Active Horse Agistment plus

04/12/2024

Issue 4 of happy Trackin is out !
can't wait to read it 🙌

✨️ Issue 4 ✨️

Issue 4 is here, and boy, is it a good one! Here's what you'll find inside...

Interview:

The Cover Star - I had the honour of sitting down with Jaime Jackson, founder of the Paddock Paradise, the Natural Trim and the 4 Pillars of Natural Hoof Care, and asked him some of the track system community's most debated, frequently asked questions. Inside Issue 4, you'll find Part 1 of our interview sharing stories, explanations and the most-know facts about track life. You can also watch a recorded portion of our interview, not featured in this magazine, on Jaime's YouTube Channel.

Guest Articles:

🔹️Emma Palmer, featured in Issue 1 with Ailbe's Kissing Spines Journey, is back to share how she overcame hurdle after hurdle - from resource guarding issues and extreme heat to poor hoof quality - by keeping an open mind, seeking support from others when needed and giving her herd time to adjust to life on track.

🔹️Josepha Guillaume of Dressage in Hand by Josepha Guillaume, author and horse trainer, returns to explain that whether you're a happy hacker or a high-end show jumper, aligning your management and training practices with your horse's natural behaviours creates room for an improved team, a happier horse and better Olympians.

🔹️Michèle Rhéaume of Wakita Equine continues on with Part 2 of the importance of sleep in our horses, what symptoms of sleep deprivation to look out for and how to prevent issues with sleep.

🔹️Regular writer, Sue Dawson of Calm Healthy Horses UK, is back with another segment to her series 'Making Mini Tracks Rock' answering the big hay question - can horses thrive on a hay only diet?

🔹️Alyson Sharpe of PB Paddock Paradise Livery bravely shares a glimpse of what heart break can look like, and makes a very special announcement.

🔹️Martine Sudan of Balancing Whispers is here to show the world that high-end facilities, top-quality care and species appropriate living can work together.

🔹️Natural Hoof Care Practitioner, Nick Hill of V&T Equine services, emphasises the importance in stimulation of the hooves and how you can track your horse's movement and process via their hoof wear patterns.

🔹️Fiona Giles of Paddock Paradise Vienne tells the tale of her mare Roxy and little Shetland Buzz and how their lives transformed thanks to life on track.

🔹️Emma Morris shares the story of Shetland Superstar Noddy and his journey with Equine Metabolic Syndrome - a feel-good read for sure!

Extras:

🔸️Worried about your unsurfaced track and winter this year? Here are my top ten mud control tips to make both you and your horse's lives easier.
🔸️️Part 2 of feeding adlib hay explores the crucial factors required for your horses success on adlib hay.

Regulars:

🔸️Enrichment Makes - easy enrichment ideas for your own track system.
🔸️Julian's Top Tips - a handyman's advice on maintaining your track, from one trackie to another.
🔸️Tracks from around the World - a look at track systems from across the globe.
🔸️Track Hacks - our track 'must haves' for you and your horse.
🔸️Healing Hooves - a look at healing horses' progress on track.
.. and more!

To my fellow trackies or trackies-to-be, Happy Trackin' everyone.

www.happytrackinmagazine.com

04/12/2024

Our new website and shop are NOW LIVE!
And the best new feature is FREE SHIPPING within Australia (with flat rate express).
Find all the best natural horse care, bit-free riding, horsemanship info and horse-friendly products in the one place:
https://naturalhorseworld.com/

29/11/2024

27/11/2024

Hey👋
Head over to
on instagram for a give away thingy dingy 😆
You can win my Track Info booklet PDF
Thank you 🤩

26/11/2024

Hey lovely trackies, If you're also into kind training methods, could you please jump into my stories have a read and give your advice 🙏 I'd be so grateful 💕

25/11/2024

Once you go track, you won't go back!
Once you've started on the track journey you'll learn and discover things that make it impossible to go back to any other way of keeping horses.

25/11/2024

Have you heard that Omega 3s are anti-inflammatory and Omega 6s are pro-inflammatory? 🐴 Both are essential fatty acids that horses naturally obtain from grass. However, when lush pasture may be scarce, these valuable nutrients are harder to come by.

Hay loses much of its Omega 3 content during the curing process, and even Omega 6 diminishes to some extent. To ensure my horses (average 500-600 kg) get what they need, I supplement with 100 grams of freshly ground flaxseed (also known as linseed) daily, with ponies getting half this amount.

Some alternative sources;
• Chia seeds are another option, though they can be more expensive per kilogram.
• Flaxseed oil is a convenient choice for some but remember to factor in its cost per dose and any shipping fees if not purchased locally.

My tip - always look at the "dose price" rather than the full product price when shopping for supplements. And don't forget, "essential" means these nutrients must come from the diet, as horses cannot produce them on their own. This applies to essential fatty acids, essential amino acids (like lysine and methionine), and vitamins such as Vitamin E.

24/11/2024

22/11/2024

👀 Looking for Track "influencers" who'd like a free copy of my Track Notes Planner 🤩
Please tag your favourite Track pages here 💕

21/11/2024

And most people do the opposite! Feed limited hay and unlimited grass, it needs to become the opposite if we want to see healthy horses!

The single biggest reason for a horse being unable to recover from grass related laminitis is the owner.

Laminitis season is here in New Zealand. With all of the information freely available on the internet, it never ceases to amaze me how this still happens so frequently and how many owners have absolutely no idea what to do about it.

While I function off of the mantra of “know what happens before what happens happens”, most horse owners seem to function in a state of blissful ignorance until it’s too late. You don’t know what you don’t know.

The key to laminitis is prevention, of course. And prevention looks much the same as treatment. So let’s look in to it.

Hoof health is steadied on 4 pillars.

1. Diet
2. Exercise
3. Environment
4. Hoof care

Horses aren’t designed to eat grass 🤯 Crazy concept, right? But they’re not. Horses are designed to live on a variety of stalky fibre sources. The best we can usually offer them in domestication is hay.

Prevention: Feed hay, limit grass.
Treatment: Feed soaked hay, ZERO grass. Yes, that includes the little green f***ing shoots that are peeking through. They’re the worst because they’re full of sugar.

Horses in the wild get their nutritional vitamin and mineral needs from the variety they browse. Horse in domestication need us to provide those vitamin and minerals by way of hard feed.
“But my horse is fat and has laminitis!!! I can’t hard feed it!”

Yes, you f***ing can and you should.

What you should NOT feed your horse is premixed feeds full of grain and molasses that requires you to feed 4kg a day in order to get your horse the nutritional requirements it needs.
What you SHOULD do is feed them a small, low calorie feed of simple fibre sources such as beet or chaff, with salt and a balanced vitamin and mineral powder.
Not only is this the healthiest way to feed but it is also the most cost effective.

Prevention: Feed a simple fibre based feed with balanced vitamin and mineral powder; DO NOT feed premixed feeds full of molasses and grain that requires 4kg of feed.
Treatment: Feed a simple fibre based feed with balanced vitamin and mineral powder; DO NOT feed premixed feeds full of molasses and sugar that requires 4kg of feed.

You have to understand that vitamins and minerals play a vital role in the healthy function of the body. Without them, your horse will not make it.

Horses in the wild travel around 20+ kilometres per day over varied terrain. They romp and play with their herd.
Horses in domestication often live in a small paddock and receive below average exercise for less than an hour a day.

Prevention: Keep your horse in large paddocks or dry lot, preferably with a herd or on a track system. Work or ride your horse 3-5 times a week in such a way that they work up a light sweat.

Treatment: Keep your horse in a dry lot or track system, preferably with a herd. Assuming your horse is sound, work or ride your horse 3-5 times a week in such a way that they work up a light sweat.

We don’t want horses lathering in sweat and heaving for their life. What creates a light sweat in one horse may not in another. If your horse is fat, a 20 minute walk on the lunge may be enough.

In the wild, horses travel 20+ kilometres a day over varied terrain which wears down their hooves.
In domestication horses stand in the corner of a paddock and do f*** all 🤷🏻‍♀️ If they’re lucky their owner might get their hooves trimmed every 6 weeks.

Prevention: Have your horses hooves trimmed every 4 weeks, year round. No excuses.
Treatment: Have your horses hooves trimmed weekly or fortnightly to correct the deviation then move to 4 weekly trims year round. No f***ing excuses!

So there you have it, the 4 pillars of hoof health for the prevention and treatment of grass related laminitis.

It’s not f***ing hard!

NOTE: I’m swearing because this is kindergarten basics of horse care. Know better. Do better. I’m sick of being the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff and my heart breaking for theses horses that should have never ended up in this position.

16/11/2024

I wish for all horses to have their basic needs met—nothing less.

If you are on the same mission or share this hope for the future of horses, please share this post. 💕🐴

15/11/2024

So glad yesterday's presentation went so well 🙌 Yay to the future of the Horse 🐴

10/11/2024

❤️

08/11/2024

!! I bet you have seen this on your horse before and been told it's "just bruising"!

An example of blood in the white line, aka Laminitis. Photo courtesy of Hoof Matters

01/11/2024

It's the 1st of November I know! Late to the spooky party 😅 mum of 2 here so forgive me ! I hope you'll still have a laugh at this !
Happy Halloween for yesterday 🎃

28/10/2024

🌿Check this out everyone 🌸

Horse Friendly Plant Shop. Track Plants. Shade Trees. Medicinal Plants. Plants suited to Equine Track Systems and more.