Some questions about making a track

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CobsGalore

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Ok I am in the process of making a fatty track for my good doer and have a few questions for those who have made one before...

- Did you strip graze around the field to create the track or just set it up and let the horses straight onto it?

- How big is the field?

- How wide is the track?

- How many horses are on it?

- Does the track go all the way around the field?

Our field is about 2 acres and has 3 ponies on it. 2 of them will be staying in the middle and mine will be going on the track. I'm wondering if this will be too much grass for him and if I should start with a long strip down one side before taking it round the whole field? Or would this not encourage him to move more?
 
I have one round 8 acres, and some years I also have one round 3 acres and another round 3/4 acre, usually set up at the end of winter before there is any lush grass on the field. At the moment I have two 17hh poor doers on the 8 acre track, so they can build muscle, and the track is quite wide (about 12ft) to give them enough grazing to gain the weight.
You can make it fairly narrow (about 4 or 5ft wide) so that he very quickly eats most of the grass that is there, and if you make it with plastic temporary posts, if he needs a little bit more you can widen the track a bit at a time. With temporary posts you can play with it and see what works for you and yours.
 
Thanks :)

I was wondering how narrow you can make it, but worried that if it is only 4 or 5 feet, he won't be able to lie down?

Also, would it still have effect if it was an L shape, rather than going round the whole of the field?
 
Personally I prefer it not to go all the way round as they then have to go back the way they came to get water and or hay if they need it especially if the water is close to one end so mine usually have a track on three sides of the field 2 ponies three acre field about 3 meters wide but the edge of the field has least grass as that is where it gets wettest in winter
 
Will it just be for one horse? Our track system is 12' wide and is about a mile long (lucky ponies!) but we did start round a 2 acre field initially. If I was you I would set up the full track and put the two ponies on it for a week to eat it down a bit and keep your horse in a strip grazed area. Then I'd put yours onto the track.

Good luck!
 
Thanks!!

Yes it's just for one horse, but the area is being grazed at the moment and isn't particularly long or lush.

I think I might make one side of it, then add another when it has been grazed down to make L shape, then another to make a U shape - how does that sound?

What do you do about corner posts? It will all be made out of plastic fence posts, which have a habit of bending at corners! He does respect electric fence, but still don't want it to come down.
 
Two posts together at the corner, they brace each other. And as regards a narrow track and lying down, you can create a dedicated short wider area to enable him to do that, he doesn't have to have the whole track wide enough.
 
We used to have a 12 foot track round 8 acres for 6 of them and they loved it. They were all in great shape and loved running round the track, especially when we were trying to catch them to bring them in!! Farmer made us take it down after 6 months as a new livery didn't like it as her pony was running around too much?!?!? Shame as they piled the pounds on after that so it definitely made a difference. As already said, I would put the other 2 on first to eat it down a bit before the fattie goes on.
 
I think 'World Horse Welfare' has a short video on the benefits and construction, but its pretty much depends on what is practical on your bit of land. Just put proper posts in at the corners, even if you temporary fence the rest of the internal fencing.
 
track about 12' wide
use metal corner posts from hotline (wooden would have been cheaper but would have got in the way too much.
Last year we grazed it in sections and they worked their way round it by juneish.
This year they were on it more in winter so moved off another paddock onto the whole track as soon as we had some rain + warmth.

Should have done it years ago! we either feed hay (we cut masses last year!) or move parts of the track in and out to allow for some extra grass

start of new track last year:

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during the wetter bits of summer- it coped really well

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524993_10151762034120438_1445302958_n.jpg
 
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