Paddock paradise / track system in winter? And how much land needed?

[Silmarillion]

My mum and I have a problem facing us this winter, in that we have two very different horses to cater for. One is a stressy, skinny TB-type pony who needs as much grass and hay stuffing down her neck as possible and cannot bear to be in separate fields from her friend(s). The other is a fairly good doer who cannot have hay or haylage due to a choke problem and will be on a "special" diet of slop all winter

The paddock paradise / track system seems to be the perfect answer - they've been kept together all summer and have done well, but we simply cannot keep them together during the winter due to their vastly different feeding requirements.

Now, we have just under three acres for the two of them. Three fairly square fields, about an acre each, with the "front field" being smaller than the other two. The front and middle fields have been grazed all summer and are fairly bare, and neither stand up terribly well to poaching. The middle field has the stable and shelter. The back field has hedges and trees on three sides, and slopes considerably more than the other two. It currently has a good covering of grass ready for late winter.

I just wanted to run my plan past you more experienced folk to see if you think I'm on the right lines, or whether doing this in winter is going to cause huge (probably muddy) problems - the plan is to fence the front and middle fields with one track round the edge of both together for the fatty, and let the skinny have the middle bit. We then do the same with the back field on its own.

Is a field of barely an acre (back field) enough to cope with two horses like this? I can see the front two would not stand up to having a track each, especially as the front field is far too small, hence the plan to cut through the fencing at the edge and make one track around both fields together. Do you think this will cause a poaching problem if I do this over the winter? I can't really find any reports of this system being used on a small scale during the winter months, which worries me!

I'm not sure what other choice we have for them, though - it's the only way I can think of to ensure skinny stressy one can be near her friend all the time, and fat friend can be kept away from the deadly hay.

Suggestions / thoughts / comments welcome! Sorry for the waffling

 

[Echo Bravo]

Could you not strip graze them next to each other and just move the fencing over a little and the tbh have a bigger strip and that way you could also give her extra feed/hay/haylage.

 

[Silmarillion]

Could you not strip graze them next to each other and just move the fencing over a little and the tbh have a bigger strip and that way you could also give her extra feed/hay/haylage.

If we separate them into "normal" fields though, the pony fence walks and trashes it - she gets a bit frantic! That's why I think the idea of the track around the outside would work better, because the fatty would always be somewhere on the outside of the skinny's field and easy to get to / not able to wander off away from the fence. I just worry that in trying to save the field from getting trashed by the skinny stressy one, we'll end up with the edge of it trashed by the fat one

 

[canteron]

I think you are on the right lines and I am going to do a very similar thing. Clearly the full on Paddock Paradise system is an ideal and most of us just have to use it as an inspiration. Anything which makes the 'do-gooder' move more has to be a good thing as they tend to live to eat and restricting their food any more than necessary only makes them unhappy!

Only other thing I could add it to have feed/water/shelter in different spots to encourage the horse to move more.

Good luck.

 

[Silmarillion]

Canteron - thanks. I'm not going to be able to make two full circuits and will have to have water at two or three points around it (lack of water causes her to choke) but your post has just made me think, it would be a really good idea to have one trug full of slop (I say slop, I mean soaked grass pellets and a bit of dried grass mixed in!) at one end of the track and one at the other - then she'll have to wander slowly from one end to the other to get any more food. Genius - she'll never work that one out so it'll make her food last longer

 

[_HP_]

My paddock is approx an acre. I have a track running round the outside for my lami prone ponies. I use it all year round and just let it get trashed in winter. I guess it will depend on the width of your track as to how poached it gets. Mine is on a slight slope which doesn't help. I just feed soaked hay to compensate.
This is mine

 

[Silmarillion]

HP, thanks - so useful to see pics, especially of really small-scale tracks! I swear my fields are more like two acres overall, looking at yours I'd say it was the size of my front two fields.

I suppose that'll be the best way then, just let it get trashed. We hope to save the back field with the grass as long as possible, so when the front ones are desperate for rest we'll put them in the back until March ish.

HP, does yours get terribly muddy? How many do you have on it?