Hamering, trimming and clearing

Just a small update. After three days of a few holes in the crab net I have seen no more, YAY! Emma has left the net alone and does not bat at it anymore. I have put the net in various locations including tying it to a container on the ground. They seem to like it up higher better but after a lot of reading, that is not a great location for it as it is healthier for them to eat with their head down. I also bought a basketball net and made a mini "basketball hay ball" that I have tied from a beam and it swings freely. It is up just high enough that Emma can reach. Frankie seems to enjoy chasing it around and trying to grab hay from it.

I have cut the barrels for the hanging barrel feeders and am attempting to make my own nets for those. Other than that I have been clearing and trimming back the trail almost to completion and have hardware up for the entire top rung of fence. I need to buy a couple post for some gaps where there are no trees to attach hardware and then I will just have the two lower rungs of fence. I am hoping to see a lot of progress in the next two weeks!

First encounters with small mesh hay net!

As part of my Paddock Paradise I will, of course, be including slow feeders. I am looking at the various small mesh hay nets to buy and I have also purchased two blue plastic barrels to build some barrel feeders with as seen on the Wetpaint site. I was anxious to see how Frankie would do with a small mesh net so until I make a decisions as to what I want to buy I went to Walmart and found a crab net. The netting seemed strong although thin and had about 1.5' holes, it was nylon and it came on a big metal net handle. I slipped some baling twine through the net that was woven onto the metal ring and then removed the ring. It made a perfect two chunk hay net!

I had no expectations of this net being in one piece by morning. I figures that even though I gave Frankie and Emma some loose hay to satisfy them they would still tear up the net. I had to try however and was very curious as to how Frankie, the destroyer of round bales, would react. To my utter delight he did great! The first bite was a shock and then in just minutes he figures out how to nibble at the hay. He actually seemed to like it as did Emma, as if it was a fun game. The next morning I immediately inspected the net and found only one small tear. So we went for another day and night and had just one more hole. I was still pleased considering this was a crab net and not very thick netting at that.

On the third day I came home from work and noticed that Emma was standing in the run-in doorway with the net on her head? So I tip toe through the mud in my dress shoes to see what she has done and yes, the net was stuck in her horns! This is one of the reasons they tell you to not get a pet goat with horns but she was a rescue and came to me this way so I have to just deal with it. It took me a couple minutes to get her untangles as she had both horns stuck in it. She waited patiently while I got her loose and then ran for some hay to eat. She seemed no worse for wear and the net even survived the attack!

lesson to the story...TIE THE NET HIGHER!

Getting Started!

I set out to plan a path that utilizes as much of the already carved out paths as possible. I had to consider expense and be careful of neighboring property lines. The thickly wooded undeveloped area of our property are also very hilly in some parts. I want to use those hills to my advantage but I don't want them to create any dangerous obstacles for Frankie either. Frankie is an active horse and I want to be careful that the corners do not pose hazards if he gets running too fast. The other issue is the creek that runs through property. Because it is swampy at parts and has some steep embankments I do not think it is safe for the animals to have access to it.

I have a gate at the back of my paddock so as you can see for my original map below, I have started the path there. This way they have easy access back to the barn and water. If I want to close them off from the track that is easy too. The track turns left and goes up a hill then down a large hill to a clearing where I will put a slow feeder. The path then snakes back into the thicker woods to the creek and the back side of our property. At this point the path forks and creates a loop. Another slow feeder will go in the back somewhere.I plan on using as many trees for posts that I can. That will probably be most of them since there are so many trees and it will save me money too. I am using 1/2" electric tape along the entire top row and then two to three rows of electric rope below that. In some places I worry about my goat getting out and wanting to go visit the neighbors! My regular fence is electric from Horse Guard Fencing so I will tap into the already existing current. If I feel it needs more juice I might buy another electric charger.

I plan on making the paths 8 -12 feet with a few bigger resting spots. I have started trimming back trees and vines to widen the existing paths and also create new areas. My branch lopper will only take me so far and I will need to sequester some help with the chainsaw. This is my kind of gardening!!!

Health ~ Past, Present & Future

PAST~
Frankie came to me about three and a half years ago. It was one of those love at fist sight things. He was a very healthy energetic, eight year old.  His feet were extremely healthy as well. He had only been in shoes for a year because of the very rocky environment of his previous home so I had no worries he would be fine without them. After I got him home and settled in I had the shoes pulled off and he has done wonderfully without them. 
 
One thing I did not realize until later was that his very gassy, noisy stomach was not as normal as I thought it was. With the exception of some small gas discomfort and one very mild colic he was OK for the first two years because he had pasture mates and more room to move about. The problem came to a head when I moved him to my house and he was in a smaller area with only a goat for a companion. I can not in any way shape or form afford another horse so for now the goat will have to do.
About four months into his move to my property Frankie sand coliced. The warning sign were all there but I just did not understand them (I do now!). The vet came out and we got him healthy again until just three months later and he coliced again, badly. We got him OK again and it became my mission to keep this from happening again.


PRESENT~
Frankie is now on a free choice diet of grass hay (round bale), no grain, a one cup serving of his soaked alfalfa pellets. He is on a product called Assure and Assure Plus. The Assure is given every morning and has a ration of probiotics, molasses, a small amount of psyllium and some other ingredients for the large colon. The Assure Plus is given one week out of the month and it is mostly a quality psyllium product in a pelleted form. I keep him off grass that is too short and ride him as much as possible. He has been colic free for a little over a year and his gut has good sounds but is not OVER active and he seems much healthier with more energy.

On the down side, Frankie is cooped up in his approximately 20' by 60' paddock and run-in with some pasture turn out. He can get a little over weight if I do not ride him enough and this winter has been one of those times. I also feel he needs a horse friend and I have great hopes to get him a buddy some day. Frankie and Emma are good together but I know he needs MORE in his life.

FUTURE~
I hope to see my animals in a living environment that is mentally and physically stimulating. I hope to be able to not worry so much about Frankie eating dirt out of boredom or letting gas build up in his tummy because he is not getting enough exercise. I would love to have a boarder with us so he has another horse to be with. I have not had the room for that at all but maybe with the Paddock Paradise tracking that is a possibility!

In The Beginning

These pages are about my search for what I hope to be a new and healthier life for my horse and how he lives.

have you ever had one of those moments when you get inspired by something and you just know it is exactly what you have been looking for. I had one of those moments while reading a web site I found about the Paddock Paradise from Jamie Jackson's research on wild horses.

I own one horse named Frankie who is a 12 year old Tennessee Walking horse and a nanny goat named Emma. My family and I live on 5 acres of hills and woods in Virginia. Frankie's pasture as of right now is a little over one acre with his 1/2 acre dry lot paddock. My pasture does not grow a lot of grass because there are a lot of trees in it so he can only stay on it for short periods or he will eat it quickly to dirt. We also have another two acres of thickly wooded area that is unused. I have been trying and trying to figure out a way to get Frankie more room to move about. It would cost thousands to clear that unused land. The land is very hilly with a creek through the middle so the trees are also needed to keep too much erosion from happening.

What we DO have however are several trails through the woods that our boys made with the neighbors when they were young and played in the woods. This is where the AAAAHA moment came (and the clouds parted and the angels sang). I can make a track along all those trails and power lines like shown in the paddock paradise method! I got so excited I have already drawn up a map. I am very excited to get started and look so forward to getting Frankie out there where he is not trapped in a small paddock area so often.