Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Our very large object

I ordered this because I'm thinking of the future. We'll keep offering a free board here, and maybe the right horse/pony will turn up. But they need enough space, and our little stall wasn't enough. We've ordered the one shown here, with half doors and no center divider down the middle of the stalls.

I have experience with these "kit-run-ins/ run-in-kits" (I think that is what I should call it, since we'll be assembling it). These are designed to be placed out at pasture. Our last (private) boarding stable had one, and it held up great under the stress of several German winters and 5 horses. I was not happy about the metal overhang supports- I will be padding ours with insulating pipe foam. Also, we ordered the heavy duty wall thickness, over an inch thick, to prevent damages if we have a horse who kicks.

Since my man is an electrician, he'll be runing power and lights to this thing off the barn/greenhouse.

This kit was significantly less expensive than what our contractor offered.

So, we just need to level the area and place heavy ground slope supports so that it doesn't shift in time. And we'll be installing anchors on corner so it has a sort of foundation. We have to be careful cuz there is no building allowed in this neighborhood. Anything built has to be proven to be removeable in 24 hours. A run-in-kit should fit their criteria.

I spent another day shovelling the area to smoothen it. My man helped me when he got done with the strenuous work (teachin' high school kids math!). We hope with our several levelling devices, it will be more level soon.

Baasha likes to stand in the very center of the shovelled area and ponder.

Mercer likes to crouch in the corners, dig, and pee/poop, cuz to her it's a giant litter box.

We're thinking of bigger things that our animals cannot predict. Hopefully we'll do it right.

11 comments:

EvenSong said...

Sounds like a good plan.
When we first moved to E-burg we were renting, so we got several Noble shelters. They worked great, and moved with us out here, until we got the barn built. Sold all but the fronts to a gal for her kennels, and we still use the 6' panels and gates!
Good luck!

Nuzzling Muzzles said...

I like that. Is there anything anchoring it down like stakes in the ground? What are the wind speeds in your area?

Funder said...

That's fantastic news! I'm so glad you got something affordable (and legal. No building, WTF?)

I wish Your Man could come teach me about electrical stuff. It's one of the few things I do not know.

AareneX said...

Geez, are we twins are what? We're flattening ground right now too, for a very similar project!!!

Wahooo!

lytha said...

EvenSong - I'd like to see a picture of your shelters - I'll have to do an Internet search.

NM - We bought the ground anchors too because we don't want it blowing away. I'm not sure how those work, I guess I'll find out.

Funder - It's a "Nature Zone" here so no new buildings are allowed. The good thing about that is the fields around us will stay fields and not turn into homes.

Aarene - Show us some pics!

Autumn Mist said...

They look really good - I'm sure Baasha will love it. We have similar issues with planning permission here, too.

Sonya said...

YAY that looks great! Baasha is going to love it I think : )

EvenSong said...

Hmmm. Noble shelters were pre-digital camera. I know I've got some snapshots somewhere, but I don't think they would show it very well. We actually faced two pairs of stalls and built an "aisle" between them. Double stall run-in for two on one side, big stall for our mama horse (and eventually her baby, Pete), and hay stall. (They actually market a center aisle "trainer's barn now.) You can see a couple of the 6' panels and bow-gates in use in the current barn here [http://mountaintrailmusic.blogspot.com/2009/01/barn-building-blogette.html]
Noble's website gives a good idea (http://www.noblepanels.com/horse-shelters.htm), though their current models aren't quite the same as what we had.
Can't wait to see your project!

EvenSong said...

Oh, and you might note that Noble's roof panels are cantilevered out over the front--so no need for the supports. Don't know if you can adapt yours that way or not...

allhorsestuff said...

That is so cool! What a find...
Kac

Leah Fry said...

That's a cool shelter. I wonder if I could find anything like that until such time as we can afford a barn?