Dude
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May 9, 2006, 1:02 AM
Post #1 of 4
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Making a Dry Lot and feeding schedules
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Hello,
My wife and I are planning to start a small horse boarding business. We have two of our own on our 10 acre lot close to a great national park with hundred of high quality riding trails throughout. So the demand for boarding services in our area is quite high. Plus I figure, hey, if we got two mouths to feed, what's wrong with 3 or 4 more, right?! Now I'm not that much of a horse nut (caring, riding, cleaning, etc.), my wife takes care of that department. I've agreed to manage the infrastructure and do much of the grunt work, like a good husband would. Now before you go jumpin' to conclusions about how good of a hubby I seem to be, let me just preface that I'm a firm believer that MOST grunt work should be done from the comfort of my new John Deere tractor that I purchased a couple of months ago.
Anyhow....here are my questions:
--> We're looking to build a dry lot area (with post & rail fencing and an electric wire at the top) to contain the boarded horses. The area I want to build this dry lot area needs to be raised a little to keep the area dry during heavy rains and during the spring months. (we have long, cold winters here in Manitoba, Canada!). The dry lot area is approx 100X100 with a 12x30 windbreak in the centre. What material should I use to raise this area? Are horses OK with standing on sand for most of the spring/late fall (winter is a no-brainer, as it's packed snow!) Some say sand, some say more of a soil/sand mixture. My wife seems to believe the sand would be the best choice. Basically, she believes the horses would trample down the new sand over time into the existing clay gumbo and make a nice, well draining sand/clay mixture that should work well over time. One thing about sand I've read is the risk of sand colic, but I don't think this is a concern cuz our plan is to feed them in an area of the dry lot where there won't be any sand. Basically, I want to raise the grade immediately around the windbreak in the centre, then slope it down toward the edges of the dry lot area. I'd like to go with the sand cuz it's cheaper than the soil/sand mix, it drains well and won't create a mucky mess when it rains!
--> We are developing a network of grazing pastures for the summer months, and intend on releasing the boarded horses to these areas when the grass growth permits. During non-pasture grazing months, like winter/spring/late fall, I want to section off a corner of our square dry lot area via a swing-gate to provide the horses with periodic access to a high quality round hay bale during non-pasture grazing periods of the year. The routine we're hoping to follow is we open this corner feeding section of the dry lot for 2 hrs in the morning, then 2-3 hours in the evening. We could adjust these intervals in the winter as appropriate and supplement with a complete feed to keep the nutrition levels up. This limited access to hay will help reduce the amount of hay we go through and allow us to use a just-in-time delivery system with the 1500 lb round bales. These large round bales are the least costly option when it comes to feed. Water will be provided via a Ritchie 4-season watering trough. The lines have a submerged heat tape that so-far has worked wonders for our own horses. Does anyone see any problems with this feeding method?
Note: our own horses will be kept separate from the boarders to reduce the risk of spreading disease, feuds and scuffles etc.
Thanks for any input to my situations and answers to my questions.
Dude
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