How big are your paddocks?

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Tangaroo

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I just wondered how big are the paddocks your horses are turned out in? I have 2 acres which is on a hill and i divide in two with each of my boys on a separate side.
Today the electric tape broke and they got in together, major disaster!! Young boy went absolutely wild, up and down the hill, ripped a shoe off and fell over at one point, skidding down the hill on his side!!
Old boy also went crazy but he was the one to eventually stop and stood holding a front leg up!
He has just spent the last 18 months recovering from a tendon injury and he is now hopping on the other leg. Vet has been and put him on bute as nothing obvious to see or feel.
I was just thinking maybe i should fence the field into smaller paddocks with permanent fencing so they cant actually go crazy, but then thought they should be allowed to gallop around.
Anyway both boys now on box rest for the weekend and hoping youngster isnt damaged from pulling shoe off.
Any thoughts?
 
oh noooo, I hope he is going to be okay!

I've got a 3 acre field, with a large field shelter to one side! I have all mine out together, 2 horses and a mini. I've just got a friends pony that has moved in with me, while my youngster is on box rest, so they will all be out together at some point! but I am worried about them galloping around together! but my youngster will be in a small paddock on his own for quite a while!

then I have another 3 acres for the summer but the 2 ponies will more than likely be sectioned off into an area with less grass!
 
3 small horses, out 24/7 365 who have access to:

- 4 acres split into 1 acre paddocks which are rotated for the the spring/summer.

- 3 1/2 acres winter paddock.

If you make your paddocks smaller they will have less space to gallop about, but the downside of that is that they will have less space to let off steam. I would be tempted to keep them at the size they are and just mark today down to bad luck.
 
L&M said:
3 small horses, out 24/7 365 who have access to:

- 4 acres split into 1 acre paddocks which are rotated for the the spring/summer.

- 3 1/2 acres winter paddock.

If you make your paddocks smaller they will have less space to gallop about, but the downside of that is that they will have less space to let off steam. I would be tempted to keep them at the size they are and just mark today down to bad luck.
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I agree with this. I think more chance of injury if they are having to swerve or skid to a stop in a smaller paddock.
 
Roughly, two acres , one and half , three , five and the grass working area ( never really grazed ) is one acre .
Four or five horses .
 
One 10 acre paddock for four horses. One has her own space, as she turns into a blimp on more than two blades of grass and guards the hay in the winter. The other three have the rest, but it is spring here at the moment so they are on less than a quarter of it.

OP, if your two had more room, rather than less, it wouldn't be anywhere near as exciting when they got the space. My lot regularly go for a hoon and a buck, but because they are used to the space they know when to stop. And better them letting off steam in the paddock, rather than with me on top.
 
Mines in 150 acres!!! It can take 20minutes just to find them but annoying as it is I love the fact they are almost like a wild herd if mares and geldings that go where they want
 
tangoharvey said:
Mines in 150 acres!!! It can take 20minutes just to find them but annoying as it is I love the fact they are almost like a wild herd if mares and geldings that go where they want
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Sound amazing! Have you got a bell to ring when its time to come in? :D

I have 5.5 acres for three ponies..........I love it in winter when they get the whole lot ( they are on about half of it now until it gets colder and wetter ) they are sectioned off to about half an acre in spring/summer!

I could never have them on little individual paddocks, makes me sad when I see horses walking up and down the fence line .
 
Wow! How many are on 150 acres?

I have about 4 acres for a my two, slightly sloped and has a cut out track to one side that they use for their ditch jumping practice much to my panic! They hoon around like idiots and it's terrifying when it's wet.
 
Have three is an 8 acre paddock which has an adjacent five acre paddock resting, they rotate between both.
Six in a 10 acre paddock and two in a two acre paddock.
I currently have resting
The five acre paddock,
Two x two acre paddocks
Two x 3 acre paddocks and
1 x 4 acre paddocks.
 
3 horses 2 ponies and we have two 6 acre fields. They get taped onto smaller 2-3 acre bits in the summer but otherwise are in 6 acres. For the darkest months of winter we let them have the lot for maximum shelter and variation from the weather.

Ours gallop about a little normally, I would put it down to one of those things, I hate seeing horses on postage stamp plots unless it's necessary. Horses pratting around and injuring themselves is just one of those things, they can hurt themselves no matter what size the field is!!
 
2.5 acres for 2 horses and a 1/4 acre all weather turn out area which has 2 stables, field shelter and hay feeding station on it. In the summer they have free run of the lot. The track from the field to the turn out area is on a slope which we didn't get round to wet weather proofing in the summer so they are currently locked on the turn out area.
 
ive got around 4 and a bit acres, 2 are almost an acre each, ive got one around a quarter of an acre, 2 around half an acre, and one around 20x20. menage takes up the rest!
 
I have two mares and a foal on 20 acres split into 5 fields. There's 3 fields for the summer: one 7 acre sloping, one 3 acre which is quite steep in places and one 2 acre flat, I normally open up the gate between the 3 and 2 acre at the start of the summer and by the end they have the gates open between the three so have all 12 acres.
Winter they start off on a flat 2 acre field and then have a 6 acre sloping one opened up after xmas.
Works well, never have accidents, I did have an extra two mares in with them but they were sold a few weeks ago.
Have 2 geldings kept on 8 acres elsewhere split into 1 4 acre and 2x 2 acre paddocks, they are crazy and are always hooning around.
 
Another thing to ask - how have you divided the paddock?

If we need to split our hill field we do it horizontally rather than vertically - so if the do have a hooley they are not sliding down the hill! It uses up more fencing but far safer when the ground is wet.
 
There is a field near work which is 1.5 acres with 7 horses on it! Sadly tbs are starting to look poor the couple natives are alright of course but it's Awful.
 
15 acres with 11 horses and 12 acres with 10 horses.

They have room to play and move into different groups, it's sheltered with different areas of interest.
 
Most of my big fields have small 1-2 acres paddocks attached to them so the horses get down to the real business of munching hay in the paddocks and if they want a bit of rock and roll then the fields are around 10 acres. I have some paddocks not attached to the larger fields and they're around 3-4 acres. I never keep more than 6 horses in any field regardless of acreage (except for the weanlings field as they all go in together with nanny horses). Tbh it really doesn't matter much here as I feed hay adlib all year round so there's always plenty of food. The guys here don't tend to venture too far from their hay but once in a while I'll see them all up the top of their hills chowing down on the grass. We had such a lot of grass this year so now we're coming into winter I have been holding off putting hay into their fields for two days after they finished each round bale to encourage them to eat the grass before it's covered in snow for 4 months.
 
Smallest field is five acres, biggest is twenty with eighty acres to choose from in total. Only four horses which stay together as small herd along with the sheep. Just wished I owned the farm myself!
 
I have five 1/2 acre paddocks, one post and railed/hedge, the other 4 are within one 2 acre field so a mix of post and rail, wall, hedge and electric fencing in the middle. I also have one 1/4 acre paddock in the shape of an L which is post and rail/hedge. My two are out together and I rotate as necessary.
 
My 4 paddocks are all 0.4 Ha (measured on Google Earth). I graze my 2 hungry boys together and move paddocks approx every 4 weeks.
 
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