During my BSc I studied paddock paradise systems and never really thought all that much of it to be honest. At the time we kept our horses on leased (on a long term basis) land at the back of our dormer bungalow in what was essentially a town. It never occurred to me that horse behaviour could not only be related to how much turnout they received but how they were turned out and what kind of land they were spending their time on.  

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We have never kept our horses anywhere that they had to be in 24/7 during the winter months, not because we have been lucky or fortunate to be on yards where this didn't happen but because I wouldn't be prepared to keep them somewhere where they couldn't interact with each other every day and just be horses. 

Whilst studying my Masters degree at Hartpury I became more interested in group housing and turnout after chatting to a fellow student, who'd found during her undergraduate degree that one of the main reasons people didn't want to keep their horses housed together was due to injury risk, when actually they were less likely to become injured if they were all accustomed to living together and received more turnout. This seems logical when you think about it - I guess they're less likely to go hooling around like children in the playground when they've not been cooped all day?

Whilst I was studying for my Masters degree we were told the land we used was being sold, long story short, we moved to the beautiful North Wales countryside to live in a beautiful old farmhouse with hills - and so the track turnout ideas began. I had young horses who could really benefit from walking, old ponies who needed to keep moving and chubby-prone natives who needed to move - the best way to achieve all of that - track system! We moved in August 2018 and started working on our track system plans as of March 2020. Once we are set up, our plan is to take on a livery - a retiree most likely - and then to expand to one day be a full rehabilitation livery! 

For updates please follow us on our Facebook and Instagram pages - @littleblueequine. We will document updates on the track building, improvements, breakthroughs, problems and eventually our herd.