Design and Consulting

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I've always sketched out ideas for building a better widget or inventing something entirely new. In fact, I have a patent for a product I developed, and there are some interesting inventions in the barn to help with stall-walking and mucking out.

I've designed and built cross-country courses up to Advanced level, designed barn and farm layouts for people, and consulted on larger show venues and equine property developments.

I approach design with an end-user perspective.  Whatever it is should have pleasing aesthetics, but it must first function properly and have built-in flexibility because horse operations inevitably change.  

I'm also very good at finding ways that reduce costs both in the construction phase and during operation.  I don't see any sensible reason to pay a "horse farm" premium.

There are things you only see when you spend your days working with horses in a hands-on manner.  I'm always looking for efficiency, safety and durability, and it's surprising how often even simple things are missed.

It could be making a super safe grooming stall that's accommodating for the farrier, or a fencing layout that saves seconds each day, amounting to hours by year's end. Or it could be a larger scale barn plan that maximizes efficiency while providing a healthy and pleasant environment for both people and horses.  Or perhaps a complete farm master site plan that lays out a beautiful horse estate that can be run by one person, is full of smart convenient features and requires the maintenance of little more than a suburban house lot.

I usually see things as a puzzle and enjoy working out the best solution.

These days there are numerous places to source reasonable jumps, and there are many builders happy to construct fences for you.  So while I build my own jumps, the design jobs for other people are typically associated with a barn or infrastructure layout.

Because of the way I work and think, I'm looking to maximize efficiency and functionality first.  It also has to be safe, and there shouldn't be any trade-off here.

This could be ongoing involvement in a major project such as a multi-disciplinary show venue, or equine property development, or just a short assessment of plans for a small barn or even a run-in shed.

Everything is just a puzzle and while there is often several solutions, there is usually one that is best for the particular situation.

So please do reach out if you want some input of the "been there, done that", and "yeah, I use it everyday" variety.