Projects

Part of the perks at the new barn is a wonderful owner who appreciates a low key, no drama atmosphere and takes pride in his property. Now that he has put concrete floors in most of the tack rooms, he repiped the water lines giving each stall a faucet of its own to make filling water tubs easier. These are all now underground which meant my mats had to move for a few days. Not a big deal since I really don't get to work ponies during the week with the time change. 

Mat #1 is the right front, #2 is the left front, #3 is the left rear and #4 is the right rear.

The barn owner sends me a text the other night that the water lines are done and the old ones overhead were all taken down. When I got there that night, he had moved the mats all back inside. "I know they aren't how you had them but I felt I should move them back in since I moved them out."  I can certainly appreciate that since they are heavy ass mats! I let him know that with the long weekend I would be moving them around, leveling the ground under them and cutting them to fit the aisleway.  I needed to bring my good knife home from work to make the job a lot quicker and easier and he replied with this- 👍👍👍 Monday night I got the front right mat (#1) leveled for the most part and cut to fit. That was an easy one!

Mat #2 was a bitch! Tuesday night I got the ground leveled but had to cut the whole end of the mat at an angle to fit the front of the stall and the wood protecting the spigot. I was able to get the notch for the spigot box done pretty easily, but the rest was going to take more time and more effort than I had that night. Wednesday night I got Mat #3 leveled and cut. That one went pretty quick and easy. Once I had the edges on the long side up against M#2, I could lay the short end on top of the base board and use it as a guide to cut along, pushing the mat down into place as I went. 

Mat #4 needs to be leveled and turned, then cut to fit and it should will drop into place pretty easily. Since there is enough room, I may get 2 more mats to put across the aisle in front of the gates. This would make it easier to sweep the shavings up and back into the stalls. The farrier is coming on Friday and will get to see and use the newly matted aisle to work in/on. I'm sure he will appreciate it! 

Some of you may have noticed that the way I laid out the mats, the seam down the middle is staggered or offset. It's more to the left in the two front mats and off to the right between the back two. If or when I put down 2 more, this one would also be more to the left. This is so that not only it has the appearance of brick or tile work but also the seams aren't all together. If a horse was to flip out and sit back in the ties, they would be less likely to get a hoof or shoe under the edge of the mats. The fewer edges in one area- the fewer places to get caught up and things to come undone. Since there is a covered area over the door of the barn, I may level that and put a couple mats down so the other boarders can use the cross ties too with their horse outside so the ponies in their stalls won't be interfering with them if the farrier or vet is working on their horse. 

The next project will be to get some plywood to put between the bottom 2 rails, cut to fit and trimmed to make a nicely finished look. This will keep the shavings IN the stalls and also help protect the box and spigots from any stray hooves of a down horse.  I'm sure the BO would be happy to have it done and can see that I take pride in my work and having things neat, making it a nice place to work. 

He is also thinking to install a wash rack and I let him know I can get more mats for that when the time comes. There is a space right off the front of the barn that has ample drainage which would be perfect for it. It would also face the south so there would be plenty of daylight for warmth in the winter months. If he would like, I have contacts and could get a water heater relatively cheap for that added bonus in winter months. Talking to him a while back, his daughter showed horses back in the day and they boarded at one of the other barns I had looked at. In all honesty, his place is much nicer.