TURNOUT OPTIONS

We’d all love our horses to have access to endless acres of turnout, but this isn’t an option for every owner. However, using your grazing wisely will help to replicate your horse’s natural movement needs, as well as looking after your grazing responsibly. “My two favourite methods are to set up a track system called Paddock Paradise, or an Equicentral system. Both promote healthy grazing and behaviour patterns,” explains Lauren. The Paddock Paradise system (see diagram, below) was designed by Jamie Jackson, a farrier determined to keep his horses as naturally as possible. Instead of your horse being turned out in a regular field where he can stand in one spot and eat, an additional inner fence is added to create a track. This mimics the behaviour of wild horses, who eat, move on, rest, move on, and eat some more. You can allow your horse onto the middle section to graze for a few hours a day if he needs it, but for the rest of the time he’s on the track. The Equicentral system (see diagram, above) requires a yard area connected to several paddocks. Each paddock is accessed by a separate gate, but only one is opened at a time. The key to this concept is that water and shelter is provided in the central yard area, so your horse has to walk between the yard and paddocks to graze or drink, encouraging healthy movement. Having water and shelter only available in the yard area also reduces the time your horse is grazing and helps to maintain a well-vegetated, healthy pasture. Both of these systems encourage natural movement. Horses in the wild travel around 16km a day on average and this is why, when your horse is stabled for long periods of time and the only turnout is in a small field, he begins to suffer physically because of a lack of movement. “Horses are athletes. They’ve evolved to be able to travel and thrive when allowed to do so,” explains Lauren. “So it makes sense, if you want your horse to live more naturally, to provide a way for him to utilise his body. A well-designed track system will go a long way towards emulating this movement.”