Half an acre for two horses - Advice?

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Therightone

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Ok My previous post I explained about the place where I am at the moment. It is terrible. Over stocked, no grass and no hay and now no water.

I have been looking for new places to rent but every where is full. However I have found somebody that has 3 stables at the back of their house but with only half an acre. I have a 16hh TB and a 14hh Welsh Pony. Now I know this is no where near enough but I was thinking with unlimited hay would this do over winter?? I know some people where the land is that bad their horses are stabled 24/7 so was thinking I could use this just to move them from where they currently are and keep them there until I find a better place.

I have only spoken to the owner once and I need to pop down to check if the stables are even big enough because he only has half an acre maybe the stables are very small?

Could this work? As a temp place?

I think with unlimited hay it should be fine for the horses but then I am also wondering how badly they will ruin this half an acre in how quick of a time?

I wouldn't want to leave it come spring and his land has been so badly trashed.

So really i'm looking for some sort of advice. If this could work just for a while does anyone have advice on maybe letting them out a few hours at a time? or anything that would help me look after the land....or am I wasting my time and within a day the place would be ruined?
 
2 horses on that amount of land will get damaged.
How trashed it gets depends on the type of land it is and how well it drains.
 
My 11.2 and 13hh ponies have completely trashed a similar area in the last couple of months. like you its not my field and I am worried about how bad it looks, luckily I have more grazing and the owner is miles away and nice enough not to worry about things but in your case with the owners right under your nose I would be surprised if they don't get on your case over it. I think you'd be going from the frying pan in to the fire with the only saving grace being at least you'd be feeding only your own horses this time
 
Mine and another (16.2hh ISH and 15hh IDx) go out on about half an acre. Enough room to mooch around in, have a buck and fart about and in the summer (they're fatties) enough grass. ATM they go out for a couple of hours a day, have hay when they need it although they don't really eat it and prefer to nibble around the edges, however this only works well for me because I know they both wont go charging about and upsetting the ground. If the weathers been bad they stay in for a couple of days and get out to the arena for a kickabout or onto the yard to stretch their legs. They're both very happy and its working for me so far, hope this helps :)
 
IF it's not clay, and IF it doesn't rain much, you may indeed be ok shirt term, IF you can stable and limit turnout, say 4/5 hours daily.
It's all very weather dependant, tbh but short term would be no more than a few weeks.
 
I don't see why you couldn't make it work for the short term - but only if you can maintain a routine whereby they are just turned out for a couple of hours a day, and have time to increase their exercise to make up for the lack of turn out.

It will be an expensive winter in terms of hay for you, but at least you would be the 'master of your own destiny'!
 
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My 2 ,a 16hh and a mini are on that amount over winter and it holds up well but is sandy soil. I feed hay/haylage and they are in at night. If you are using this as a way of regaining control over your horses i would be doing it in the short term having read your previous post.
 
Yes, it would be fine, but as others have said, it will be completely trashed and the owners should be made aware of that before you agree to move on. I currently keep five horses on much less than half an acre. But it is a sand turnout, so does not get trashed. Three horses go out during the day, and the other two go out at night. I will only open the fields again if we have an unseasonably dry spell. So this will be the arrangement until spring most likely. The horses are fed ad lib haylage from hay huts whilst they are out, and again once they come into their stables. They seem very happy and can canter around and play, but I think when they have limited space like this, it is important to also do something else with them such as riding, just to keep their minds busy. I find that horses that don't do anything extra at least every few days, get a bit naughty.
 
Depends on ground and weather - only one of which you can control. When we moved in, I only had an acre for the first winter with a 16h and a yearling (this was only due to the other fields not being horse friendly at the time and we'd moved from abroad with very little notice). On clay. It was wet. Required ploughing and reseeding whole paddock following year. Never again.

If the ground is well draining and the winter is mild you could get away with it but not ideal imo.
 
Hi OP, it sounds better than the place that you are at. I'd move to the new place , give hay ad lib and limit turnout. I'd move and keep looking for somewhere better.
 
ive a cob and mini on less than an acre and even with tiny ones its tough to stop it being churned up. I put grass matting up on a large section of it and i fence them in to that when ground is wet at all.
 
IMO, you need to talk to the landowner about this. It is amazing how quickly the land recovers in Spring, if the horses are taken off. As a short-term solution to your problem, with the owner fully aware that your horses are shod (if they are) and will cut up the land if it is wet, I would go for it.
 
It will be fine, the paddock will be ruined within two weeks but in the spring it will recover with the right preparation, eg. Rolling and left. I sacrifice a small area for my horse in the winter, he goes out for a few hours a day with haylage. He is off it in March and come May I have to put sheep in to graze as it has been restored to its former glory. It is winter when all said and done and there not much in the grass if anything anyway. So carry on and stop worrying.
 
I would go for it but as others have said, make the land owner aware it will get messed up. If he is ok with that you can manage it by limiting turnout. It's got to be better than where you are now.
 
For the last year my two have been on this at our yard, out 24/7 spring till november. They are probably out for about 9 hours a day at the moment. Don't have hay in the field that often at the moment, we're moving but if we were staying would probably start adding hay to the field in the next few weeks. They trash it and there isn't much grass, but my two are fatties. I have to section it off in the spring/summer because its too much grass. Have a 17hh ISH and 14.2 warmblood x sec a, they manage fine on it. Not ideal but definitely doable if managed right.
 
I have two 14.2s on half an acre in the summer. As soon as it rains they have to come off it. I think you would struggle on most soil types on that little. Mine go on 4-5 ish acres over the winter and that is about perfect. The other disadvantage of a small patch is restricted play area, mine love going out in the bigger fields as they can get a good gallop in, on the half acre they don't really have enough space to play.
 
I have a 14.3 and a 14.2 on just under three quarters of an acre over winter. They are in at night and go out every day for at least 5 hours with haynets (not eating it at the moment though). They go into this paddock around the beginning of November until around the end February. It's clay and gets extremely trashed but always recovers with little or no maintenance. It can be done but it will get trashed!
 
I have three on just under 2 acres, clay soil. It gets trashed within two days of heavy rain and doesn't recover all winter - but there's enough grass to keep them busy and they are now stabled at night, with ad lib hay at night and in the field in the day. It will look horrendous after less than a week but I can promise you ours always recovers well AS LONG AS you harrow and reseed and rest it for a while in the spring (I also treat for buttercups then). We have another paddock which is less than 1 acre that I use for 6 weeks three times a year to let first one rest.
 
I wouldn't rent half an acre to someone with two horses personally. It will take a lot of work to get it right again and not be cheap if they don't have their own tractor and tools (it will need rolling and harrowing at the very least and possibly seeding). A lot of the people on this thread saying it will work have an alternative to put them on in summer, but it sounds as though you don't.. I would have a chat with the land owner, if they are not an experienced land owner they may not realise how bad it will look.

From your point of view, if the landowner is ok with it, it would be fine if you can't find anything better, but not ideal.
 
The field will probably be trashed so make sure you have some money put aside in the spring for harrowing and rolling - contrary to popular opinion it is the harrowing that is the most important as it breaks up the huge clods of mud and helps airate the soil. The paddock will also need to be rested for at least a few weeks. If the landowner is prepared for the field to look awful for a few months, then go for it, just make sure that the owner is aware.
 
Where the horses I ride are kept, in the winter, they probably have 1.5 acres. There is a 16h, 2 15.2s and 2 shetlands on this in the day time and at night the 16h and one 15.2 comes in. They have plenty of hay and some hard food and all are in good condition. But the paddock is wrecked!!
 
I think it could be do-able short-term. Are you able to put down an all weather corral area so that they can stand outside and eat adlib hay too. Then you can limit the grass turnout so it doesn't get too trashed.

Better still is there a yard area next to the stables where they can be turned out with adlib hay.
 
I think it very much depends on the type of soil and the layout of the land (flat/sloping). We have previously had two of ours (one 14.2 and one 12.2) on half an acre over winter and they did run about a bit and churn it up, however it never got to the stage of being torn up and trashed, and did recover very quickly - however this was on incredibly sandy soil with good drainage, I think it would have been impossible on clay. I was thinking along the lines of GM - is there any form of hardstanding which could be fenced off near the stables so that they have shelter and somewhere to mooch and eat hay to allow the grazing to rest a bit inbetween? As others have said, I'd want to be as honest as possible with the landowner to ensure that they understand what horses can do to a paddock in a short space of time - though some are better behaved than others!
 
If your current place is so awful I would be willing to do anything to move. If it was me I would not want to upset the new YO so I would limit turnout to half hour daily. If you rode both, or ride and lead, then turned out they would be tired and hungry so hopefully minimal running about. If you could remove the shoes as well that would really help limit damage to the field.

I moved from a yard with no winter turnout to one with a dirt turnout pen and my two went in there while I mucked out then I put one away and rode the other and alternated the ridden one daily. Within a week I had two contented horses instead of one really stressed weaving and one dangerous to ride. It was easier on me too only having to ride one each day. They did tear about madly for 5min going out fresh that is why I suggest turning yours out after riding.
 
My three ponies have shelters and full access to a 10 x 20 metre area. I have limited grazing. They have plenty of hay and chaffs. They are fed several times a day, and I am always picking up droppings. I can see them from my back door, and have plenty of contact with them. It does need careful management but works.
 
It very much depends on your horses. I would speak to the owner first and explain the potential damage to the paddock and have a plan for reinstatment in the spring - at your expense. I would limit turn out perhaps 1/2 - an hour twice a day initially till you see how the ground holds up and also make sure they are exercised to prevent boredom - is there accessible hacking? It could work in the short term but keep looking for a better solution long term.
 
Yes I agree with the others. It will be difficult but do-able, so long as the landowner realises that it will look like a ploughed field. And that it will be for a short term. However, it is amazing how grass can come back in the spring. Grass seed is about £40 a bag and then there is the cost of hiring a man with a tractor and equipment.
 
It depends on the land.
It could work short term.
If the horses have unlimited hay then lack of grass wouldn't be a huge problem.

But how wet does it get?
You don't want your horses in a mud pit.
If it's well draining though, it could work.

You need to check it out and test it and speak to owner.
 
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