|
Post by Kelly Marks on Dec 24, 2011 15:06:50 GMT 1
I saw a funny card the other day "I don't know what I want but I won't be happy until I get it" - I think that applies to me with how I want my horses to live!
If you had 38 acres basically on a hill but with some flat areas - what would you consider essentials and what would be 'luxuries' you'd like to have. Financially an indoor school is not going to be on the cards. I'm not sure I want proper stables for the horses, but maybe some barn or shelter type arrangements where I could close them in and feed and hay them as necessary or at times let them choose for themselves.
Anyone done this? Anyone got any designing advice?!
Kelly
|
|
|
Post by ladyndibs on Dec 24, 2011 15:47:24 GMT 1
Hours of fun to be had with that one. As I only have a field with shelters I may rank things differantly to those on a yard. An area of hardstanding, maybe type 1 aggregate so it drains, big enough that all the horses can be put in there for a while so they can feed without being crowded, and somewhere I can groom etc as well, I'd love to be able to put in a circuit or two so they have to graze up and down hill and last but not least an outdoor school that could double as a starvation paddock, possibly a barn, well roof on legs with a couple of large loose boxes, just in case. The list grows to fit the money.
|
|
|
Post by mandal on Dec 24, 2011 16:13:45 GMT 1
A track all the way round or parts of the 30 acres. Depending on the field/hedge layout and contours I might design it so part can be shut off making a smaller track. An area of pea gravel and a smallish no grass area/track. One thing I like to ensure is that all areas are adjoining or close at some point if possible. I'd like at least one three bay barn and a roofed area coming off at least one side for a more open covered area possibly fenced to form a covered multi purpose area with a solid floor. Possibly a coral at the other side of the barn. Two barns would be better with fenced areas ajoining. ;D Rain water storage. If barns are out then a large field shelter that can be sectioned off if required and a large hay store and 'work' area. I like corals/holding pens (so useful) so I'd have one attached to the field shelter with hard standing. Of course I'm assuming a number of horses not just a couple. ;D Ideas for the track here. paddockparadise.wetpaint.com/
|
|
|
Post by barbararob on Dec 24, 2011 17:23:25 GMT 1
I think one of the big things is to think in circles and ovals, plant up the corners of fields with trees. Walk through shelters over the tracks, so that the floor is drier and they have somewhere to stand under but without it being enclosed. Some steps created using railway sleepers and gravel, plenty of distance between each rise. Another thing we find good is piles of wood chip and piles of road plannings, they tend to dig and roll and really play in them, plus the grass will still come through as they spread out. Running water is also nice if you can ensure a non slippy surface. The best advice I could give is to walk your site, see where it has natural attributes, see where it could give you problems, boggy areas or heavy soil are going to need more work, unless you can avoid using them or even use them where you plan major excavation and put plenty of drainage in first.
|
|
|
Post by specialized on Dec 24, 2011 18:08:31 GMT 1
Preparation and study of your contours and types of ground and vegitation are essential, trial and error are all well and good but can prove expensive in the long run. I have seen a couple of track systems on Welsh hills - one was abandoned after less than a year as it became a bog, the other is still in operation and the horses are hock-deep in mud around hay feeders in the winter with very little natural shelter. I prefer to have a hardstanding with mobile fieldshelter in each 5 acre field so there is always somewhere to stand off the mud and feed fodder without it being trampled into the mud.
|
|
|
Post by Catrin on Dec 24, 2011 18:27:30 GMT 1
|
|
mel16
Intermediate Poster
Posts: 119
|
Post by mel16 on Dec 24, 2011 21:10:34 GMT 1
definitly peagravel tracks! only got grass track for mine and its horrendous through the winter and not brilliant for feet, but keeps them moving thru spring /summer. A sand rolling/loafing area...they love rolling in sand. plenty of natural shelter or big barns so you could vary the partitioning as needed, with hard standing. slow feeders. and medicinal herb gardens for them to browse, wowo you could do so :)much with that acreage! put in a x country course too!
|
|
|
Post by jen1 on Dec 25, 2011 11:19:50 GMT 1
hi Kelly i would possibly look at some agi kind of set ups mixed in with paddock paradise system, im almost there with my set up but i lack enough pea gravel to be a true paddock paradise , but i have have barefoot horses hence the need for pea gravel, catrin years ago posted a link to a super place where the horses were able to come into a small corral and feed them selves, my indoor arena hasnt got posh surface down so i can use it for comunial barn if i need to, round 38 acres id possible be looking to do it in stages where you would start a section of trck and then make a loop back into that track aka tea cup handle if you will, and just keep extending it, it cost us over 1k just for posts and turbo rope/energizer to do about 7 miles of track , which we keep adding to each year, the main thing i wish i had is a series of field shelters with hard core and rubber matting , i have them in 3's and it would be like a tunnel in form so open ended so the track could run through it but the side would be closed, the reason id have 3 is the chances of me not have 6 plus horses is slim, you always get your weedy ones being pushed forward by the stronger ones , and usually ive found that even with 6 they pair off into 2's and 4's , so they would all have a dry munch station and somewhere to get out of the worst of the weather should they need to, for summer is have all the track open, winter id have a large coral just to the edge of the winter part of the track near the shelters , id use the middle for hay making,
|
|
|
Post by portiabuzz on Dec 26, 2011 22:50:31 GMT 1
Lucky horses, love PP concepts xx
|
|
|
Post by Catrin on Dec 29, 2011 18:20:46 GMT 1
… catrin years ago posted a link to a super place where the horses were able to come into a small corral and feed them selves, … I'm still looking for the link, but it must be on an old computer. There were lots in Germany, which is why I'm sure that Katrin must have come across them. This is one from a new livery in the next village to where I lived in Austria. www.aktivstall-zinkenbacher.at/Konzept.aspxThe long building in the background is a group hay feeding station, designed so that horses can eat together but wont be bullied. The smaller shed on the right admits one horse at a time and dispenses its hard feed or supplement. Roughly translated the text says: The horses have 24 hour access to the different feeding areas of the 'active stabling'. The individual diet is dispensed according to the computer chip on a neck band. Just about visible in the photo. This state of the art feeding system enables the rationing of small amounts of food over the whole day to suit the sensitive stomach of the horse. In addition there is an automated group feeding station completing the all-round care of the individual horse. Horses have unlimited access to the outside heated water drinkers, straw racks and salt licks. Giant paddocks, according to weather conditions, complete your horse's feeding needs. Indoor shelter and area to make separate boxes in these pictures. www.aktivstall-zinkenbacher.at/Bilder.aspx?directory=ImpressionenOne page has a great deal of detail about the horse's needs: food, companionship, movement, environmental stimulus, air and ventilation. General plan here: Here's a video of an different automatic feeding station for forage and hard feed.
|
|
|
Post by Sophie and James on Dec 29, 2011 20:31:54 GMT 1
We have an area of road planings (cheap and easy to come by) and an area of bark (make friends with your local tree surgeon) in each field. The horses love rolling on the bark and it never leaves them dirty like mud. They usually stand on the bark unless it is very wet then they stand on the planings. They choose to go in the field area as they wish but if the field is wet they much prefer to stay in a dry area.
Good luck with your paddock paradise. You will be amazed how happy and healthy your horses are living out. I hope you will go rugless too and see how fantastic they look all year round. You need a shelter though for tying up and drying off if the weather is wet and you actually want to ride them!
Sophie and James
|
|
|
Post by shan on Jan 3, 2012 22:19:40 GMT 1
I'd have to have; a large loose box or two for those who want a large space or to share it when they're in, maybe loose boxes which equal the equivalent amount of square footage you'd get with a stable for each horse, but with removable panels or gates so you could section them if necessary. Field shelters, a round pen, a section for schooling work, barn, tack & tea rooms, a section for a rehab paddock which would have to be on the flat bit, enough hardstanding, and some self-filling water troughs. Oh and a compass so I could face the shelters the right way. And maybe a Feng Shui book, lol!!
|
|
|
Post by VeronicaF on Jan 8, 2012 0:16:14 GMT 1
good drainage, water supply,shelter I love the hay thing catrin showed on video, didn't like the feeding food one but liked the hay one. good lighting dung macine to pick up dung that would be my luxurie
|
|