Pony Property Clean Up - Part 1

 Part 1, because *spoiler alert* it's still a disaster.

First up, here's my quick sketch of the layout of the 'pony' part of the place. Useful/not useful because it currently looks nothing like this :) :

Same as it ever was, just adding the new ring (it used to be above the barn) and a covered grooming area on the south side of the building. Not shown is that there is another vacant lot accessed from a gate under the tree in the upper left - an extra area for the horses to go in the summer.

Last Wednesday:

Is that the barn roof back there? We walked up the fence line a little, but the whole back of the property was this overgrown. Crazy to imagine I used to keep my horses  there and even mowed the lawn back here! The rainforest is relentless with the amount of greenery that grows in so quickly.

Day 1:

The neighbor across the street is a machine operator by trade, and the one next to that runs a trucking and excavating company. My excuses for not tackling this sooner are pretty weak.

Oh look, my old pony palace. Last use of it predates the blog by a couple of years so your first intro to it is in this very sorry state.

Looking back towards the lane.

Day 2:

Starting to look a little more like a pony field. I tried to leave some trees so the renters in the house (back right) didn't have to look at ponies. ( I know, I know, who wouldn't want to look at them? Apparently it's a thing. Since a lot of the trees were old and needed to go we're building a privacy fence and hedge behind the back yard of the house instead. Or should I annoy them with ponies until they leave and we move back in? Hmmm)

Part of what's left of my old riding ring. This section is going to get cleaned up and gravel added for a winter paddock.

Day 3:

Mostly just dump trucks taking out all the cleared brush. 7 huge loads of it! The 'new' riding ring area by the back lane is looking pretty level and cleared, but of course there is a ginormous stump right where the gate needs to go.

We've obviously got a ton of work to do to put in an adequate base and drainage...I'm thinking that will happen after the perimeter fencing and the barn. Because the barn...oh my. It wasn't fancy before and I kind of want to light a match to it now before it falls down on it's own accord :)

Stalls on the left, hay and tool storage straight ahead, old ring/paddock area to the right. I was young and broke, so was resourceful in using extra building materials from the house, driftwood logs and free paint samples to put this together. It's not aged well, nor did it enjoy living under blackberry bushes and fallen trees for 10 years.

The corner posts are still square, but they are needing to be jacked up and repaired. There are multiple pieces of siding missing, windows broken, and doors off the hinges. The inside is even more trashed and it looks like someone was living/squatting/hoarding garbage in there after they kept chickens in it (I'll spare you the pictures - it's gross)! I'm on the fence about bulldozing it and building something new, but with the current shortage and cost of building materials those in the know are encouraging me to patch it together for a few more years use. If we proceed with that, this is the area where I'm going to have a basic covered outdoor groom/wash space.

So, that's what I was working on this weekend. I'm thinking it is going to take a lot more weekends before the place is worth another progress report :)