Category / Paddock Paradise

by Carol Jackson

Pony Mad

As we said goodnight, David smiled at me and whispered “Pony Mad.”

With a warm feeling of contentment, I put my head on the pillow and reflected on his words.

Yes, guilty is charged! Our little Exmoor pony family, all 5 of them, were well and in good hands.

Tanya + ponies

Yesterday we visited http://www.chateau-de-laumiere.com/ where 2 of the ponies, Dovetail and Galaxie are being taken care of by Tanya. We spent a relaxing hour or more hanging out with the ponies and chatting in the sunshine. I came away feeling happy and so very lucky to have crossed paths with Tanya who had one point was looking after 4 of them!

Eiderdown + Willow March 2017

When Tanya’s circumstances changed, ours did too. It is a curious thing about life, how things work out. It was fortuitous that Elliot was back at our home in France in April 2016 and was able to commit to looking after Willow and Eiderdown on our “track system”. JaxTrax was designed and built for them, to mimic a more natural lifestyle for horse’s and all the benefits that go with it.

Finch

Shortly after their arrival and quite out of the blue, I had an email from Julie. She had our only boy, Finch. Her circumstances had also changed and she asked whether I would be interested in taking Finch back. Well of course I would. I had missed him so much. I just had to pass it by Elliot as he would be his caretaker. When he agreed, I was over the moon. Finch came home to be with us again.

DG settled infor 1st night

Meanwhile back in Scotland, Charli takes care of Dream Girl as if she were her own.

I can now return there, refreshed from my break and happy that all our ponies, big and small are in the very best hands. A heartfelt thanks to Tanya, Elliot and Charli for making it all possible.

Pony mad, maybe, but how lucky am I?

by Carol Jackson

Building a Horse friendly Pond

As we traipsed over the land that was to become JaxTrax, I noticed that an area to the east seemed slightly mushier than everywhere else. Close examination of the grass showed a density of thin spiky grasses – kindling memories of Boy Scout hikes across Yorkshire Moors – and 5 minutes on Google Earth looking at a darker green patch than everywhere else confirmed my suspicions. We had some sort of a spring on our land! Continue reading →

by Carol Jackson

Thinking outside the Box

One of the earliest dates I remember with my then husband to be, was supper at Est Est Est in Liverpool. Still very much getting to know each other, he set me a challenge by drawing 9 dots in a square on the paper tablecloth. He handed me the pen and said join up all the dots without going over any twice. So I did! He was pretty impressed and probably assumed that I was some smart lady that could think laterally. How wrong he was. I had simply seen it done before, and remembered! I knew that I had to get outside of that box to find the solution. Continue reading →

by Carol Jackson

Nature Matters

Nature intended and therefore equipped the horse not only to survive, but to thrive, without human intervention.

Is it natural for horses:

  • To live in family groups, herds
  • To have a pecking order within that herd
  • To live outdoors 24/7 – animals of prey, fright/flight
  • To forage on the move for up to 20 hours a day
  • To walk in to water to quench their thirst and to hydrate their hooves
  • To self-groom by rolling or by using their teeth/ trees etc. to scratch and/or to mutual groom with another herd member
  • To paw the ground to find minerals then grinding them to a powder with their teeth.
  • To self-medicate, seeking out herbs to regulate parasites
  • To find shelter from inclement weather
  • To self-trim their hooves by covering all kinds of terrain over long periods of time
  • To thermo regulate their own bodies, their natural rug being a layer of mud!

Continue reading →