I think they'd look cool just painted black and standing in a garden! What about using them to make a horse head fountain, have it spitting water into an old galvinized tub or something.

Guess it all depends on the climate in your area and the temperament of your horses. Then do the best with what you have close by to keep costs down while making a safe and decent looking building. If you have the space and are building/modifying you can add a paddock area outside the stall (attached) so the horses can go outside also (sand is a good option for footing)which will make apple picking easier and work wonders in preventing the atmosphere for developing bad habits. Our horses have this and would rather stay outside than under roof. We feed inside for obvious reasons, but they spend 90% of their time outside regardless of the weather. Keep in mind that they are not kittens or parakeets and you aren't doing them any favors by shutting them off from the elements. A horse isn't going to freeze to death because it has a concrete block wall and a concrete floor or is in an unheated building. Electric fenceing is your best friend (just make sure you have a good/safe charger (don't overlook the solars). If a horse is cribbing or chewing the top of a divider, a strand of electric will work wonders. If your dirt floor doesn't drain the way you think it should and you can't afford to raise the whole thing etc, etc, dig a ditch and lay some flex pipe in some gravel, cover it and be happy. You can extend the ditch a few meters away from the building and end the pipe in a sump that you've dug, filled with rocks/gravel and covered in extreme conditions. And don't forget toys be it a ball hanging from the ceiling or a basketball on the floor (could mean the difference in a happy horse with a clear head or a wood chewing weaver/pacer). Don't overlook the importance of your compfort and convenience either (physical, mental, and financial) horses tend to loose their glamour and end up neglected with habits that make them all but worthless when the owner spends more time cleaning than enjoying and eats macoroni and cheese with a backache. My 2 cents. Enjoy, Dave

I've never had a weed problem with it either. I sort of sheet mulch. I just keep piling it on top as mulch. Plant in it, allowing some to fall in the hole with the plant. When planting seeds, I pull the mulch to the sides but there's so much of it it keeps piling up and the seedlings are growing in basically manure piled up from the last few years. At least, in places I've lived before thats what I've done. Still working on getting my soil right here. The two first gardens are looking better but I'm working with caliche which is just one step up from concrete. My horses eat alfalfa and I've never seen a weed in it.

How did the sale go? I can't believe how good you are at sculpturing the foam. Wish I could do that. A couple yrs. back, when I was in PV during Riana's class, she said the foam things mosaicists were making wouldn't hold up as long as the works in her technique. Do you know the life expectancy of the polystyrene for exterior works? In my case, it surely would be easier to switch to it. It is becoming more difficult for me to cut the lath. However, I don't even know where to get the polystyrene. Probably not in Texarkana, so might would have to order it?