When at 12 years old, I first started keeping a horse I paid 50p a week to keep him with 2 other horses in 8 acres of beautiful fields, that included a small copse, wonderful thick hedges, a lot of single mature trees dotted around including lime, hazel and walnut, great wooden fencing all round and stables set within the field so they were always in contact with the other  horses. We kept them off part of the field some of the year and were able to bale our own meadow hay.

Many years later when I became a horse owner once again, I was initially lucky enough to be in a place that believed in keeping groups of horses together, and rotating fields to give the grass a chance to recover and also limit need for worming.

But when I needed to leave that place, it seemed the world of horse keeping is not what I had hoped and certainly does not meet with the standards of equine care and the five freedoms as set by the Animal Welfare Act.

I was not prepared to keep my horse in a small square paddock with no shelter or forage, away from other horses. I also was not prepared to sacrifice the state of the land and contribute to the climate crisis, in order to graze my horse, so I went in search of people who had done the research and had worked out how to keep a horse healthy at the same time as regenerating the land and keeping water sources clean. 

I found Equiculture! 

 

horses in shelter

horses in long bottom field

 

 

jane and stuart  hogan and frank in shelter

 

Founders of Equiculture, Jane and Stuart Myers are pictured to the left with myself and landowner Louise, when they came to do a consultation at the horse property where I keep my mare, who is photo bombing on the right!

Jane and Stuart, have created a great easy to understand study and a thoroughly practical system to encourage horse, land, water and human back to health.

You can investigate their methods through reading their books or with the online course. 

I am so impressed with this way of working, seeing the bigger picture and working within nature, that I have become an affiliate of their company and would like to encourage you to investigate and implement their ideas

The course is inexpensive and therefore accessible. It is underpinned with the science behind the concepts but also packed with common sense and easy step by step ways to improve your land and the experiences for you, your horses and the wildlife.

If you have loads of money you can set it all up in one, but if like me you have no land and limited funding, the books and courses are full of small nuggets of knowledge and practical ideas, that get you moving in the right direction straight away.  

 

Here are a few things we have been able to introduce that have really taken the pressure off the land and off our workload at the same time as improving the quality of life  for the herd. 

  • Collaborated with the  Woodland Trust to plant 1200 native trees, to enhance biodiversity whilst also providing extra shelter and forage for the herd. Also improving the possibilities of resting land by creating 4 fields where there was once only 2.
     
  • Rotated grazing and allowed meadow grass to grow long and seed in order to out compete rye and unwanted weeds and provide excellent high fibre grazing. We have allowed hedgerows to flourish, to provide great wildlife habitat whilst also providing the forage that is so important for horses.

  • We have introduced an area of hard standing and shelter with 24/7 hay and access to water trough. 

  • We have ensured that our horses do not become sleep deprived, by allowing them safe spaces to feel relaxed and comfortable enough to lie down. 

  • We have not used rugs so that they can continue the important social act of grooming each other and also grow their own coats as thick as necessary to protect them through the winter, whilst allowing them to lose excess weight gained with the summer grass. 

  • We have taken horrible muddy areas and planted willow to help slow the flow of water and provide extra shelter and forage in a boggy corner of the field.

  • We are cherishing our dung beetles and leaving them to do their work in the field, only removing dung from the hard standing area. 

  luke planting willow   

 

mutual grooming

 

Equiculture talks a lot of common sense, especially if your a horse and brings the joy back into horse management.

If you are interested in finding out more, go to:

..or just contact me for more info.