Click "HERE" to join us on Facebook
Question from Paddock Paradise member: Anya LavFeedout free PP system?
H i all, It seems that people generally feed out horses on a PP setup. I don't & can't, so looking for alternative experiences & advice please. I'm relatively new to PP. Started with a half track on 4 acres start of last year, with the dam down one end, open grazing ...at the other. They've been on the full track for the last 4 months. 2 horses & a pony on a 4 acre single track (app 510 metres) setup. It averages about 10ft wide, but rounded corners & some bigger areas such as around the dam. I don't live there, not able to get up daily, feed out, etc. I have been moving the internal elec fence, making 'dents' for different patches of grazing for them. This has so far been fine for ensuring they have adequate food, but is labour intensive - means I spend at least half my little & precious 'horse time' opening or closing off patches.
The horses are also not losing any weight, which they could all do with & I can't think of a way of further restricting their grazing without them overgrazing areas. Of course the actual track is overgrazed, but I don't let the 'dents' get eaten out before closing them off again. They might get a bit more exercise than in an open paddock, but I'm not sure they get that much more. I have some gravel down in their hangout/shelter area and some along a 12m(30') section where it gets muddy. I'd love to upgrade & put down more gravel, etc, but this property is also not a long term prospect that I can afford or justify putting money into. So... I'd like to hear of other's experiences of feedout-free PP systems & how they work, and I'd like to hear of any ideas for better efficiency & further promoting exercise. Cheers! If you have experience with this and would like to offer suggestions, please click on HERE and respond. Paddock Paradise is both a term and a concept used to describe natural horse boarding. Introduced by veteran hoof care professional and natural horse care advocate Jaime Jackson in his 2006 book, "Paddock Paradise, A Guide to Natural Horse Boarding" (Star Ridge Publishing). The premise of a natural boarding model is to provide safe, humane, living conditions which use the horse's natural instincts to stimulate and facilitate movement and other behaviors that are essential to a biodynamically sound horse.
Based upon numerous studies of the wild horse, research shows that horses will thrive physically, mentally and emotionally if kept in an environment that takes into consideration the most basic elements of their natural world by situating and propelling them into forward movement. According to Jackson, who founded the American Association of Natural Hoof Care Practitioners (AANHCP) in 2002, the hoof is adaptively cross-linked to the nexus of natural behavior and movement and can be restored to its native integrity and soundness by putting horses in such a simulated natural environment.
Natural horse boarding is unlike a traditional horse keeping situation with stalls, small paddocks and/or lush green pastures (founder traps!), and is designed to encourage encourage horses' natural behavior -- such as movement through the creation of a series of paths with a quantity of various stimuli such as strategically placed feeding spots and watering holes that are incorporated within or alongside the track in order to activate curiousity or movement.
Natural horse care practices include elements of natural hoof care, encouraging a herd mentality, providing small amounts of food strategically placed and available throughout the day in order to encourage foraging behavior, providing and maintaining a watering hole near or at the source of drinking water, behaviors related to horses as prey animals, relative dominance (pecking order), grooming within the herd, resting and sleeping behaviors.
|
