How much land per horse?

M

Mummytotwo

Member
Joined
9 December 2010
Messages
27
Visit site
Hi,
I don't own a horse so I hope it's okay to post here. I've just started horse riding again after a break of 5 years.
So my plan is to buy a horse in the future, probably not for a year or two but I'm buying a new house hopefully beginning of next year and looking at houses with stables and land with it, so the one I have my eye on has 3 stables, hay room tack room and 6 acres. I only want a horse/pony and a little pony for my boys, is this suitable?
 
more than enough! lucky you!

i only have about 3 acres and its very rough/poor grazing but then i have very good dooer horse and a sec A who gets fat on fresh air so it works ok.
 
It should be fine but it just depends on the land and how you use it. If they come in at night it would be plenty. We keep our 2 and my friends 2 on 5 and a half acres, they are out 24/7. However we manage it carefully and hayed this year during the hot dry spell and have hayed all winter. Our land is well drained and has no "dead" areas that are unuseable. We rotate, poo pick and rest paddocks regularly. Provided it is well drained you can manage on less than 6 acres for 2 horses but you would perhaps have to hay at times.
 
If it is 6 acres of grazing, then yes this would be fine, if not too much! However, if its a 6 acre plot, with house, stables etc on, I'd find out how much grazing there was. The rule (i think) is about an acre and a half per horse, so, i would say a minimum of 2.5-3 for the both!

hope this helps

x
 
The rule of thumb is 1.5 acres for the first horse and 1 additional acre for every horse thereafter. 6 acres would then be plenty but would mean that you should have fab, well rested grazing at all times. Not at all jealous ;)
 
Thanks everyone, after living in the centre of bath I am so excited to be moving to the countryside. I've got two boys who love the outdoors so I know it'll be fab for them. Thanks for the advice!
 
Hi,

It depends if you want the land to actually feed your horse or just act as turnout.

6 acres for one/two/three horses, or a dozen ponies is plenty. Lots of room for smaller paddocks, rotating, hay etc, etc.

If you wanted to save land for hay then the track system is very good, especially for ponies and good doers. Forget all the bumph and cries of pink and fluffiness about natural barefootedness etc if you aren't that way inclined, it is a seriously practical and viable arrangement for some, please note, not all, horse keepers :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paddock_Paradise
 
Last edited:
Depends on the type of grass and the drainage. If you have poor grass and bad drainage then this will dramatically reduce the number of horses that the land can cope with.
 
Leg_end said:
The rule of thumb is 1.5 acres for the first horse and 1 additional acre for every horse thereaf
Click to expand...

Fine in theory but in practice I have found it isn't enough to allow you to properly rotate your pasture if the horses are out 24/7. It's fine for limited turnout though... I'd say 2 acres per horse if they are out 24/7.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top