to other options. I'm glad to hear the rope lasts so long - I wouldn't have guessed that.
I really like that gutter/trough idea! Fencing is our big project for this year, and now I'm inspired to work it in such a way that I can get the water trough next to the barn to catch runoff.
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome! You'll have to share photos of whatever you come up with. =)
DeleteCongrats - I know you are super excited! Looks like a lovely barn design. Initially I ran gutters on Val's run-in with a downspout draining into his water buckets, but then freaked out about water for drinking running over asphalt shingles - any reassuring thoughts on that? Also - would you share your french drain research sources? Wondering if that is an option for the boggy swamp that our island is becoming. :D
ReplyDeleteI've heard that after the initial leaching period (first few rains) for a new roof with newer shingles, the toxicity is pretty negligible. The whole "solution to pollution is dilution" adage, I suppose.
DeleteAnd I'm afraid I don't have research on French drains! They're a VERY common thing here for almost ALL building that occurs. I'm relying on my contractor for his advice in it and on my husband for his expertise and on our other contractor friends to pipe up as needed - boy, just typing that made me realize I'm kind of spoiled with good people. With mine, we are taking into account the increasing rain that our region is getting and the tentative plan is to make the thing slightly deeper and wider than the customary 12-18" wide by 3-4' deep. From there, my guess is that we will pipe the water to release over the hillside. Mostly, I just don't want to have to re-do anything down the line. I listen when others complain "If I could do this again, I would do ________" and am trying to incorporate as many of their regional solutions as possible.
So much fun to read this process! That trough is genius... and never would be something I'd think of since I grew up keeping horses in the desert! Ditto mud.
ReplyDeleteSomething I didn't see you mention, but we ran into in our barn - think about drainage in a wash rack area and "sweepability" of grooming area/aisle. We have a textured concrete floor that is great for traction, but sweeping it clean is a nightmare. We're in the middle of building barn #2 - I should ask my mom what all they changed vs kept the same this time around. I will say, we ditched feed doors in the stall fronts because our horses tended to rip their hay out of mangers to eat off the ground anyways - so now they eat out of old metal troughs that don't hold water anymore.
Oh gosh, your barn sounds nice! Even with the difficulty to sweep. ;-) Mine definitely won't be that lovely. I'm going to have stone dust floors that I will probably put mats over with time. Most barns around here have floors like this and it's just what I'm used to. The cost of pouring a concrete floor for the whole barn was super prohibitive for me. I imagine I'll have the option to rectify that one day, but it currently isn't on my radar.
DeleteThis is so cool. Very interested to watch it come to life :) And very jealous.
ReplyDeleteIt will be an exciting few months for sure!
DeleteAgreed, super Jelly! However, it doesn't go without hard work and so much more planning than I think people realize.
DeleteI have always thought that people are DUMMIES for not taking advantage of water collection on barn roofs to supply troughs, at least in the wet season! Also, I think that in a lot of areas, gates could be made about 200% more pleasant if shelters were placed close to/over gates, and the water from the shelter was transported away to water troughs with piping.
ReplyDeleteYou've put a ton of thought into this, so I'm wondering if swales ever came up in your water/mud management plan? I am very interested in them as a method of slowing water as it moves across the landscape and replenishing underwater aquifers. I'm not sure what the long term ramifications would be on your dry lot and barn, but on the surface it seems like they would be one method of reducing the water near your barn.
I'm very excited to watch this project progress!
From my limited understanding of swales, they're more of a way to capitalize on available water and move that water to better places or use it for storage. We definitely don't have a water shortage or storage problem on this landscape, haha. It rains too damn much anymore! I'd honestly worry that one would over top with water during rain events creating a bigger problem and/or would just be a muddy boggy mess most of the year with our soils.
ReplyDeleteInteresting! Good to know.
DeleteAlso, I pronounced it "Can-aaahhn" before I read your notes on it!
Super excited for you!!! What an amazing thing to not only get to have the horses home, but design it the way you want. I don't really like my barn and never would have built it this way. Its too big (16 stalls, an office, two tack rooms and the wash rack), the roof leaks (getting that fixed in the next few weeks), and the stall floors are pretty uneven. That begin said it has one thing I adore - the aisle and doors are wide enough I can pull my entire truck and trailer through it. It makes hay delivery a breeze and if there is ever an emergency and I need to get an injured/sick horse loaded from a stall I won't have to make them walk very far at all. When we moved in, I just pulled through and parked it inside to unload my tack and equipment.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see everything as it gets going. So so so happy for you!
That's a great point about picking up an injured horse right from the barn! I never thought about that option.
DeleteYAY! Looks like a great layout idea so far. I love that you are actually thinking about the land and winds when placing your barn, as so many people don't bother to do so. What an exciting time for you!!
ReplyDeleteWe have the craziest winds on this ridge! I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself if I subjected the horses to them more than necessary haha.
DeleteI'm so excited to see how this all develops! Sounds like you've really thought about so many important things, and you're figuring out a way to prioritize your needs along side the horses (and the HOA)!
ReplyDeleteIt's a lot more things to juggle than usual so far as farm development goes - but it sure is fun!
DeleteI love all the thought and care you put into this. I am absolutely curious - I was looking at rain catchment systems in california (since we do get drought but also experience some very wet winters and it would be nice not to waste that free water) and everything I read said that if I wanted to water animals with roof water I'd need to filter it first. I don't have a house yet to build such a system nor any dogs with with which to water but I am trying to be forward thinking. Is that not a problem there because it rains so often? or is filtering overkill?
ReplyDeleteI honestly don't know the answer. From what I have read, it seems that the initial leaching (first few rains) is the most toxic off of new shingles. After that, it is negligible. We get SO much rain in SUCH short periods that I feel the dilution factor has got to be pretty high for what is there. 🤷♀️ I will certainly have a hose and faucet and won't shy away from using it if I learn something otherwise.
DeleteYour excitement is contagious!
ReplyDelete😊😊😊
DeleteI loved reading this. I totally agree: mud is the literal pits. As a military fmaily, I have boarded all over and I am just sick to death of mud. I loved our time in the Sandhills of NC where everything was clean even in the middle of a gullywasher. In their current boarding situation, the pasture is essentially a perennial stream and they have been standing in mud for months. It amazes me the general lack of planning that often goes in to barns, both from a geological standpoint as well as an ease of cleaning/care standpoint. Husband will be retiring from the military in a couple of years and we will finally get to have the horses at home. I have spent plenty of time designing my ideal barn/pasture setup and #1 on the list is mud management.
ReplyDeleteOh man, the Sandhills sounds luxurious from a mud management standpoint! And I can empathize with having constantly wet feet from a perennial stream in the pasture after my horses literally lived in a wetland for a month last year. UGH. Wet feet all the damn time (yet, remarkably, no thrush). How exciting for you though to be designing your dream! It will be wonderful to have them home in a mud-free area. 😊
DeleteThis and the previous post just make me want to dance! Ha! It really has been a rough spring but I am so happy for you! Seeing the presentation and the build up makes me realize how intense this was for you. Wow - just wow. I appreciate so much so, you consistent ability to plan things out the way you do and then to share them with such a fines that allows even the dim, inexperienced, the ability to understand.
ReplyDeleteGood stuff. :)
It's not spring yet! 😜😜
DeleteAnd thank you! Last fall was SUPER intense and really the whole period between then and being under contract for the land was overwhelming. I'm so grateful to be over that hump!
French drain info/design - https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=forums&srcid=MDE2NTQ3NDc4NzE1MzY3Nzg0NTIBMTQzNzEwNzkzMjI1MTIxNzYxNTgBZDNUZEJkYklBZ0FKATAuMQEBdjI&authuser=0
ReplyDeleteYour horses will be at home with you!! Nothing is better.
Thanks for the info!
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