Emergency Relocation
When we moved to this site in 2016, the land was not suitable for horses or long-term use. However, an urgent relocation was necessary to prevent the horses from being placed in abusive situations. With the help of volunteers, donations, and many hours of physical labour, we began transforming an emergency situation into a more stable and sustainable environment.
Early work focused on basic safety: emergency fencing, feeding areas, and protection from extreme weather. These first years highlighted the realities of land-based sustainability work—working with difficult terrain, seasonal mud, limited infrastructure, and slow administrative processes. Many of the structures now in place are the result of incremental improvements rather than a predefined system.
In 2022, we received official permission to build a permanent shelter on the land. While this was an important step, the scale of the project means it is dependent on financial resources, available labour, and time. As with many aspects of this site, progress is shaped by practical constraints rather than intent alone, and it remains unclear when construction can realistically begin.
Without careful planning, domestic horsekeeping can negatively affect both the horses’ emotional wellbeing and the land itself. Our sustainability work therefore focuses on reducing environmental strain while meeting the horses’ behavioural and physical needs.
By applying land-enrichment principles—some of which are also known from track systems or paddock-paradise concepts—we aim to create environments that encourage movement, protect soil, support biodiversity, and reduce long-term degradation. These design choices are tools, not goals in themselves, and must be adapted continuously to climate, terrain, and herd dynamics.
In the wild, the horse’s diet is much more varied than that of the domesticated horse. It would include shrubs, herbs and flowers of many types which usually are no longer available for either horse or insect. We aim to reintroduce these into our environment.
With clever design, we can recreate a little of nature within a restricted amount of land. This serves four main purposes:
- To protect the land from erosion – both for the land’s sake and so that the horses can enjoy it for much longer.
- To encourage insects which are imperative for healthy land.
- To provide the horses with more mental stimulation so they don’t get bored and frustrated.
- To allow physical movement for muscles, hoof growth and rehabilitation.
The south of Spain is very hot and dry, and each year we see less rainfall here. When we do get rain it often comes in sudden storms which cause flooding because the dry land cannot absorb it fast enough, and in turn this causes erosion and vast damage and fatalities.
Social Needs and Land Structure
Social living is a central consideration in how we manage land and resources. The horses live together outdoors, which supports social learning, emotional regulation, and natural movement. At the same time, group living requires careful observation and ongoing adjustments to space, access points, and layout.
How land is structured directly influences behaviour, tension, and wellbeing. For us, sustainability therefore includes not only ecological responsibility, but also how social dynamics are supported or strained by the environments we create.
Designing for Natural Movement and Feeding
Movement and diet are inseparable from land use. In natural conditions, horses move 15-30km per day over varied terrain in search of food and water, which supports not only cardiovascular and muscular health but also natural hoof wear and stimulation. On restricted land, this requires deliberate design choices that encourage movement and prevent overuse of sensitive areas.
Our sustainability work therefore focuses on creating pathways, varied surfaces, and dispersed feeding areas that promote physical health while protecting soil structure and vegetation. Dietary decisions are approached with the same mindset: reducing inflammatory feeds, supporting gut health, and aligning nutrition with the realities of the local ecosystem.
Hands-On Land Work
Much of this work involves ongoing physical tasks such as fencing, erosion control, creating and maintaining access routes, improving high-traffic areas, and adapting existing structures to changing conditions. These tasks are labour-intensive and rarely finished.
Over the years this has included building and reinforcing steps on sloped ground, stabilising feeding areas that would otherwise turn into deep mud in winter, and experimenting with different surfaces to reduce erosion and improve drainage. We are hoping to be able to invest 3000€ in mud control slabs to further improve this area. Volunteers play a crucial role in maintaining and improving the land while learning how small design changes can have significant long-term effects.
Land Stability and Ecosystems
Planting plays an important role in stabilising the land and supporting both ecological balance and equine welfare. Certain plant species help manage water flow, reduce erosion, and improve soil structure, while also contributing to biodiversity and seasonal forage.
One plant we plan to introduce is vetiver, whose dense root system helps retain soil, slow rainwater runoff, and reduce mud and erosion during winter storms. Alongside this, we aim to establish a range of other plants that are beneficial to the land, the horses, and local insect life.
Planted strategically across different areas, these species can help stabilise vulnerable ground, extend grazing opportunities, encourage natural movement, and support a more diverse ecosystem, even within limited space.
Protected Planting Areas
Because this land is actively used by horses, planting cannot succeed without protection. Without it, young plants would be lost quickly to trampling and overgrazing, particularly in a hot and dry climate where vegetation struggles to establish.
To address this, we plan to create protected planting areas, such as narrow fenced strips or planting islands, that allow vegetation to establish while remaining accessible to the horses in controlled ways. Browsing through fencing supports slow, varied grazing, while moving around these areas encourages ongoing movement across the land.
Planting also requires careful planning due to a significant wild boar population in the area. Depending on available resources, protection may involve reinforced fencing, raised planting zones, or stronger perimeter solutions. Sustainability, in this context, means designing systems that can withstand real ecological pressures, rather than assuming ideal conditions.
These photos offers us great inspiration which we aim to incorporate into our horses’ pasture at Time and Space.
There are various designs we can implement to protect these planted areas from the wild boar. We can either fence the whole property if finance permits for a fence strong enough for boar; or plant in raised areas and protect the boxes with timber or wire, so that it is still within reach of the horses, but out of reach of the boar and horse hooves.
Water Feature
Another planned feature is a splash pool. Water features and varied surfaces serve both welfare and environmental purposes. Cooling opportunities reduce heat stress, while different substrates support hoof health and distribute land use more evenly. These features must be carefully integrated to avoid water waste and erosion.
This photo offers us great inspiration which we aim to incorporate into our horses’ pasture at Time and Space.
Slow Feeding, Movement, and Land-Aware Design
After free-roaming, good quality hay is the most appropriate forage for horses. In this region, however, hay is difficult to source due to terrain and climate, and many horses are traditionally fed straw and grain. We began in the same way. From 2017 onwards, we were able to finance enough year-round hay to remove grain from the horses’ diet, and by 2020 hay became their primary forage without the need to mix it with straw.
In the early years, forage was fed on the ground. Much of it was lost in mud, and the horses consumed it too quickly, leaving long periods without access to forage. As grazing animals, horses are physiologically adapted to eat little and often. Large meals can increase the risk of colic, while long gaps without forage allow stomach acid to build up, contributing to gastric ulcers.
Introducing slow feeding systems significantly improved both welfare and land use. We redesigned the flat loafing area and installed large hay nets along the fence line, providing mud-free forage throughout the year. These nets are filled once daily and allow continuous, regulated intake. Behavioural changes were noticeable: the horses stayed warmer in winter, calmer year-round, and showed improved self-regulation.
To prevent horses from standing in one place, fencing and access points were deliberately arranged so that forage, water, shade, and resting areas are spatially separated. This requires horses to move over varied terrain throughout the day. Future protected planting and grazing areas will further support movement while reducing pressure on any single part of the land. Feeding, movement, and land protection are therefore treated as one integrated system, rather than separate concerns.