Well, if nothing else… I am finding that farm projects are teaching me patience, LOL. We arranged for the ring work to be done months ago, but we’ve had a very wet spring so far, and they haven’t been able to get the heavy equipment in to do the site work that is required until just this past week. Luckily the weather has been great since then and we’re hoping to get the arena finished shortly. Right now though, it’s just a big pile of dirt!
They did get the fencing down, and one nice thing we discovered when they finally got the trucks in, was that the grass “drive” down to the ring is actually quite sturdy, and likely has a proper base installed underneath it. There was barely a mark on it even with the heavy equipment.
Likewise the original arena surface was pretty decent, and properly installed. There is quite a bit of M10 under the surface of the current ring, and decent drainage. So we got a bit lucky with that. Now our big challenge is to make sure we manage the drainage around the ring. The far long side of the arena borders the creek, so the good news is that the water has somewhere to go.
Another project that is moving slowly is the tack room renovation. We decided to go with Georgia Barn LLC. They do a lot of barn construction in the area, and I’ve always liked the quality of their work. Like most firms with that kind of reputation, though, they are in high demand. The tack room project is “rainy day work,” for them, and – of course! – after weeks of rain, lately we’ve had nothing but sun… Great for the arena project, but for the tack room, not so much. Sigh. They are coming back later this coming week to hopefully finish it up, and then we’ll start the outside.
I can’t wait to get the tack room finished so I can put up all the pretty fixtures I’ve been collecting!
Hedgerow Farm 