Just to finish off the week's posts about tracks (this is another one for you, JenJ!), here are some photos taken of a brilliant woodland track created for one of the rehab horses once she went home. The horse in question has been fairly sensitive to grass, so turn-out in a field hasn't been a practical option for her, as she develops bounding digital pulses and becomes very footy.
Fortunately, she has very creative and inventive owners and rather than admit defeat, they decided to use whatever they had to create a perfect environment for her. They don't own their own land, but there was a large area of woodland at the top of their fields, and after a lot of hard work clearing undergrowth, they have developed a woodland track just for her.
She can roam about on 3 different levels, getting lots of much needed exercise, and she also has a fantastic view across the river estuary, as well as of her pony friend in the adjoining paddock.
Its a brilliant solution and for me it ticks every box - it uses land which would otherwise be overgrown and neglected, it gives the horse a stimulating, natural environment with lots of exercise, it saves her from having sore feet due to too much grass and it cost very little, as the land was being reclaimed - everyone's a winner (although it is a heck of a hike carting water up there...!).
Nic, it's all your fault... I'm now planning how to work a track around the perimeter of our 2 acres. I think I know where I'll be putting the hay depots, although the water will go in the barn (that we haven't built yet). Now, where to put the pea gravel and the sand? How about the wood chips? Can we throw some crushed granite in there somewhere? Will my husband go for a double front gate so I can have the boys cross our (paved) driveway? The possibilities are practically endless!
ReplyDeleteDangit... and here I thought I would just be building nice pastures...
Oh, just go wild Jen - tracks are huge fun, and the crazier the better :-)
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