I don’t want to reinvent the wheel as we plan the horse facilities at the new house.
I’m sure MANY of you have built horse accommodations and auxiliary horse stuff that you LOVE. And, I’m sure many of you have information of what NOT to do – from your experience.
You all are such a wealth of knowledge… I’d LOVE to hear from you on these topics (or any other you feel might help!)
- HAVE YOU TRIED BAYCO FENCING?
- WHAT IS THE VERY BEST SHELTER DESIGN YOU HAVE BUILT OR HAVE SEEN?
- WHAT IS THE ITEM(S) YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF FOR DESIGNING INTO YOUR HORSE KEEPING SOLUTIONS
- WHAT DO YOU WISH YOU HAD DONE DIFFERENTLY THAT MIGHT HELP ME WITH MY FUTURE SETUP?
- HAS ANYONE BUILT A PADDOCK PARADISE?
- HAS ANYONE MOVED LARGE AREAS OF DIRT TO CHANGE A PASTURE TOPOGRAPHY? ANY PITFALLS (no pun intended)?
- WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE INDOOR/OUTDOOR KITCHEN DESIGN ITEM THAT YOU USE ALL THE TIME?
THANK YOU! I greatly appreciate your input. I know you all are very, very clever!
I want happy, happy horses – like these two hooligans!
HORSE AND MAN is a blog in growth... if you like this, please pass it around!
I can’t offer any advice on shelters but if you are planting pastures, this: do you remember back a few years ago I think it was in spring of 2011 you posted about herbs planted in pastures for horses? I looked into that and did that. It was really interesting that one of my horses actually sought out and devoured every single dandelion plant and a blood test determined why he was doing that – he had a low grade infection and the high levels of vitamin c in dandelion greens was helping him fight it off. What I did was research herbs helpful for horses (and how to avoid any toxic ones) and then sought out organic seeds and planted under the fencelines so the herbs when growing could poke through into the pasture but not get trampled as they were coming up. The fencelines also helped keep them slightly irrigated because of condensation drip off of the fence. The other thing I did which you might consider doing is checking with a local forage expert and finding a low NSC pasture mix which works in your area (NSC levels being influenced by soils and climate even if a basic low-NSC grass species). Then if you have another horse with metabolic issues they don’t necessarily have to be restricted to a dry lot.
I put in a version of a paddock paradise last summer and have been thrilled with the results so far! We have 7 acres, with two main pastures, plus a arena, and access to the neighbors 4 acres of pasture. My track system does’t make a full circle but instead more of a “u” shape. They have to move from one end to the other for water, food, socializing with neighbor horses, and so on. I wanted them to have to think and use themselves so we were able to incorporate the natural creek bottom to our advantage for rock and some hills and live water. We built an impressive and tall bridge over a ditch ( they all cross water brilliantly) that has already paid for itself when coming across a bridge on the trail. There are trees they have to jump, a pile of poles to maneuver, we will be adding rock plies this summer as well as any other obstacles I feel will be beneficial. My two pastures are now divided into 5 small (plus the neighbors 1) and they are constantly checking to see which gate I opened, and in the winter it gives them a maze that keeps them on the move. Its a fair amount of work to put in, mine is just electric fence, but the benefits are well worth it! Even my hubbies horse is in better shape coming out of a winter of no riding than ever before and i believe the movement is good for their minds as well. I think the great part is you can implement to fit your specific needs and property – going as detailed or simple as you like. It’s also one of those things you can plan for but add in later when you know the property and what you want better! Hope this helps a little!!! It’s always fun to have a clean slate to work with, that was our place, and after 5 year here we are starting to get the finished look we want around here!! Good luck!!
I love the Bayco Fence. It is fairly easy to put up. I recommend a hot wire on the top – just to keep the “kids” from leaning on it. You do need to check the tension but it is really easy to tighten when you need too. I love it.
We are operating on a shoestring here. We are blessed that we were able to get a Land Contract on a 50 acre farm in NE Michigan after I became disabled, could no longer work, resulting in us losing our former 10 acre farm downstate. So in our 60’s, my amazing husband and I started over from scratch. The only thing we were able to bring from downstate was about 100 used cedar fence posts and the Electrobraid we’d had installed for 12 years.
So that is my #1 recommendation: Electrobraid fencing. Over the years we’ve watched a few horses run into it full-tilt-boogie and be gently pushed back into the pasture without injury. It’s been buried under 5-plus feet of snow, dragged to the ground as it melted, then sprung right back into shape. Deer have run into it from the outside and broken insulators and detached about 300ft of 4 line fencing. After replacing the broken insulators the fence was fine.
Electrobraid is economical, safe when installed as directed, and of all fencing options is the easiest to relocate when your needs change. I would love to develop a paddock paradise here. We’re blessed to have a wonderful neighbor who bales our hay, but we’ve got about 15 acres not suitable for haying. That’s the area we hope to fence when we can afford more fencing.
http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-293653.html
forum on bayco and similar fencing, seems the only difficulty is some horses walk through it,
and you will need one hot wire along the top.
I’m in Mississippi and installed ElectroBraid fencing http://www.electrobraid.com/ 18 months ago. We use a solar charger. It’s easy to see and has held up very well so far. We had a tree fall on the line last summer which brought the top 3 rows down to the bottom row. After we got the tree off, the fencing tightened up within hours back to it’s original form. Easy to install, no maintenance and the horses respect it. Good luck! Your move will be both exciting and frustrating. Take your time–and a lot of deep breaths….
Hi Dawn, I haven’t been able to make a paddock paradise because I have a rented field, but I put up electric fence tracks in our pasture last fall and it certainly made the horses move around more. They seemed to really enjoy it and would gallop along the straight bits when they played (and they’re heavy cobs). Also, planting hedges (with temporary fencing of course) works really well for our horses in the long-term because as well as giving shelter from the wind and being very secure when they are grown (they are thorn hedges) the horses get to eat them. I don’t know how it would work where you are though. We’re in rainy, windy Shropshire, UK.