How many acres?

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meggyjoe

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How many acres are needed for two ponies (12.2 and 13.2)

We are looking to build with land but can't find any with planning, except for plot of 2 acres. Is this enough? They are stabled at the moment at night in winter and come in at night during summer in bad weather.
At the moment I have the opposite problem on livery where there is to much grass.
 
If it is well draining land, and you have stables and possibly put in some hard standing, then yes, I think 2 acres is enough :)

Or is the plot of 2 acres for the whole build?
 
If it is ideal from the house point of view and you can make a hard standing area and stables/ shelter for the worst weather I think it will be fine for the two ponies, I keep 2-3 on a 2 acre field, have had 4 on in in summer when the grass is growing and it still grows faster than they need, it is used for 24/7 turnout with maybe a month or two in at night during the winter, so far this year only one night in. I do have other land I can use but if it was all I had for 2 ponies it would be fine.

The only other consideration would be if they are your childrens ponies it may not be enough once they move onto horses, if you plan on staying with ponies with some careful planning it will be more than enough, knowing how hard it is to find a decent plot with planning I would go for it if it fulfills everything else, you could always put them on livery for a month or two if you really had to.
 
meggyjoe said:
How many acres are needed for two ponies (12.2 and 13.2)

We are looking to build with land but can't find any with planning, except for plot of 2 acres. Is this enough? They are stabled at the moment at night in winter and come in at night during summer in bad weather.
At the moment I have the opposite problem on livery where there is to much grass.
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If living in part time that is more than enough - if living out 24.7 it is ok but you will need to do some rotation and de weeding and depooing to make the best use.

we have a 12.2hh a 12 hh and a 11hh on less than an acre and they do really well and we strip graze and they are in over night.
 
I think with good management it will be enough.

Section it in summer and rotate, poo pick and deweed and put some hard standing in, maybe a fenced off hard standing area for the wettest of weather.
 
i think the old bhs rule was 1.5 acres for the first horse and half and acre for each horse after (please correct me if im wrong!)

that being said ... i have 2 on an acre ... i use a track system in the summer and all open in winter. they have adlib hay and are fine :)
 
I think it could work with good management and depending on the quality of the land/grazing. Would half an acre do for house, garden and stables, leaving 1.5 acres for field?

I have a 15.3hh tb and a mini shetland on 1.5 acres and it works fine, in fact in summer I have too much grass, but it is cattle grazing which drains very well. I have mine split into two halves plus a small starvation square for the shetland in the summer as the grass is far too much for him. This year mine are in at night for the winter as the new tb needs the routine, however the previous two years when I had my old tb they lived out all year round and the ground was fine and I didn't have to feed hay until january. However I suspect this is exceptional due to the quality of my grazing/field. But just shows you it can be done. I thought 1.5 acres wouldn't be enough for my two but I've had a fat thoroughbred to contend with every summer!
 
It can definitely be done. You can get a very nice size house and garden on quarter to third of an acre. That leaves plenty of space for a well managed, well drained paddock.

Much of it is about managing the water in the winter. If you keep on top of field drainage, control the mud in gateways and around the stables, that will be most of the battle. There should certainly be enough grass in summer.
 
PorkChop said:
Bum, might be pushing your luck then. Wait and see what others who have a similar set up say :)
Click to expand...

We have 1.5 acre for 2 horses and 2 acres over all! Have a 20*40m arena but jump in field, a converted bungalow and 4 stables, garage/haybarn and 1 stable converted to a tack room. Very small yard and gets a bit cramped but works and with good management is safe and friendly.
To manage grass we keep them in but turn them out in the manege in winter and in at night in summer. They go out between March and October and have hay in Autumn. :)
 
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