Track Systems

[Alterration]

There seemed to be enough energy on the other thread to start a thread - so trackies, skeptics and wanna-be trackies, here’s a place for us!

I wanted to address cost, because someone mentioned it - our track system was mostly pre-built (we had dry lots built of chat/bluestone/pea gravel) and our layout was condusive to just narrowing the fenceline. A lot of what I see people doing is just putting a second layer of electric fence on the inside of a paddock with step-in posts. Then people use a variety of materials from rubber mats to sheep’s wool (not a material we tend to have a ton of here) to firm up the footing in muddy areas.

I wish mine were surfaced the whole way around, but we’re looking at renting a bobcat for a few days and just doing it ourselves. The material isn’t terribly expensive and it doesn’t necessarily have to be flat. We had the gravel area re-graded and new chat put in last year and it was sub $10k. I don’t think I’d re-grade again as our rain washed a lot of that away, so now I’d like to just rent the bobcat and add new chat ourselves which would save quite a bit of $$. Picking the track daily really helps.

The dangerous thing about the paddock paradise, or track system, is that you’ll constantly be looking at and envying people who have beautiful picture-worthy systems like femkedoll and looking at yours wanting to create new enrichments and other projects. There are some that have put in really neat rocky areas for them to pick through, which I haven’t done for fear that the TSTL horse who will be coming home soon will find that before he adapts to track life.

The other dangerous thing about it is then you’ll start to wonder why you have a huge empty barn haha! In all seriousness, we do still use our stalls to feed and to keep them in when the farrier/vet/other body worker is coming. We also do use them in tornado-type of weather because our barn is concrete block and built into a hillside while our communal shed is…less well built.

Originally I thought that the only place it could really work was somewhere like the southwest, but track systems really seem to have caught on in the UK, which is where they have what I would consider the least suitable climate for making it easy to create.

Anyway - questions, ideas, sharing…I thought I’d start the thread for us to discuss

[ChocoMare]

“The dangerous thing about the paddock paradise, or track system, is that you’ll constantly be looking at and envying people who have beautiful picture-worthy systems like femkedoll and looking at yours wanting to create new enrichments and other projects.”

I get your point, so I’m here to tell others: You do the best you can, with what you have…anything is better than the “traditional” way.

When I bought my farmette in 2015, I didn’t have the money to do an “official” Paddock Paradise/Track System. So I modified it to fit what usable land I do have (about 4 acres out of 10) and, you know what? It works!

Picture a giant Upside Down U.

–On the left side is the paddock. About an acre long and 100 yards wide. That’s where the Waterer is, along with a wee patch of nibble grass, trees, dirt, sand & small rocks.

–In the center of the upside-down U is a connecting path across a drainage ditch that’s only wet when it rains (see pic above, as Mr. ChocoMare II works to improve said ditch’s ability to drain.) That ditch is pure dirt, sand, rocks of assorted sizes and concrete pavers. This leads up a small incline to the back paddock, which has another wee patch of nibble grass and a 12 X 12 run-in. The loose-salt tub is in that run-in. (They Hay Hut was given away shortly after this picture was taken.)

–The far side of the U is a huge covered run-in / feed room combo, with a concrete pad covered in stall mats (there are more mats now than the picture shows). That’s where we put the round bale, in a Hay Chix super small-hole net, in an elevated round-bale cradle. Some people may say that the round bale = too much standing, but having observed them now since that change was made in 2017, I can attest that it does work.

My vets praise my system and my horses’ condition & weight every time they visit for the once over/teeth/COGGINS etc. Especially the mini donkey I have. She came to us at about 300 pounds! She’s since lost 120

So like you said, STOP COMPARING what you have to what others do. You make the system work for you, your land, your horses.

[Alterration]

@ChocoMare

Some people may say that the round bale = too much standing, but having observed them now since that change was made in 2017, I can attest that it does work.

Yes - I wish I could handle round bales (I don’t have a spike thing for my tractor) but I do have a trough that I put loose hay in from the squares. I have not yet rigged a net for it (so I do have some wastage) because I have a horse that pops zip ties for fun (no idea…he also removes t-post caps), and I haven’t found a solution yet that he can’t undo.

I’ve noticed that they come and go from the trough quite a bit - and they take turns. Bossy horses go first, then they decide to go meander and get water or go to the lick or other hay stations, and the less dominant horses go second.

I do think putting the water a distance from the hay helps.

Love your setup!

[ChocoMare]

Thank you!!

I don’t have a traditional spike for the round bales, like most folks. I did invest in this for my Kubota:

When Mr. Chocomare II and I were dating, he put the mix of water & marine antifreeze in my tractor tires so I have sufficient ballast to counter-balance the front of the tractor with a 750lb-ish round bale. LIFE CHANGER!!! This way, we are facing forward, it’s sturdy cuz of the 2 big tines and makes life soooo much easier.

[rulex]

Glad you started a thread for this. I’m just starting out and have a paddock where I’ve blocked off the middle with step in posts so the horses have to walk the long way around between the hay feeder and water. I’ve started clearing a track in the woods next to the paddock and need to fence it. It’s slow progress this time of year with the short days.

[Alterration]

Short days definitely make it tough. There are some days that I just go out to assess the next project because I know it will take too long for the daylight I have.

But it’s a great time to plan and dream!

[kaya842]

Not to derail the thread and said in the most gentle way possible - please please consider getting a different hay feeder. My lovely baby (4yr old) got her leg stuck in that exact feeder and mostly severed her leg at the fetlock with the exact set up (netted roundbale). She was euthed that day. She did not paw, was not an overly rambunctious horse (turned out with one other senior horse). It can happen with any horse (and there are reports of it happening to other horses online) and the $1k for a hay hut is nothing compared to losing my previous baby in the most horrific way possible.

[NaturallyHappy]

I’m so very sorry.

[ChocoMare]

So sorry to hear that and I appreciate the counsel. We’re going on Year 3 with this set up, no pawing at the rack ever. Bronwyn, my 16.2 Percheron/QH cross mare, however, is a bulldozer - She just leans her chest into the rack and shoves it wherever.

[kaya842]

We were with that set up for two years before she died. No pawing ever. I still don’t know how she ended up stuck, but she wasn’t a one off. I hope you give it more thought. I know it’s easy to think it won’t happen to you (g) or it’s a lot of money to “waste” but it was truly the most horrific thing I’ve ever witnessed, never could have imagined, and is preventable by getting rid of said death trap.

[4horses]

Rather than getting rid of the hay rack all together, could you maybe just put some plywood around any areas that they could put a leg through?

I have a small track set up on 1.5 acres. It’s really just an enlarged dry lot in a track shape. Great for getting them to walk around. But if they want to run, the footing is loose sand and they are safer in a pasture. It gets quite muddy after rain so I just plan on turning them out after rain storms.

My track is quite narrow so I try not to put more than 3 horses on it at a time.

The other issue is grass growing on the track in the summer and then they eat it and dirt as they pull it up by the roots. That’s definitely a concern as they are ingesting dirt. Even with hay they are going to destroy any grass they find on it.

Fireweed is another common problem (heartleaf nettle). It’s pretty prolific stuff and hard to eliminate. It takes over the barren areas and right about now is the time I don’t go out there without boots. It’s even growing by the house… Terrible stuff.

[4horses]

I made this hay feeder a year ago. Added a gate to the front and put no climb wire around the sides. And add a hay net on top.

You can see my old hay holder behind it.