Best way to manage 2 horses on 2 acres

[J&S]

Track people - on 2 acres do you rest the track (have 2 tracks?) or just use track for say 6 months then take them off in winter?

I have them on the track all year round but they are stabled at night aprox 6pm - 7 am November to April and the out side of the track does not get so much wear as they start to eat the inside area.

 

[kidsandponies]

top tip is not to do anything too permanent until you have been there a year or two. Where the wind / rain comes from, where drains, what neighbours do all impact - use temp fencing and then you can change plans to accommodate how your horses use the land and what it is like in deepest winter.

This is really good advice, thank you! We are about to (hopefully) purchase a property with some land and I am keen to get on with fencing etc. but just doing it temporarily whilst we work out the land and what will/won’t work makes complete sense!

 

[J&S]

With a relatively small area (2 acres) it is much easier to keep it as open as possible to facilitate access to all for harrowing/rolling/topping etc. I had originally planned paddocks with fencing but am happy now with electric fencing that can be moved/removed as necessarry. I do have post and rail around the stables and hard standing with two accesses to the field so wear to the gate ways is limited.

 

[GoldenWillow]

Track people - on 2 acres do you rest the track (have 2 tracks?) or just use track for say 6 months then take them off in winter?

I've found it too wet to keep the track throughout the winter months. I have a sort of track with small grazing areas at each end as as that's what works with our field shape and ponies best and gives me the most flexibility. The track comes down once it starts cutting up and I gradually open the whole field up over the winter.

OP I have two ponies on two acres and although my field is mainly well draining we live in a area of high rainfall. I've found the land gets less damaged the bigger the area they have so would think about letting them have the lot. I would think keeping the area of the field closest to the stables would be a good idea for winter but it also depends on if any areas are wetter or dryer and adjusting accordingly.

I wouldn't do anything permanent fencing wise regarding splitting up into paddocks until I'd been there at least a year and seen how the land works. It's taken me a few years to find out what worked best. Unless it's very wet land, and with you bringing at night, two acres should be fine for two horses.

 

[Reacher]

I have them on the track all year round but they are stabled at night aprox 6pm - 7 am November to April and the out side of the track does not get so much wear as they start to eat the inside area.

I've found it too wet to keep the track throughout the winter months. I have a sort of track with small grazing areas at each end as as that's what works with our field shape and ponies best and gives me the most flexibility. The track comes down once it starts cutting up and I gradually open the whole field up over the winter.
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I guess I’ve not been very clear as I meant did people rest parts of the track through the summer (and if so, how) - in a similar way that summer paddocks are alternated to give them a rest.

I do similar to GW - have a track in summer and use rest of field in winter

 

[sbloom]

Tracks aren't rested as such, you do trash them, the idea is to have little to no grass on them in most cases, helping manage waistlines - https://www.aanhcp.net/pages/welcome-to-paddock-paradise