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Post by slyvia123 on Jul 26, 2014 12:18:12 GMT
file:///Users/alangentles/Desktop/paradise.jpg
Freestep strongly recommends the use of a paradise paddock grazing system for ponies with low grade laminitis, EMS or IR for the following reasons.
1. Increased exercise is one of the healthiest things you can do for a laminitic EMS, IR pony and by placing the water, small heaps of low sugar hay and feed around the perimeter of the track the horses are encouraged to continually walk around the edge to forage for feed etc. much as it would do in the wild. Far better than setting up a small area of limited grazing where the horse simply stands still for most of the day and better also than leaving him in the stable with very restricted access to feed which is likely to add to stress and with limited access to feed can cause ulcers.
2. Many modern grass species contain high levels of sugar and taste sweet thus encouraging the horse to gorge itself, by making a track alongside the hedge and planting shrubs and native grass species you will be feeding low sugar content plants high in anti oxidants which are beneficial to all laminitic animals.
3. This system is easy to manage and allows the grass to grow in the centre area to allow the horse to graze during safe times such as the winter months, this method also allows for a hay crop to be taken during the summer.
4. This system allows a laminitic horse to be turned out for long hours without the hindrance of a grazing mask allowing the horse to socialise and exercise with other horses, much more acceptable than long hours standing in confinement.
A paradise paddock is easy to set up by creating an internal fence around an already existing hedge or fence. It is possible to use electric tape and fence posts as a temporary method until the system is fully established, i.e. width of track to amount of horses, shrubs and grass species to be planted etc.
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Post by chalky284 on Jul 26, 2014 12:50:25 GMT
Makes for interesting reading, but sadly not many YO would even consider this kind of grazing.
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lovebird
Full Member
SandbankEarlybird & Freya, Evening Performance HOYS 2013
Posts: 348
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Post by lovebird on Jul 26, 2014 12:57:27 GMT
I saw it or similar in Showing World a while back, makes perfect sense.
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Post by Louise Dixon on Jul 27, 2014 7:39:00 GMT
I'm going to see if we've got enough electric fencing posts to set this up for our shetlands today.
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foxyt
Full Member
Posts: 204
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Post by foxyt on Jul 27, 2014 8:13:07 GMT
This could be extremely efficient if you left the centre to make hay and grazed around the edges first, just need a good fence to keep them out of the hay!
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Post by Louise Dixon on Jul 27, 2014 15:45:42 GMT
I've enough posts, just need my husband to knock 4 strainers in for the corners now!
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sarahp
Happy to help
Posts: 9,510
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Post by sarahp on Jul 28, 2014 7:28:03 GMT
I can see it's a good idea, and my first thought was to set one up in one of my fields, but my second thought was that it would be very expensive to set up - I don't use electric fencing so lots of new fencing and gates required - and makes life complicated for the contractor who rolls, harrows and tops for me and charges by the hour.
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Post by wilmira on Jul 28, 2014 8:15:22 GMT
I have used this method for the first time this year and it has really worked wonders . Ponies aren't laminitic but are little fatties that live on fresh air and have never looked so fit and healthy :-)
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Post by waspblue on Jul 28, 2014 23:04:20 GMT
I was talking to the Superfix lady about two weeks ago and she was telling me about them setting up a small paddock with an 'island' fenced off in the centre and around the track were placed small piles of low sugar hay, chop and water at various intervals, to encourage the ponies to forage for their food. They then filmed the ponies over a five hour period and they walked around the track a staggering 32 times! They then removed the island and let the ponies out in the same small paddock just to graze, so they could see how much they walked when just grazing a small paddock without a track type system. Each pony over the next five hours only moved a couple of metres! This just goes to show how well this method works and how much more natural this is for them too. The only problem a lot of people have is that although they can see how good it is and probably long to do it, most YO's are so set in their ways, that you are fighting a losing battle, as they will not even entertain it, as they think it will do untold damage to their fields and they'd much rather have nice fields than healthy equines.
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sarahp
Happy to help
Posts: 9,510
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Post by sarahp on Jul 29, 2014 7:16:51 GMT
I wonder what the grass was like in the small paddocks when they turned the ponies out onto them, and if the ponies were out 24/7 or had been kept in for a bit so were very keen to eat? If they had been on the track only part and just the intervening fence was removed, of course they wouldn't move far if they then had the chance to stand and eat the long grass in their immediate area!
This might sound as if I'm not approving of the paradise paddock system and all that Freestep do in the area of trying to understand and prevent laminitis but this is absolutely not the case, and I'm thrilled to see research being undertaken in this area, there is so much we still don't know and the role of plants other than grass to me is of great interest. I'm only one case not a scientific study and am lucky enough to have my ponies on my own land so can make my own choices, but purely on gut instinct have encouraged what a farmer would think of as dreadful grass for the last 30 years, in fact a couple of my fields have never been sown with grass at all, it was all growing corn before we moved here years ago so there is only what has come up naturally. I discourage ryegrass, and hope to have lots of other various species in the sward, not that I've any idea what most of them are! They also browse the hedges around the fields and can bark trees if they wish. Most of my fields are 3 - 4 acres - actually too big, I could do with smaller ones, but, and this is my main point, mine do not stand in one spot like the Freestep ones, but move hugely over their fields over the course of the day, not just the As in their almost bare ones, but the Ds who get to go where there is more grass. This is not scientific observation, merely from knowing that when I check them they could be anywhere - have they come to drink at the trough, which trees are they standing under which varies with the weather and time of day, where they have chosen to graze. Most fields I can see out of the house windows so I look for them whenever I go past that window and I know they do cover lots more than the couple of metres waspblue mentions!
I do of course only have the post above to go on, and haven't read the proper scientific paper
I have never had any problems with my Ds getting too fat or suffering from laminitis, but I do find that the As are a different story and I have to keep a close watch on their weight. But they have the worst fields, and I keep a small flock of grazing only sheep which is used to help regulate the amount of grass when needed.
I can understand the problem from YOs point of view, but if I were starting from scratch again as we did here (which is unlikely!) I would certainly try to set up some sort of paradise paddock system in the beginning when all the fencing and gates were set up and it could be carefully thought out to decrease cost and inconvenience.
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Post by orangetails on Jul 29, 2014 11:54:27 GMT
I'm lucky enough to be on a DIY livery yard where the YO is tolerant of my 'racetrack' as he calls it! It's not a true 'paddock paradise' as it is only on grass in my allocated paddock, and therefore only a temporary thing for the dry months (I'm going to continue it into the winter as long as I can get away with) It's done wonders for my two though. Neither are laminetics, but my arab is a bit grass sensitive. My oldie grazes the middle whenever I ride my arab, and both of them graze the middle while I do jobs at either end of the day. Even in the short time it takes me to poo-pick they travel the track numerous times! They have both held fitness heaps better, and my arab who NEVER grows enough hoof and consequently needs shoeing for the work she does (endurance) has actually grown enough to require the farrier to actually trim a little bit off when re-shoeing for the last two cycles now! Unheard of in the nearly ten years I have owned her! In an ideal world I'd love my own place with a semi-permanent track with different surfaces etc, but it's great to be able to apply the principles in my somewhat more restricted set-up. It does require a fairly big initial outlay in posts/tape though! I have got two reels of 200m tape and 35 posts to put a track round my small half acre summer paddock. If you shop around on the internet you can keep the costs down - I got the posts locally on a 'buy two packs get one free' offer, and the tape online, so altogether it was about £60 - well worth it
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Post by waspblue on Aug 2, 2014 22:48:41 GMT
Well I have good news, my YO is currently reading my copy of Paddock Paradise, and loves the ideas in it so much that if her hubby will go with it, she would like to set one up for our resident lami prone ponies, as she feels it will offer them an excellent and more natural way to be out and indulging in true equine behaviours. I hope she is able to do this as we both feel that the benefits to the ponies will be immense and she really does care so much about all the equines on the yard, as if they were her own, which is lovely. She is one lovely lady.
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Post by lancslass on Aug 14, 2014 11:33:51 GMT
Oh that is good news waspblue. My boy's EMS/Insulin resistant and has been on this type of turnout for the past 3 years or so now. We moved yards last year from a place that was kind of set up like this, but not well enough in my opinion (and with accidents waiting to happen/happening!). I'm now on a yard where I'm fortunate that the yard I'm on has owners who will listen and take on board this type of grazing setup. It's a really great way of keeping them moving and work for their grass while at the same time, keeping the hooves/feet pretty healthy too with a decent amount of walking being done. My boy's actually 'self trimming' his own feet now which is wonderful (he's barefoot). My farrier still attends every 6 weeks though to re-balance him and trim if needed. He's on bespoke minerals from Forage Plus tailored to his specific needs and he's got cracking feet now with good tight white lines...they've never looked better and I'm really chuffed I've a long last found something that's working for him Although he's on his summer paddock at the moment that was restricted initially size wise and opened up as the summer weeks have gone on (with one other) and doing well at present, I fully intend to set up a track in this paddock next Spring so he's benefits from the movement and health benefits associated with this setup.
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