Get Your Horse On a Track System

About 15 years ago I was boarding my mare Diva at a private barn in Victoria BC. The paddocks were very small and flat with electric fence covering all the boards to prevent chewing and Diva was on the end of the paddock row beside a forest. It was close to home which worked for me but Diva was deeply stressed making it almost impossible to safely work with her or ride her. 
Its a scenario I see all too often a horse living alone in a space too small to move freely on sterile flat ground surrounded by electric fence to prevent chewing and contact with neighbours often with the goal of preventing injury. Ironically lack of free movement and varied terrain can often predispose a horse to injury. 

At the time a friend needed a house and horsesitter for her farm in the Cowichan Valley with turnout grazing and horse friends. I decided to see if this would help Diva. As you might guess given that we still live in the Cowichan Valley all these years later it did. 
The change seemed like a miracle. One day Diva was dangerously anxious and carrying obvious fear and tension and the next she was hanging with her new herd relaxed content and grounded. But now as I look back with more knowledge I understand more fully what created this transformation. The new property was located at the end of a nothru road with no electric fence to speak of and the herd had free range of about 12 acres with no separation between horses. There was a water crossing and a forested area to access a larger field which meant different footing with mud and rocks obstacles such as roots and logs and varied terrain including hills and ditches. 
I watched Divas system exhale palpably it was as if she had become a different horse. And in many ways she had. Knowing what I now know about the autonomic nervous system proprioception and the pivotal role environment plays in wellbeing I realize that what I observed was Diva finding her body again with the support of a variety of terrain and types of forage the ability to move freely enrichment of herd company and 247 forage options and a decrease in environmental stressors like electric fence and a scary forest too close for comfort. Along with the obvious changes of