When the Drought Breaks… Hold Your Horses!

After yet another dry and hot year in Australia, most horse owners and farmers are longing for some steady rain to kick-start the growing season and seeing some green and standing grass. And, while nature does seem to restore things in a short time when temperature rises and water becomes

All About Soil – Part 5 Using soil tests to improve horse pastures

In this All About Soil series, we have been ‘digging deeper into soils’ and explored what soils are, how soil is formed, the different types of soil (Part 1) and how they sustain life through the soil-food-web (Part 2).  We learned about sampling and DIY home soil tests (Part 3),

All About Soil – Part 4 Lab soil tests

In this Part Four, we will continue with soil laboratory tests and how to interpret these results.

All About Soil – Part 3 DIY soil tests

In this Equine Permaculture series, we ‘dig deeper into soils’ and, to date, we have explored what soils are, how soil is formed, the different types of soil and how they sustain life through the soil-food-web. If you missed those articles, you can find them by clicking on Part 1

All About Soil – Part 2 Soil Food Web

Soils are complex mixtures of minerals, water, air, organic matter, and numerous micro and macro-organisms that are the decaying remains of once-living things. It forms at the surface of land – it is the “skin of the earth.” Soil is capable of supporting plant life and is vital to life

All About Soil – Part 1 Facts about soil

In this brand new Equine Permaculture series, we will ‘dig deeper into soils’ and explore what soils are, how soil is formed, the different types of soil and how they sustain life through the soil-food-web. Furthermore, we will discuss the importance of soil tests, in the lab and DIY, interpreting

Benefits of dung beetles on horse properties

Dung beetles in Australia Australia has more than 500 species of native dung beetles and 23 species of dung beetles introduced from Hawaii, Africa and southern Europe. The introduced dung beetles are very useful in Australia’s agricultural regions. Where they are well established, these dung beetles bury large volumes of

Amazing facts about dung beetles

Adapted from the article by Marcus Byrne Professor of Zoology and Entomology, University of the Witwatersrand Dung beetles are very cool creatures! They eat your horse or cow poo (how fantastic!), decompact soil and increase the availability of nutrients (and water)! Dung beetle behaviour has fascinated humans for thousands of

8 ways to manage run-off and control erosion on horse properties

Original article by Dr. Mariette van den Berg, published in the Horses and People Magazine (November 2016). Cover photo by Linda Zupanc. When it comes to horse property layout, it pays to consider the permaculture design approach because it aims to build systems that are easier to manage, more efficient

Permaculture zone planning for horse properties

Orginal article by Dr. Mariette van den Berg (MB Equine Services), Published in the Horses & People Magazine (August 2016) When it comes to horse property layout, it pays to consider following the permaculture design approach because it aims to build systems that are easier to manage, more efficient and