A slightly tongue in cheek and admittedly cynical look at restrictive grass practices, don’t take offence meant for humour .... 😂
Starvation paddock
A place where you put your obese horse to get them off lush grass or when your horse has been on stressed sugary shoots, usually used when the horse isn’t exercised enough, a monoculture of seed has been grown that is high calorie with no diversity in the sward. Wrongly abused when taken literally and the horse is also starved of hay and haylage too in a bid to drop weight. The problem with a starvation paddock is that it gets used as that. The horses metabolism goes on strike and they develop, over time, an inability to regulate their own grass intake and end up gorging when given access to the same volume of food that is considered normal. This binging behaviour, long term leads to insulin resistance, equine metabolic syndrome, obesity and gastric ulcers as there is not enough to buffer the stomach from excess acid. The result being poor health, poor nutrition and the increased need for supplements and balancers, cribbing, wood chewing, wind sucking and no herd interaction. This necessitates extra visits to feed stores for “cures” for these vices and increased vet expenses. Of course if your horse is already obese, caused by poor grazing practices, ie short new shoots and stressed grass, you will continue on this unhealthy cycle of keeping horses and maintain you can’t give your horses grass. Laminitis fears and panic and a continuing obese horse will reinforce your views.
Sacrifice paddock
A place that a horse is put to save the health of the grass and the soil as part of a rotational grazing system. Horses have ad lib access to netted hay and learn to self regulate, avoiding the issues listed above.
Loafing area
A place that follows equicentral principles, which in my opinion, is the only healthy symbiotic way to keep a horse and land, especially when land is restricted. Loafing areas can consist of hard and soft areas for the horse to remove itself from the land, lie down, access to shade and open fronted barns as protection from the elements. Loafing areas also reduce land compression. Horses take themselves off the land and it is usually where water is kept. Horses have access to longish stalky grass, off the loafing area.
Stable
A cage for a horse, that restricts movement and increases risks of respiratory issues, colic, stiffness, inflammation, circulatory issues, worsening arthritis, and veterinary bills. Smaller by about 95 percent relative to animal size than those found in zoos. These are likened to double beds by the owner who mistakingly believes that the horses are “tucked up cosy for the night”. Usually, a double netted small amount of hay is given, only for the horse to run out at midnight or earlier, leaving them pumping acid into their bellies until the morning while they breathe in dust and ammonia during the night and are unable to participate in herd social interaction. No grass access. The emergence of something called stable vices, necessitates further visits to food stores to seek out cures but serves to keep them in business together with feeding bagged feed, entitled “supper” and “breakfast”. A preferred way of keeping horses at night during winter by livery owners (who are overstocked simply to turn any kind of profit as livery prices are way too low) to protect their single turnout land.
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