Hey all, I would love to pick everyone's brains while I'm working alone on night shift.
The barn I board at has a gazebo in one of the pastures. It's surrounded by trees and totally enclosed. The previous owner built it because her horses were buried in that pasture and she wanted to be able to sit with them.
Recently we were faced with one of the staple horses at the barn being put down. It was incredibly sudden and devastating. It's obviously taken a toll on everyone, especially her lease mom. She was buried in that pasture, along with my thoroughbred and two other horses of the barns.
I would like to renovate the gazebo. It has good bones, just needs a screen replaced and the door fixed. I want to turn it into a memorial for barn students and owners to visit their horses. The barn owner has no issue with me doing this and has given me free reign over it. I plan to paint the hand rails with a soft rainbow, buy plaques for each horse that's buried there, string some solar lights inside, and would like to have a short write up on the wall with the story of every horse. I also want to make a nod to the horses of the previous owner so they live on in spirit and memory, as well as the goats that are buried there.
If anyone can think of the best way to hang the short stories and maybe a photo I'm all ears. It needs to be weatherproof. Also if anyone can think of anything else I can do to make it a little more special, please give me all the ideas! I want to be able to hang things that the kids make for the horses they miss, as well as continue telling the stories of those horses we so dearly miss.