Transition Tuesday Week 19

Transition Tuesday Week 19:

Our Own Little Paddock Paradise

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.

Lined up just after the morning feed enjoying their Bermuda hay.

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.

One of several Ironwood trees on the property: they create useful shade during the day in the hot desert sun. The bark also withstands anything a herd of horses’ teeth can do to it.

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.

Looking north: the 60’ roundpen is set up in the middle of the paddock.

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.

Looking southwest: the water trough is under the tree near where the trailers are parked. A soft, sandy wash separates the water from the rest of the paddock.

Another view looking to the southwest with a better view of the roundpen. The hay barn and stalls are off to the right.

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. 

Looking northwest – the lineup. Rain is in the center of the photo.

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.

Redford and Rusty ponying Rain. You can see both horses are barefoot in the hind and both are wearing Gloves on the fronts.

For more reading about Jaime Jackson, visit www.paddockparadise.com. For more information on the Association for the Advancement of Natural Horse Care Practices, go to www.aanhcp.net. For links to hoof measuring tips and other hoof protection products, check out the EasyCare website here.

Keep up the boot legging!

Kevin

Comments

[D'Arcy]

Great set up Kevin and Rusty. And nice that the round pen is portable to take it back down without a lot of difficulty. Thank you for the share. :)

[Jerri Larsen]

Looks like you have done a great job...

Jerri/ Montana

[Jennifer Simpson]

Great setup! Thank you so much for sharing. Could you please elaborate on the feed tubs that you use. One looks like a water trough? And the others I can see look like muck bucket size? Do you feed the grain, then come back and put the bermuda in? Or? I'm starting from scratch on 7 acres. I really appreciate any advice you could offer.

[Kevin Myers]

Hi Jennifer,

Some of the feed tubs are water tubs that serve as feed tubs. The others are large plastic drums cut in half - I picked them up at the local feed store for a fraction of the price of the larger water tubs. They are bigger than muck buckets.

We feed soaked, rinsed beet pulp in varying amounts (depending on the weight of the horse) twice a day. The easy keepers get about four cups of soaked beet pulp with vitamins and some ground flax. The harder keepers with tougher feet get up to three large scoops of beet pulp per feed. We feed the beet pulp in the stalls so the skinnies don't get their food eaten by the fatties. 7 acres will allow you to really make the horses move out lots: put the water as far away from the hay feeders as you possibly can.

Let me know how it goes!

Kevin