Re-Utilizing Space at Runyon Range

Today was project day, and the project of the day was re-locating the horse stall in order to better utilize our area. Since we are on less than an acre, proper space usage is vital to keeping up with all of the critters and hobbies we have going!

The first major piece of this project was to remove the smaller portion of the hay shed, which was full of gardening tools and a friend's motorcycle. This took up most of our weekend last weekend. Something cool about this - we were able to salvage the walls and roof of the shed so we can repurpose it elsewhere on the property!

This week, we had the rest of the work: moving all of the hay out of the loafing shed, digging out the fence pieces, and re-arranging the stall panels to create a new area for the horses.

This quickly turned into our first obstacle: the hay bales. We purchased these bales from a friend, and our horses LOVE it. Unfortunately, it has not loved the weather: we found out today that we have lost 30 bales due to mold. For those who are not aware, moldy hay is not safe for horses - it can cause respiratory issues and there is also a risk of a horse dying due to the mycotoxins in mold. This is going to be quite a loss, but we are very blessed to be in the same state as CubeIt, which is a hay cube company that manufactures high-quality forage for horses. This means our horses will not lose out on any nutrition with this speed bump!

Our next obstacle was the horses themselves... In case anyone was wondering, horses that are used to being exercised are not very well-behaved when they have been cooped up. At all. Zoe, after putting up some of a fight, ended up succumbing to the halter and allowed herself to be caught. Atlas, however, was a different story. That little jerk ran around me, through me, and probably would have run over top of me to avoid the halter. After lots of ordering, bargaining, and then eventually bribing, I broke the golden rule: I let him get away with it. I know, I know... I will pay for that later.

So, what were we going to do with naughty un-catchable horses? We had the moldy hay removed, the spot cleared, and the panels (mostly) dug out of the ground... How the heck were we going to move them now? The answer is... very carefully. Picture this: we have Layne moving panels, our friend Mike wiring them up, and little pregnant me playing horse wrangler in the middle, keeping the aforementioned troublemakers at bay while we maneuvered panels very gradually over to their new resting spot. All in all, this project probably took an extra hour due to the little brats' shenanigans. In the end, we were able to get the stall moved, and that is what truly counts!

How much space did we save, actually? Quite a bit! The stall started out as a 24'x36' area in the middle of the gravel lot on our property. It was completely free-standing, so we had to use 9 stall panels and a gate in order to fence the steeds completely in. The new space is larger (912 square feet versus the original 864), but it occupies what was mostly dead space previously. We were able to give the horses a larger area, a strong shelter to protect them from the crazy weather, AND we have a huge new area in our gravel lot area for parking, feed storage, and a tack area. This project was, overall, a great success!

Before:

After:

Much better! :)