Caring and Sharing
As a horse owner and being who I am, I feel it as a part of me to offer my horses a nice home. One where they can be safe and happy. Happy enough that is, considering that they are domesticated animals that could easily thrive wandering in the wild. This factor contributes to how my wife and I maintain our horse dwelling. We try to keep it a fairly natural environment. One where they have their space and we have ours. Their space being a place where they are free to roam, eat, sleep and play.
In somewhat distant past years, Joanna and I were in a place not fit for having horses and were reliant upon boarding our horses elsewhere. It was a decent alternative but one we wanted to remedy quickly. Boarding out our horses felt like we were dependent upon outside assistance.
The feeding and maintaining of the paddock was up to the owner of the property. We had little say when it came to the day to day care of our horses. We always had a feeling of being outsiders when we went to ride or just visit. We were grateful for the care our horses did receive but wanted a deeper connection to our own horses.
It did not take us long to realize that our situation needed to change. The process of changing the situation did take a little while. We were fairly picky when it came to deciding on a new place to live. The main factor involved was to have a place that would accommodate us and our horses well.
We waited a while on the right place to come along and were able to jump on purchasing a property that met all of our requirements. We got moved in quickly and had a few things to do in preparation to bringing out the horses. As soon as we were able, we left the world of boarding behind. To this day we could not be happier with taking on the full care of our horses.
We decided that with the caring of our horses that we would do things a little out of the ordinary. We researched some alternatives and decided on going the route of an idea put forth by Jaime Jackson. He had put out a book called "Paddock Paradise" that had an interesting new way of keeping horses.
Through his study of wild horse herds and relating it back to the domesticated horse, he proposed that horses be turned out on a track. A fenced corridor around the perimeter of the property that measures about 20 feet wide. The idea being to encourage movement.
Jaime had found that wild horses roam on average about 20 miles a day. His study of domesticated horses showed little activity even with horses ranging on large spreads. By setting up a track and feeding at locations along it, horses movement is increased. By feeding along the track a group of horses will tend to push each other from one location to the next.
The width of the track discourages idleness and camping out. Further movement is brought on by having the watering hole at only one area not near to any of the feeding stations. When thirsty, the horses have to move out. This method of horse care sounded quite interesting and we decided to give it a try.
We ran a fenced corridor around the perimeter of our already fenced horse pasture. Throughout the tracked area we set up feeding stations and switched from feeding loose hay to feeding with hay nets. The nets alone were a big change in the way had previously done things. Jaime recommended nets to replicate the semi-constant grazing that wild horses are accustomed to.
The nets give the horses access to hay all the time. This "free choice" method of feeding gives horses something to do all day long and discourages poor behavioral traits that are brought on by boredom. Feeding with hay nets also reduces the risk of impaction colic by limiting the intake consumed in short periods of time. This all sounded good to us.
A view of our track and a feeding station
I have to admit that filling the hay nets daily took some getting used to. It is some added up front work. To us though the benefits are worth it. We enjoy being able to feed only once a day and our horses remain healthy and happy. The track does seem to encourage movement resulting in less need to warm up our horses prior to riding at a trot or canter.
We were a little leery of allowing our boss mare constant access to hay. She had become quite large while being boarded out and we could liken her to a whale. To our surprise, after only a short time on the new set up, she lost at least fifty pounds.
We love having the track. It has given us the ability to use our, once pasture land, for something other than grazing. We have brought the previously over grazed land back to a natural state. We also gained the ability to put in a fence-less arena.
The horses love their space that we created for them and incorporating new horses is a breeze. No one gets cornered and everyone gets hay. We try and upgrade to new ideas from time to time and expand on our horses rangeland.
Here's to bettering ourselves and being open to new ideas.
Happy Trails!
Eric