How much land...

druid

druid

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Do you need per horse, in your opinion, to keep them out 24/7 6 months of the year and in for 12 hours out for 12 hours for 6 months?

Also....how much hay (round bales) does an acre of decent pasture usually yield?
 
I think the BHS gives a fairly sensible guideline of 1.5 acres for the first horse and 1acre for each additional horse. Of course this depends on drainage, weather, maintainance, paddock rotation, and if you use them for schooling in too.
 
Can't answer the hay question I'm afraid but for the grazing 3 acres for the first horse and an extra acre a horse there after
 
i have three acres which i use (the rest is rented) and they are out 24/7 in summer and in on a night in winter. there are two horses on the padock now and there is more than enough grazing but i had three on it in winter and there wasnt enough grass so it does depend on what time of year. in summer they are only on half of it and the other 1.5-2 acres is grown for haylage and usually makes 30 bales but this year only made 15 due to it being grazed so short in winter.

hope that makes sense!
 
Thanks...I've been estimating 2 acres per horse (So 20 acres) plus 10-15 for hay..sounds like I'm on the right track!
 
We've got 3.5 acres split into 2 paddocks for 2 x16.2's and there is shedloads of grass - very good soil and drainage though - prime fenland agricultural land

Friend up the road from us has similar amount of land and has to grazing muzzle her 16.3

Really does depend on land I think - a house round the corner from us is for sale - total plot 2 acres - would guess just under an acre of grazing and they run 4 on individual paddocks all year round - def not out overnight and aren't out before ours in the morning and back in when I get home from work
 
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Thanks...I've been estimating 2 acres per horse (So 20 acres) plus 10-15 for hay..sounds like I'm on the right track!

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Sounds about right to me.
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I have always heard one acre per horse,but i have mine 24/7 (in summer) in a field that is almost 4 acres and I have 2 average sized AQHA horses and one small pony and they eat it down alot. I would reccomend a little more than the suggested. Plus less need for constant poop picking....unsure on hay...I buy mine
 
I would say one and a half acres per horse as a min or it will be a mess in winter...but it does depend on the horse etc. I have a native so in the summer from May through to September he is on small area only so the rest of the field is left to grow. This means that I have to get my field cut or it would be too long by the time winter comes. I have 2 and a half acres which is too much for one horse really but in the winter he eventually has access to it all and it works really well because I have no poached areas or mud!
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2 acres for the first horse then 1 additional acre for each additional horse
1 horse= 2 acres
2 horses= 3 acres
3 horses= 4 acres
is the BHS rule but you can get away with a lot less, especially if the horses are stabled a lot and good quality forage is fed.
 
It all depends on the type of soil and the drainage.

If it is heasvy clay then it will not drain that well and become poached in wet weather in which case you will need a larger acreage. If it is sand then it will drain well so less poaching. It also depends on the type of grass as well. Rye grass is tough and nutricious however some of the other grasses are not as nutricious which is an advantage if you have ponies and cobs as you don't want them to get too fat.



We produced 3,000 bales from 25 acres this year (rather dry weather) so 120 bales per acre.
 
I think it totally depends on what sort of land you have and what the weather conditions are like.

We have about 35 acres of pasture and this works fine for all of our horses.....right up till we stop having any rain! We have had no rain at all on this farm for almost 7 weeks now and the horses are being hayed at present.

The amount of hay you will get from 1 acre totally depends on what size of round bale you are planning on making, what the weather does and what grass/legume is being grown. In my area the yield is generally somewhere between 3 to 7 tonnes per acre, however don't forget that our fields are running at about 40% alfalfa this year. We make 800lb and 500lb round bales so depends entirely on which size you are looking to produce. It also depends on how many cuts you are going to have per year. Obviously if you get 3 or 4 cuts then you will have more hay than if you only managed to get 1 or 2 cuts.

We have 260 acres now in hay production so we have hay coming out of our earholes!!

Best policy is to always err on the lowest yield and anything more is a bonus.
 
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