NEW BEGINNINGS – The Birth of a Horse Farm
Originally published in Horse Directory Magazine, AUGUST 2015
By Tom Gumbrecht
I like my job as a self employed electrician, I like horses,
and I like helping people. Occasionally I get to put the three of them
together, and that, I love. It's the most fun part of my job. When someone
hires me to do a job, I become part of their life for a period of time, which
depending on the size of the project could be hours, days, weeks or months.
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| Recently playing a small part in having a new barn owner realize her dream of a beautiful new horse facility. |
We have occasionally in the past used these pages to lament
the closing of horse farms on Long Island, and the mixed feelings generated by
being both a horseman whose passion depends on preservation of open space, and
a tradesman whose livelihood depends on progress and development. But sometimes,
development comes in the form of creating a new horse farm. When that happens, I
feel no inner conflict. It's the best of both worlds, and I'm in my element. As
a professional electrician, I have acquired the knowledge and experience to
properly advise clients on the unique electrical requirements for horse barns. As
a equestrian who evolved from student to rider to competitor to horse owner, I made
the leap to barn owner and horseman. It was more than a new title, it was a
totally new lifestyle and I know really well the mental
gymnastics that go along with taking on such a life changing commitment.
I've been around the electrical trade for over forty years
so I'm ok with being called an expert in my field.
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| Putting the finishing touches on a new barn as its first occupant moves in. |
I look at your eyes when you begin to speak of your horses
and the prospect of having them at home, and maybe I see the same sparkle that I
had at that point and I share in your excitement. You are a sponge for
knowledge and we will likely speak of things like grading and drainage and
proper access for hay suppliers and farriers and veterinarians and the
management of manure. We might touch
upon arena construction and maintenance and tractors and trucks and trailers. A million things that never needed to be
thought of but now demand to be addressed: stall footings, bedding types and
storage, lighting, ventilation, water service, plumbing, snow removal, handling
of sick and injured horses. These are the things we rarely needed to think
about as boarders: hay and grain storage, fencing types, fence maintenance,
gate placement, hot wires, stock tanks and heaters, blanket changes during the
day, management of meds and supplements and special equipment and secure
storage for tack. The list seems endless and the details can become
overwhelming.
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| A decrepit swimming pool is transformed into a riding arena at the author's barn. |
There are a million places to get technical advice online
today. Everyone has an opinion and some are convinced that their way is the
only way. I try not to add to the confusion because I’m just sharing my experience.
By the time I get to see you, generally your mind has already been made
up. You have made the commitment to keep
horses at home, and are now getting caught up in details, perhaps second
guessing and experiencing self-doubt. What I try to convey is my belief that if
you have the commitment, you have it all. When things turn difficult as they inevitably
will, commitment finds a way. Commitment doesn't think twice about spending a
night in the barn to make sure an ailing horse is all right. Commitment happily
makes personal sacrifices so that the horses don't have to. Our horses grow
older but they never grow up. They never outgrow the need for our commitment. If
you have it, you have everything it takes, for everything else can be learned.
If you don't have it, even with the best horses in the most well-appointed
stable, you don't have much at all.
When I sense that commitment, I use the opportunity to offer
my hope, confidence, and an underlying assurance that everything will be all
right. The naysayers and fear-mongers have all taken their best shots at you,
and you have decided to do it anyway. Now you need to know that you can do it,
and I offer myself as living proof of that: an ordinary person with ordinary
skills, ordinary athletic ability, ordinary finances, and perhaps a level of
commitment that's a little above average. I share the fears I once had so that
you know you are not alone when you experience them. Sometimes, I get to be
there when your horse comes home for the first time. You can't believe that
this is actually your life and all the planning, paying and working has now
culminated in you having your own farm. It's a privilege to be able to share in
that, and it’s one of the best parts of my job.
Sometimes when the struggles of working and being in
business occasionally wear on me and I wonder what
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| Nothing like bringing a new horse home to a new barn. Here, the author's mother-in-law Connie welcomes Magic. |
I got to see for myself how horses could transform a life
from the average to the passionate and committed. To witness that phenomenon in
others is especially gratifying.
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| We don't get to speak "horse" on the job all the time, but it's fun when we do.. |
