Humble Beginnings

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In May of 2014 we welcomed the first two horses on our property! They arrived barefoot on their own hooves after a gruelling 7-hour journey and were "brave enough" to take up lodging with us. Yes, they had a pasture to graze on at their pleasure and enough water from our newly refurbished old well to drink that we inherited when buying the land, but they had to put up with the heat in the summer for lack of any roof for protection against the scorching sun. 

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Earlier in the spring - already in due preparation - we overseeded our pastures to provide a greater variety of grass to graze from and thanks to all the moisture in the soil remaining from the winter we had more than enough food to offer. The two stallions settled in very easily into their new environment.

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It was at that time that I read the book "Paddock Paradise - A Guide on Natural Horse Boarding" and I got immediately inspired and started to see how all the benefits of this approach would alter our plans to develop the farm. "PP" as the author Jamie Jackson puts it himself:

  • Encourages more natural movement, as nature intended.
  • Greater movement means natural hoof wear with fewer bills.
  • Protects horses from dangerous founder-prone pastures.
  • Minimizes the need for warm-up exercise time before riding.
  • Helps address neurotic behavior by providing natural outlets.
  • Provides an effective means for diet and weight management.
  • Adaptable for breeding, foaling, multiple horse operations.

And thus a long-term project started to create the first Paddock Paradise in Hungary, that is a story for next time...


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