Paddock Paradise - Turning Turnout Around

Turning turnout around

Most horses today live truly domesticated lives and are usually therefore deprived of the experiences of a natural environment. As one can imagine, this deprivation has negative impacts on key elements of a horse’s wellbeing.

Paddock Paradise is a management concept that was first adopted in the United States as a means of providing domestic horses with an environment that is similar to their natural habitat. It has since spread all over the world and is widely praised for both its positive health and wellbeing effects.

In 2007, Jaime Jackson released the book Paddock Paradise: A Guide to Natural Horse Boarding. The book serves as a model to guide horse owners on safe and natural horse ownership, and also includes sections on hoof care, as well as rehabilitating a lame horse. If you are interested in recreating this model for your own horse, we cannot recommend this book highly enough. It contains diagrams and suggestions as to how to make the best use of the space you have in order to best support your horse.

WHY PADDOCK PARADISE?

The fantastic thing about the model of Paddock Paradise is that it is adaptable for all sizes of horse properties and can be adopted irrespective of climate. The model also works for all horse breeds, and all owners can truly reap the benefits.

The idea behind Paddock Paradise is that, within the model, the horses behave and act according to their natural instincts. This is to achieve the principal goal of Paddock Paradise, which is that horses achieve soundness and good health, whether they are a competitive ride or a happy hack. The model encourages more natural movement, just as horses would get in the wild.

AFRICAN HORSE SICKNESS