My Barn

Something you might not know about me is how much I love my barn. Several years before we made the move to the country I started saving up for my barn. If you've ever looked for a house in the country, it is a difficult process. There aren't a lot of nice homes on acreage that also have nice horse facilities. It's usually one or the other, but not both. After looking for quite a while we found our house. It was new, had a floor plan we liked, but it's definitely not our `dream home. My barn on the other hand was built to my specifications and I'm way more attached to it than I am to my house.

I got to choose the layout, color, doors, feeders, aisle width, everything! The walls are safe and kick proof. My stalls have outside Dutch doors. Each stall has feeders that can be opened from the aisle with one hand. The structure is completely fireproof and safe. The stall doors have grill tops and solid bottoms. The aisle has built in cross ties. I was able to have 12' sliding doors on each end of the aisle way for easy access for unloading hay. The tack room is completely enclosed with a window for natural light.

My barn is near perfect, but if I had it to do over again there are a few things I would change:

1. The tack room window should have been outside of the pasture fence. Since our fence was installed after the barn was built we could have easily done this. When you have a curious horse who has to be involved in everything, it's not wise to have a window within his reach. He broke it a couple times before Irv replaced it with plexiglass.
2. Add more windows to each end of the aisle to add more natural light. We had electricity installed not long after the barn was built, but it would be nice to have more natural light in there.
3. Have a cupola installed when the barn is built rather than afterwards. I would really like to have a unique weather vane and a cupola, but it's nearly impossible to get the builders to come back after they've finished their work.
4. Don't have Dutch doors on the north side of the barn. When the northerly wind blows and it's snowing that stall fills up with snow and ice because the door doesn't seal tightly.
5. Build the barn a little closer to the house for those bitterly cold winter days. Ours is about 100 yards from the house and it could have been closer.
6. Don't let your husband fill up the empty stall with hay. This prevents you from bringing home Ricky's stallion, a llama, an alpaca, a goat, a pig, a pony, a lamb, or any other creature that you want to save. (I think this was his plan.)
Jasper
Doc

I love my barn and would have a difficult time ever moving away from it even if it were to my dream home. I love it not only because I designed it but because it's filled with the creatures I have a passion for--my horses!  Not only do I love my barn and my critters, I love living in the country.  Never again will I live in town where I can see in my neighbor's windows.  The peace and serenity of the country life completes me.




I highly recommend Barnmaster barns.

Sometimes I even have uninvited guests move in because they know they'll be safe there (unless they're a snake).

Comments

Yogi♪♪♪ said…
It is a nice barn.

You could use that extra stall for an extra bedroom for when your relatives come visit.
August 12, 2010 at 7:39 AM
Sweetie said…
Love the post and the pictures! I think Yogi needs to be the one who stays in the barn next!
August 12, 2010 at 1:20 PM
polcat24 said…
No thats reserved for me. Seeing how we don't have a dog house thats where i go when i do somethin stupid! LOL
August 12, 2010 at 2:21 PM
Leslie said…
You sound so blissfully happy. So glad you found yourself!
August 20, 2010 at 2:08 PM
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