The Paddock Paradise™ concept has been developed by Jaime Jackson, one of the most influential initiators of the Natural Hoofcare movement. Through his observations of feral horses as a traditional farrier in the 1980s, he has developed one of the most respected natural hoofcare techniques. However, he realised that trimming is not the ultimate solution but is allied to a more holistic approach.
By creating an environment that immitates the natural living environment of the feral horse, we can insure our horses are much healthier and happier than when they are subjected to the traditional methods of boarding that are based upon a typical human approach.
Horses do not need a soft bed in a stable for eight hours sleep at night; horses do not need pure clean fresh tapwater; horses do not eat 2 or 3 meals a day.
Horses need some form of rudimentary shelter; horses need to keep moving for 16-20 hours a day; horses will drink readily (and healthily) from puddles or from rainwater butts; horses need to forage – eating a little here and a little there throughout the day.
Paddock Paradise™ attempts to replicate the “nomadic” life of the feral horse on a small scale by providing facilities similar to those found in the wild. Never a perfect substitute for the “life on the range” but it does go a long way towards recreating it – even on a restricted couple of hectares.