Has anyone tried Paddock Paradise with their minis?

[mrsj]

Have been reading this and am cosidering trying it for my minis. Anyone created one or used any ideas? How did you get on?

mrs j

 

[StellaLenoir]

is this the concentric rings of fencing to keep the horses moving around idea?

I have thought about doing something simalar too. Can you explain the concept a bit more? Please

 

[mrsj]

I will get my book later! Yes it is that concept. There is some info online but the idea is to provide a track or tracks around the land with shelter, rough areas watering areas etc. I've got a mini-mini one sort of at the moment because of the dreadful rain we've had here in Wales which has rendered my field useless!

 

[barefoot]

Have you seen this one?

http://www.nakedhorsemanship.com/dancing%20barefoot.htm

It really does work. I want one sooo bad. I do have the varied terrain though and that helps.

Emma

 

[mrsj]

Great link, beautiful horses. I think mine are enjoying their mini track, so I am going to experiment! Watch this space!

 

[Michelle@wescofarms]

Rather interesting! Love the video and the whole Natural Horse site.

I hadn't heard of the paddock paradise but I'm definitely a believer in herd 24/7 over stalled. Our horses have a natural hilly/rocky terrain to wander and they do! We guesstimated just coming/going for am/pm feeding and water they're walking a few miles a day and they do have certain places they go throughout the day.

So funny back in my real estate days I had another 'equine specialist' realtor once tell me horses could NOT be kept on anything but completely flat ground or their legs would be ruined. I looked at her and thought - naaa - not worth the argument!

 

[StellaLenoir]

I could not get the link to play

but I have heard of this idea and understand the basic concept. If we had been able to move our home to our property this is what I was planing on a smallish scale. So plan B......we are slowly clearing land and hopefully this winter we will have a sort of n shaped area that is devided into 3 sections. It wraps around our back yard and house. I do have a wet area, but no real rockyness here in Fl. Sand yes! But there seems to be quite a bit of vegitation they can eat.

Right now they are in an area that is pretty natural for our area, and I place their hay all over the place. I even sometimes place some in trees lol. I feel like I am hiding easter eggs for them. But I figure it gives them something to do.

So neat I hope anyone who does this at all even on a small scale will share what they do!!! I am so interested.

 

[whitney]

This is the FIRST I've heard of this but LOVE the concept. I don't stall horses they have turnouts attached to their stalls to come and go 24/7.

Heres a site I found that maybe of interest

http://www.successful-natural-horsecare.co...k-paradise.html

 

[barefoot]

The basic idea is that you have a loop of track of whatever length and shape. The track is narrow enough that when the horses move one another around they move forward and not just off to the side. Some horses have been reported at moving 10 to 20 miles a day. Increase convavity of the hoofs, and foundered horses able to have grass because their metabolism has improved.

Emma

Here is another one.

http://thenaturalhoof.homestead.com/PaddockParadise.html

and another

http://www.naturalhoofcare.net/paddockparadise.htm

 

[Willow Glen]

I have tried it and read about it when I was looking for info on laminitis when my mare was bad and nothing was really working so I tried it and it worked so well it really dose work and she was so much happier, she can now eat grass and hasent had any more signs of being sore at all since doing it.

 

[mrsj]

Thanks barefoot, you explained that very clearly!

I would love to see pics of what anyone has tried out. Willow Glen, do you have any pics?

 

[miniaddiction]

Interesting....would be good for keeping the show kids from turning sour I'd imagine

 

[Willow Glen]

Sorry I dont have any at mo but when the weather clears I could, I just use electric fence tape and put it around the outside of the paddock off the boundry fence with a track about 3-4 metres wide depending on the paddock. I use the electirc fence tape because its easy to take down and move to differnt paddocks which gives me the option of using differnt paddocks with differnt contours like hills,trees and differnt shaped path ways for variety, I have to change paddocks because I cross graze with sheep, cattle and I have my big hacks and only have bout 7 acres. But I do have a dry lot paddock that has one up all the time because I use it only for the minis. I have one up for my stallion it helps exercise him and keep him all trim and muscular I didnt do any lunging or any fitness with him last year only ring craft and I got lots of comments on how he was nicly conditioned and he ended up winning National grand champion junior stallion at the nationals so it works for horses that dont have any problems and he never soured or got board and was a pleasure to take out showing and was so well behaved, his paddock had a rolling contour to it so I think that help build his muscles moving around constantly.

 

[Cowgirl Up]

What an interesting concept! I've never heard of it before but it sounds wonderful, like it would be very beneficial to the horses and is easy enough to maintain.

And looking at it, I bet even if you had relatively flat ground, you could create some "obstacles" for the horses. A few low hills with some extra dirt. Some "rough" spots with those inexpensive pebbles/gravel you can buy at garden stores. There are a lot of fun options.

 

[mrsj]

Good links and info here

http://www.bitlessbridle.co.uk/articles/wa...-to-welfare.php

 

[Mulligans Run]

This is something our farrier suggested over a year ago, to help keep weight off my fat mares. I couldn't quite get the concept...this explains it very well. Thank you for starting this post and for all who have provided links explaining it. It makes alot of sense now.

 

[AceyHorse]

Yes I have and I absolutely love it, I'll never go back. My paddock is a bit flat and boring and I'm limited to what "terrain" I can add as I lease my grazing, however it is great that I can limit the amount of grass they are on while still giving them enough room to run and play and they dont' feel "confined". There are trees on three sides of the paddock for shelter. I have noticed a difference in their weight and muscle tone as the set up encourages them to walk. They are fed, meadow and lucerne chaff, magnesium, and Equi Balance which is a very low calorie feed with plenty of vitamins minerals and some protein and plenty of hay which I spread around to also encourage them to walk more. I'll take some photos and post them tomorrow. I started using the pasture paradise 6 months ago and my horses have never looked so good or been so content. I would encourage anyone to try it!!

Anna

 

[AceyHorse]

Here are some pics of my boys paddock. Its not as good as it could be but I'm finding it still works really well. They were hooning around the track flat stick kicking up there heels, sometimes i think they think its a racetrack lol.

Can only upload one photo onto this post, but I hope it give you an idea of what I've done, I am going to use the fenced off area as a training area for long reining, jumping, obsticle etc.

Anna

 

[mrsj]

Thanks for that! I'm going to set one up this month in my big field so watch this space...

 

[bingo]

Rather interesting! Love the video and the whole Natural Horse site.
I

So funny back in my real estate days I had another 'equine specialist' realtor once tell me horses could NOT be kept on anything but completely flat ground or their legs would be ruined. I looked at her and thought - naaa - not worth the argument!

I guess it would depend on the type of horses you had. I can see while some with show horses in the dressage field or jumpers would not find this the best footing for their horses day to day.