Jack and Marcy Wrights Follow Your Bliss Farm in Green Creek will join this years FENCE Holiday Barn Tour on November 28, presented by Morton Buildings and Equine Sponsor, Carolina Storage Solutions.
Marcy Wright and Jack Lingafelter just recently completed their new two stall barn. When asked how old it was, Wright replied, Just old enough for cobwebs! Wright spent a long time researching barn designs and features. She knew she wanted the barn to be a sanctuary both for the horses and herself. She wanted it to be easy to maintain and to make use of as much green technology as possible.
With that in mind, Wright worked with Danny Owens, of Daniel Owens Construction (the builder of their home) to design and build her dream barn. The barn is in close proximity to the house, so Lingafelter and Wright decided to use the same materials and exterior color scheme as their home.
In addition to two stalls, there is a horse trailer bay, a tractor storage/workshop room, half bath, lots of built-in cabinets for storage, hay/shavings/tools storage space, wash stall, and what Owens early in the process named The Gathering Room the heart, literally and figuratively, of the barn. The interior spaces feature special touches and inspiration by Anthony Brenner of PUSH Designs, a beautifully acid-stained concrete floor by cement artist Shane Schneider, and custom doors and cabinets by David Tomasch of DGT Designs.
Innovative Equine of Nevada supplied the major steel components and hardwood to make the stalls, shutters, aisle doors and accessories functional as well as beautiful. Innovative Equine’s operations manager says, “(Follow Your Bliss’s) barn has turned out so beautifully one of the prettiest Ive seen. The design, the details, the setting absolutely amazing! I’ve often said, when I receive photos from clients, that I would love to LIVE in some of these barns. Well, I have to say that (Follow Your Bliss) truly would be a place I’d love to live in. (There are) so many pieces in these photos the clock, the rustic chandelier on the pulley, the gooseneck lights – that are right up my alley and lend the barn a feeling of exquisite age, of a barn that has evolved over time.”
Visiting Follow Your Bliss Farm is a great educational opportunity for those interested in seeing green concepts put to practical use. Ascot Earth Systems installed an underground cistern that collects 2000 gallons of water off the barn roof with just one inch of rain. A three bin, forced-air manure composting system was purchased from O2 Compost. Rather than pay for the manure to be hauled away and pay again for compost to be hauled in, this system renders the manure into compost in 60 days. Another green aspect is the non-petroleum based paint used to seal the hardwood used extensively throughout the new barn.
Follow Your Bliss Farm is home to three dogs and two horses. One horse, Roy, is a Danish Warmblood, imported when he was eight. With trainer Jennifer Baumert, he spent a winter working in Germany with Conrad Schumacher. Despite being a bit explosive as a youngster, he showed at Dressage at Devon under Jennifer, through Grand Prix with his former owner and in his calmer old age, earned his current owner her USDF Silver Medal.
At age twenty, Roy is now enjoying retirement at Follow Your Bliss Farm as a companion for Marcys eight year old Ukrainian Warmblood. Oskar represents the best Ukrainian bloodlines a breed specially designed for dressage: the beauty and sensitivity of thoroughbreds, Quarter-horse like temperaments and the uphill balance, scope and movement of the best European warmbloods. Thus read the advertisement when Oskar, then 4, was imported for sale in the US. Wright purchased Oskar, a dark bay, over four years ago.
In addition to the two very lucky horses Oskar and Roy who are stabled in Marcy’s barn, a collection of Jolly Fine Horses will be for sale from Jackie Harris’s clay studio. These little horses are reminiscent of a cross between a Chinese Tang Dynasty horse and a Thelwell Pony.
Also on display at Follow Your Bliss Farm you will find Wire Horse Sculptures by Kitty Jackson, whose work graced the cover of a recent “Chronicle of the Horse” magazine. Other artists whose work is represented in the new barn will be on hand to answer questions.
Other barns on this years self-guided tour include Green Creek Miniature Farm, Freer Farm and Silver Moon Ranch, all also in Green Creek; Bickford Farm in Campobello; Morning Meadow Farm and Barking Fox Farm in Landrum. Activities along the tour will include a hands-on polo demonstration at Morning Meadow Farm, a miniature horse carriage driving exhibition at Green Creek Miniature Farm, an equine wellness presentation by Dr. Bibi Freer at her Freer Farm, and lunch at Motlow Creek Gardens, the midway point of the tour.
Proceeds from the 2009 Holiday Barn Tour will benefit FENCEs nature education and outdoor recreation programs. Tickets may be ordered by calling 828-859-9021; by visiting www.fence.org; or at nearby locations including The Book Shelf and Down To Earth Garden Center in Tryon; The Farm House and The Hay Rack in Landrum; and in Saluda at the Purple Onion.