Fade to Black Inc. >>> Facilities

Facilities

General Information

Located in Medina, Minnesota
300 Acres of land (280 Acres Grazing, 20 Acres Settled)
One Limestone House
One Thirty Stall Stallion Barn
Three Fifty Stall Barns
One Twenty Five Stall Racing Barn
Twenty Four Three Acre Stallion Paddocks
Four Fifty Acre Mare Paddocks
One two acre breeding/foal turn out pasture
One Tack Shed
One Equipment Shed
One full race track w/small grandstand

Breeding Barn

This is the breeding/foaling barn. It is a smaller than our mare & stallion barn, but has the same accomodations. In the center of the breeding/foaling barn, there is an area specifically designed for breeding purposes. It is medium sized concrete square that has it's own drainage system and mare area. This area is also used to collect semen from our stallions.

On each side of the square sits five very spacious foaling stalls. When a mare is approaching her due date, she is moved into one of the four stalls to complete the rest of her pregnancy. Each stall is 18 feet wide by 12 feet tall and lined with three inches of fresh straw. Right next to the breeding barn, is a two acre pasture. This paddock serves two purposes:

1. Sometimes, FTB will do a pasture breeding. This is when a mare or group of mares in esterus are put together with a stallion in the pasture and they can breed when they want.

2. When a foal is old enough, he or she and the mother will be able to exersize in the pasture. This will be the foals first outing. He or she and her dam will then be gradually introduced to other members of our mare band. Each mare will be brought by the paddock and introduced to the new addition.

Mare Barn

This is our mare barn. It contains fifty 12 ft x 12 ft stalls that are lined with straw and cedar chips. Each stalls base has been coated with this rubber stuff that serves as a padding for the straw, cedar chips, and horse. Our mare barn also has a five space wash room equipped with warm water sprayers and other grooming aides. The last room in the mare barn is the tack room. It houses halters, bridles, leads, saddles, etc that our mares may use on any given day. As you can see, our barns do not really have a consistent look. Our mare barn is made out of limestone brick and has beautiful blue trim and shingles. It was specially designed just for us and there is no other like it! There are also four large pastures right off to the side of the mare barn. There, our mares and their foals can frolic and socialize with eachother.

Stallion Barn

This is our stallion barn. It is probably the prettiest and most spectacular facility on the property! It is made out of various shades of red brick and is topped with grey shingles. This barn was also made specially for Lilac Hills. It also has thirty 12 ft x 12 ft stalls lined with straw, cedar chips, and padded with that rubber stuff. There is a five space wash room and a very nice tack room. Off to the side of the stallion barn sits three pastures. Now, not all of our stallions get along with each other, so we pair up who gets along with who when putting them in the pastures. These pastures are not connected to the mare pastures. We find that keeping the stallions as far away as possible from the mares cuts down on the number of stallion scouffles. Our two geldings also reside in the stallion barn.

Equipment Shed

This is the equipment shed. We keep vehicles, trailers, event equipment, and our feed in this shed. The feed is kept seperate from the other equipment. All of our bales of hay sit on raised five inch platform so they don't get wet. Now, it is not open all the time like in the photo. There are two doors that come from the left and right side. They are on a track, so they slide to close. When they come together, they become one door. This door is padlocked every night.

Our House

This is our house. Isn't is beautiful? This house was built in 1890 and is made of the finest limestone. When we moved in, the house was kind of falling apart. So, we hired a contractor and they restored our house to its former glory. On the right, behind that tree is a screened in porch. We also entertain there in the summer. Our house has six bedrooms, four bathrooms, a large kitchen, a spacious livingroom, an office, and a trophy room in the basment. The basment is fully furnished and even has a few sitting places. The barns and pastures are about five miles away from the main house, so I drive down to the barns every morning and stay down there until lunch time. Our house is truely spectacular and one of the best looking houses in ES!

Pastures

This is a view of one of our pastures. All of our pastures are fenced in with wood live stock fencing. This fencing was specially made just for us by the local wood workers union. Each panel has been hand crafted and assembled. Each panel is also 9 ft high so none of our mischevious equines will try and jump the fence.

The Brook/Stream

This is the stream that runs through each of our pastures. Our horses love to drink from this cool, unpolluted source of drinking water. We also fill their troughs, but they love the fresh water! The photo was taken before he cleared all the brush on the left side of the bank.

Race Track

Last, but not least, is our full race track. This track was built in 2003 and has already had many races on it. There is a dirt track and a turf track. The starting gait is right there in the backgroud. This picture was taken on the first track workout. The infield is very large and has accomodations for spectators. You cannot see it, but off to the left is a twenty five stall race barn that houses all of Fade to Black Inc's champions racers.