Shiers Jason W. - 25 projects for horsemen: money-saving, do-it-yourself ideas for the farm, arena, and stable

Jessie and Jason Shiers live in Norway, Maine, with their daughter and their horses. Their work has been published in Western Horseman magazine. Jessie is the author of several horse books including Knack Grooming Horses and 101 Horsekeeping Tips, and is the co-author of The Lyons Press Horsemans Dictionary.

25 Projects
for Horsemen

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Copyright 2009 by Jessie Shiers and Jason Shiers

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed to The Globe Pequot Press, Attn: Rights and Permissions Department, P.O. Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437.

The Lyons Press is an imprint of The Globe Pequot Press

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Shiers, Jessie.

25 projects for horsemen : money-saving, do-it-yourself ideas for the farm, arena, and stable / Jessie C. Shiers and Jason W. Shiers.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-59921-212-8

1. Horses--Equipment and supplies. 2. Stables--Management. 3. Woodwork. 4. Handicraft. I. Shiers, Jason W. II. Title. III. Title: Twenty five projects for horsemen.

SF285.4S55 2008

636.1083--dc22

2008024497

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To Isabel, who was with us every step of the way.
And to Bobbie, who is in our thoughts always.

Many individuals helped in the development of the projects in this book. First and foremost we would like to thank Bill Moriarty, our neighbor and Jasons accomplice in project building. Bill showed up at our door most Saturdays and Sundays at 6:30 A . M ., ready to get started. Youll see him in a few of the photos in this book. Thanks also to neighbors Lawrence White (for the tractor) and Linda Frechette (for being there).

Norm Justice provided inspiration, original stall doors, hardware, and numerous tack hooks, brackets, and saddle racks. Tody Justice consulted on the sewing projects and provided valuable insight. Dodie Kaloust helped sew the projects and provided support and good cheer. Roberta Kaloust donated materials and sewing machines. Gregg Kaloust provided great help during photo shoots and proved himself to be an able horse wrangler and heavy-stuff carrier. The Shiers and Monkiewicz families provided much of the wood used in the projects.

Thanks to Tom Moates both for his endless, infectious enthusiasm and his generous contribution of the pole shed chapter. (Be sure to look for Toms books, Discovering Natural Horsemanship and the forthcoming The Quest for Collection, both from The Lyons Press.)

Thanks, of course, to our intrepid editor and personal friend, Steve Price, as well as to all the hands that stirred the pot at Lyons, including editors Ellen Urban, Cynthia Hughes, and Melissa Hayes, and designer Mary Ballachino.

This book is written for the average horseperson who has some basic skills and would like to save some money, or have the satisfaction of doing the work. It assumes a basic understanding of the tools, materials, and methods needed to complete simple projects. However, none of the projects in the book require advanced skills. If you are really starting from zero and know nothing about working with wood or sewing, we recommend that you seek out some books on basic techniques before you begin.

What this book also does, hopefully, is provide you with good templates for practical and useful projects. For us, it was a great learning experienceor, that is, many learning experiences, as our vision for a project would often change during the process, and we have presented the best design here. There are many ways to build things, and we are not suggesting that the methods offered in this book are the only ways. Our projects were solutions for the specific needs of our farm: storage, horse care, organization, thriftiness, riding, jumping, and shelter (not to mention the need to use power tools to justify their purchase). We are confident that you have many of these same needs and we are honored to be able to share our ideas with you. Ultimately, you may have different requirements for your farm; we hope our projects will serve as inspiration and help you learn the necessary techniques so you can develop your own skills and solutions.

Almost all of the projects in this book will save you money. It is great if you can use salvaged or scrap material to construct some of the projects. We built many of these projects virtually for free using materials salvaged from deck-building and house construction sites of relatives and friends. But even if you must buy all brand-new materials, you still stand to save some bucks. For example, we built our lean-to shed using brand-new materials for approximately $1,000. The same shed built from a kit or by a contractor would have cost at least $4,000.

We bought all the materials needed to complete every project in the horse clothing chapter for under $120. Had we bought each item at retail, the total would have been at least twice as much. (Using average prices online: cooler, $65; memory-foam saddle pad, $75; polo wraps, $20; quarter sheet, $60; saddle cover, $20 = $240.) Even better, you can customize your horse clothing by choosing any fabric pattern available; youre not limited to the few choices offered by most retailers. You can create an entire matching wardrobe for your horse. (Then use the same fleece to sew a vest or jacket for yourself to complete the ensemble!)