"It all started when our mini developed laminitis. She was living in a grass paddock with our other 3 horses, so we had to isolate her. We created a drylot pen inside our paddock and kept her in the pen for a few months, all the while trying to figure out how to get her back with her family. After some investigation, we decided to convert our existing paddock into a track system. We board our horses, so it took some convincing for the farm owners to let us try this concept. 

 

Natalie came to design and install the track using T-posts and electric braid during the winter of 2024. We were finally able to allow our mini to live with her family again, even through the summer months. She has been thriving, lost a ton of excess weight, her feet are comfortable and healing, and she has been a lot happier. 

 

Additionally, our Thoroughbred who has always had terrible hooves (tender, thin soles and cracks), has been moving so much more that he's actually growing out all of the cracks, and has become much more sound. Jessica has been trimming him for nearly 2 years, and we have all noticed how much his hoof health has improved since the track was installed. The herd is moving so much more than when they lived in the same-sized paddock without the track system. We are able to put the 3 horses out on the grass pasture (1 of the 2 rotating pastures built into the track), which they look forward to for a couple of hours daily, and we have also learned how important it is to limit pasture to safe windows of grazing time. We are extremely happy with the wonderful effects the track system has on our kids, and we encourage people to consider changing their paddocks into tracks. 

 

Our boarding facility has also complemented how great our horses look, and how the track has intrigued them, as it is aesthetically pleasing in addition to its health benefits."

"I attended Jess and Natalie’s Track Info Session in early 2024 where they shared a wealth of

real-life knowledge about building a track. They laid it all out with various options that could be

done, which is very empowering to understand the steps to build over time, rather than making a

huge investment in all the things. The weekend after that session, I set up a small square and

chute, with a single strand of rope wire and step-in stakes, in my small paddock for my horse

and pony and committed to feeding them in the 4 corners of my paddock.

 

Within a couple months my older gelding was losing his excess weight, and both horses had huge improvements in their feet. Based on my horses, I changed my layout a couple of times through the summer to see how I could create more steps for them to take to get to their resources.

 

Spring of 2025 I opted to open a fence line of a neighbouring paddock and extend my track now

that I have 1 horse and 2 ponies. I invested in a solar fencer, an additional 7mm electric rope, and

some T-Posts for my corners to help with stability and keeping my rope fencing tight (my pony

started going under it in the fall of 2024). I did 2 continuous rows of rope with step stakes every

10ft. It has been fabulous! I have two grass squares I can open up. I feed at a round bale feeder and spread hay out around my track. The horses look great and they LOVE the track, every

morning they trot around it together, scouting out the hay piles.

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I’m already planning my next expansion for them into the next paddock so I can have a grass area

with a shelter included for the hot days and to separate the ones that can have grass from the

ones that can’t in my growing herd.

I would recommend anyone to start with step in posts, even if you choose to electrify, to get a

feel for your paddock and how your horses navigate around it, what snowfall is like etc, before

moving to something more permanent. It gives you time to figure out what might work best for

your property. Just experiment! Start somewhere!"