For much of the year, our horses and donkeys live on a track rather than in a paddock. The track is a continuous loop, so in effect it's an infinite space for them to explore, laid out in Riverside field alongside the Simon Evans Way. It leaves the large area in the middle of the field free for other use, which suits us just as much as it suits them.
Track systems are becoming a much more widely accepted way of keeping horses, and it's easy to see why. Horses kept in paddocks often simply don't move enough. It's an unnatural situation for an animal that evolved to roam open grassland, and a track goes a long way towards putting that right: a healthier mind and body, and genuine freedom of movement. It also lets us control exactly what and how much the horses eat, which matters for native breeds especially. We keep a cob and a Connemara, along with two part-bred Arabians, and all of them do better on a controlled diet than they would grazing freely.
Setting the track up starts with a power harrow. We cut the sward as short as possible with a mower, then harrow it down to bare soil. Docks have proved too deep-rooted for the harrow to shift, though the horses simply ignore them, so we've left them be. A scattering of logs gives the horses a bit of enrichment and a change of terrain underfoot, and we use fly masks when the flies get too much in summer. The constant movement over bare ground keeps grass growth to a minimum in any case: this year has been especially dry, so we've only had to harrow the track twice, since there was little grass growing regardless.
Water sits at one point on the loop, with hay laid out at feeding stations spaced around several others, so the horses have to keep moving between food and water throughout the day. They get to socialise with each other and with the donkeys as they go, and have access to the Dutch barn whenever they want shelter. Most of them are kept unrugged; the exception is one of the Arabians, who's largely retired now and getting on in years. They're all geldings, so we've never had to find out what would happen if a mare joined the mix.
We check on them twice a day. Beyond filling hay nets morning and evening, the main job is poo picking, which has got a good deal easier since we invested in a sturdy Chapman DR100 tipping trailer that tows behind the Polaris Ranger. The fencing around the track is temporary, plastic poles and electric tape, which does the job well enough, if it does need the odd repair. We also leave some droppings behind deliberately, which encourages the horses to form middens, fixed dunging spots, which makes the whole job quicker since it's all in one place rather than scattered the length of the track.
The track system does the local wildlife a favour too. Keeping the bulk of the field undisturbed in the middle provides plenty of untouched habitat, while the bare earth of the track itself, and the variety of ground it creates, turns out to be ideal nesting territory for solitary bees.
Our horses and donkeys making their way around the track, Riverside field.