How many acres per horse?

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Christmas_Kate

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How many acres are yours all on? if shared, how much between howm any horses.

G is on 3/4 of an acre, and we have no problems with the grass. With careful management, we've not been short of grass or had it poached. it's not horse sick either. We graze it with sheep and bring him in in the winter at night and in the day if it's very wet. It's not just him that's grazed it either.

I always thought the recommended size was an acre and a half per horse, but that you could easily get away with less.
 
Recommended size used to be; 3 acres for the first horse and then 1 acre thereafter for each additional horse.
 
Most of my fields are 10 acres and they have herds ranging from 4 to 9 horses in each field.
 
Well it depends. I have 5 in a 10 acre field in the winter but in the summer they have about 1 acre each. The 2 liveries have 2 1/2 acre paddocks and rotate.

The BHS rule is 2 acres to the first horse and then 1 acre to every horse after that-
So-
1 horse = 2 acres
2 horses = 3 acres
3 horses = 4 acres
etc, etc...

But most people do the 1 acre per horse which i also think is plenty. I also think sheep are fantastic for the grass and i shall always have some.
 
I have always thought it was 2 acres for the first and an acre each for the others. However, I imagine it depends on the soil structure, the terrain and the skill level used to manage the pasture as well.
 
Just now we have 3 in 2.5 acres, but I feel that its much too small
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, but there's just too much grass to have it any bigger. In winter they have about 15 acres, which I think is a better size. With these field sizes we've never had any problems with poaching/lack of grass etc. I'd rather have 10 in 10 acres, then 2 in 2 acres, not sure why really
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I have one in two and a half acres...but it is too much really. It is great in winter because he never needs any hay but in the summer he is only on a small bit or he gets fat so the rest is not used at all.
 
I think it depends entirely on how much supplimentary feed the horse is having. My chap is currently out 24/7 but has hard feed am and pm. An acre per horse is ample - in the summer provided it is well maintained and good quality . In winter he is in at night and has two acres or there abouts - but also has hay and hard feed.

Good pasture maintenance is very important and it is particularly improtant during the weed growing season! Poo picking 24/7 is also necessary.
 
It depends an awful lot on the type of ground. A friend and I rent two fields that total about 5.5 acres (one is 3.75 and the other is just less than half that) and the most we've ever had on them is two horses. BUT the bigger one is unusable for a good four months of the year because it is so wet. It is on a slope but suffers from one of the anomalies of the New Forest - bogs on the top/side of a hill! The other, smaller field, we only use over the winter because it is, theoretically anyway, drier. However, last winter I couldn't even put my mare out from January to Mid-March when she went back to the stud to foal as the field was under water - and that's our "dry" field.

If you have a decent field that drains etc and the horse(s) are out 24/7, I would still say that you need AT LEAST a couple of acres per horse in order to be able to rest sections of the field.
 
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years ago i was repeatedly informed it was 1.5 acres for the first horse and an extra acre per additional horse

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Ditto
 
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