Lami pens!

Thank you boys

My lovely Fiancé and his best friend finished off resurfacing the second lami pen one evening last week after work. They didn't stop till it was done at 10.30pm!

The lami pens are a great alternative to stabling. They were originally woodchip and designed to be used for horses who were prone to laminitis to keep them off the grass during time of transition (wean from track to winter middles and visa versa).  Sadly the woodchip only worked during the summer months and became a stinky boggy mess in the winter, so this year we decided to re surface with stone and AstroTurf.

I have found the AstroTurf fantastic. It drains quickly wee/rain and it's super easy to poo pick. It's soft and the horses choose to lie down on it and also allows you to feed hay from the floor (once the sad has washed out after a few weeks).

They lami pens are a great alternative to stabling for box rest; being twice-three times the size of a stable means more space whilst being open and airy to help with circulation and the horses mental health. They are positioned opposite the barn and look out onto both herds.

They have been invaluable in the past 4 years and been used for a variety of reasons, from waking up from sedation to box rest due to injury (thankfully not many of those!). 

At the moment one of them is used daily to get Saphy the Shetland off the grass. She comes in during the day and goes out at night (when the sugars in the grass are lower). This is the first time I have ever had to remove her from the track as normally there is next to no grass on the tracks by now, but due to the strange weather this year that has been prime for grass growth, I wanted the be better safe than sorry!! None of the other horses or ponies have been effected- I think they can't be bothered to eat the small amount of grass available and would rather eat the hay, unlike Saphy who's little muzzle goes searching for the green tuff!!