Not all of this will be useful or benefit your horse or be practical. Every horse and environment is unique. But the basic premise is to respect the horse as a species and try to improve their lifestyle and welfare. Some of the observations and science behind this concept, have been improved upon and superseded since this was released. I personally don’t necessarily endorse all of the information, but I take what I think is good and helpful and works for me and my horses and donkeys and I encourage you to do the same.
The photos in this post are my own, but there are also some interesting ideas in the link I’ve shared. A quote from the attached link:-
“Paddock Paradise is a ‘management or boarding concept’ based on the lifestyles of the naturally healthy U.S. Great Basin wild horses. It was conceived as a way for horse owners to provide domestic equines with an environment that more closely resembles their natural habitat. It was not until Jaime Jackson published the book, Paddock Paradise: A Guide to Natural Horse Boarding, that the concept of providing horses with a similar enrichment environment was even discussed.”
I’m a big fan of Paddock Paradise (PP) approaches/philosophy, in that I understand that the modern domestic lifestyle doesn’t suit a lot of equines and a PP approach can be a good compromise. It’s not perfect either, but it comes a little closer to how equines evolved to live. It gets people thinking in the right direction. It’s often better than the improved pasture, boring handkerchief sized, private (individual) type paddocks we put them in currently.
Horses evolved to move, live in a herd, seek food and water, firmer ground when it was wet and moist ground when it was dry. They moved, often many kilometres, with the seasons and the demands of reproducing, surviving and thriving.
They didn’t stand in mud or in a small yard with strangers and bicker over hay nets. Domestication did that to them. WE did that to them.
But we are trying to make it better for them. We are learning and evolving, just as they did, from small furry multi-toed animals living in forests, to the beautiful majestic hard hooved animals we see today.
Therefore, when it’s suggested that horses are designed to live on soil and in winter, in mud, I’m skeptical. Did they really evolve to live on just soil and in mud for months at a time? I don’t think so. Is this a problem we all battle with, yes definitely and a PP system can help with this. But to suggest that this is a good idea, I’m kind of skeptical. Didn’t they evolve to live and walk on various terrain and we know they like to avoid mud, it slows them down, can be dangerous and can cause health issues. This isn’t what they evolved to live in for months at a time.
We have to ask ourselves, who is saying these things? Is it an ethologist well qualified to speak on these things? Or is it someone’s opinion? I’m not saying it’s bad or evil by any means. My horses had to live this way for a while because the alternative was much much worse, it would mean they had to live on grass that caused obesity, hoof problems and potentially laminitis. So I chose mud, until I could do better.
But I never celebrated it or suggested or promoted it to people as a good thing. That’s where we need to be careful. It’s also important to point out that one person’s mud is another person’s idea of a pretty good deal for their horses! It’s very subjective!
I recommend questioning what you read and what you hear. Think about and even google, how horses evolved, where they lived and thrived and what domestication has done to them. Not a lot of domesticated living is pretty or good for the horse, so beware.
We are all doing the best with what we currently know, and as we learn more, we do better.
Question your sources of information. Horses were designed to travel over a large variety of terrain.
(Pictured, the mud I used to battle and now, the variety of terrain on my partly surfaced PP system)
