We are excited to introduce a new sister company Okimono Garden Sheds.
Okimono Garden Sheds bring a unique presence to any yard. Distinctive and functional, each model offers efficient utility in a playful package. Our sheds come panelized for easy assembly in a weekend. Each shed boasts a generous 8′ high ceiling, providing an open feeling with plenty of storage opportunity. We currently offer three models, the Dragonfly, Firefly, and Mantis.
Visit www.okimono-sheds.com for more information.
Prepare your barn and horses for this cold winter with these helpful hints.
Barn:
- Complete any barn or fence repairs before the cold weather hits. Mending a fence at below freezing temperatures is miserable and dangerous.
- Protect the water pipes from freezing. If you can, turn off the supply to any spickets not in use. Adding pipe insulation or heat tape can also help prevent pipes from freezing. Dedicate one hose to watering and drain it nightly. The coil hoses are especially handy in the winter because they drain so easily.
- Use heated buckets or flexible rubber buckets that can easily be emptied if frozen. I like to keep an extra empty bucket available for each horse in case both water buckets freeze. Use a tank heater for pasture water troughs and cover them at night.
- Don’t button up your barn too tightly. Adequate ventilation is key to keeping horses healthy and reducing the chance of a respiratory infection. Clean stalls and extra absorbent bedding will help reduce the ammonia levels. You may be cold in your barn, but the horses will be just fine and need as much fresh air as possible.
- When freezing temperatures are expected, put down a pet safe de-icer such as Safe Paw before the snow or ice comes. If it’s really slick, leave the horses in for the day with extra hay to keep them quiet.
- Rodents can be a big problem in the winter. Sweep up uneaten feed immediately and store all food in air tight containers. Switching the type of feed to pellets or beet pulp will keep grain out of the horse manure eliminating yet another food source for mice and rats. Hang up all blankets and keep the floor space free of clutter which acts as hiding places. I hate to use poison, so keeping a tidy barn with several mousers is a better method. Storing your hay in a dedicated structure away from the barn will also reduce the number of uninvited visitors.
Tack room:
- A heated tack room is a luxury but also essential to protect your tack. Mildew can ruin your expensive bridles and saddles overnight, especially in damp weather.
- If you tack room is not heated, bring your leather items inside for the winter to protect them.
Horses:
- Horses actually handle the cold weather than they do in extreme heat. Keeping them dry and out of the wind is essential. If you are using a turnout blanket, it has to be waterproof. A wet blanket is more harm than no blanket at all. If your horse is in pasture board, he will need a three sided shelter and may need to be brought into a stall on the colder nights.
- Pay special attention to young, elderly, or sick horses since they will have a harder time regulating their body temperature in the cold weather.
- Always provide clean, fresh water to your horses, snow doesn’t count. You may need to use a tank heater. Be sure to protect the power cord and use a GFI outlet.
- Have an emergency stock of feed, bedding, first aid kit, and vet supplies on hand and especially if a big storm is predicted. You don’t want to be stuck without essential items.
- Your horse should be a healthy weight going into the winter but may need extra calories. Since winter grass has little to no nutrients, provide extra hay which will help your horses stay warm and maintain his weight. Always consult your veterinarian regarding weight and feed.
- Add electrolytes to their feed to encourage them to drink plenty of water. I like to know that they are getting a regular dose of electrolytes rather than relying on a salt block.
- If the horse is not in regular work, let them grow a full winter coat and consider removing their shoes to help reduce snow pack issues. If they have shoes on you can put petroleum jelly on their hooves before you turn them out. Make sure to clean their feet before you lead them onto concrete or even stall mats. They can slip and fall very easily with snow packed feet.
- Regular grooming is essential even if your horse isn’t being worked. If they are blanketed, make sure to take off the blanket a few times a week and look for any areas that are getting rubbed. Keep an eye on fungus, especially on the lower legs. Remove any dried mud or manure from your horses coat allowing their hair to stay fluffy and keep them warmer.
Barn dogs and cats:
- Provide a warm spot in the barn away from drafts for your barn cats and dogs. A small dog house with hay for bedding will work well but if it’s below freezing cats and dogs need to be brought inside at night.
- Small and short hair dogs will need a winter blanket if they are at the barn all day.
- Ask your vet if your dogs and cats will need extra calories for the winter months.
- Use a heated water bowl with auto turn off to insure a fresh water supply.
Thanks to Lauren and Duostar Dressage for the fun pictures of Buddy and Magic playing in the snow.
To kick off the winter season White Horse Barns is offering free shipping on the first 500 miles for any barn kit order. 
Whether you want to bring you horses home or build a new equestrian center, White Horse Barns wants to help you build the barn of your dreams. Take advantage of our offer through the end of the year.
Maximum value of $1,000 off shipping, offer expires December 31, 2010.
We just took new photos of the Wind River indoor riding arena at night and were pleased to see how even the lighting levels are. We worked closely with Susan Rhodes of LightWire to select the light fixtures, the spacing of the fixtures, and the level of light that would hit the indoor riding arena surface. Unlike homes or offices, you do want to light the surface of the indoor riding arena, similar to a basketball court. Most of us forget that riding is a sport and that we need to have a fairly bright space to comfortably ride, for our sake not the horses.
There are a few key points to keep in mind when adding light fixtures to your covered riding arena. To start, you need to determine what foot candle (fc) levels you would like in your arena. Foot candles measure the level of light hitting the riding surface. We typically specify between 35fc and 45fc in our arenas depending on the use. This also about the same level of light you would see in a grocery store. From there, you can select your light fixtures, determine how many you will need, and what the spacing will be. We used two 4′ long, 2 bulb, florescent fixtures spaced 16′ on center between the truss bays of the covered riding arena. There are four fixtures per bay and these particular fixtures have an up-light component which gently washes the ceiling of the covered riding arena. You can see in the photos how even the lighting is and there are no dark corners or hot spots. We specified florescent fixtures instead of metal halide, because they are less expensive to operate, provide a better quality of light, and don’t require a cold start. The new florescent light fixtures are much improved from the old buzzing, low output fixtures you probably have seen used 15 or 20 years ago.
To get this quality of lighting I would suggest working with a professional lighting consultant such as LightWire. They should be able to give you a quick fixture count and fc levels for your arena. If you would like more detailed information about lighting your arena give us a call and we will be happy to help you out.
Keywords: Indoor riding arena, florescent lighting, equestrian architect, horse barn kits, riding arena kits, Seattle, horse barns, pole barns, heavy timber barns, western barns, wood barn kits, RV garages, traditional barn kits
Custom truss design in a clear span Barn
It’s easy to customize your barn kit. The footprint and layout of our barns are flexible enough to give most clients exactly what they need with out going to a full custom design. Although we are more than happy to provide a custom barn, small changes to the layout and material selection on a barn kit will save a lot of time and money in both the design and construction phases. Working with our equestrian architects, we can design the barn of your dreams.
Here are few simple options that you can add to your horse barn kit
- Upgrade to cedar or re-claimed exterior siding
- Remove horse stalls and create a storage or party barn
- Add a full loft for extra storage or play space
- Upgrade to a clear span structure to create an RV Barn.
Our latest project is a custom barn kit for a client in Oregon. She and her husband fell in love with the traditional western style of the Clear Water Barn but needed to remove the interior posts in order to maximize the barn’s use. This was an easy change for us, we simply re-designed the structure with a scissor truss system using glulam beams. This will give the clients both the space they need and keeps the traditional heavy timber barn feel. The exterior of the barn will be re-claimed siding out of local barns supplied by Barnwood Naturals LLC www.barnwoodnaturals.com. This will add a beautiful patina to the barn and make it look like it’s been around for 100 years. Above is a rendering we created to show what the interior will look like with the new trusses, breathtaking! I can’t wait to see this one built. I will post photos of the barn’s construction progress this fall.
Keywords: Indoor riding arena, florescent lighting, equestrian architect, horse barn kits, riding arena kits, Seattle, horse barns, pole barns, heavy timber barns, western barns, wood barn kits, RV garages, traditional barn kits
Lauren Lotterman, Trainer at DuoStar Dressage
This year the Great American USDF Dressage Championships are held at Donida Farm in Auburn Washington from September 16th-19th. The White Horse Barns booth will be there to cheer on the competitors. We will keep our fingers crossed for good weather, September in Western Washington is always a gamble.
This competition is a show case for all levels of dressage, Training level through Grand Prix. Region Six covers Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Idaho, and Western Montana.
About Dressage: (From the USDF Website)
Dressage is a French term meaning “training” and its purpose is to develop the horse’s natural athletic ability and willingness to work making him calm, supple and attentive to his rider.
If you are a history buff, you might be interested in reading more about the beginnings of dressage that date back to Xenophon in Greece and include a long line of riding masters, both from the military and the famous riding schools which developed during the Baroque era.
Currently, competitive dressage involves nine progressive levels incorporating multiple tests within each level. Special tests are also written for musical freestyle, sport horse breeding and performances incorporating multiple horses and riders. Tests are revised every four years by the United States Dressage Federation, the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) and the International Equestrian Federation (FEI).
Competition occurs in a regulation size arena with specific apparel and equipment all regulated by USEF. Judges are licensed by the USEF and the FEI and are assisted by scribes who write down the judge’s scores and comments during the test.
Success in dressage is dependent on the rider’s position and ability but because of the goal of the training, many horse breeds can be quite successful.
Watching dressage can be very exciting, especially the musical freestyle rides or tests at the FEI (highest) levels.
Stop by the booth and join us at the for happy hour on Friday.
Thanks to Lauren Lotterman, of DuoStar Dressage, for letting us the beautiful photo of her riding Watson’s Gift.
Keywords: Indoor riding arena, florescent lighting, equestrian architect, horse barn kits, riding arena kits, Seattle, horse barns, pole barns, heavy timber barns, western barns, wood barn kits, RV garages, traditional barn kits
WHB was one of the vendors at the first event at the new Washington State Horse Park this past weekend. The event was Mounted Shooting which I have never seen. Turns out it is a very exciting sport that combines barrel racing and shooting single action pistols at a series of balloons. (they have gun powder in them) Max was also there with his horse Joe and they placed first in their class!
The new Washington State Horse Parked is located in Cle Elum just off the highway, exit 84. It’s very easy to get to from Seattle and has the benifit of being on the “dry” side of the mountains. The park is located on a beautiful, level site surrounded by tall ponderosa pine trees. I can see that this will soon be the premier horse show facility in Washington. You can find out more information about the facility on their website www.washingtonstatehorsepark.org
We had a lot of interest and positive feed back from the crowd at this event which is always nice. These are some of the most friendly horse people I’ve ever met and I can’t wait until our next event with them.
You can see a video of a ride here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXOlCxbU5QU
Keywords: Indoor riding arena, florescent lighting, equestrian architect, horse barn kits, riding arena kits, Seattle, horse barns, pole barns, heavy timber barns, western barns, wood barn kits, RV garages, traditional barn kits
The White Horse Barns team had a great time attending the Evergreen Classic in Carnation, WA this past week. Despite the record high temperatures, the show was packed with competitors and spectators over the weekend. We debuted our Clear Water scale model on Saturday and it drew in a lot of interest. Here are photos of the booth and the show.
Our next event is the Mounted Shooting Show from August 27th-29th at the new Washington State Horse Park. This is the first event for the new park and we are excited to be there to welcome the competitors. Our own Max Forsgren will also be there competing. Go Max!
Keywords: Indoor riding arena, florescent lighting, equestrian architect, horse barn kits, riding arena kits, Seattle, horse barns, pole barns, heavy timber barns, western barns, wood barn kits, RV garages, traditional barn kits
Since we can’t bring our barns on the road with us, we decided it was time to build a scale model. We rarely get to build real models anymore, so we were all excited to get started with this one. Ross won the fight to build the model (we all wanted to re-live our architecture school days) and did a fantastic job. The front doors even slide open! Turns out it’s a lot more work than we all remember so we built 1/2 of the barn first and will work on the other 1/2 this winter. Now we just need tiny horses to go inside!
Keywords: Indoor riding arena, florescent lighting, equestrian architect, horse barn kits, riding arena kits, Seattle, horse barns, pole barns, heavy timber barns, western barns, wood barn kits, RV garages, traditional barn kits
My beautiful chestnut mare, Brazil, that is seen on our website is for sale. Brazil is a 14 yr old Oldenburg Mare out of Symbol. She is sweet schoolmaster trained through third level and schooling PSG. She is currently in full training with Grand Prix dressage trainer Jennifer Williams at Summervale Farms in Roy, Washington. Brazil was my second horse and I have had her for over 11 years. Together, we have shown all over the country and even rode in Equifest with Charles DeKunffy. She is a huge part of our family but now that we have a baby I just don’t have time to maintain a horse of my own anymore. Brazil loves to have one owner and deserves someone with more time and love for her (not that she’s at all neglected living at the horse palace with her view of Mt. Ranier!) She is a blast to ride, very forward, and has a great work ethic. She would be a great mount for a Jr, AA, or young rider that wants to move up the levels. She is sound and I have all of her medical history. 
Contact: Jennifer Williams - (253) 381-2811 or dressagespecialties@yahoo.com
New photos and a video will be posted shortly on Summervale’s website.
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