1 acre per horse?

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melle

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If you looked round a livery yard and they said that for turnout each horse has an acre paddock all year round would you say this would be sufficient?

It is good high yielding grazing and I can split the field if I want to rotate it but at current yard I have two 1 acre fields for my horse so just not sure whether this will be sufficient.
 
It is recommended that you have 1.5 acres for your first horse and 1 acre per additional horse but that usually means spread over at least 2 different fields so they can be rotated. I wouldn't like my horse to be kept in the same 1 acre paddock all year round.......
 
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It is recommended that you have 1.5 acres for your first horse and 1 acre per additional horse but that usually means spread over at least 2 different fields so they can be rotated. I wouldn't like my horse to be kept in the same 1 acre paddock all year round.......

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Can someone please tell our soon-to-be-ex landlords that please?
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They think that advertising our cottage with two stables and 0.2 of an acre of mud = 'equestrian property'
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Oh I know what you mean. When I watch 'Escape to the Country' and the daft presenter finds them a house with half an acre and then say there is 'plenty of room for their 4 horses' (I may be exaggerating a bit!). Although I love it when the potential buyer looks at them and says 'errr...no there's not enough room here'.
 
It IS quite possible to keep a horse on one acre, it is common here. The difference seems to be that rainfall is generally lower so less mud and hay is fed all year round and considered normal. In my area grass is too valuable (for hay) to run horses on it until the last cut is in, sometimes as late as mid September.

It wouldn't put me off, but then I would rather have a designated paddock for one or two of my own horses than put them out with an ever changing herd. Been there, done that, paid the Vets bills, never again.
 
Definitely rather have a 1 acre paddock to myself and was just thinking that could just strip graze it throughout the summer and keep some grass on it for winter.

Always thought would need at least 1.5 acres per horse though. Yard is perfect apart from this.
 
Oh strip grazing on an acre is perfectly feasible! As I said, we've been doing it all summer on 0.2
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An acre would seem like open moorland to Ellie at the moment!
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One acre is doable if you strip graze it all right. My friends kept their 2 ponies (turned out for 4hrs daily in winter and about 10hrs daily in summer with stabling at night) on 2 1/2acre paddocks. they did have the use of 20 acres of grass when they turned their horses away for 3 mths every september though.
 
I have three ponies on 1.5 acres - out 24/7 all year round. It is well draining field that we spilt in 2, with field shelter and hardstanding. In summer I have to battle to keep the ponies slim - but I feed adlib hay in Spring/Autumn/Winter.

One of my ponies competes at a high level straight off the field (I don't like stables).

It is perfectly possible to manage with less grazing than the BHS 'ideal'.

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Sorry to be so shocked, my ponies like to run about in their field and have a buck and a play.

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I dont think anyone is having a go, it's just that it is possible to effectively strip graze one acre, and by the look of the replies here, many people are in that position. We'd all love to have acres and acres of land to let our horses and ponies run free, but it isnt always possible! And when you are stuck with such a small amount, (and it isnt financially or personally feasible to move elsewhere just to get more grazing) then you have to make the best of what you've got!
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I guess we're just really lucky. The landowner just told us to fence off any bit of her 25 acres that we want. (Sorry don't mean to rub it in)
 
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I guess we're just really lucky. The landowner just told us to fence off any bit of her 25 acres that we want. (Sorry don't mean to rub it in)

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*Stamps feet in jealousy and disgust*

Get out!
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Sounds lovely! In all seriousness, we used to have a similar set up in our old house. There were two meadows owned by the farmer next door, and he only ever took the odd cut of hay from them - the rest of the time, we had free range over all of it. That must have been about 16 acres in all!

Those were the days!
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I suppose you get used it, and that's why I was so shocked.

Although even the livery yards I've been at had big fields, there was always more than an acre per horse and I've never had a problem with sharing fields, apart from the time my Fell pinned my friend against the fence when he tried to take her best mate out of the field!!!!
 
1 acre is not alot really, especially if we get another wet winter ( I sincerely hope not) Also it depends on what type of soil the land is on. Free draining sandy soil is good in the winter as it doesn't poach easily but can turn to dust in the summer. Clay soil produces good grass in the summer but can be havoc in the very wet . I have just moved my horses to a great place that has over 20 acres and only 6 horses maximum. If we have a mild winter I shall be leaving mine out 24/7 for as long as possible.
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It is all about carefully weighing up the benefits against the drawbacks.

Having my ponies at the end of the road with only my lot in the field is much better than when I had them at livery 20 mins drive away and my special girl was in with a load of other horses. She did herself a nasty injury in that set up. Plus, she was often in the fatties field, so I was paying for lovely grazing she wasn't using.

I can assure you my ponies do buck and play in their .75 acre. Also, they are out 24/7. I am no fan of a 12x12 stable - but I accept that we are all making hard decisions based on our own circumstances.

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Daisy's field is just over an acre but she has it split into two halves which allows me to rotate the grazing. Even then I strip graze across the half acres so that dhe doesn't gorge herself. Yes, she much prefers being in a nice big 5 acre field to run around in but she has to have very restricted grazing as she is a very good doer and gets fat at the slightest amount of grass. It all depends on the circumstances really. The cruelest thing for Daisy would be to give her a huge field
 
If I looked at a yard and they were only offering 1 acre then I wouldn't even consider it. Even now Chex is in 2.5 acres and I feel bad that its too small (its the biggest I could make it without him being obese). I've always kept him in huge fields though, he was in a 50 acre field for years - he loved it, but it was a nightmare for me! I guess it just depends what you're used to, and what seems "normal".
 
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There are far too many variables to give a definitive answer. So much depends on the soil, the management, the horse, stabling, extra feeding, etc etc.
It is certainly do able and worth considering.
 
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There are far too many variables to give a definitive answer. So much depends on the soil, the management, the horse, stabling, extra feeding, etc etc.
It is certainly do able and worth considering.

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Absolutely agree!
I keep my horse at my friend's house and everything about the arrangement is ideal except she only has a one acre of land. We have to be very careful about managing the field, it is poo-picked EVERY day and we supplement their forage with haylage all year round. I have kept a horse at my friend's for over 10 years and always had nothing but very happy, contented, well-fed and healthy horses so it works for me!
 
The land is clay so will get wet in winter however it is old established grazing land so the owner assures me that the grass grows all year round. She has had all hers out on similar acreage 24 7 all summer and the grass looks fine. I just need to ask about winter - although she assures me she turns out all winter.

The yard is ideal apart from this. 5 minutes up the road as opposed to 18miles, £25 DIY as opposed to £55 DIY.
 
I have 14 acres of land for 2 horses and still have them on half to one acre paddocks as it is easier to poo pick and maintain. I also find that they are less likely to do themselves an injury or start pulling shoes when they are on larger paddocks.
It works for me but maybe not for everybody.
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we have 6 horses on 3.5acres at my place
ive moved mine off for 2 months holiday in a 4acre field to let mine rest and give them a nice holiday.
it is possibly you just have to look after the field and keep it poopicked and watch when it gets wet-although last year mine were out everyday from 7-5 all winter and then out 24/7.
i do have to feed hay year round though.
very easy to keep them slim too.
 
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