By Dan Roark
[Author’s Note: It occurred to me that, with the constant influx of new expenses that can plague a nonprofit involving a herd of horses, It’s Always Something would be a good title for a weekly fundraising post. There are many ways to support and help New Hope. While it is true that every little bit helps, we have fundraising campaigns for urgent or larger projects. I will try to highlight one each week. The post below is part two about a project that is on the back burner, yet illustrates the constant surprises that come up.]
If you’ll remember, a little over a week ago, I published the post, It’s Always Something. It was about a French drain that I called a gutter (I still don’t get the difference) pictured to the left (the gate is in the back of the picture). The day the farrier came, Dave was finishing the job Sharla had painstakingly – over a week’s time – started. He was also looking to possibly use the French drain/gutter to help solve the problem of running rainwater away from the barn.
What he found told me I was not so far off when I was saying that the original purpose of the gutter/drain was a failed attempt at directing the flow of rain water into dirt. Dave discovered that, apparently, the former owner had a gravel pit. In the second picture, the gravel pit was between Dave and where I’m standing and possibly under where I was standing. (The first picture was taken from the other side of the gate.)
So it was a failed attempt to direct the water away from the barn into, not just dirt, but gravel. Now there’s more dirt. At least that’s the best we can figure. But even that doesn’t explain why the drain/gutter didn’t go the length of the barn. We will probably never know for sure.
But it is another large project that we’re going to have to deal with in the future – installing a drain that takes the water away from the barn. Other campaigns/projects will need to be completed first. For the time being, however, the drain is clean.
Ride on and ride for hope.
Venmo – @NewHopeEquineAssistedTherapy