Regenerative Land Management Practices

By Alexa Linton, Equine Sports Therapist

My partner, Patrick, and I — along with our herd of four horses — have spent the past year settling into our five-acre property in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island. It’s been a whirlwind of learning and experimentation, from creating a healthier, more natural habitat for our horses to exploring food production, biodiversity, and regenerative land design.

If you’ve read my previous articles, you’ll know I’m passionate about horse track systems and paddock paradise setups. What you may not know is that I’m also an avid gardener. Before moving here, I spent several years caring for a native habitat garden, deepening my understanding of native plants, food growing, permaculture principles, and regenerative landscape design.

At the same time, I’m aware we live in an increasingly uncertain world when it comes to food security and resources. I strongly believe in becoming as self-sufficient, skilled, and community-connected as possible.

Related: Protecting Your Equine Property from Environmental Disasters

An example of a water catchment system from the gutters of the barn. Photo: Alexa Linton

When we moved to our farm, my goal was to improve the quality of life for every being that calls this place home — including the land itself. That has meant learning how each part of an ecosystem supports another, and how to cultivate harmony rather than impose control. Horse people are in a unique position: many of us steward large pieces of land rich with life and potential. In this article, I’ll share some of the permaculture and regenerative agriculture practices I’m experimenting with at Raven Moon Farm, what’s worked, what hasn’t, and how you can apply some of these ideas on your own property.

Bill Mollison and David Holmgren introduced the term “permaculture” in the mid-1970s to describe “an integrated, evolving system of perennial or self-perpetuating plant and animal species useful to mankind.” It can also be described as consciously designed landscapes that mimic natural patterns and relationships while producing food, fibre, and energy for local needs.

Here in the Cowichan Valley, I’ve absorbed many permaculture ideas over the years, and they’ve naturally influenced my horsekeeping, though I’m far from an expert. I’m simply a horse girl with curiosity, composted manure, old hay, and space. The good news is that anyone can implement one or many of these ideas.

Permaculture is built around 12 main principles (see Sidebar). The first is “observe and interact,” and for horse owners, that means watching how horses use the land before making permanent changes and noticing where plants naturally thrive.

Related: Controlling Mud on Your Horse Property

Here the terraced hill is covered with manure, hay, and shavings to create topsoil, improve water retention, and grow plants and trees. Photo: Alexa Linton

After our first full year with the herd at home, we’ve already learned a lot: where water flows during heavy rains, where the horses prefer to hang out, and how winter sun exposure affects the track system (we need to build a new track loop so the horses can get a little sun in winter months). Observing can give us so much information about microclimates, soil quality, and where the horses like to hang out. We discovered the garden location we originally doubted turned out to be the most productive, while manure management still needs improvement. Observation revealed valuable information about microclimates, soil quality, drainage, and how horses feel safest and most comfortable.

Another principle is “catch and store energy.” In winter, our property has a seasonal creek and ponds, but by summer much of that water disappears. Looking ahead to hotter, drier seasons, we need better water resilience. So far, we’ve installed rain barrels and water tanks near major garden zones and plan to add micro-irrigation. Future projects include terraces, berms, swales, and ridges to slow runoff, retain moisture, and support biodiversity.

Our property has minimal grazing, which currently suits my herd’s health needs but could become challenging if hay becomes scarce. I rest the grazing area during winter, then spread manure, old hay, and saved seed to rebuild coverage, ensuring all bare spots are thoroughly covered. I’ve also started sheet-mulching other bare areas with manure, used shavings, hay, cardboard, and water from supplement buckets to expand future grazing potential without wasting nutrients.

Related: Managing Streams on Horse Properties: Safety and Stewardship

Our tiny grazing zone is currently being amended with old hay and composted manure and overseeded with seed from our hay to help produce more grass and reduce weeds like buttercup. Photo: Alexa Linton

Right now, some of these areas are admittedly unattractive. But I remind myself to think long term. In a few years, they should transform into rich topsoil supporting edible and medicinal plants while stabilizing the land and retaining water. I may eventually need bat boxes or predator flies to help manage increased fly populations — another example of adapting and responding to change.

Long-term thinking also means planting trees and shrubs that provide shade, food, medicine, and shelter for years to come. Species such as elder and willow are easy to propagate from spring cuttings, creating another renewable resource for the property. Simply cut a healthy length of new growth, place it in a glass of spring water with a little rooting hormone, and wait for roots to emerge. Once rooted, plant it into a pot of soil and watch it grow into a thriving young tree.

Then there’s the bane of every horse owner’s existence: manure. Even considering one of my horses is a Shetland/Mini, Gwynna, the four of them still produce an astonishing amount of poop.

Permaculture encourages us to “use and value renewable resources,” and horse manure certainly qualifies. Yet many horse owners spend significant time, fuel, and money hauling it away. What if more of it stayed on the property or was shared with neighbours for gardens?

That naturally leads to composting. What changes could improve decomposition and make compost usable more quickly? I’m still learning myself — perhaps that’s a future article.

If you have a tractor, regularly turn your manure piles to introduce oxygen and speed decomposition. I also poke holes into piles to improve airflow. Even unfinished compost can help build future garden beds or improve rested pasture.

Lately, I’ve also been experimenting with living soil liquids and fermented molasses to increase microbial diversity and composting efficiency. At this point, my kitchen resembles a chemistry lab (and Patrick has been incredibly patient about it).

Reuse is another important principle. Around our track system, I regularly repurpose old posts, barrels, fencing, tires, fishing nets, and pallets. I also love previously used items because they keep useful materials out of the landfill and give them new life. My next challenge is finding endless uses for baler twine.

Related: How to Create a Greener Horse Property

Fresh manure and used shavings are being used with cardboard to smother grass, and fermented molasses liquid is being used to speed breakdown and increase microorganisms. This bed will eventually hold horse-friendly herbs and plants. Photo: Alexa Linton

I hope this inspires you to explore the intersection of horses and permaculture and to think differently about the relationship between horses, humans, and land. Our horses support us, we support them, and together we can help create ecosystems that nourish all beings living here for years to come.

Much of this work is simply allowing nature to do what it does best while staying curious, receptive, and responsive. It doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated, though it often challenges us to expand our comfort zones and rethink how we care for our families, communities, herds, and the planet.

If you’d like to learn more, seek out educational opportunities and mentorship locally or online. By bringing more life and harmony to the land you steward, you contribute to a healthier future for everyone. Pretty cool indeed.

The 12 Principles of Permaculture

1. Observe and Interact: Take time to watch natural systems and understand how the land, animals, water, and plants interact before making changes.
2. Catch and Store Energy: Collect and save resources when they are abundant — such as rainwater, sunlight, compost, or seeds — for future use.
3. Obtain a Yield: Ensure your efforts provide useful results, whether food, shelter, knowledge, or improved soil health.
4. Apply Self-Regulation and Accept Feedback: Learn from successes and mistakes and adjust systems to work more sustainably over time.
5. Produce No Waste: Reuse, recycle, compost, and repurpose materials so that “waste” becomes a resource.
6. Use and Value Renewable Resources and Services: Make use of naturally replenishing resources like manure, rainwater, trees, sunlight, and animal labour whenever possible.
7. Design from Patterns to Details: Observe broad natural patterns first — such as water flow, sunlight, or animal movement — before focusing on smaller details.
8. Integrate Rather Than Segregate: Create systems where plants, animals, and people support one another instead of functioning separately.
9. Use Small and Slow Solutions: Start with manageable changes that are easier to maintain and more resilient over time.
10. Use and Value Diversity: Encourage biodiversity in plants, animals, and systems to improve resilience and reduce vulnerability.
11. Use Edges and Value the Marginal: Recognize that the most productive and diverse areas often occur where different environments meet, such as forest edges or pond banks.
12. Creatively Use and Respond to Change: Adapt thoughtfully to changing conditions and see challenges as opportunities for innovation and growth.

Related: The Role of Mowing in Horse Pasture Management

Related: How to Make Rotational Grazing Work on Your Horse Farm

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Main Photo: Pam Mackenzie