How much land do you keep your Shetlands on?

catembi

catembi

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Just curious... At my last house, I kept my Shetland out 24/7 on 1.5 acres of poor grazing with my ex-racer. She had constant access to hay, was muzzled if the lami app said danger and brought in for a few hours if frosty. No lami, but she was 6 months to 2.5 years old.

For the last 9 months, she has been in various liveries. One kept her in all the time with turnout on a school. One kept her in all day and turned out overnight on a strip of field with her muzzle on.

New property was unfenced, and the fencer, who has previously worked at a Shetland stud, had made her an enclosure which measures 2.4 metres by 9.6 metres, with a stable in addition at one end. Surely this isn’t enough...!

The land has a track around the perimeter, so I am going to set up a pretty much grassless track system (all mine are barefoot). Presumably that would be better than being stuck in a pen?

How do you all manage your Shetlands?
 
I had 4 turned out on 4 acres of previous cattle pasture with no issues. I very rarely restrict my grazing but they always have more than enough room to tally around and never stable them unless necessary.
 
We are lucky in that it's our own land so we can do what we want it, but between me and my mum we have two horses and two ponies and we rotate the fields as needed. So the horses go in to a fresh paddock, eat most of really good grass out of it, then the ponies go in afterwards and they can usually find grass and forage where the horses couldn't. We have around 4 acres to play with like that and it suits us nicely. (and then 2 acres rested ready for winter... but they're only out for 8 hours a day then so that 2 acres lasts much longer)

You don't say how much land you have or if you have other horses/ponies to share with you so based on what you say I would say the grassless track system is probably a good idea (I know a few people that have had success like that), I certainly wouldn't think about putting our Shetland in a small pen enclosure, he still needs space to move and run about and roll like all the others!
 
Not Shetlands but very laminitic prone dartmoor is on a track about 15 meters wide and round the full acre paddock with the fat welshie for company both race around it is green grass about bowling green length and they look fabulous on it
 
My ems shetland is muzzled and goes out with the herd on 6 acres of hilly meadow, all the other horses are out 24/7 in the summer but he comes in during the day as even with a muzzle can't cope with the grass. Then he changes to stabling overnight during the winter when all the other horses come in at nigt.

I would quite like a pen like yours for more movement and airflow when he's in during the day in the summer but definitely wouldn't want him in it full time!
 
My Shetland lives on a track in summer and two acres in winter with my other, bigger ponies. I wouldn’t keep him in a pen because I feel that exercise is probably as important as what he’s eating. He’s happy and healthy this way and never had laminitis.
 
Some more fencing supplies are coming this week so I can hopefully get started on the track. It is 4 acres and it’s mine so I can do what I want, thank goodness! It was previously used as a ‘garden’ for want of a better word, so lots of trees and hedging, and madly out of control. Needs a LOT of taming but should be fab in a year or two 😄

I agree that exercise and a bit more foraging has got to be better than small pen, but with lami, so much is guesswork.
 
Yeah I wouldn't be mad about a pen that small, it wouldn't be a great quality of life. I know my two minis love to have a good hooley and buck and gallop around. I keep them on an acre normal, but they are happy on that. I have put them out in the bigger 14 acres field and weight and lami wise they wree fine. I think cause its harder terrain and they walk around more.
 
Yeah the pen is the oddest thing! The posts are in and it’s SIX strips of the size I mentioned, and will be railed with half-round with sliprail ‘gates’. The idea is that I can strip graze... We are waiting for more rails to come. I can never visualise what people are explaining, so after their 8th attempt, I just say, yeah, okay, we’ll go with that, then am surprised by what emerges...!
 
I have two miniature shetlands that share a 5 acre field with 2 cobs and a welshie. I have a small paddock(approx 20x30m) for danger times ie a flush of grass,if necessary, but generally they are all out together.
I find it easier to control weight/lami issues with them out with the others than eating stressed grass. They get more exercise and it's better grass. They also have access to ad lib round bale haylage all winter with the others.
 
My 2 are currently muzzled at night and roaming round 3 acres or so with NF.
Yes, I have 2 diet paddocks which they are in during the day; each paddock is apptox 20metres x 25metres and gates are currently open between both paddocks.
The main water tanks are at the yard, so they keep active by walking/racing through the 2 linked diet paddocks to reach the night grazing.
 
That’s interesting..,thank you! I’m starting to think that I might need another Shetland...!

A load more fencing supplies have arrived so we can get going on the track this week 😄I would love Florence to be able to hoon around. When she lived with Trev, it was so funny when they had a mad moment galloping about. With her funny Shetland scuttling run trying to keep up with a racehorse!
 
I have two sharing eleven acres of unimproved hill meadow with two big horses. They are out at night in summer, out during the day in winter, out all the time spring and autumn. If the grass gets too much for them, they are on the arena, yard and a piece of rough ground totalling about half an acre and feed rough or soaked haylage and straw chop. Arena 30x40. Yard 20x5. Rough area 30x5. Plus two open stables.

A grassless track would be absolutely ideal for Shetland ponies :)
 
catembi said:
That’s interesting..,thank you! I’m starting to think that I might need another Shetland...!

A load more fencing supplies have arrived so we can get going on the track this week 😄I would love Florence to be able to hoon around. When she lived with Trev, it was so funny when they had a mad moment galloping about. With her funny Shetland scuttling run trying to keep up with a racehorse!
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2 are definitely better than one with Shetlands ime.
I had a few incidences of lgl with my first Shetland before I got him a buddy. Now, they keep each other busy and have to work to keep up with the horses.
 
my field is 3 acres, my pony is out 24/7 doesn't need a muzzle, he used to the whole 3 acres when i had my mare and gelding there, they kept it down quite nicely. since i lost my mare my sheltand is there with my friends lami pony! so we only use about 1 acre of the field, because of the other pony they are always on short grass, but I'd rather they had a bit more. Although they have plenty of hedges and bushes to eat too
 
Sounds like the only option is to get another super cute Shetland...! I was asking o/h yesterday (not in seriousness) if I could start a Shetland stud and breed them so as never to be short of cute foals and he said NO!! So maybe one more would be entirely reasonable...!

Where to get a nice one, though? Florence is v good natured, helped as I’ve had her from 6 months and she has always had firm adult handling. I don’t want a bratty one. It also might help me to hack Summer, as she screams for her the second she goes out of sight, which is NOT helping Summer at all. If Florence had a companion, maybe she wouldn’t mind us going out hacking and keep quiet. For something that small, she makes a LOT of noise which carries a surprising distance!
 
I got both mine from Preloved as I was too far from any Charity ones, but I did have to put a wanted advert in for the second one.
 
Catembi, can you point me in the direction of the lami app please? I've got three natives (Highland and two mini Shetlands) and currently have them all on about an acre. I've been moving the electric fence a little bit each day so that they have some fresh grass but I'm clueless about when this might prove more dangerous.

I did notice that the two minis seemed a bit bloated when the grass had a growth spurt the other week and have been feeding hay from little piles around the paddock rather than giving them too much fresh grass. No problems so far but they are both 2 year olds and I've only had them a few weeks. Always keen to learn more about welfare though.
 
We have three minis along with the three huge horses. Winter they tend to all go in fields together, dependent upon frost...we have 2 minis who are hardcore, 1 who has cushings and laminitis. Since spring the minis have all been in a smaller paddock having hay and odd very dry days out having the run of the fields. Having said that their paddock is quite big and they have a shelter. Oddly I have found since feeding the lammy chap pink mash on a daily basis along with the big ones, he has been much more active, not sluggish at all like he usually is and hasnt had one lammy attack this year!
 
windand rain said:
Not Shetlands but very laminitic prone dartmoor is on a track about 15 meters wide and round the full acre paddock with the fat welshie for company both race around it is green grass about bowling green length and they look fabulous on it
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Does this leave much of a middle? I have a 1 acre paddock which is triangular and ive been wondering about putting a track round but wasnt sure it was really big enough? although 15 meters sounds very wide?
 
poiuytrewq said:
Does this leave much of a middle? I have a 1 acre paddock which is triangular and ive been wondering about putting a track round but wasnt sure it was really big enough? although 15 meters sounds very wide?
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Not a huge amount but we strip graze into it. you could use a smaller width with smaller ponies. We started out in Spring with 3 the dartmoor,welsh and highland and as the grass hasnt grown much due to very dry weather had to take the big pony off and make another one in the wet bit of the winter field for her and the old cob
 
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last year when we had more grass growth so a little narrower
 
SC, I just went on the app store and searched for ‘laminitis’? It is v easy to use. You just input where you are to set it up, then each day click on it to get a reading. It was about £4 when I got it ages ago and I’ve never had to pay anything else.
 
catembi said:
SC, I just went on the app store and searched for ‘laminitis’? It is v easy to use. You just input where you are to set it up, then each day click on it to get a reading. It was about £4 when I got it ages ago and I’ve never had to pay anything else.
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Thanks cat :) Will look for app now!
 
I have two mini shetlands and they have 1/4 acre paddock they're on alot of the time, but i have previously had them in with my two TB's on 1.5-2 acre fields which i rotate round. I am thinking of making another 1/4 acre paddock so i can rotate their paddocks as well so it can have some growth and also be able to touch over the fence with the big ones, depending which field the TBs are in. Only had them for just over a year but I've also seen and heard all sorts of ways to manage them.
 
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