Starlight Lane Farm: Doubled

I expect this will be the last blog update for some time, and I'm going to make it count! 

Starlight Lane Farm has doubled in size. 

This spring, Dave and I made a last-minute decision to purchase an additional three lots. Real estate in our area has been absolutely INSANE since the pandemic. This area has never seen a boom quite like this. It's alarming and exciting and I will be interested to see how things pan out in the coming years. We certainly do not have the infrastructure to support a population boom, but I'm crossing my fingers that we'll get better internet at a minimum because these city people hate the lack of connection and love to raise hell about it... I digress. 

At any rate, the decision to purchase these lots changed a lot of things for the horses and myself. The biggest of which is that they no longer need to be dry lotted the majority of the time with carefully scheduled pasture rotations. Now, they get to return to a lifestyle of 24/7 turnout. They've got around 6½ acres of pasture to enjoy whenever they want now, and I have a one acre pasture now dedicated as riding space. 

Prepping the land and getting the fence built in for the new property went smoother than the first go around due to my simply knowing more, but the process was every bit as delayed and hiccupy as it was in 2019. Big plus of this go-round is that I did learn to independently operate quite a bit of equipment! Three different tractors, a mower, a brush hog, and a hydraulic post driver. I could have learned a skid steer + auger but opted out of that one because I'd had enough by that point!

Due to our closing date getting pushed 4-5 weeks later than we originally planned, my car accident, and Dave's ER visit, the majority of fence building ended up happening the weekend of July 4 and the following week. 

I could wax and wane poetically about the whole thing, but I think I'll opt to use photos to tell the story - per my usual.

Brush hogging the new acreage.

This was the most stress relieving day. The tractor was waiting on me when I got back from the hospital with Dave. I pretty much came home, changed clothes, and went straight out to hog. It was everything I needed and more after such a stressful 3 days.

It was an incredibly hot day. I had all the sun protection on, plus my cooling towel that helped me survive the OD 100. 

After a few hours, Dave came out with a pitcher of ice water for me and told me he'd take a turn while I cooled off and hydrated.

He helped me get the single shrub out of the pasture. Bye bye autumn olive!

After removing the autumn olive, I got back on the tractor for another hour. Dave came out to relieve me once more and finished the job while I took a quick shower and then sat on the porch sipping a beverage watching while he finished. It was SO RELAXING. And so well deserved after the number of days that preceded it. 

The ponies even came over to keep me company while I sipped on my drink and watched Dave finish prepping the new pasture. Pretty much everything you see in the distance is their new pasture. The house (barely visible in top left) is along one property line and the pasture otherwise follows the tree line. 

Ta da! All mowed and prepped and ready for line posts to be installed. (You can see the corner posts and braces already installed if you look closely.)

Tractor sitting and beer sipping after a long day. I can't wait to have my own tractor one day. 

Originally, the plan was to drive the posts with a hydraulic post driver on the back of a tractor. 

Kate came over and we tried our best to get after it. But the driver was sticking and so persnickety. We couldn't get it to drive a post more than about 8 inches. I know without a doubt there were no rocks bigger than a baseball so it wasn't an issue with the ground. (The topsoil up here is disgustingly beautiful. Hot damn.)

Well. Then Kate and I noticed this. Uh. Yeah. There's the problem! And there's no way what we did (the very little we did) caused this. SIGH. And so the decision was made that I would hand dig holes. Not ideal, but possible. There were only 24 line posts to install, so it wasn't too terrifying a prospect. 

I ended up digging six by myself this evening and then my back and body demanded a break. Austen, Mark, and Jenny were due to arrive the next day for the weekend and it was decided that we'd tackle it as a team. If I could dig six 22" deep holes on my own in 2 hours, we could probably make great progress as a small team. 

 The first step to digging posts is to enjoy a proper dog pile. My brother demonstrates.

The second step is to have your brother help your farmer friend butcher some animals and then coax him into bringing his auger and skid steer back up to my mountain top to auger line posts and expedite the day's process. (But not with that auger. That's for trees. We'd use a smaller one.)

Will ready to check the hole depth on the first hole of the day.

And so, with our small army of dogs and people, we set out to get the posts in the ground. We even took my 6 back out (ugh, that was a little painful to watch my hard work be exchanged for machinery lol) and redid them with the auger. 

I walked the perimeter of the pasture with the skid steer following, marked where I wanted the holes to be for each post, and then moved on. The team of dogs and people came behind and plumbed each post, refilled the hole, and tamped it. 

So many humans for this job. It was a riot. We had fillers and tampers and plumb-keepers and beer holders. 

Dave offering white claw as Austen keeps the post plumb while others tamp.

In all, there ended up being 13 people and 10 dogs on site. We had a crew of 7 doing the posts and a crew of 6 spectating and heckling. It truly takes a village sometimes!

I am so beyond grateful for this community. 

Looking out to the far corner of the pasture. 

Where we all ended up standing around after tamping the final post! Also worth noting how bundled up most folks are. On the 4th of July weekend it was quite chilly here. We had nights in the 40s and days in the upper 60s, low 70s. It was everything a Canaan Valley summer day should be and I loved it.

Once the weekend was over and guests had returned home, I spent several very early mornings (pre-sunrise and a little bit after sunrise) and evenings around sunset/dusk running lines for the fence. (This is sunrise.)

Fortunately, one fenceline (of three) is pre-existing and just needed a line of hot wire run across the top to discourage the horses (and my neighbors) from doing silly things. 

It was a beautiful way to start and end my days. (This is sunset.)

Once I opened the pasture up (of which I did take video but my horses are very unexciting about things like this and merely walked in, cantered four or five strides, then dropped their heads and got to grazing), I closed off the pasture closest to the house to become a permanent riding area. It's hard to see in this image, but I measured out a small dressage court and marked it. 

I eventually plan to setup my jump standards out here, but first opted to set trot and canter poles. Best to build back slowly to our jumping habits!

I also left a sizeable bridle path around the pasture for riding. I'm really pleased with this decision.

Additionally, you can see along this line how crappy the vegetation is. It was really thick golden rod through here and will take some time and seeding to bring it back as grass. With a little patience and work though, it'll be looking great in no time!

Another rising sun over the new pasture as seen from my upstairs loft window. Where the previous fenceline appears to be is now absent of wire so the horses can pass through as they choose. The posts remain so that I can opt to temp fence/tape it off if need in future and because they'd be more work than I care to exert to remove.

A mowed dressage court ripe and ready for riding!

And one more shot of the mowed dressage court at sunset last week. 

When I purchased my two lots and built the barn in 2019, having this additional acreage wasn't on my radar. In fact, I never foresaw it even being an option. I'm honestly still a bit shocked by how everything has worked out. This mountain top is my personal paradise. The horses are so happy, I'm so happy, and my hermit of a husband is so happy to be able to keep people and homes from blocking the views he loves so much. It seems like quite the fortunate stroke of serendipity to be where we are. My gratitude for this farm knows no bounds - and likely never will. I send my thanks to the Universe multiple times a day for this piece of paradise.

As I mentioned at the start of my June Highlights reel, I'm going to (likely) be taking a break from this blog. Temporarily, permanently, I don't know. Once again, if you'd like to follow along a little more real-time with my adventures, please follow me on Instagram @estout18

Barn & Pasture Updates, Improvements, and Hacks

It's crazy to think that Starlight Lane Farm has been a part of my life for over a year now. I can say with absolutely zero hesitation that having the horses at home has been the greatest thing ever. Especially considering the current state of the world and the pandemic. (I'll never stop counting my lucky stars that I completed the project last year.)

I knew when I announced the project's "completion" last year on the blog that I would still spend the better part of a year deciding on final organization for the space. And I have. And I will likely continue to improve and modify things as time goes on. I think that's just the nature of having horses at home though. There are always ways improve upon routines, whether they are improvements due to observations over time or simply a change in financial situations to allow for further investments (small or large). 

My improvements since my last post about barn glow-ups have been a result of both observations and monetary commitments. Though I'll admit that much of what I've done is a result of my creative MacGyvering. Anything to save money on my expensive hobby! (Or rather, guarantee that my limited equine budget has liberties in critical areas like vet care and diet.)

Originally, I thought I would post more frequently about my barn updates and hacks, but steady, consistent blogging simply isn't my reality these days. But maybe that's okay because one giant list is more satisfying to review - at least for me anyway. 😉

Rock "Patio" Around Water Spigot + Metal on Wall

This was a simple improvement project that just "came to me" one day as I was rinsing buckets this summer. Water inevitably splashes all about during various tasks around the spigot. This isn't a surprise and is not a big deal in the summer, but for the other three seasons, it could be something that makes life a bit more complicated. Additionally, the wood wall getting wet isn't a great thing long-term. The project didn't take much more than 30 minutes! I gathered the stones, placed them, settled the stonedust back around them, and screwed the metal to the wall. Big gains for not much effort!

All that alfalfa yuck on the stones is so much easier to clean than when it was on the stonedust!

Saddle Rack by Cross Ties

This project was another quick one precipitated by wanting to make things smoother/easier when other people joined me to ride - especially my friends who are new to horse things. It's so much easier to just set out the tack I want people to use before they arrive. I had already built this rudimentary saddle rack for the back of my truck in 2017 and basically just transferred it to the barn. 

Very simple. Super basic. 

Does the trick though.

And is out of the way most of the time.

Blanket Hangers

I love my swing-out blanket racks on my stall doors, but with their size and location they aren't ideal for drying my winter blankets and turnout sheets. They're very, very useful for my saddle pads though! So I picked up several basic hooks to put in my rafters to hang my winter blankets and turnout sheets. 

The stepping stool makes putting them up and taking them down easy peasy.

Liming of Second Pasture

In the spring, I limed the pasture closest to the house. This pasture had the most earth disturbance and was more "ready" to accept lime than the other pasture. So, I limed it first (with a buggy from Southern States) and opted to do the other later (by myself with a tiny spreader because the buggy proved to be too much trouble for a variety of reasons). 

Later was supposed to be in the spring, but that turned into summer, which turned into fall. (Liming really is not one of my favorite farm activities I've learned lol.) But I did it! By hand! And will forever more only buy pelleted lime because powdered lime is a royal PITA to spread (something I had heard but really needed to experience to fully appreciate/understand). 

It wasn't hard or miserable work to spread the lime, just tedious AF.

Hay Feeders in Stalls

As you're noticing, a lot of these improvements are things that will make my life (and the horses' lives) easier during the winter months. Last year, I moved the hay nets from their outdoor feeders into their stalls whenever the weather was inclement. Not the biggest deal in the world, but filling the nets can be a time consuming PITA made worse when they're frozen (my least favorite). 

For our second winter in the barn, I wanted to have feeders both in the dry lot and in the horses' stalls. This way I can simply fill the inside nets and be done with it. I don't have the nets ordered or attached to these feeders yet, but I do have all of the stuff needed to complete the project once I get the nets. 

The feeders are repurposed blue barrels I've hacked apart to my desire for various projects over the years. The nets will be attached to these feeders in similar fashion to the updates (below) to my outdoor feeders. 

It's bolted into the wall, don't worry. 

Bonus of the location is that when I do randomly bring them in during the summer with hay nets, all the scraps fall into the hay bin where they're much more likely to be eaten than if they were strewn about in the sawdust. 

Grif's will hold the same amount, the dimensions are just a touch different. When one works with scraps, one makes the best of the materials at hand lol. 

Improvements to Dry Lot Slow Feeders

These improvements were a long time coming to these feeders. Previously, the hay nets lined the inside of the feeders and were cinched closed with a drawstring/toggle/daisy chain. Opening/closing the drawstring top and daisy-chaining, while not horrible, was never fun in wet conditions and nigh impossible in wet-turned-frozen conditions. So, no more of that! 

I've upgraded to pex-tubing frames for the nets that are attached to the inside of the feeders. They hinge open and closed very easily. Now it's a simple clip-clip of two carabiners, open, dump hay, clip-clip closed. Cutting out the few minutes I used to deal with the drawstring closure has made my standard barn chores (mucking/feeding) drop to about 10 minutes per session on nice weather days. (Precip always slows things down a bit...moreso when its frozen.)

Grif demonstrating what a full hay bin with net attached to the frame looks like. 

Stan and Q's hay bins/frames are open here (and secured, don't worry).

For whatever reason, Grif manages to eat the same way out of his net now as he did before while Stan and Q struggle. The difference for the latter two is that their previous hack of picking the whole "bag" of netted hay out and shaking it about (it was attached to the feeder so wouldn't go far at all) doesn't work now. They're definitely getting enough to meet daily requirements, but they manage to generate a lot of "chopped" hay that stays at the bottom of the feeder. After two or three feedings, it builds up to the point where I opt to just pin the frames up for an hour or so to let them enjoy chopped hay of their own creation. 

A Second Stock Tank

This one is pretty straight forward, and very needed once I split the horses up. In the summers, not a big deal because I have various buckets I can fill for Grif. But in the winter, things get trickier because I don't trust Grif with heated buckets. Last winter, I re-opened the dry lot with a baffle in the middle to help protect Griffin from bullying and prevent Stan from being a grade-A asshole about food/space all of the time. Everyone had access to non-frozen water, but Grif did get chased around more than needed despite the baffle. So this year, I knew I'd be buying him a smaller stock tank + heater for winter. It's arrived, in place, and ready for winter.

End Walls on the Dry Lot Overhang Area

And finally, the biggest update to the barn yet? Extending the barn "walls" into the overhang area to help cut back on windblown precipitation (frozen or otherwise). Originally, I'd planned to do a wooden frame and tarps only. But then I realized Dave had no plans for extra metal sheets from building the barn last year, so I built combined metal + tarp walls. 

It's highly likely that [with time and finances] these walls will become permanent (and prettier). But for now, they definitely do the trick for providing a larger area out of the wind/precip for the horses. Ultimately, I want to see how the drifting snow is affected by the walls before committing to anything too ridiculous. Once I know more about how the walls will influence the snow, I've got plenty more metal sheeting and some additional burly clear plastic paneling Dave scrounged up to use toward my efforts. (I'd really like to have a solid wall that also allows some light through because I am already missing the extra light provided when that space was open.)

While I had a rudimentary idea in mind going into this project, I 110% made it up as I went along. And I'm not gonna lie, it turned out way better than I expected for bullshitting my way through it lol

Due to the angle of the overhang roof line, the tarps are not a perfect fit. But whatever. They're secured with lots of screws and washers at a lot of different points and will hopefully withstand a season of weather.

I really don't love the tarp look, but it's functional for now.

Definitely looks nicer the further away you are lol!

But despite the less-than-pleasing aesthetics of tarps, they're already making a big difference on windy days.