For a little while I had barn envy
Posted: Sunday, September 18, 2011
by The Old Gray Mare
www.DressYourHorse.com
I love to watch some of the home improvement shows on HGTV and DIY. They do a great job enhancing, upgrading and styling living rooms, bedrooms, kitchens and bathrooms. I have yet to see an improvement show for barns and stables, however.
Very recently, I grabbed the opportunity to visit a long-time friend. She recently rebuilt her barn and I was anxious to see it. We have always compared notes on ideal barns and ways to improve the ones we already had.
I’m going to get right to the point. I love my barn, adore my horses and am thrilled to be living in the prettiest town of Connecticut. But I am experiencing barn envy.Her barn is really splendid. She’s got an immense hay loft with drop down chutes for each of her 16 x 16 stalls.
Her wash room is outfitted with the latest in fixtures, a tub, several efficient drains, special water friendly wall coverings, anti-slip mats, and her laundry room is directly adjacent to it – both are equipped with hot and cold running water. The industrial oversize washer and dryer are painted in her stable colors of red and black. She’s got a lounger in there and end tables. I told her that I would have great difficulty getting used to this since I prefer leaving the barn to do my laundry – yeah right!
The grain room is situated conveniently mid-barn. Each horse has his own buckets in the stall and for feeding. The watering system is self serve – good gracious, those poor horses have to draw their own water when they get thirsty. All they have to do is press their muzzles on the water release pad and they’re good to go.
A manure spreader is kept handy for stall cleaning and spreads waste material daily. Yep, that’s also hard to get used to I think.
These horses have individual runs, safety barred windows, and rolling doors.
Those darn doors rolled with the pressure of my pinky, so how are you ever supposed to build up your muscles?The tack room is easy to clean with its painted concrete floor, shiny and new. Everything is neat, and the saddles and bridles hang like “little tin soldiers lined up in a row.” I’m thinking it’s way too neat. Somebody’s going to mess it all up.
There’s a fabulous grooming stall, with bright lights and numerous plug outlets, padding, blanket holders and a vacuum system. I’m not sure this is easy to get used to because it is bound to make you lazy.
I took it all in and praised her choices lavishly. Of course I told her that I positively loved it and was bringing my horses right over.
Then I went home, only a little jealous. My thoughts fluttered around in my head until my boys greeted me with their knickers,
nuzzling and sweet faces. Gone is my envy, poof – just like that!After all, I have my own great barn. Maybe it doesn’t have the latest bells and whistles. But it’s comfortable, all mine, my horses love it, I love it, and it’s safe, sound and a great-looking structure. In fact, I have always been thrilled with it. It’s more than adequate.
Best of all, it has my horses stabled in it and her barn doesn’t. What was I thinking?
The Old Gray Mare writes for www.DressYourHorse.com and her Blog sites
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)I loved your warm realization about your horses; and your explicit description of the barn. And that picture of the horse looks like a happy, contented horse, that is most certainly, in real life YOURS. Great words and I love the phrase "barn envy".
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