Paddocks

Our philosophy is that the more grass we can grow, the healthier the horses will be, and the happier their owners will be at not having to buy so much supplementary feed!

Somerfield Farm was previously a market garden before being redeveloped as a horse agistment and riding facility. The soil is a light sandy loam that drains well so we don't go to mud in winter.

A rotation technique is used to manage the quality of the pasture in the paddocks. The horse has access to one strip while the other two are rested.

The property is just over 41 acres of which half is allocated to paddocks. All the paddock fencing is new and electric. Each paddock consists of 3 separate pasture strips which are accessed from a central “Home Yard”. No barbed wire or loose ends here!

Each paddock has a central Home Yard which contains a loose box and a water trough. The Home Yard fencing is post and rail. The Home Yard has 4 gates, one into each of the 3 grazing strips and one into the external laneway.
One of the gates actually closes across the front of the loose box, effectively turning it into a stable. This means the horse can be isolated from the pasture whenever necessary, eg to help manage foundering, or locked up altogether the night before a competition.