paddock paradise

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paris123

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Jan 3, 2011
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This is something i've only just come across, and although i don't have much interest in going barefoot due to there only being alot of road or rocky hacking around me and having tried and failed in the past im very interested in keeping my horse in a more natural enviroment.

My mare although not lammy prone is very very cresty and is currently on very restricted grass with lots and lots of haylage but no matter what i feed only exercise gets her crest down and i'm thinking this track idea would help me alot

Can anyone give me a bit more in depth info, i can't seem to find anything online that fully explains the concept to me. I plan to buy the book but don't want to spend £15 if its not something that can benefit me!?
 
I fancy doing this with the spring grass coming in, if I can convince my mate that its a good idea (we share the field and I think she might put up a fight when it comes to poo picking!)
My trimmer is a big believer in it, he has some info on his website - www.cloverroseequine.co.uk/id68.html
I guess there's the setting up a track and then there's taking it to the next level and varying the terrain on the track to help strengthen hooves.
 
I set up a race track last year. I haven't varied the terrain though. For some reason our lot just like galloping around it for fun, I haven't a clue why, they don't do it if they're free to roam anywhere.It's around an 8 acre field so a fair distance.
 
Well as i don't want to go shoeless im not sure i'd vary the terrain plus i only rent my field dunno what the farmer would think of that!!

I really like the idea of enriching the area/track though! i put enrichment into all my other pets lives but not my ponies and now i feel guilty!!
 
I had a small track put up but the people I rent my fields from complained so I don;t have it anymore.
I want to set up a proper track with varied terrain when I get my own land.
 
Do i need to buy the book or is there somewhere that will tell me about what size tracks should be, how they are managed, what you do with the rest of the field etc?
 
A freind has made one and puts different things around the track, spaced out so they have to move around to get to what they want. Hay, logs, mineral licks, water ..... anything else you can think of to interest them. I haven't read the book but it would probably be worthwhile. I'm going to look on amazon to see how much it is.
 
I do have the book and its very interesting but I felt a little daunted by the grand plans! It would however be very easy to set up some tracks etc and not last year but the year before I set up some zig zag patterns. I think they liked it and definately moved around more but Rosie is an absolute cow with electric tape and will climb over it/barge through it/jump it.

I got so frustrated at having to redo the fencing every single day and her standing in the long grass stuffing her face that I didnt bother last year. If you have the facilities and are able to maintain the fencing I truly beleive its better for them and makes things more interesting. There is nothing as boring as a square field. I dump tree stumps and stuff in the middle of mine just to try and add some variety! When we had some fencing done last year I asked to be able to fence off a square in the middle to leave a track round the outside - I got a VERY strange look and YM all but told me to **** off!

I do however spend many hours planning my 'lottery win' paddock paradise system :) If I owned my own land, Id be out there now playing with it!
 
I started this last year(very simple version though) when my mare started going back out after lami after reading about PFB's system. It meant that she had to walk further to water etc. It definately got her moving more although i did get quite a few comments about how much damage she was doing to the area in the field. But when you are really trying to restrict grazing this is inevetable. Anyway, opened it up a bit every few days and it worked for us. Bit then another horse joined the field and as its not my field i had to take it down. Like others if i win the lottery..........:smile:
 
We used the basic principle last year, and I only had enough tape to make a track about 1.5m wide around a school sized area. Ideally I would set up a narrower track but around the whole of the field. We can't as she has bad allergies and would fall through peoples back garden fencing on it so I would need a second lot of electric equipment. My terrain wasn't varied though I would prefer it to be.

My absolute ideal for mine would be a big open barn with concrete floor and some hard ore tracks with various hedges as one o mine is prone to footyness and the grass seems to make her allergies and grumpyness worse.

There are no rules and regulations on sizes, it's just a principle, they don't have to be square, and the idea is it becomes a bare track which you supple
Ent with hay however doesn't work very well over here as you end up with a bare mud patch.
 
I set up a track last year whick I'll continue to do every spring and then take down when conditions change as we are on clay and I'd end up with a mud bath otherwise.

I didn't vary terrain and my motives were purely for weight management rather than foot conditioning. As I said, it was very good and I'll be doing the same again every year now :biggrin:
 
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