Pension Paddock Paradise Vienne

17/11/2025

15/11/2025

Murphy my funny muddy boy.

14/11/2025

We have around 450m of edible hedging and trees surrounding part of our track. Hornbeam, Beech, Willow, Birch, Poplar, Hawthorn, Hazel, Dog rose and Crab apple.

13/11/2025

The big fat budget haynet test

I've wasted loads of money on haynets over the years. I have various brands and I have some that are very old indeed. So, I thought a comparison would be a good idea so you don't have to waste your money too.

These haynets that I own were bought in Europe and the UK. They are all what I call mid range and easily available nets from multiple suppliers.

I haven't got any Trickle nets or Nibbleze nets unfortunately. I would love to, but these cost a kidney to get them in France.

However if Trickle Net and Nibbleze want to send me some I would be most grateful.

My priorities for haynets are to control consumption, quality, accurate hole sizes, longevity and price

Tested:
French brand Fabrique à filets
Shires softmesh haylage net 1" & 1.5"
Hippotonic 3cm
Shires Greedy Feeder 25mm
Kerbl flexi strong 40mm
Harry's Horse 23mm
Harry's Horse heavy duty 67×81 45mm
Martsnets 35mm
Showmaster Plunky 3cm
Show master slow feeding net 2cm

I have some favourites but with the rainy weather here already I find that my soft knotless nets get saturated and the horses are unable to pull out the hay. So I recently invested in some nylon knotted nets which don't soak up water meaning they are just as easy to eat from whether they are wet or dry.

Fabrique à filets hand make quality nets in France from 5mm knotless braided cord. I have several mesh sizes 60mm, 45mm and 45/30mm dual net. Price from 22€ - 26€ for 80x80 pillow shape. Many sizes are available.
These are excellent nets at a great price. The ones I have are nearly 4 years old and have held up well. The only pain is fastening the top of the pillow. Difficult to eat if soaking wet.

Shires softmesh haylage nets made with soft nylon cord size. My favourite, by far easiest to fill, fastening and hang. The only issue I've encountered is when they are soaking wet they are difficult to eat from. I use both sizes of mesh daily. Good value, quality and longevity my oldest are 5 ‐ 6 years old and good as new

Hippotonic 3cm fine polypropylene cord.
Huge size, mediocre quality. Lasted one week before the first hole appeared.

Shires Greedy feeder Sizes S M L
Good hole size for slow feeding, works great in wet weather. However there seems to be a variation in quality between the small size ones and the medium & large. The cord on the small nets has frayed and the holes are not so consistent.
I feel these are a little expensive compared to the haylage nets from Shires. Longevity is unknown currently because these are all recent purchases.

Kerbl flexi strong size 150x100cm with 4cm mesh. They claim a 6mm cord but the cord is not as thick as what is used by Fabrique à filets.
Holds 20kg and fits in Palox boxes perfectly. Good value nets at around 40€

Harry's horse knotless 2.3cm
These are fabulous small nets for slowing down consumption. Nice quality and price. I have modified mine to make them hold more hay. see post here https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1GQcr3anVj/
For greedy horses I definitely recommend them. Even though these are small mesh I find the horses also choose to eat from them in preference to other nets in the same location.

Harry's horse heavy duty 4.5cm mesh.
These are decent strong nets, they have a place on my track single and double netted. Good price for quality at around 15€. They are a bit of a nuisance to fill because of the small opening. I fill these 2 at a time.

Martsnets 35mm (other sizes available)
I like the nets for their longevity. Mine are 10 years old. I stopped using them when I went knotless but soon realised that a variety of textures and sizes give the horses choices. Great price and recommended

Showmaster Plunky 3cm
A good budget net, cost about 13€ and holds about 6kgs

Show master slow feeding net 2cm
Holds about 1.5kg price 10€
Tiny net looks like a toy only suitable for feeding something like a goat.
Enough said!

I hope this has given everyone food for thought when choosing haynets

Follow me for more ravings of a trackie

13/11/2025

Oh Crap! It's not supposed to tip that way. 🙄

Quickly texts Track husband....

12/11/2025

Ugly scars and tough decisions!

Last year I suffered 3 herniated discs in a sudden and bizarre incident. Nothing horse related but possibly connected to some fencing I did on the track.

The incident put me in hospital for a week while investigating the cause and trying to controlling the pain.

After 6 months it became apparent that the only solution was going to be surgery.
I had a laminectomy and discectomy followed by fusion of my L3 through to S1. Followed by another almost 4 week stay in hospital due to complications. 🙄

I'm now 9 months post surgery and getting stronger all the time. Recovery was a difficult time for an independent horse girl. 7 months of not being able to pull on my own socks. 😆

So what's the tough decisions you're all asking?

Well I have now come to terms with the reality that I won't ride a young horse again. My old 🤎 horse Roxy, yes definitely but I won't be starting my 4 year old, Murphy.

I won't be riding any unknown horse again. I have too much to risk and my priority is to my Livery business. I'm passionate about providing this type of living environment to my horses and to my pensioners/liveries.

So Murphy (Lonestar de Mazieras) is sadly for sale.

He is registered to the Traditional Gypsy Cob Association Part bred section - Sport. He is by Hercules out of the warmblood mare Raspberry R. This gives him a phenomenal lineage with 3 Olympic Dressage Stallions in his dam's line. Regardez moi, Jive Magic and Rubinstein 46.

Murphy is 4 years old, to make 16hh and ready to start his education. He will be sent away to be started early 2026.

Message me for all the details if you have serious interest.

This has been on my mind for quite some time like balancing on a knife edge over what I should do. 😢

Please feel free to share .... Thanks

12/11/2025

Shout out to all my new followers! Thank you for your interest!
Salut à tous mes nouveaux abonnés ! Merci pour votre intérêt !

Tayut Pierre,
Gerard Bt,
Roberto Waldow,
Serge Bolduc,
Dylan Bodet,
Did Truche,
Marc Bonnet,
Bébert Bébert,
Henry Didier,
Laurent Le Deuff,
Rickey Chandler,
Jean Pierre Aurelie,
Driton Sulejmani,
Maude Boudreau,
Nadja Hotter,
Stanislas Linant,
Paul Gay,
ბაკური ჩხიკვაძე,
Michel RBY
Deborah Barrett
Ger Duffy
Roger Grivet
Roger Plante
Jean Jacques le Colleter
Christie Groff
Ludovic Hut
Alex Brbc
Carpiste Dimitri
Dido Fish
Florence Gerardy
Gérard Lacasse
Mathieu Dufour
Miguel Vaz
Jeannette Barre
Didier Lav
Christian Wiesen
Guy Merlin
Rene Tetreault
Jean Claude Rocca
Jacques Renard
Bernard Jacques

11/11/2025

I've had quite a busy few days recently so it's kept me pretty occupied. Yesterday was a bit more back to normal and we had a dentist visit from the lovely Louise Guilloteau - Technicien Dentaire Équin. Just Buzz and Roxy this time.

It's a sad fact that the damage to Buzz's incisors from time when he had to be muzzled is still visible. This causes me
some guilt. But with a track system I will never have to muzzle him again.

07/11/2025

This is something that we work hard on this year. We already had field shelters and Mud mats zones. We invested heavily and surfaced over 2100m2 of track and yard to provide extra dry footing for our horses.

03/11/2025

Have you heard of Paddock Paradise? Or of track systems? Paddock Paradise track systems are, like many innovations, both simple and complex at once.

At a glance, they consist of putting horses in a track around a field or acreage rather than inside the acreage (commonly known as a pasture) for a number of beneficial reasons but in a few sentences, because it limits or eliminates access to grass, which in most areas is unnatural (for the equine species) and causes a debilitating inflammatory response called laminitis - or founder. The PP also inspires forward movement by “speaking” to the DNA or biology of the animal (think of animal trails in any wilderness area). A more naturally healthy lifestyle is allowed through both movement and more natural eating patterns by providing areas of interest similar to what might be found in the wild (in the species adaptive habitat) with 24/7 access to a diverse number of safe grass hays that can be placed in small clusters along the track called feeding stations.

The goal is for optimal physical, mental and emotional health for horses by creating a domestic habitat that models the lifestyle and environment of their adaptive habitat where they are naturally healthy, fit and happy. Understanding more about the wild and free roaming horses living naturally in the U.S. Great Basin - an adaptive habitat - is a key to creating an ideal Paddock Paradise track system. Reading the book before beginning will likely save you from making costly mistakes. Check out the many articles on species-appropriate natural horse care at aanhcp.net. Your horses - whether they are shown, ridden for pleasure or enjoyed from the ground, will thank you.



Pic by

03/11/2025

Thanks for being a top engager and making it on to my weekly engagement list! 🎉

Sandy Leemans,
Adele Brizard
Ecurie du Biot

02/11/2025

Top tip: If you buy a swimming pool cover for your bales don't do what I did and get the ones with drainage holes. 😆😩🤦‍♀️