Pictures! I was able to get out and get pictures as the sun came up and chased the darkness away. The cat came out and had to see what we did to one of her favorite places, our barn site. She's in a lot of the photos as a grey blur because she moves so fast.
As we worked on it yesterday I noted to my man, "There is a design problem with this barn that makes for a serious safety risk for horses." I told him about a horse who ended up in surgery due to this design issue. He came up with a solution right away, one I think will work just fine.
Can anyone find the design issue that I was concerned about? You can see it in some of the photos.
It is not the fact the barn is not anchored yet or actually even resting on the ground yet - we'll be finishing that later.
It's not the screws and rivets - the big screws are "hidden" and the rivets are flush with the wood.
It's not the ceiling beams - they are riveted metal to metal and I don't think I'll have to worry about a heavy snow load up there. You could swing from them like monkey bars and they don't give.
I hope someone finds it! My sister would, I think.
BTW, here is the tool we rented - a riveter that uses the power of physics to help. It is much, much easier than the store-bought one, and my man said it is worth 600 Euros! I tried using it once and it was still way too much work for me, you need very strong arms, even with helpful physics.
Baasha, hard at work on breakfast.The final pieces lay waiting
These are roof pieces and the frames for the overhang (and a protective sheet of plywood).
These are two stall doors, two small pieces that go above the doors (attaching to the roof), and the last of the metal struts that go on the front wall (between the two doors).
This is the cat cleaning herself next to the last remaining metal wall strips, the ground anchors, and metal U-strips to slide over the exposed edges of the front wall. My lungline is hanging on a Tpost with strips of twine tied around it so that I can make the barn area a KEEP OUT, BAASHA area when he's loose. He's not allowed over there until it's totally finished.Finished. Hm. I guess I'm counting on Saturday for a finish date!
14 comments:
Exciting I can't wait to see finished product! I can't figure out what is wrong with barn for horse...can i have a clue?? lol! Have a great day.
Is the, what looks like peices of wood still sticking out from under the frame of the walls? That is the only thing I see wrong. Looks freaking awesome though!
Frau, well it's not commonly known as dangerous, so I'm not sure anyone will see it. I just read one article about one horse in a million who hurt herself this way.
Wazzoo, there are tiles underneath still because we haven't anchored it yet and we still have to raise the front up so that the rain will flow off the back. But you're right in a way, - that is the main reason Baasha is not allowed in there right now. If he rolled in there, and got a foot underneath, aaaaaahhhh. Scary. So, as a hint, it is something in the design itself, and not in the unfinished state it's in now.
Mystified--and now I'm worried...does my barn-in-progress have the same flaw?
Post the solution sooooooooon!
(p.s. it's looking great!)
is it the metal frame at the bottom of the door that he could trip on? other than that, i'm baffled.
im not sure, looks pretty darn good to me (and safe as well)
Looking pretty cool there!
Well, after really looking and thinking of what my mare would do to herself...the only thing I could come up with from your photo's was-
> the fact that the silver metal(I presume) guard on the one side of the doorway only- is not all the way up the wall even, and may be dislodged and sharp. And maybe the fact that the middle section of the stall- does NOT have any guard on the edge, at all.
Other than that, the bar of ,metal under the doorway, may be problematic if the ground recesses any.
I read your post on the TB mare over the weekend..and jsut couldn't bring myself to comment.
She really seemed misunderstood, that mare. What a beauty.
I have to say, TB are very misunderstood in my barn...they try to make her a warmblood or a coolblooded horse- "in thier minds" and make me out to be a worried owner.
Is it that he could become cast because of the smooth walls? I have heard of this in some of the stables near where I live but don't know of anyone personally having had this happen.
Is it because it's not a two stall yet? I didn't see any where to attach a divider to make it a two stall and you haven't said anything about the divider.
I KNOW, I KNOW !
ITS THE LADDER, HORSES ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO CLIMB ON LADDERS.
So you better put it away before they go in.
I am flattered that you think I could come up with something... I know I am usually the Queen of Safety Precautions... haha
I love aunt mary's response. hahaha
The only thing I see is the metal under the doorway? I agree that it probably is OK unless the ground recesses?
OK, please tell. :)
-the sister
calihorsegirl, kacy, hainshome, you got it! it's that metal strip on the ground that he could trip over/fall on. i heard about a horse who fell on one of those and detroyed its knee! my man will be attaching two bars of wood so that the metal isn't exposed. it will make for a little step, but a wooden step is safer than a metal strip. (he has a concrete step-over on his current stall and i like that he has to step over each time he enters or leaves.)
kacy, you pointed something out that i was also concerned about - are those metal U-strips going to be connected or can they eventually come loose?
there will be those U-strips on all exposed wood edges, but we're just not finished yet. but you're right - we need to make them secure.
mary, i was so hoping someone would mention the ladder! *lol* old cowboy ross (maple valley) has a new horse who got himself stuck in a ladder and went running all over the pasture with it attached to his head. he was going to have to put the horse down, he thought "where's my gun?" but it turned out ok. lucky!
curious american, i wonder if smooth walls make for more cast horses? that is really interesting, i'd never heard this before.
thank you all for helping us consider even more issues. you can never be too prepared for what a horse might do.
wazzoo, i forgot to say, we are not making it into a two stall thing with a divider, although we could have. i think it's safer, if we ever do have two horses, that they can push each other around without the wall. a totally open front would also be ok, i think. as it is, if one horse moves another, it has an easy escape. horses are so mean to each other sometimes: (
So exciting!! It's almost finished now.
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