Slow Progress is Better than No Progress

Okay, I'll admit. I've been really grudgy and angry lately with regard to barn progress. Things stalled out for a solid week+ due to various things, and when I thought about putting together any kind of progress post I immediately had a bunch of negative thoughts because it felt like nothing was changing.

But then when I went back to check the date of my last progress post paired with the photos, I realized, Oh shit, we actually HAVE made progress. 

And this is precisely why this blog is invaluable. From horse training to barn building, when progress seems stagnated, I have but to review past entries to find that my mind is playing tricks on me and things are actually far better than they seem.

And so, despite thinking I had nothing to update on and would have nothing to update on for another forever, let me fill you in on what has happened since August 9! Cue: photo montage.

August 11

Barn door progress

Finally got my slow feed net for the basket which slowed the horses from finishing their daily ration in 3-4 hours to taking ~20 hours. WIN.

Such pretty stall walls!

Butttttt it's a total construction zone of chaos in the aisle

Cherry and maple

Inside the first stall

Closer detail

Inside the second stall

Makeshift feed area in second stall

Framed out third stall

Door progress

Still no siding in the horse area

Framing detail of back window

They took to the net surprisingly well! 

August 12

Sigh to the perpetual construction zone

All of my barn doors will look like this! Dave opted to even do them in the front, too.

Can't wait to see what it looks like with both doors

Gutter for the dry lot extending down the aisle

Framing for another barn door

A long, fragile gutter

Learning to manage these three during meals has been interesting. Stan is an ASSHOLE about food. I learned quickly that the hay basket alone wouldn't work.
For a short period, I would put hay in an additional net (not slow feed) to keep him away from the basket for a bit so the
others could eat for a time without being harrassed/beat up. That's what is happening in this shot.

Creeping one morning to see if they could all eat from the basket at once.
They're used to sharing a round bale feeder with their former herd mates,
so I had faith maybe the could share this and maybe just when I wasn't around?

Griffin, my low man on the totem pole had to be ready to run at a moment's notice, but he was getting some food this AM.

Front door framed out and up.

Um. Lady, this barn is supposed to be for me, yes? Not all this shit? - Griffin, probably

But I mean.... 

A peaceful summer evening. View to the west.

View to the east.

Dramatic clouds and lighting...and pony. He reared right after this photo because being asked to stand still was Too Much.

The first of what will be many foggy mornings.

Installing fence posts. Getting the fence installed has been A Thing. Spoiler alert, it still isn't done. 

Itsy bitsy baby ring-necked snake!

Prep for electrical work.

A door on the tack/feed room!

Still getting there with framing out the stalls...

All the stall doors framed out. The interior wood is 100 year old red spruce.

Framing of one door.

Yep. This doesn't suck.

Exterior siding going up under the overhang.

Oh look, the tack/feed room is really taking shape!

Pretty sweet!

Still a mess of an aisle way though...

So much chaos.

Shingles going up on the back under the eave

Odd panorama, but you get the idea.

August 22...this view really hasn't changed much in awhile. Except for the mulching progress!

More shingles on the back. Really starting to get an idea of what the finished picture will be like!

Electrical work 

My LED aisle lights are BRIGHT, y'all.

Completed siding under the overhang and a wealth of temporary hot tape lol

This asshole will forever live in his own 1/3 section of the dry lot. I'll have a slow feeder for him in short order.
Everyone is so much happier with this arrangement. Stan gets his food all to himself and the other two horses don't have new bite marks.
After Griffin turned up with a 6 inch long gash on his rump, I gave up on any hopes of finding a way to keep them all in the same area.
I could feed them in stalls only, but don't want them cooped up in there when they have a dry lot they can move about in.
I could put out multiple feeders (and still may try this one day in the future), but there isn't that much space and I'd like to minimize the
number of things I clutter it with.
And so for now, this is the solution that is working and keeping everyone happy and fed. YAY.

One partially complete stall door! Dave made them sliding doors to maximize the utilization of the space.

Just a beautiful evening ride with my neighbor

Got all three horses out!

I cannot even. I will never, ever, ever cease to be grateful that I live in this place and get to enjoy views like this.

Especially that I get to enjoy them on horseback.

Pretty damn amazing.

I had a weekend home alone for the first time in AGES. So what did I do? Mulched and seeded the shit out of all the disturbed areas finally!

IT LOOKS SO MUCH BETTER.

My anxiety lessened with every square inch that became seeded and mulched.

Even took care of the patchy areas.

And packed it on thick where the slopes were steepest.

SO MUCH WORK. But so worth it. So, so worth it.

Happy horses eating away (Stan under the overhang)

Another beautiful evening ride

The first time all three horses have been out together with their own riders since coming home!

Another beautiful sunset (the mowed grass is one of my gallop hills)

Lots of stops to let the horses graze 

Gotta get the behind the ears sunset shot! Even if Grif just wanted to eat.

Kate LOVED Q. She usually rides Grif and this was her first night on Q.
She squealed with delight more times than I could count.

And Miss Emma had a blast on Stanimal. I think these two will become a regular pair.

Wandering home.

And so, progress may be slow, but at least things are moving forward. I'll do my best to provide another update in a shorter time period than it's taken me to get this one out. I don't have last night's photos uploaded, so you'll have to wait for those. In the mean time, I will share that the exterior doors are completely framed out and ready to be hung and the shingles under the eave in the back have been completed. I also plugged my lights into a cool device that lets me turn them on and off with a remote from my house! This is amazing and will persist even after we aren't living on extension cords down there.

Everything gets a little easier every day as I get my routine dialed in. I'm slowly moving my things into the barn in a manner that works with the interim state of things. It's a bit chaotic having to shuffle around tools and dance under the temp fence, but I'm making it work. Having the horses home and in my care is worth all the dancing I have to do right now. Being able to see them daily and love on them is the greatest thing ever.