[RC] Our Own Little Paddock Paradise - Kevin Myers
One of the items Dr. Tomas Teskey talked about at some length during
his presentation in Arizona in August was the importance of keeping a horse
moving to ensure a healthy hoof. In Jaime Jackson’s latest book, Paddock
Paradise, A Guide To Natural Horse Boarding, he describes the methodology used
in a paddock design to imitate the constant movement of horses in the wild.
We used this theory to inspire our own paddock set-up last week. We
have five horses that are using one large paddock just over one acre in size.
We are located on the outskirts of northeastern Scottsdale, Arizona, which
means there is no grass: just lots of decomposed granite, several trees for
shade and a wide sandy wash that runs through the property and makes for a
comfortable horse bed at night.
We secured the feed tubs to the fence along one of the short sides of
the rectangular paddock. It is directly opposite the water trough, which means
the horses have to cross the entire long side of the paddock to get to the water.
With daytime temperatures well over the 100 degree mark all the way into
September, the horses drink a surprising amount of water. That means they are adding
up miles by crossing back and forth along the paddock, through the wash and
back up to the water countless times during the day.
We have a three-year old gelding, Rain, who just came down from Oregon in August. He brought with him all the excitement and anticipation of working with a
young horse – including the need for a roundpen. We usually set up the
roundpen in a different area than the paddock, but with the theory of a paddock
paradise in mind, the roundpen is now smack bang in the middle of the
horses’ area.
The
design works well because the horses all have to go around the roundpen to
get to and from the water or hay. When herd dynamics dictate movement, the
horses closer to the bottom rung often get to go all the way around the
roundpen to get to the other feed tubs. It has become quite entertaining to
watch. They run around the perimeter of the paddock in the cool morning
temperatures, and we have been encouraging them to do the same at sunset. They
can put on quite a show and really get some speed up.
We use our stalls twice a day to feed soaked, rinsed beet pulp with low
starch feed and vitamins. The only other time we have used the stalls is if a
horse is injured or is being newly introduced to the herd.
Speaking of movement, we have enjoyed adding Rain, the young gelding,
to the herd. It is nice to work with a horse that has never had shoes on: his
feet are wonderfully round with large, flat frogs. We ponied him around the
area on Sunday for the first time and got him used to the sensation of working
in Gloves. He did just over a mile at a walk and trot and did really well. He
needs to lose a few pounds and this should help the effort. Redford is the most
diplomatic of the horses in the herd, so he got used for ponying after a ten
mile loop into Tonto Forest from the house. I snuck in a ride on Far – it
is the first time I have been on him since Tevis.
To see the new paddock set-up and a photo of the new gelding, click here.
