 Paddock paradise refers to a pasture management system for horses that consists of sectioning off the majority of the interior portion of a pasture so that grazing can be allowed on a controlled basis. The horses  are resticted to a track around the outside perimeter of the pasture, which has the advantage of making them move more. Most horses cannot tolerate grass when it is too rich, in the spring and fall especially, and overgrazing on rich grass can lead to founder (inflamation of the feet and lameness) and insulin-resistance problems in horses. The solution is to feed insulin-resistant horses (also known as “easy keepers”) a low carb hay (grass hay vs. oat or alfalfa) and give them limited controlled access to the rich grass pasture or other high carb foods like grains. (For more on this see safergrass.org). I constructed a paddock paradise for my horses using electric wire, wooden poles, and rope. You can somewhat see it in the photo above. It works really well. To learn how to do this yourself, get the book, Paddock Paradise by Jamie Jackson.
I caught this video of a paddock paradise on a blog of one of my students, Barb Fenwick, who is a natural horse trainer and barefoot trimmer in Canada. Barb has a story in my book, Beyond Words, about her horse Cherokee. Her current blog has a fascinating series on some Paso Finos rescued in a flood in Winnipeg, who had had virtually no contact with people. Barb eneded up adopting one of the horses and the story is on her blog at http://barbfenwick.blogspot.com/
This YouTube of a paddock paradise is so cute. At the beginning you see the little girl waving a wand at the horses to  tell them to go the other way (away from the barn). … which means they have to go the long way and go all the way around the outside of the paddock paradise to get to the treats. They are just so excited to get their dinner or apples or whatever, but frustrated to have to go the long way. The music is absolutely perfect! Granted these particular horses are still a bit chubby, so they probably still need less treats and lower carbs, but they would probably be lame if they were left out on all that green grass, and they would definitely be fatter, with cresty necks like cows. Two of my rescue horses had horrible cresty necks and fat deposits when I got them. These are much reduced now but still evident.
Grante
Watch it again and note that the little girl is actually running after them in the beginning to make sure they don’t cheat and go the other way, then she probably  turns around and goes the short way to the barn to meet them when they come in. Read the comments at the bottom of the frames as the horses wend their way - very cute. You can see the electric wire of the fence as the horses run along… its solar powered. Once the horses get to the dry lot, one of the little mares, Jewell,  kicks out at the bigger mare, Stella, just for good measure. Couldn’t figure out what the little girl says at the end, but adorable.
I am not sure why, but I can watch this over and over and never get bored.
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YOUR STORIES
 Here is a great story from blog reader, Marion Northrum.
A heartwarming story told to me many years ago by an old friend, Helen. Helen lived alone with several cats and her dear old dog. She was visited every day by a stray cat who ate the food she put out for it but it would never let her come near. Sadly her old dog reached the end of his life and on the evening of the day he died she was sitting alone in her cottage mourning his passing and crying. The dusk set in and one of her cats jumped on her lap and made every effort to comfort her by nuzzling her face and purring loudly. She sat stroking him for a while and then decided she must get on with the chores of the evening. She put the light on and saw to her amazement that her the cat that had offered her comfort was, in fact, the stray. From that time on he was part of her family .
GRAB BAG
Here’s an ecclectic mix of things that interested me this week and might interest you:
 Two books:
One by a student, Jackie Phillips, and recently published called, Renting With Rex, about how to be successful as a pet owner and renter. Find out more and order at http://www.thesocialpet.com/renting_with_rex_book.html
This other book was recommended by reader, Cynthia Palmer, called The Biology of Belief.  I havent read it, but it looks intriguing. She wrote:
It’s written by a cell biologist and explains how he came to realize we can change our lives with thought. It’s technical, but on a layman’s level. The technical is good because it really helps you understand WHY the quantum physics works.
A YouTube on 911 just  in case you have lived this long and not seen the evidence from the “other side”:
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 And last but not least the flu that won’t go away. This is either scary and right or silly and wrong… who knows?… I signed the petition… I don’t like vaccines much on a good day, but especially not untested ones.
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/568/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27275
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PSST
Know someone who might like this blog, pass it on!
Also please feel free to refer friends or aquaintences to me for consultations and tutoring. If you or somone you know who might like to sponsor me to do workshops I can explain the process. It’s not too hard and you get a lot of new friends!
Cheers, Marta