Fall Project: Living the Real Country Life
by
Adele Kurtz
5 Materials
Life in the country can be SOOOO beautiful
Or not.
IF you can figure out how to outsmart Mother Nature and the Critters Defiance.
I was naive enough to believe that if I built a beautiful wooden barn for my new well-bred horses they would stay out of the cold and the storms and live happily ever after.
WRONG! Horses don't like confined spaces and would rather stay outside, even in bad weather conditions.
I thought wooden fences & buildings looked more natural -- took my cues from Parelli's school of Natural Horsemanship in nearby Pagosa Springs and built the same setup they had. $$$$ That was 13 years ago.
Did you know that horses love to munch on wood? And lean against fences and --- This is what my expensive Parelli setup looked like last week, and what I had to do to work smarter with Nature & Horses.
You may not have horses -- but you may have a worn out shed, or a back building that could benefit from a little horse sense.
Or not.
IF you can figure out how to outsmart Mother Nature and the Critters Defiance.
I was naive enough to believe that if I built a beautiful wooden barn for my new well-bred horses they would stay out of the cold and the storms and live happily ever after.
WRONG! Horses don't like confined spaces and would rather stay outside, even in bad weather conditions.
I thought wooden fences & buildings looked more natural -- took my cues from Parelli's school of Natural Horsemanship in nearby Pagosa Springs and built the same setup they had. $$$$ That was 13 years ago.
Did you know that horses love to munch on wood? And lean against fences and --- This is what my expensive Parelli setup looked like last week, and what I had to do to work smarter with Nature & Horses.
You may not have horses -- but you may have a worn out shed, or a back building that could benefit from a little horse sense.
My 3-horse barn 13 years after....
The fence has been tested to its limits and the barn has been nibbled to nubs. We finally figured out that since the horses weren't going INside, we'd move the hay and horse clutter indoors and fix this up so it wasn't such an eyesore.
Really! Our champion Arabian-Thoroughbred, whose Man-O-War Sweepstakes bloodlines (Distant Cousin to SeaBiscuit) have exceeded typical American career earnings -- by far -- LOVES to chew - right thru the walls. And shuns going inside.
Well that's what barn-metal is for. Trendy now in urban applications all over the world -- galvanized corrugated sheet metal. Give it a good place to grip onto and ...
... up it goes! Meanwhile we replaced a few posts -- re-used most of the customized beauties... blended the new posts in by using the blackening treatment I talk about in my other deck post.
I trimmed out corners with metal flashing.
Some of the exposed edible areas got treated with Plastic Dip Rubberized spray paint. Hope Raven's Girls doesn't find this as tastey as natural cedar.
Around the door and above, we used composite decking planks. Stained over it with black so it blends better with the old stuff.
Hubby Rich & I are working on the new fence railing -- 5" x 660' 3-cable-reinforced vinyl.
Raven's Girl was very interested in every step -- came over our shoulders to check it out.
Buddy, the Tennessee Walker, ripped out the temporary fencing the first two nights and acted annoyed when we switched to a 3-rail in the areas they would now be allowed to share -- over the rails.
Yeah -- that was you Buddy! It was nice you didn't go anywhere. Just let us know that our workmanship still needed extra security. OK. done.
I redid the X-s in the center in composite decking.... Restained the centers and sides...
...but left a lot of Girl's artsy customization as token "GRAFFITTI ART." Come-on! Who's to say What's Art and What Isn't? She spent a lot of time creating those interesting textures and finishing details!
Ah Yes! Life in the Country can be beautiful once again.
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3 of 5 comments
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Not only am I crazy impressed- I'm jealous!!! Gorgeous Horses!
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Wow! This was really interesting to read and to see the transformation. I had no idea horses loved to snack on wood like that. Came out great though!
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