Konnie with Cisco just before adopting him.

How long have you had your Paddock Paradise?
We built our Paddock Paradise less than one year ago in the summer of 2008.

Why did you decide to make PP part of your boarding solution for your horses?
Our neighbours offered to allow us the use of their back pasture in exchange for clearing it and maintaining it. I knew there would be too much grass available to my already plump horses if we allowed them free access to the entire area. I was researching the use of grazing muzzles when I came across a website describing the Paddock Paradise. I was immediately sold on the idea. It was the perfect solution!

Layout of Due North Farm's Paddock Paradise.

Can you describe the fencing you use and the width of the track?
Our track varies in width from ten to 15 feet with a wider area around the shelter. We used t-posts with plastic safety caps and trees for the outer fence posts and plastic step-in posts (with t-posts for corners) on the inner fence. The outer fence consists of three strands of Safe-Fence polytape and the inner fence is two strands of the same tape. Our horses don’t challenge fences, so this system works well for us.

Have you been able to set up areas: ie gravel, water hole, dust bath etc or are these still a work in progress? If you have set some of them up, what are they and how did you go about creating them?

The horses created their own dust bath area. I would love to install pea-gravel around the water trough and near the front gate, and will likely do that this upcoming year. I plan to install some type of fabric to lay the gravel on, in order to prevent it from disappearing into the mud.

Ideally we know that hay should be spread around the track, on the ground, to encourage movement and an ‘eat and go’ scenario. However, in reality this is time consuming and can encourage hay wastage - what solutions have you found for hay feeding?
I know I probably wasted a lot of hay last year! Last year, we spread the hay along the track twice a day. It wasn’t such a problem for me because I don’t work (unless you count the horses, pre-schooler and dogs as work!) and have the time to spread the hay. After I found out about slow-feeder ideas, from the Paddock Paradise (Wetpaint) website, I purchased a few small mesh hay nets as well as larger Busy Horse hay bags.

My horses are not on the track in the winter, but are in a large paddock near the house, and we use these nets with great success in this area too. I hang them on opposite ends of the paddock, which encourages a lot of movement too. I plan to use the nets on the track this spring when we turn the horses back out.

Molly and Cisco on track.

Is hay the main source of food for your horse? And do you manage to supply different types of hay? What else do you feed your horse, if anything?
Hay is definitely the main source of food for our horses. Since they have some access to grass and other herbs, I don’t vary their hay supply much. For supplementation, I feed ground flax and other minerals mixed into a small amount of Triple Crown Low Starch feed.

Do you use a salt block and/or a mineral block? If so, are you able to bury these in the ground to encourage pawing behaviour or is that difficult to achieve?
I provide my horses with free choice loose salt in a bucket in their shelter. I also have a Himalayan salt block for them. I have not ever buried the block.

Have you noticed a difference in your horse’s condition and hooves as a result of Paddock Paradise?
I absolutely noticed a difference! My horses lost their excess weight and became more muscular overall. The field containing our track is sloped and the hill climbing is great exercise for them. I actually had to increase their rations of hay to keep up with their higher metabolism.

The upper section of our track is very rocky and the rocks help maintain their hooves. Initially, all three equines’ hooves were chipped from the sudden change of terrain when we first put them on the track. As soon as our farrier (a “barefoot” trimmer) trimmed them and slightly rolled the toes, the chipping stopped. We were able to ride them on very rocky terrain from that point on with no issues. Talk about “rock-crushing” hooves!

Pokey on a rocky part of the track.

Our farrier is delighted that we made this change for our horses and notes on each visit that there is hardly any work for her to do. That saves us quite a bit of money for sure. The farrier used to visit every six weeks. Her last visit was more than 12 weeks from the previous one and there was barely any trimming needed. The most notable improvement is with our pony. He came to us with Laminitis last June. His hooves have improved tremendously and he hasn’t been lame a day since we turned him out on the track.

Do you find maintaining Paddock Paradise easier or more difficult than keeping a horse at pasture? Why and can you highlight any particular challenges that you have faced?
I can’t comment to the difference since we have never kept our horses on open pasture. We were relatively new horse owners when we decided to construct our Paddock Paradise. It seems like it is more work, but we didn’t think caring for our horses at home would be easy either!

Our biggest challenge is the mud. A smaller track wears down to dirt rather quickly. I definitely recommend the placement of gravel over fabric in expected “high traffic” areas. We plan to do that this year.

Any other thoughts on your Paddock Paradise and what tips would you offer people who are thinking about creating their own?
I can’t imagine our horses living any other way. I think a lot about “fairness” when I think of traditional horse keeping. How fair is it to such a large and naturally free-ranging animal to keep it in such tight quarters as a stall? Why not provide a way for the horse to express its natural tendency to move? It can be easily done in small areas - we’re proof of that!

To find out more about Konnie and Due North Farm visit the Due North Farm blog or check out her page on the Paddock Paradise (Wetpaint) site.

"Yum yum some lovely herbs on this part of the track," says Pokey contentedly.

NHR would like to say a HUGE thank you to Konnie for her time and contribution on this Paddock Paradise project.