Paddock Paradise

Paddock Paradise is an exciting new natural boarding concept based on Jaime Jackson's research into how horses live in the wild. It is a ground-breaking idea which has many benefits including:

• provides a more stimulating environment for the horse which discourages vices
• encourages more movement which benefits overall health of the horse
• enables easier grazing management
  

"The key to having physically and mentally healthier horses"

Jaime Jackson

Jaime Jackson is a former farrier who, between 1982 and 1986, undertook studies of feral horses interacting in their natural environment. 

These studies revealed that feral horses rarely suffered from hoof problems such as laminitis or navicular which commonly affect our domestic horses.

So, based on what he saw in the wild, he started experimenting with trimming parameters for domestic horses that reflected the natural hoof and which would allow them to remain barefoot.
In 1990 he stopped using shoes on horses and started promoting the wild horse trim.

Instead of housing our horses in regular square or oblong fields where they just stand in one spot and eat, and eat, and eat, an additional "inside" fence is added to create a "track" system. See diagram on right.

The track width can vary - the narrower the track the more the horses will move. However you don't want it too narrow if you have more than 2 horses as one may get cornered by a more dominant horse.

Now this may sound like a lot of work and expense but it can be done quite cheaply and quickly using electric fencing and is well worth the effort when you see how much happier and healthier your horse is.

When we moved to this property there were no existing fences so I was able to design our track system from scratch. We are very lucky to have approximately 30 acres of pasture but with only 4 horses and 2 ponies I wanted to reduce the amount of grazing whilst keeping the track as long as possible to encourage maximum movement.

Initially we used both plastic and metal step-in electric fence posts for the inside and outside fences. However, I soon found that the shop-bought posts were not adequate for a Canadian winter! With up to 3 feet of snow the posts disappear as they tend to only be 3ft long and the horses just step over the fence, not good...

So we did a bit of brainstorming and came up with the idea of making our own using 6" x 2" x 10ft spruce, cutting it to 5ft lengths, then cutting into 3 to end up with 2" x 2" x 5ft posts. Then we cut a spike onto one end to make them easier to pound into the ground and added 2 plastic electric fence insulators (see pic - left). The total cost per post worked out to around $1 (CAN) which is cheaper than the store bought ones.

Here is an aerial view of our Paddock Paradise track (right). As you can see it is quite long, with two loops. I have tried to avoid sharp corners so that there is a better flow - Monty, our young Paint x TB thinks that the loop on the bottom right is his own personal race track...he loves to run like the wind down the straight sections.

I am amazed by how much more they move since implementing the track system. They all look as if they are worked regularly which makes me feel less guilty for not having time to ride as often as I'd like!

The horses also have free access to a large stone barn run-in which has a concrete floor and rubber mats. This is great in the summer as the stone walls keep it nice and cool, whilst they also provide good insulation in the winter. The horses like to hang out in here when the flies are bad as it has a nice through-wind which keeps the flies at bay.

In the winter we utilize our horse slow feeders which ensures that the horses have regulated access to free choice hay.

I am totally convinced by the benefits of Paddock Paradise and highly recommend you try it for your horses.

I highly recommend you read the Paddock Paradise book as it contains lots of examples and ideas for making your track as stimulating as possible for your horse.

Click on the image of the book on the left to purchase.