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:
"The key to having physically and mentally healthier horses" |
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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. |
He published his first book in 1992, The Natural Horse: Lessons from the Wild which documented his wild horse studies and offered insights as to how we could better meet the biological needs of our domestic horses.
In 1999 he went on to write the Horse Owners Guide to Natural Hoof Care which went into more detail regarding his trim methods.
Paddock Paradise: A Guide to Natural Horse Boarding was published in 2007.
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. |
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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. |
We used the electric fence poly rope on the top of the outside fence, with electric fence wire on the bottom and inside track. The rope is better than tape as it doesn't get twisted or flap in the wind but is still very visible. We tied surveyors tape all along the wire to make it more visible but the wind tends to bunch it up by the posts. The only time the horses have a problem with seeing the wire is if you move the fence and they don't get to see the changes until it's dark. Otherwise once they know where it is they don't seem to have a problem with it. We do use the lighter gauge wire that will break relatively easily, just in case they should run into it.
Our track incorporates the natural features of our property: a creek for hoof soaking; areas of gravel and rock to toughen up the hooves; hills for conditioning; trees for scratching and shade; and two mud areas designated for rolling. Photos of these features can be seen below.
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. |
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The Paddock Paradise book provides lots more information and ideas for customizing your track and can be purchased in the fully secure Amazon website - just click on the "I recommend" section on the right.
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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. |
Here are a few more Pasture Paradise examples in use - click on the following links to view and scroll down to submit your pasture paraside:
Mustang Mountain and Missouri Paradise
Mustang Mountain, otherwise known as Stars Rest, is located on the side of a mountain in northeastern New Mexico. It is at 7,600' elevation and the terrain varies from steep granite bluff to rolling sandy bottom. It is surrounded by ponderosa pine forest and there is no pasture land.
Stars Rest's formerly wild mustangs are fed free choice local grass hay and just enough beet pulp to provide them with necessary supplements. They are all kept barefoot and have no difficulty climbing up and even galloping over the rugged mountain terrain. In spite of dire predictions of lameness and injury from keeping horses on this rugged piece of land, our little bachelor band has just gotten stronger, healthier and happier.
Missouri Paradise consists of approximately 12 acres made up of mostly hardwood forest along with 4 acres of pasture and is home to 4 horses.
Wisconsin Paradise
This site shows how a single paddock can be altered to create more interest and encourage the horses to move more. A track has been built around the edge and rock has been added to give a more varied terrain.
Help others by sharing information and photos of your Paddock Paradise.
Click on the links below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...
Brittany France
Still work in progress but completed 800 meters on a old French trotting track so ground is great for barefoot. Still want to extend it as got 17 acres …
Near Penrith, Cumbria, UK
I hasten to say that my track is still being developed and I need to add much more texture to help condition their feet and combat the slippyness when …
Windsor, NY
Horsey Heaven, our PP model, is on part of 7.9 acres in upstate New York. We have several features available to us naturally, which include rocky areas, …
Cheshire UK
We only have 4 acres for my 2 horses however by using the paddock paradise set up our horses remain barefoot and look healthier than ever.
I have used …
Provence, France Not rated yet
A Paddock Paradise, naturally organized around a forest.
Christchurch New Zealand Not rated yet
I have set up a track in a large paddock with largely sprayed off grass, so half and half grass/bare dirt. It is very lush where we live with clover/rye …
High Desert Southern California Not rated yet
I am so glad to see more people demonstrating that a lane system is an important and proven alternative horse keeping method.
We are ten years on the …
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