Currently, I’m still obsessed with tracking Chewie’s movements throughout the day.
She has been wearing her Tractive tracker most days. As I wrote about earlier this summer, the tracker gives me a general sense regarding where she is spending her time and what she is doing. In addition, I have a solar security camera set up so that I can watch where she is and what she is doing.
Here’s a screenshot of a six-hour period from noon until 6:00 pm today.
During this period, she spent almost the entire time grazing in a pasture in the southeast corner of the property. She also made a brief visit to the road around 4:00 pm. She didn’t spend any time in the barn or any time in the shed where their hay bags are located.
The boarding barn where Chewie lived last summer had decent-sized pastures, but too many horses. As a result, the pastures were overgrazed and filled with weeds. By midsummer, the horses had given up on grazing and were spending most of their time standing around at a big round bale of hay.
At our current barn, I’m also dealing with land that has been overstocked and overgrazed in the past. However, since Chewie and her buddy Liberty are the only residents, currently, I have a lot more control over how the land is managed.
Right now, Chewie and Liberty have access to only about one-third of the property. The rest is divided into five small pastures so that we can do some rotational grazing. They have access to one pasture for about a week or so. Then, I close it off and give them access to another pasture.
This is also how the tracker and the security camera come into play. I can get a rough sense each day regarding how much time Chewie is spending grazing and how much time she is spending eating hay. I can also see where she is spending her time. These data points are helping to inform my decisions about pasture management.
As a result, we still have quite a bit of grass. And, this system is letting the grass and soil start to recover some of its health. It also means Chewie is spending quite a bit of time grazing and moving around, rather than standing still at a hay bag. Long term, I’m looking forward to healthier pastures and a healthier horse.
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