Confused about acreage per horse

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Marigold4

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So I often read that the acreage needed is 1 acre per horse, then one extra acre. So 3 horses need 4 acres. When I look at livery yards as I drive past, the individual turn out fields look smaller than an acre. Does each horse have two fields, and the fields are rotated? Or do livery yards just manage with less?
 
There are some livery yard that dont supply an acre per horse , but there can be reasons for this . The suggested acreage is for all year round turnout and lots dont have all year turnout , in fact( sadly) many dont have any winter turnout , the ponies you can see may be on restricted grazing for health reasons, there may be other fields that are not visible that they use on rotation.
 
I think it's such a broad average that it's almost meaningless. Horses are different and soil types are different and how the land is maintained and what it was before is also very different.

Heavy clay with shire horses with shoes on out 24/7 on ground that was seeded as grass in the last 5 years and constant Yorkshire rain 3 acres per horse would be mush in weeks

I've seen small (0.5 acre) turnout paddocks on v sandy soil that cope really well all year with hay all year round.

Even recent climate change is having an impact, we have more extreme weather at either end of the scale. 8/9 years ago I think our land could cope with more horses than it will now - months of drought then months of rain in 36 hours etc. all makes the ground more susceptible to damage.

I think to keep them out 24/ 7 without much supplemental hay you would need a lot more than 4 acres for 3 normal 15 hh unshod horses - unless they were very good doers on restricted grazing and you had some hard standing to keep them from turning the area into a dust bowl / mud pit.
 
I've got 3 acres for 2 horses and a mini but they do have a shelter next to the field, and spend a lot of time in there, as I feed and hay them in there! but I have to carefully manage the field, so it doesn't get trashed/over grazed.

all of the new liveries on the yard have 2 arces and a stable for each horse! some have tried to keep 2 horses on their 2 acres but the fields end up trashed in winter, especially as they'd only have 1 stable so end up having 2 horses out all winter. 2 acres isn't really enough in that case
 
I was on one yard where I had three quarters of an acre for 2 large ponies. Live out 24/7 unless you wanted to pay for stables on top. I fed hay daily all year. It got muddy at high use areas like gates and around hay but the rest of it was ok.

I have 3 acres for 3 large ponies. Sandy soil. Hay most of the year but they have space to move and no mud. - this year the grass hasn't grown due to getting burned so other years i might manage less hay in summer.

Soil plays a large part as clay can turn to deep mud when it rains constantly so a wet winter can impact it. Sand is quick draining so no mud but need to keep an eye on sand impaction.

It's knowing your horse and your land but the 1 acre plus 1 acre is a good starting point.

My horses below:
14.2hh native pony can eat a 1 acre paddock to nothing in 3 weeks.

Second 14.2hh native pony will take a week or so longer but still eats very quickly

15hh Arab barely makes a dent in the same grazing over 4 weeks.
 
Thanks for your thoughts all. I currently rent 4 acres on chalk for 3 x 15hh barefoot and they come in at night for about 16 weeks in the worst of the winter. I strp graze and we usualyy run out of grass for about a month at the end. Well drained and doesn't really get muddy or poached.

Thinking of moving to livery where they are in at night all winter, so just working out what livery yards are likely to offer.
 
Marigold4 said:
Thanks for your thoughts all. I currently rent 4 acres on chalk for 3 x 15hh barefoot and they come in at night for about 16 weeks in the worst of the winter. I strp graze and we usualyy run out of grass for about a month at the end. Well drained and doesn't really get muddy or poached.

Thinking of moving to livery where they are in at night all winter, so just working out what livery yards are likely to offer.
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your place sounds perfect! why do you want to move?
 
6.5 acres for 1x horse and 2x ponies and I can usually keep them out 24:7 until Feb unless its a very, very wet winter.

My summer fields have springs under them so as soon as the water table comes up I have 4 acres out of use unless I really trash those fields.

Most livery yards can't afford to operate on the 1 acre per horse equation even if their land is well draining. This year I think it will be £££ because hay costs will be going up too and no one can expect YO to absorb those costs. Even though I would prefer not to have my wet fields used in winter if it does look like fodder is a struggle then I do at least have the option to open them up.
 
Livery yards are trying (mostly) to make a profit so tend (as a general rule) to get the maximum number of horses on the smallest space.

Best idea would be to go and see what's available in your local area, call in unannounced to see what the real turn out is - some yards view of bad weather to stay in is different to others

Benefits will be if it gets trashed then the yard will have to deal with it and you can pick up and move on, downside might be sharing with other horses (worms, shoes, fighting etc.) and likely having less choice about what to do when.
 
Ha ha. Good question! I'm getting increasingly fed up with looking after them and would like someone else to do some of it and more freedom from the constraints of keeping horses. I don't have any facilities and it would be great to have a school and someone to ride with on occasion.
 
Marigold4 said:
Ha ha. Good question! I'm getting increasingly fed up with looking after them and would like someone else to do some of it and more freedom from the constraints of keeping horses. I don't have any facilities and it would be great to have a school and someone to ride with on occasion.
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Yard politics is probably more of a concern in that situation than acreage, then cost. A quality yard with facilities and plenty of sensible turn out will be £££'s in most areas.

If you have lots more ££'s available would a freelancer be an alternative? then you can keep your own rules and ways of doing things but not have to go 365 days a year (which I do know is a slog).

Or even offer a livery - have 4 horses on it, buy more hay but offer reduced rent for them doing some days and have someone to ride with.

I haven't been on a yard in 18 years - and reading about the issues on here makes me happy about that choice!
 
The 1 plus 1 rule is just an arbitrary number plucked out of thin air really.
I run 5 horses who are out 24/7/365 across about 18 acres and it is just about enough- I make Haylage off half of it to feed through winter. I'm on relatively free draining land so no poaching etc
A tiny individual flat paddock is not enough to meet a horse's demands IMO- it is about more than just providing them with food, it is also offering them friends and freedom that are important and that seems hard to do in most livery set ups
 
Marigold4 said:
Ha ha. Good question! I'm getting increasingly fed up with looking after them and would like someone else to do some of it and more freedom from the constraints of keeping horses. I don't have any facilities and it would be great to have a school and someone to ride with on occasion.
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so I did move last year, for 6 months and ended up luckily getting my old field back! I moved to a yard with facilities and more people! but in 6 months I used the school a handful of times! the fields ended up being on clay, so although I had as much grazing, the field was disgusting by mid October! my mare ended up with mud fever, my shetland struggled to get across a ditch that ran through the middle of the field, which I didn't know about, because the grass was about 3 foot high when I viewed it! I couldn't get a wheelbarrow through the mud, I lost my wellies often! and because of that I had no motivations to bring muddy horses in and ride in the dark! also I had 2 friends there, so ended up hacking with them so much I got no use out of the school at all!

but you 100% cannot beat being on chalk! I was so relieved when I got back to my original field, which had had 4 horses on it for a couple of months, and didn't have a spec of mud in it! they finally had their concrete based field shelter back, and they were all happy again!

have you thought about looking for a freelancer to help with your jobs, or even a sharer so you have someone to ride with?
 
fidleyspromise said:
I was on one yard where I had three quarters of an acre for 2 large ponies. Live out 24/7 unless you wanted to pay for stables on top. I fed hay daily all year. It got muddy at high use areas like gates and around hay but the rest of it was ok.
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Likewise, I managed on about 0.6 acres for one medium sized cob. The bottom third got very muddy in winter and obviously I had to hay all winter, but they were all out 24/7 all year round and we just about managed. But running a livery yard is really hard work - profit margins are small as it is and most YOs don't have enough land to afford the ideal of having everything turned out all year round in herds in lovely big fields. So often YOs and people with horses at livery are trying very hard to make the best of a sub-optimal situation.
 
I have two ponies. 2.5 acres wasn't enough so we have just rented a further 3 acres. Mine are mature natives and I prefer them living out 24/7, we also have clay soil which is hideous when it's wet.
 
I'm on livery and we have about 2 acres for 2 ponies with a backup of another 3 acres further away. Out 24/7 with hay in winter. They can eat it to mud very quickly if not rested and rotated carefully ... Plus they would both explode as it's good grass and I've never met a good doer like my ponies field mate.
 
Marigold4 said:
So I often read that the acreage needed is 1 acre per horse, then one extra acre. So 3 horses need 4 acres. When I look at livery yards as I drive past, the individual turn out fields look smaller than an acre. Does each horse have two fields, and the fields are rotated? Or do livery yards just manage with less?
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When I did my BHSAI we learnt 1 1/2 acres for the first horse and 1 acre for every other horse added. This said depends if 24hr turnout or part livery.

We have way less acres than horses but we do really well as dee poo and maintain and rotate and have got hay before from one pair. So a lot depends on a number of things.

we have 8 and a bit acres divided into 4 paddocks 3 months on and three months off resting. Two groups of 4/5 horses on 2 paddocks so roughly 8 horses on that. 7.30 turnout to 3-4pm bring in, every day of the year except xmas day. We de poo, and have good drainage, and even got 250 bales of hay off one pair in the summer.

We do not offer 24hr grazing
 
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Polos Mum said:
Yard politics is probably more of a concern in that situation than acreage, then cost. A quality yard with facilities and plenty of sensible turn out will be £££'s in most areas.

If you have lots more ££'s available would a freelancer be an alternative? then you can keep your own rules and ways of doing things but not have to go 365 days a year (which I do know is a slog).

Or even offer a livery - have 4 horses on it, buy more hay but offer reduced rent for them doing some days and have someone to ride with.

I haven't been on a yard in 18 years - and reading about the issues on here makes me happy about that choice!
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I have advertised for a freelancer on several sites but no luck. We live in the middle of nowhere so takes time to get here. I found one lady but she wasn't reliable and decided to bring her whole family with her without asking.

I think I've just come to the conclusion that it's one hell of a lot of work/commitment for not much riding/enjoyment. I'm just not feeling the joy any more. And now I'm stuck with them. I'm committed to them but honestly, it feels like a life sentence. 3 horses is a lot of poo picking and mucking out at 63 and still working.
 
That is tough, this time of year when it's dark when you get up and weather is turning can make you feel bad.

Moving from own field to DIY won't fix any of your problems - just add to them with rules / politics, but field rent to 3 x full livery will be ££££'s.

If you have funds then could you try full livery for a few months and keep your field - so you can get a break, have a good few weekends when you don't go at all, have the odd lie in after a late night cinema trip etc..
But if it's not what you want you haven't lost the option of a field - which are like hens teeth - around here anyway.

I keep mine at home and it's 4 x maintenance hours for each hour of riding certainly and in poor weather the ratio is worse than that. I have 3, one retired but trying to find time to ride 2 is really hard.

Could you loan any of them out ? or consider retirement livery for one or two - more feasible financially than full livery with facilities - unless you regularly ride all three !
 
Thanks for replying and your sensible thoughts. The plan is that when the broodmare becomes too lame to keep going (she's been on-off lame for 18 months although she looks nearly sound right now), she would be PTS. I would sell her filly, who will be 3 next year, once backed and ridden away at 4 or when the broodmare goes. Then keep my ridden gelding at livery. He is very pretty, moves beautifully but not terribly useful as he is a nervous nelly about most things and has mild COPD/RAO. Hopefully, I can afford part livery somewhere nice for him and we will make more progress if we have a school and another horse to ride out with. I have 3 more years left on my grazing licence, so that should give me time to sort all these things out. That's the plan - but you know how these things are!
 
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