I was lucky enough growing up to have my horses at home, right in my backyard. My dad built my mom and me a little two stall barn with a tack room and wash stall, later adding on a third stall and hay storage area. We also kept a lot of our daily tack in the trailer and just walked over there to tack up, so needless to say, there was no lack of storage space. (Sidenote: this is also why I never had a tack trunk and never understood them.)
These days, it’s just Lucy living her best retired life at home along with her mini donk Sancho. My arena is still there, but has seen better days. But the last time I was home, I snapped a few photos of the barn and thought they’d be fun to share (because I love seeing photos of other people’s barns!)
New Mexico means sand and sand means dust and dust is why our barn will not ever look like some east coast (or uh, anywhere it rains) barn. Luckily our barn stays relatively cool in the summers (perks of no humidity) and moderately warm in the winters (not that the horses take advantage).
Both stalls open out into large paddocks and then Lucy’s actually opens into a big turnout. She paces in a stall and will walk the fenceline into a ditch in the paddock, so she just has free roam which helps to curb it… some. She’s still a pacer at dinnertime, but she’s also 20 at this point and we’ve given up. We refer to her being out in the “field” but again… New Mexico. There is no grass. It is dirt.
Opposite Lucy’s stall is our grooming/wash stall – it has cross ties and then shelves for collecting dust organizing.
The aisleway leads to the second stall (really the first one because you pass it when you walk in…) and the tack room.
There’s the mini tour of my home barn, in all its glory. Sometimes I really miss having it all right there, but mostly I love being at a barn where there are other people and horses and friends to talk to and ride with. I spent so much time growing up riding completely alone or in a private lesson, that I really craved that social interaction.
But I do totally miss all my tack rooms.
8 Comments
That’s a nice looking barn. I look forward to having my horses in my back yard someday.
Love your set up! Especially the green on your stalls.
I live on the east coast, but don’t have enough property for pretty grass turnout fields, so I feel you there. And I totally miss having people to ride with now that I keep my horses at home. Pros and cons to everything of course. I love having total control of my horses’ care so it makes up for feeling lonely sometimes.
Um did we live the same life?!? I grew up with our horses in our backyard as well. We had 3 acres and a 3 stall barn that my dad mostly built, and added onto over the years. I also had an arena that my dad put in, that is now overgrown back into pasture. We also had a Sundowner trailer (which I still have today), and a mini donky to keep my horse company (his name was Juan). My retired horse is 31 now and still living the life!
Aww I like your barn!
What a great barn! Would be nice to have your own set up but I totally get the social interaction part being needed 🙂
Aw what an awesome place to call home!
What a lovely setup; sounds like a dream to grow up with. And I second the not having tack trunk/not getting it lol. Still don’t have one!
I love seeing everyone’s backyard barns. Yours is so clean!!