110 SIDELINES SEPTEMBER 2014
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
a delivery of 50–60 loads of limestone screenings, and due to the
condition of the road, the trucks had to be pulled up the road by a
backhoe, as they couldn’t get up the steepness or drive through
the ruts permanently created from the trucks before them. On top
of that, we also needed the footing delivered. Well, me being an
extreme type-A barn owner you can bet your lucky stars we got
us a pretty fancy arena in six days! I did, however, have to cry a
little, beg a little and be a “girl” when the backhoe also had to pull
the West Virginia state trucks up the road to lay the asphalt at the
very top since it was so torn up. At that point, they all threatened
to walk off the job, but couldn’t stand to see “a sweet, little country
girl cry.”
Step Four: Hit the Lottery
My recommendation for future barn building projects: Hit the
lottery.
Then
build a barn or buy a barn already built and renovate.
Spend your free time at the beach or on a lake with your friends,
discussing where the chandelier might go — in the main entrance
of the barn or perhaps three of them all the way down the aisle.
Also, discuss how the stereo speaker system will be wired in with
Pandora for your indoor and outdoor riding pleasure, and which of
those new fancy stalls you’ll import from Europe and install — The
Kensington Line or The Berkshire Line.
And finally, never, ever, ever, never, even
think
about wintering
on top of a mountain in West Virginia, but instead, head to Florida
mid-December. I’ll never forget the advice my father’s partner,
who was the Master of the Hounds in a Boston Hunt, gave to my
ex-husband when we told him we purchased a farm. He said “Do
you know how to make a small fortune from buying a farm?” My
ex-husband said “No
, how
?!” Then he smugly said, “Start with a
large fortune, and you will quickly have a small fortune.” I assured
my ex he was so silly, just a joke, certainly that wasn’t true…
Older and wiser, and still singing:
“There was (now an)
old
lady that built a barn, I don’t know
why she built a barn, I think she’ll die. She built the barn before
The Wilsons found water to the tune of $30,000, she built a barn
before putting in a leach field and septic system to the tune of
$15,000, and she built a barn before the State agreed to pave the
road, for an additional $8,000, and she built the barn then had to
build an arena in six days time before the road was to be paved, I
don’t know why she built a barn, I think she’ll die.”
inflate, meaning Consuela (aka
me!), would most likely be land-
scaping, painting the barn and the
trim work, building jumps, painting
jumps, painting the interior of the
apartment, in addition to mucking
22 stalls, turning horses out every
day and night, feeding, unloading
250 bales of hay every two weeks
from hay truck, riding and many
other odd jobs too numerous to
mention. But, I’d have the barn I
always dreamed of having.
In the meantime, still singing
and adding verses:
“There was a young lady that
built a barn, I don’t know why
she built a barn, I think she’ll
die. She built the barn before
The Wilson’s found water to the
tune of $30,000, she built a barn
before putting in a leach field and
septic system to the tune of $15,000, I don’t know why she built
the barn, I think she’ll die!”
Step Three: Build A Road
When we purchased the property on top of the mountain we
were told that the one-lane road, exactly a half-mile up the hill
and twisty, with switchbacks, was a public road. We purchased
the farm from Ms. Donna May, and lucky for us, Ms. Donna May’s
son, Topper, was pretty high up in the Department of Highways,
so it was deemed a state road since his momma needed to tend
to her cows that were up there.
Donna May was eventually going to build a house up there
herself, but never did — I guess because she wanted to live a
long, stress-free, happy life! We were told as soon as “something”
was built on the property it would be paved! The summer of 1998,
we finished building the barn and the indoor, and were just about
to begin the outdoor arena when the highway department finally
answered my letter-writing campaign, which went something like
this:
Dear Sir or Madam,
This is Mrs. Mailloux, again, from May Drive, did you miss me?
When can you pave our road, as I would be forever in your debt
and you will then not be responsible for the death of a woman that
built a barn? Love, Kathy Mailloux
Their response, when it finally came, was quite a shock, as it
simply said:
Dear Mrs. Mailloux,
We will be paving your road on Monday, July 27, 1998. We are
charging you $8,000 – splitting the total cost of $16,000 with the
State, to maintain your road in winter months as well. Sincerely,
The State of West Virginia Department of Highways
Now at this juncture, we did have horses living at the farm, and
to be perfectly honest, the road was a disaster with all the heavy
trucks running up and down from prior construction and it needed
to be fixed as soon as possible! For a half-mile of road, I felt as if
$8,000 was chump change, or at least that’s what I kept telling my
exceedingly skeptical ex-husband, who was typically at the office
when all this was happening.
However, the time frame the State left me six days to schedule
Not a black and white photo! This
was winter atop Timber Ridge Farm.
