Yesterday, we completed another step in the (loooong) process of getting our indoor riding arena ready for use!

A little backstory, in case you didn't know what was up with the arena: 

Our arena is an amazing facility. It is a beautiful, well-insulated, well-lit 80x200 space that will be perfect for indoor riding lessons, clinics, special events and more. Because we don't believe in going into debt, the arena took a few years to build. We built it in phases as we waited for more grant money and donations to come in (and the money always came -- God is faithful!). Finally, the building was complete. The flooring was installed in the mezzanine viewing area, the overheat radiant heaters were installed, the sand footing was brought in. Everything seemed good to go -- except one snag.

We were told we needed 54,000 gallons of water available in case of fire. This has never been a requirement on our site for any of our other buildings, and unfortunately the building is too far away from the lake to use that as a water source. So we had to bring in water tanks, find a place to put them, and make sure the water was easily accessible for fire trucks.

Now, 54,000 gallons is a LOT of water. We discussed making a dugout or pond, but ruled that out due to the sandy soil and the safety risks to kids. We talked about burying tanks in the ground, but again, there was a risk of settling and cracking, due to the sandy soil, and burying tanks is very expensive. So finally, after the authorities agreed that 17,000 gallons would be sufficient for our site, we decided to keep the two tanks we'd procured above ground and build a building around them to insulate and protect them.

Well, that building is now built! It looks like a granary and is sided with red to match our barn and riding arena.

Yesterday, one of the final steps towards finishing this water tank building was completed: our longtime volunteer, Hank, who has blessed the Ranch in more ways than we can count, oversaw the plumbing of the two tanks together, and we ordered water to fill the tanks about halfway to check for any leaks. And there are no leaks!

We here at the Ranch are extremely happy about this! We've been waiting a long time to use the arena, and we are so excited for the new programs we'll be able to offer once it's open.