How much land do I need to keep two horses?

Snowy Celandine

Snowy Celandine

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Sorry for the very basic question to which I should probably already know the answer but I have always had my horses at livery so have never had to find out how much land I need for two ponies :o I am down to one Highland at the moment but hope to go back to two ponies shortly and am looking to move house so that I can keep them at home. If anyone can give me an idea of how much land I will need I will be very grateful. Thanks :)
 
It depends how you want to keep them, and what sort of soil you have, sandy will stand up to usage far better than clay.

If you want the land to sustain them then you will need 1.5 -3 acres, Highlands generally being extremely good doers poorer grazing will be fine. A track system would work fine for them too.

If you don't mind feeding forage, possibly all year round then 1 acre is perfectly adequate, perhaps not ideal, but adequate.

I keep my stallion in a half acre (doesn't sound much, but it is fine) paddock year round, he has enough room to have a hooley and his hay consumption is cut by 2/3 in the summer when there is grass.
 
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Thanks for not laughing at my ignorance everyone :o

I am currently looking at houses to buy and would ideally like one with stabling already in place as my mare has grown rather used to being stabled for part of the time and seems to positively enjoy it, unlike my OH's horse who we have now sold.

I thought I might need a lot more than a couple of acres so that is reassuring. I aim to get as much land as I can for my budget but I do currently have other options available as a friend has just offered me a couple of acres very close to my current house but I wrongly thought that it wasn't going to be enough.
 
For two or three ponies, go for at least four acres, whatever the ground is like. Better too much than too little, and you can chip bits off for hardstanding/schools/winter turnout if you need to.
 
When we bought our own place we had three ponies on three acres and to be honest it was useless. We then managed to purchase a further seven acres adjoining our land and that has been great split into three relatively equal sized paddocks that I swap them into through the summer months but they have the run of the lot over the winter. That way I find it doesn't get churned up to much. I now have two small horses and three miniatures but it is still enough for the five of them but the three minis probably only make one whole horse.:D. I would say you need at least three acres for two ponies.
 
Honey08 said:
For two or three ponies, go for at least four acres, whatever the ground is like. Better too much than too little, and you can chip bits off for hardstanding/schools/winter turnout if you need to.
Click to expand...

^^^ this absolutely and if you are still thinking of moving South where you could be on clay, even more applicable!
 
i have 2 horses on 4 acres, tried with 2 acres but couldn't manage. it does depend on drainage and soil type but through the winter mine are in at night on the arena/shelter/hard-standing and if really wet they stay in 24/7 (not often).

2 acres meant I had to rent land elsewhere to rest it each year for a few months and even then it looked awful, I am managing to get hay off 2 of the acres now.

happy house hunting
 
I have two ponies 14 hh + and four shetlands on 4 acres and i have too much grass in summer. I leave it standing and let them have it strip grazed over winter. I dont feed hay in the field unless deep snow. They all come in overnight in winter and for the afternoon in summer. I have the shetlands on a track around the edge of one side and the bigger two on a wider strip, the rest is rested. Works brilliant. I could manage wirh a lot less if needed but would need stables/ menage to make it work.
 
I asked this question on here when I was looking and had a two acre field and everyone was like 'no it'll never be enough', well it was, easily. So 2 acres if good land! it doesn't get too wet in winter as it is on a slope, which is the best thing about it. I have one 15hh and one 11hh so obviously one doesn't make as much impact but I could have two bigguns quite happily.
 
ihave a large horse and a mini on 2 acres and have too much grass,and have had 3 on it easily. It depends on the ground as half of mine is sandy soil so i use that over winter.
 
Thanks everyone :) It seems that bigger is better! Like I say, I am just looking for somewhere suitable at the moment but I really needed a feel for what I should look for as a minimum requirement.

Nicnac, we are still not sure about Surrey but it would probably just be a flat there now and E Yorks or Lincs would remain the main home. I am all confused at the moment and can't wait until things become clearer. I just want an easy life in all ways as MW says :o
 
I have 3 acres for my 2 which works well.

They are turned out 24/7 from mar-Oct, then stabled overnight from nov-feb. I have a good cover of grass all year round, and do not have to supplement with hay unless there is snow cover.

There are very many variables to consider, such as the soil type/drainage, and also what type of horses you have ie quite native types of hot blooded field trashers!

In general I think the recommendation is 1.5 acres for the first horse, then 1 acre for each additional.
 
Well as others have said, it does depend on the soil type but we have kept 5 on 3 acres. We sometimes have the use of a neighbour's land in summer but can manage on our own with supplementary forage if we have to, mind you we're down to 2 atm. You just have to manage your land carefully, we find that a few sheep work wonders with the grass.
 
I haven't read all the replies in depth, but just wanted to add my experiences.

I have 3 (15.3 Connie x ISH, 13.2 Arab x NF and 11.2 Sec A) on 2 acres. They are stabled at night and out all day, although at the moment I am having to limit them to around 6-7 hours of grazing as they would all be like barrels. The only time I ever put hay out is when there is snow on the ground, otherwise there is plenty of grass to pick at all day even in the winter.

I have the ponies in together and the horse separate - and around half of the land is always rested - for around 6-9 months at a time. I try and divide the space into long thin paddocks rather than square ones so they can still get a bit of speed up for a leg stretch and hooly.

I poo pick and harrow on a regular basis. We're very lucky that the land is well draining but that does mean it dries out very quickly - better than a quagmire though. Several people on here know my set up and will confirm that I have more than enough grass for my needs - in fact I'm not sure that I would want much more as it would then require more maintenance.

Hope that helps. :)
 
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Thanks again everyone :) I have no idea what sort of soil we will end up on but I feel that I now have a better grasp of the minimum amount of land needed for two Highlands. I am still aiming to get as much land as possible but it is reassuring to have more info at my fingertips :p
 
I should have said we've had 5 from 14hh to 17.2hh, all good doers and we are on millstone grit, above a reservoir, so mostly well draining. Good luck in your search!

ETA, when we were looking for our house, we decided that we could consider renting extra land but needed to have at least one acre which belonged to us, so that there was somewhere to put them, if we lost the rented land for any reason, hope that helps.
 
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Thanks Pearlsasinger, every scrap of practical information comes in handy as I truly know nowt about keeping horses (to use the Yorkshire vernacular) :o
 
If you want them out 24/7/365 and don't want to have to feed extra forage, then you will need 4 - 5 acres. You will have too much grass in spring and summer, but you will need it to sustain them in the winter.

If you are not worried about keeping them out all year and you don't mind feeding hay, then as little as half an acre would be fine, so long as you convert some of it either to a sand turnout area, or hard standing.
 
I am happy to supplement their feed and would envisage stabling them overnight in the winter months, although it depends on the new horse's needs really. I am not horse shopping just yet, thought I'd get the land first :p but most Highlands are happy to live out, except my current mare who loves being in her cosy stable :)

If I find a property that OH and I both like I will probably come back to HHO for further advice on all sorts of horse keeping issues :D
 
I keep two horses at home on just over 3 acres of flat fields with good drainage as the plot we are on were part of crop fields, its plenty for them I split it in spring and rest each half for a few weeks and rotate it then in winter I tend to give them the whole lot towards the end, mine are out all night in the summer and come in for most of the day, in winter they get about 8 hours a day depending on the weather but they are out everyday, my gateways hardly get that muddy. They have to have more hay in winter as not much grass but it plenty in the warmer months.
 
Stencilface, I wish :eek: Please lower your budget this instant and stop torturing me with properties I can't afford :D I have to keep some money back to buy a flat in Surrey potentially so can't go too overboard :p
 
I've got two cobs and a shettie on 3 acres. I'd say I have 2.5 acres of grazing, plus stables and a hard standing area for winter. My fields can be a bit wet, so having these other two options is what makes it work. I wouldn't want to have them on any less.
 
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