Keeping a good doer and grass sensitive ponio is not that easy. Most 'native' types are kept in during sping and summer or at the best, turned out on a postage stamp area of grass to control their weight and desire to 'stuff' !!
A man called Jaime Jackson, a barefoot trimmer from the USA devised a system of allowing a more natural lifestyle for all horses and it especially suits my guys. It is called Paddock Paradise and is becoming an increasingly popular and natural way of horsekeeping this side of the pond. It is a system of tracks around, in my case a small one and a half acre field. Fot the most part of the year, the ponies graze aound these sparse tracks supplemented with hay and minerals. They move all day around and around and this helps keep them healthy, both mentally and physically aswell as giving their bare feet all the stimulus they need. The have a long barn to stand in if they want but normally only come in here to get away from flies in the summer. Hay is placed around the track on the ground so they can graze as nature intended. Hey presto, a more natural lifestyle.
Enjoy the pictures I took this morning on this lovely autumnal day.
Incase you are wondering, the grass in the middle is eventually grazed down by strip grazing in the depths of winter when it looks more like standing hay! It is then rested and the process starts again. As you can see it still looks VERY green and its mid October!
