Here is  a slideshow of the track and the layout of the paddock.

It will be interesting to see how it will evolve. I still have to put in some feed stations for salt/mineral licks, maybe one for kelp and decide where I will finally put the automatic waterer which is gravity fed from the rainewater tank, the gray one in the pictures.

I am looking forward to your comments.

I am quite stunned at how much track I can have on just 1.75 acres, which also has a 20m x 40m arena, a  13.5m (44′) round yard and 3 yards of 8m x 8m. A rough measure of the track had me smiling broadly as it is roughly 300m long and if I do add the driveway and walk ways to it surrounding in the house yard I get another 300m which is covered in road base and will do a wonderful job of giving my horses a trim. I will have to take photos soon and put them to this post.

The ground at my place is rather varied naturally, sandy, gravelly and somewhat rocky areas. I do have a dam we dug last year and the horses love to go have a play in. The grass around my place is mainly native, though I have oversown some low oxalate tropical grasses. This will be an occasional diversion from the track for them to have a treat.

Well… once I have my extra posts and have finished the track … it will be interesting to see how the horses react. I will put my plan to paper and post it on here as well; at the moment it’s all still in my head, so stay tuned.

Cheers

I am very lucky to have incredible neighbours who allow me to have the horse eat down their grass, and if I add up all those acres as well, I have about 20 acres at my disposal… how is that? Sounds fantastic right? I appreciate that I can put the horses around the neighbourhood, but I really want to have them close at home.

Cover of Paddock Paradise by Jaime Jackson

I’ve heard of Jaime Jackson’s book “Paddock Paradise” quite a while ago, and it had me intrigued, though I ordered the book only a couple of days ago. I wasn’t sure if it is really what I wanted so I did a lot of research and I am converted. I am going to create a Paddock Paradise for my horses, as it doesn’t matter how big or small your property is, you can create a paddock paradise.

While I am waiting for my new book to read, I have been doing some research on the net and here are some links that you might like to have a look with me:

Paddock Paradise

Paddock Paradise Wiki

Paddock Paradise in Wales, UK

I am pretty inspired and am going to draw a plan of the property so I can have an idea how I will lay out my track, where to put feeding stations and where to have watering points. What types of surfaces I will install etc.  It will be quite some work but well worth it if I can keep my horses at home permanently.

have you ever thought about the above question? This is a question we ask ourself at Quantum Savvy a lot and you may be intrigued what it is all about. Meredith Ransley explains it really well in her article.

Just How Attractive Are You To Your Horse?

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When it comes to your relationship to your horse, how would you rate yourself? As attractive or unattractive? While the concept itself may seem an odd one and most likely its one most of us have never considered, from your horse’s point of view it can be crucial to your success … or lack of it.

As horse owners, I’m sure all of us would love to have our horses gleefully greet us each day, to come willingly when we call, to be happy to be with us and to do our bidding when we ask. When it doesn’t all happen this way (and honestly how often does it ever??) we feel disappointed and hurt. But if you look at it from the point of view of your horse, why should they see us and perceive us in this way.

Lots of us think that if we feed our horses and brush them, rug them and take care of their needs, that they should be happy and willing partners. But lets take a closer look at our relationships with our horses and see if we can find the truth.

For our horses to willingly want to be with us and to choose us over their mates or even just over eating grass in the far corner of the paddock, we need to take a close look at our actions and interactions with them on a daily basis … in other words, the things we do with them on a subconscious level, for this truly does give way to our thoughts, feelings and desires.

The first thing to keep in mind is that what is attractive to a human is not necessarily so to a horse. By that I mean, being brushed and fed are all very well but they aren’t high on the list of what makes us attractive to them. While a lovely dinner on the table at 6pm might be a real winner with hubby, that extra carrot or bit of yummy barley or really green bit of Lucerne means very little to your horse. While they hoe into it, they really won’t associate you with being an extra nice person for giving it to them … its just food!

Likewise the extra $50 you spent on the super dooper rug to keep him warm won’t mean the same thing to your horse as running hubby a nice hot bath on a cold night. Most likely your horse will just see it as an inconvenience, as he can’t regulate his own temperature as he’d like to by rolling in mud to create a warm mud rug when he is cold and then rubbing it off next morning when he is too hot.

So what then is attractive to your horse? I like to keep a little scale of 1 – 10 to gauge everything I do with my horse from how I catch him, to how I am around him (my attitude, where my thoughts are, my actions) and how I interact with him on the ground and when riding. For example, if I want to go for a ride, am I always in a hurry because I don’t have much time and how does that come across to my horse. Am I looking very predatory because I’m rushing around? Am I a bit quick with my responses because I want him to hurry up and stand still? Do I take the time to notice how he is feeling and maybe give him a bit of a scratch in a place he actually likes and not just where I think he likes … do I even know what he likes? When he tries for me and does something nicely, even just standing still to have his feet cleaned out, do I put a hand on him even for a moment and give him a little rub and put his feet down politely or do I just expect it to be so and show no appreciation and just drop his feet when I’m done. Making that connection whenever possible goes along way with a horse. One thing I do know from the experience of watching many horse owners, is that if you treat your horse with negligence then they will treat you in the same way … with all the disdain and disregard you deserve. Likewise if you are always afraid of your horse not wanting to be with you so you act timid or over careful, you can come across as insecure and needy which again is not an attractive characteristic.

Now … I’m not saying we have to get all soppy and overly lovey-dovey with our horses. Some of us just aren’t made that way. And by now we know that being a marshmallow around our horses is not seen as desirable or attractive either, however not taking the time to be appreciative of your horses efforts and tries has just the same affect on our equine relationships as it does on our human ones. How long do you think our hubby, wife, kids, friends or work mates would be happy to be around us if we just always expect them to do things for us when we want and how we want, without so much as a please or thank you? If we were demanding, bossy, needy, desperate, unthankful, how many friends do you think we would have? Would people choose to be with us or would they cross the street if they saw us coming? And yet, for many horse owners, this is exactly how we are seen by our horses, all because of the unconscious acts we do with them on a daily basis.

I say unconscious because none of us mean to be this way, however many of us … even the most devout horse lovers among us, subconsciously at least, treat our horses as possessions. Something that we own and therefore should do our bidding. I know right now some of you are horrified at the thought and I know we don’t mean to be this way, but this goes along way to explain the frustration, disappointment and anger that we feel when our horses don’t do as we want. Somewhere deep down we feel we own them so they owe us something … they should do as we wish. If we truly saw them as the individual, independent, free spirits and friends that they are, we’d be a lot more grateful for all the things they do do for us, their willingness and their tolerance of us. Let’s face it, they are far more forgiving and tolerant than many of us are. We can learn a great deal from them in this regard.

Perhaps even some of us actually do treat the other humans in our day this way also? Something to thing about.

I’d like to encourage all of you to take a good look at just how attractive you are to your horse in all things that you do. How often do you show your appreciation to your horse for all that try they offer you, by offering something as simple as release and comfort, getting a hand on them, when ever the chance arises, or by quitting at the right time or knocking off when enough is enough. Or … how often to you expect that little bit more and just take what they give willingly as your just reward.

Take the time to show your appreciation and let your horse know when he or she is right or doing a good job and you’ll find your rapport bank account filling up so fast you’ll have plenty to draw on for years to come.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

I hope you enjoyed this article. You can find more articles by Shane and Meredith Ransley from Quantum Savvy here.

Cheers

You can watch this video here: http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/2494999.htm 

As you all know I am learing a training method called Release Focused Training (TM) which was developed by Shane and Meredith Ransley founders of Quantum Savvy.  In their programme we learn a lot about horse’s natural behaviour, how they react to stimuli, and how we as humans can learn their language to gain a better understanding why horses do what they do. This in turn helps us to be able to connect with our horses, become leaders for them, a leadership based on understanding and trust, not on dominance.

You don’t need to dominate a horse to be a good leader, what you need is the trust of your horse and you have to trust your horse that it will do as you asked. Using phases properly, will actually develop a soft, responsive horse who willingly do for you what you asked.

The beauty now is that with current studies into Equine Behaviour and how horses learn, gives Release Focused Training (TM) a scientific footing and that is very exciting. I really believe, that one day, the gentle and now scientific programme of Release Focused Training (TM) will be the gold standard for horse training.

Have a look at this video clip from the Catalyst programme and compare it with what Meredith says in her article “Release Focused Training” and what Shane said about it in his interview with the Natural Horse Network.

Although the programme focused on Dr. Andrew McClean and the Australian Equine Behaviour Centre, it is a wonderful endorsement for Release Focused Training as taught by Quantum Savvy.

Cheers

I had bought Jane’s book “Managing horses on small properties”, read it from cover and cover and went about to put her suggestions and resources provided into practise. I also sought advise from the local agronomist and farm supplies stores and gained valuable information about the grass/pasture species best suited to the soil I had in the area I live in.

Though on 2.5 acres, the actual area the horses can use is more like 1 and ¾ acre, but a valuable land resource was found at my neighbours, all on small acreages and more than willing to have the horses on their land occasionally to help with ‘slashing’ their grass. With the knowledge and support I gained, I was able to establish a rotational grazing system that allowed me to start improving my pasture.

A soil test showed that my soil was quite acidic. I also discovered that I had thin, water repelling layer of sandy loam sitting on top of compacted clay, and no organic matter to speak of in the soil. My main aim was to develop suitable strategies to improve soil structure and nutrient levels, but being on a tight budget, I needed a simple, cheap, and easily managed solution I could do myself.

I set down and developed a property plan taking into account the lay of the land to set up some paddocks. I also decided I needed a dam. It does take away grazing area, but went ahead anyway and haven’t regretted it. I did a lot of thinking about where to have it dug, and went out in heavy rain to see how the water ran on the land before deciding on a spot. I use the dam for irrigation and watering the horses.

I also decided that rather then feeding a round bale as a whole, to brake off layers and place them around the paddock, encouraging my horses to move. Any left over hay provided mulch and ground cover, helping to reduce soil erosion on the sloped parts of my place. Every time it rained heavily, the sandy loam layer would wash off leaving the compacted clay exposed. Leaving the hay lying about slowed the water down allowing it time to sink in, and reducing erosion.

With water restrictions in place, water management proved to be very important. Horse manure and wasted grass hay became a valuable resource as mulch. I strategically placed them over bare spots in the grass, and with the help of a mattock, chipped it into the first few centimetres of soil. A local pasture mix was sprinkled over, raked in and watered, with another thin layer of ‘mulch’ placed over it. On the grassy areas, I just raked in the horse manure and harrowed in an organic soil wetting agent. I used grey water to irrigate the areas close to the house. I also kept the horses off the areas being irrigated with the help of movable fencing.

How well my strategy was working showed when my horses were at home for 8 weeks during the EI outbreak. The horse area had maintained good cover, but needed a spell, and recovered quickly and looked quite lush, within a couple of weeks. It’s exciting to see the grass starting grow and fill in bare spots. My husband had to admit that I had pulled it off and that there was definitely more grass than the year before.

I am continuing to refine my system all the time and Jane’s book has become an invaluable resource to me. Recently I attended one of Jane’s workshops on managing horse on a small property and came away with more ideas to help me manage my micro horse property. I have now built yards, and up a ‘maze’ using my tread-ins to encourage the horses to walk longer distances to get to water and feed stations. The maze also allows me to rest and improve some areas, while other areas are utilised by the horses.

I already see the benefits. I have had the horses on my place for 5 weeks utilising this system and it works great, having maintained my grass cover, and probably increased it once the warmer weather arrives. I am sure that without Jane’s book and workshop, and the resources and knowledge I gained through them, I would have a dust bowl out the back rather than good grass cover and content horses.

Thank you Jane.

Petra

You can read more about my little horse property and what I did for pasture here.

I will also update some links so you can get to Jane’s website. See ya soon

Shane gave an interview on Natural Horse Network not too long ago about Release Focused Training and how it is used to build a horses confidence and create a great partnership with our equine friends. The core principles of Release Focused Training are:

* Horses should have options
* Horses learn by when comfort is offered
* Success is found by following a repeatable programme

Enjoy the programme

Cheers

NHN-presents-Shane-Ransley

Luckily, I have been able to find a ‘from far above’ picture of our property and with some tweaking I now do have a somewhat usable ‘aerial’ photo of our 2.5 acres. It is  a bit out of date not quite accurate in regards to the buildings, but for my purposes more than sufficient.

Our property has predominately a sandy loam type of soil though in places more sand than loam. It has been selectively cleared and with a significant number of trees towards the back of the property which puts any grass growing there in permanent dapple shade. Very nice in summer, but no good if you want to grow pasture. The grass growing is mainly couch with a few tussocks of Rhodes grass. Not much of a pasture, more something to keep the horses occupied, and that badly.

The property slopes from North-East to South-West. It didn’t look like much of a slope, but when we had an unexpected downpour we noticed that the water was running off quite quickly and took with it some valuable topsoil. This is an important fact to consider when planning the paddocks as the manure may be washed into a waterway or dam.

Keen to get the horses onto our property, we needed to decide where to put fences. The first fence we put up divided the property into a front and back section to be able to get them home. But… this isn’t a satisfactory solution as the horses will move all over the place. It’s amazing what destructive powers are in those hooves when it comes to land. So, to prevent too much land degradation more paddocks needed to be established to allow rotation through them.

In getting a workable paddock layout, I also needed to consider watering points, where to put gates, and where the ‘sacrifice yard’ should be.  Paddock size was also an important fact to consider. Here it depends a bit on how much you ride/exercise your horses as they will need exercise. If you have a huge paddock you don’t need to exercise your horse that much, but if you have small ones, you need to keep them exercised every day. So how much time do you have at hand to exercise your horses?

I am a stay at home wife (unless work calls me), so I can exercise my horses in one form or another just about every day, and I decided to have my paddocks a bit on the smaller side, but no smaller than 30x60m to allow the horses at least some space to play. I also decided that I wanted at least 4 paddocks with one being the sacrifice yard and it itself being divided into a feeding yard and a riding yard.

This is my grand plan. What do you think? Will it be workable?

Paddock layout