Running & Eating, Eating & Running

It is what horses do best right! So much fun to watch as well and the track has definitely gotten its use the last few days while the horses have enjoyed being out on it. 

 

Now I am trying to figure out the best ways to feed the two of them. I use a round bale and I also keep some square bales around that they like best because it its timothy instead of the plain grass hay that the big bales are made of. The problem with the timothy bales is that they are very expensive but they do give them more encouragement to walk the track. So what I have been doing is mixing a little timothy in with some grass hay and seems to work.

I have also seen more destruction and waist with the two of them at the bale. To combat this I have decided to keep the round bale covered and put a bulk amount in small mesh bags. 

Really, your going to cover it? Such a perfect Frankie look!

I am also putting some loose hay on the ground along the track. Munchie will eat out of the nets but he rather not work so hard, he wants quick and easy! It is more work for me and if I have a day that is too busy I will simply let them at the round bale. The waste is just proving to be too much if they are allowed to be on it all the time.

I would like to build some more feeders but that will have to wait. I have five of the small mesh hay bags and I use all of them. There is also the barrel and I want to put up one more. I really would like to also get a bag of hay cubes but our local place only has alfalfa cubes. There is one other place I will check to see if they have the plain timothy cubes.

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.