How much land would I need for two ponies?

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FinellaGlen

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It is a long way off happening but I am trying to research how much land I would need to buy for two 13.3hh native ponies? Depending on planning permission I would use some of the land for stables and manege. I don't really hold out much hope for that though because the planners are extremely strict in our area.
 
You'd easily get away with 2 acres, even less. It is all down to management.
I see 2 or 3 horses in pens maybe an acre in size here all year round, not
much grass to speak of (or mud either luckily) and hay is fed all year round. It is do-able.
 
The size of land needed depends on such a lot; whether the ponies will be stabled at night, whether they will be ridden most days, whether you are happy to feed hay during the year.

Two ponies who get along well could perfectly happily live on 1 acre or less, providing you top up their intake with hay when the grass has dropped off a bit.

Ideally for these size ponies, you would want about 2 acres. Much more than this and you will be looking at having to manage the excess land because there is no way they will be able to keep up with the grass growth.

I have to say when dealing with native ponies, keeping them on too little land is almost preferable to keeping them on a larger acreage.
 
Having just taken on 5 acres with our house- we found in the summer it was too much for two (one horse/1 pony) so we hayed it- and now we have enough hay for the entire winter! So too much can be a good thing- We also needed about 1/2 acre for stables (4) and arena and hardstanding, so to be on the safeside I would say three acres.
 
Thanks everyone. We thought we'd need around 2 to 3 acres so it's good to have it confirmed. I would ideally like to build stables but, like I said, I don't hold out much hope. We've just been granted planning permission for a large extension to our cottage and that was ok because it runs North to South of our plot but the land I am looking to buy runs West to East and we have been told that their is no permitted development in this direction. We're not in a position to act yet anyway until the cottage is extended and we see how much money we have left!
 
Yep, I'd say 2-3 acres would be plenty! Don't quote me on this, but I believe 'mobile' stables can be a solution re planning. This is what they have done in a few places near me as we are in an AONB, so tough on planning. They are essentially wooden stables on 'runners', so not built into the ground. They aren't actually ever really moved, but theoretically should be every 6 months or so - I think its something like 3 inches every six months or something? Might be a solution to planning issues, although as I said earlier I could be miles off the mark with this one, and this could all be absolute rubbish!
 
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Yep, I'd say 2-3 acres would be plenty! Don't quote me on this, but I believe 'mobile' stables can be a solution re planning. This is what they have done in a few places near me as we are in an AONB, so tough on planning. They are essentially wooden stables on 'runners', so not built into the ground. They aren't actually ever really moved, but theoretically should be every 6 months or so - I think its something like 3 inches every six months or something? Might be a solution to planning issues, although as I said earlier I could be miles off the mark with this one, and this could all be absolute rubbish!

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they do that round by us as well !
 
Yep I had 3 acres which allowed me the comfort of splitting and having a winter side and a summer side; meaning I could rotate and rest half the ground 6 months of the year, which did it the world of good. At a push I held 1 horse and 2 ponies, but did run low in winter and they were stabled at night, but it held 1 horse and 1 pony comfortably all year round.
 
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