What is a Paddock Paradise?
Jaime Jackson, hoof care professional, published a book titled: "Paddock Paradise, A Guide to Natural Horse Boarding" in 2005. He is one of what many would consider the "pioneers" of track systems, or paddock paradise horse-keeping. He studied wild horse's behavior in the Great Basin and adapts and applies their living for improved, more natural living, for our domestic horses.
Bands of wild horses travel on specific "tracks" they have created over time leading them to separate areas of food, shelter, water, minerals, mud, et cetera before they repeat the track over again.
Paddock Paradise helps us provide a similar way of living for our domestic horses - the way their wild relatives live, and the way horses are naturally designed to move.
How do I create a track?
Creating a track is somewhat simple (although very time consuming and quite a bit of maintenance to upkeep): you add an interior fence line to your existing pasture to (ideally) make a continuous circle.
Water is in one location, shelter in another, hay in a few different locations, salt licks or minerals separate from all of the above. One could even include other enrichment features such as different types of footing (sand, gravel types, mud, dirt, mulch, water features), toys, livestock scratchers, smells, sounds, herbs and other plants. The mind is the limit for enrichment!
It is suggested to use semi-temporary fencing in case initial layout needs to change, then you're not stuck with permanent fencing right away.
The middle of the track can be utilized for riding, round pens, "playtime" for horses, grazing for those who can tolerate.
What about the grass?
Horses love grass! Which makes sense, because we have changed out native grasses to create lush, green (AKA sugary pastures and lawns) that in all reality, horses weren't meant to eat.
There is a dramatic number of horses and ponies that experience laminitis, obesity, EMS or other health concerns due to "modern horse diets" of lush grass, commercial feeds, unbalanced supplements, too little movement, confinement; the list could go on and on.
Horses are naturally browsers, or foragers, not grazers as we used to think. They eat small amounts and move onto the next, searching for the next bites of food. Green, grassy pastures allow our horses to consume an overabundance of grass, with very little movement- opposite of nature.
Grass-hay is one of the closest forages for horses to consume that aligns with their natural eating behaviors, helping meet their nutritional requirements, while remaining lower sugar. When we pair grass hay, with areas of hay placed around a track, our horses "forage" for their meals.
Why track boarding?
I believe track living for horse's is one of the best things we can do for them to improve quality of life and to encourage their natural movement, foraging, and, herd dynamic behaviors.
I believe track systems can also help reverse or vastly improve devastating health conditions of horses (as it has for my personal mare, Lady). Thinking of laminitis, grass founder, muscle development, overweight/obese horses, poor hoof condition, or simply offering a new way of living for those previously housed on dry lots or traditional paddocks.
Seeing the improvement in Lady's behaviors, hoof health, weight loss, muscle tone, and mental health has inspired me to create Happy Hooves Track Boarding: 2 tracks for 5 horses herds each, laid out over 3.5 acres of land. Please explore my website to learn more about me and what HHTB has to offer.
