# Paddock Paradise Boarding



## Horseychick87 (Feb 5, 2014)

I like the idea of the setup, you'll just have to make sure there aren't any areas where lower ranking horses could get trapped by a bully or more dominate horse in the PP. How wide do you plan to make the PP and the lanes leading to the barn? They need to be wide enough to allow passing by the horses.

There is also the concern about the footing in the PP with that many horses on it all day, and possibly all night. They'll tear the ground up pretty quickly, especially if it's muddy out. You might need a sacrifice area to contain them for a while when it gets really bad out. (I like gravel sacrifice areas better than sand, drain better and wear the hooves down more.)

Also, will you have one or multiple watering stations in the enclosure for the horses? Or will you keep water in their stalls?

It'll be a bit of a learning experience at first for the horses at meal times, you might want help to guide the horses into the stalls until they get the routine down pat. Keeping in mind that any new horses will have to learn this routine also, but shouldn't be too big of an issue.

As for the paddocks, do they have shelters or would the horses be stalled at night?
For the owners mixing their own supplements etc, I like to do that myself anyways, but some owners might not have time to do it. You might be able to charge a small fee to mix the supplements yourself or have a menu of boarding options available for the boarders to choose from, each with a fee. 
Or you could offer a horse crazy kid the opportunity to learn about horse care by feeding etc, in exchange for riding time or some other reward.


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## PokyPony (May 29, 2014)

You bring up wonderful points, Horseychick! Thanks for the reply. 

I plan to have one watering hole on the track, with a flooded area around the water bucket so horses have to walk into the water and get their hooves wet to drink. 

I do plan on putting gravel in several areas, our particular area gets a lot of rain and mud is a problem. 

I plan to have the track 5 meters at the narrowest. I need to measure that place on the left side of the barn, that can't be any wider because there is a road there that needs to stay. If that area is too narrow I will eliminate that side altogether and use the stalls for other things, like tack or feed rooms.

Each paddock will have it's own shelter. I plan on building one building per two paddocks, which will have a shelter for each horse and a tack/feed room for each boarder. 

I'm thinking it might be best to have one large open shelter for free choice access and leave the stalls for temporary use.


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## Horseychick87 (Feb 5, 2014)

You're welcome 

Sounds good, I like the idea of them being able to get their hooves wet. I have no problem with that myself considering where I live, but I know lots of people that have trouble with dry hooves.

Ah, 5 meters is a bit over 16'4" so that's plenty wide enough, even at the narrowest point. Usually you don't want to go below 12 feet, I believe that's a little over 3.6 meters wide. Any more narrow than that and you'll get lots of bumping and fighting unless lead in by hand.

I like the sound of the paddock buildings, much more convenient and easy to use. The shelter is a good idea too. 

Sounds like you've thought this out and have a good plan. I wish you the best of luck with it.


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