REGULAR F
HFM
EATURE Small Farm Makeover
Introducing the Small Farm Makeover
by Alayne Blickle, Horses for Clean Water
Learn how to make your horse property a healthy and effi cient place
N
WHS welcomes you to a new series on much more pleasant for you and helps reduce
how to make over your horse property the chance of your horse catching diseases like
for the health of your equine compan- rain rot, scratches and thrush and suffering from
ions, your busy a host of other
schedule and your
Geotextile fabrics, often called
unpleasant horse
pocketbook. We
fi lter fabric or road cloth, help
health issues.
begin with a Q First, I want
& A from NWHS
separate soil and footing
to commend you
Owner/Publisher on the use of a
Karen Pickering about issues on her own prop- sacrifi ce area; sacrifi ce areas are actually state-of-
erty, and invite you to send your own questions the-art horsekeeping for all parts of the country
and challenges to info@nwhorsesource.com now. A sacrifi ce area—a small enclosure such
with the subject line “Small Farm Makeover.” as a corral, run or pen—is your horse’s outdoor
Question:
living quarters. We refer to it as a sacrifi ce area
PHOTO: JOHN O’HARA
because we are giving up the use of that small
Alayne Renée Blickle, Pacifi c
Hi Alayne,
area as grass. In the winter, horses should be
I have six
Northwest resident and lifelong
confi ned to this area and kept off of saturated
acres of land
equestrian and reining com-
and rain-soaked soils. This is critical if you want
and two horses.
to maintain a healthy pasture the next summer;
petitor, is the creator/director of
In Whatcom
soggy soils and dormant pasture plants simply
Horses for Clean Water, an award-
County, our local
cannot survive continuous grazing and tram-
winning, nationally acclaimed
conservation
pling in the winter months.
educational program. An environ- district has been
When someone is creating a sacrifi ce area
mental educator and photojour- encouraging
from scratch, I tell them to locate it in a high,
nalist who has worked with horse
small farms to
well-drained area, away from wetlands or where
and livestock owners for over 15
develop a farm plan (with their help) and to
water runs through. For chore effi ciency, confi ne-
years, Alayne is well known for her
be aware of the detrimental impact mud and
ment areas should be convenient to the barn. I
enthusiastic, fun, down-to-earth
manure can potentially have on surface waters
like to have one sacrifi ce area per horse set up
like creeks, ponds and wetlands. We’d like to do
approach to horsekeeping. Alayne
like a run off of each stall. This chore-effi cient
what we can to comply. In the winter, when they
teaches and travels around North
arrangement gives the horse free access to the
spend all day in these pens, mud becomes a huge
stall, and you’ll have a clean, dry, convenient
America as well as producing an
problem. It makes it nearly impossible to clean
place to feed.
electronic newsletter, The Green
the pens and the horses have mud up to their
Karen, it sounds like two challenges might be
Horse, which reaches thousands
fetlocks. There is a natural slope to the property,
plaguing you: slope and soil type. If your situa-
of horse owners regularly. She but everything still gets mucky. What would you
tion doesn’t have enough natural slope to allow
writes for equine publications in- suggest I do to make it more chore-effi cient and
for drainage, you need to do what you can to be
cluding Equus and The Northwest
healthier for the horses and the environment?
sure that your barn is higher than your paddocks
Horse Source. Visit her website
Thanks!
(dealing with surface fl ows is a topic for another
www.HorsesforCleanWater.com Karen Pickering, Publisher article).
for more information and events.
The Northwest Horse Source LLC The next issue is soil. Choosing the right type
Answer:
of soil for the location of your paddocks is always
the best solution. Well-draining gravelly or sandy
Hi Karen,
soils are best for areas with lots of traffi c like
Good for you for wanting to make changes
barns and confi nement areas. From your descrip-
to your horse property that will benefi t the envi-
tion, I am guessing that you are on some kind of
ronment, as well as for yourself and your horses.
loamy soil, which is good for growing crops but
A mud-free horse facility makes chore time so
challenging for wintering horses.
22 March 2010 The Northwest Horse Source www.nwhorsesource.com
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