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pp design help please
I have read many examples of pp design on dozens on different websites and am trying to design one for my situation. I have about 2 acres of usable space but it is arranged badly because the property was set up in a traditional stable design originally built in the 1940's. I also have the added issue of having to run two herds due to individual needs of the horses. While I have seen a few examples of "maze" designs, including on the diagrams here, the general advice is not to use one, however I cannot find any explanation of why not. My primary concern at this point is to increase movement, I really do not care about conservation of grass, and I have very limited space to work with. I have tried to figure out a way to do a continuous loop design, but it does not appear to be possible while maintaining usability of the necessary areas of my property (wash racks, feed storage, manure access and disposal, vehicle access to the barn etc). I have a large outdoor arena and a 70' round pen on two sides of my property which would lend themselves well to rolling/running/turnaround areas. The remaining areas are quite small however, and if I track around them the actual track would be tiny with larger grass areas in the middle. When turned into grass areas (as they are now) most of my horses go into "couch potato" mode and simply stand around all day. These areas would also then be too small to crossfence and rotate, resulting in eventual dirt yards anyway.
Logic is telling me to simply maze these areas, increasing my track length by 4-5x and making movement necessary throughout the day, ending in the arena or round pen for each herd. One side would encompass the old parking lot from when the barn was open to the public, providing great gravel for hoof conditioning. I could rotate the herds from one side to the other when I clean (once or twice a week) to get both herds into this area. see reply for more..
Posted:
Aug 1 2011, 6:26 PM EDT by
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