how much land?

R

Ruth17

Well-Known Member
Joined
2 November 2013
Messages
178
Visit site
I'm looking at a property with 3.5 acres. Also some grazing rights but not looked into that yet. Would this be enough for two 15.2 cobs to live or all year round? Obviously with hay in winter ad lib and hard feed. Ideally I'd like a small companion pony (section a our Shetland) - would there be enough land? I know it goes on type of soil to some extent but it is well draining so just being hypothetical at the moment!
 
Quite easily, isn't it 2 acres for a horse then 1 acre for every horse after that? If you manage it well though you'll easily have room spare at all times, especially if one is a little pony
 
We had 2-3 small ponies on about 1 acre with hay in winter and they were fine! So they have loads of room.
 
At one point I juggled a 17hh, a 16.1hh, a 13.2hh, a 12.2hh and a 11.3hh on 3 acres just fine. It took a lot of work but we managed!
 
skully said:
Quite easily, isn't it 2 acres for a horse then 1 acre for every horse after that? If you manage it well though you'll easily have room spare at all times, especially if one is a little pony
Click to expand...

That's what I thought but quite a lot of money to spend without checking first!!! Only looking for something around 10/11h pony as my gelding can't be left alone without another horse in sight and we have nephews who would love the odd lr ride
 
Take a careful look at the fields now as Winter is the time they will become poached. It really does depend on the type of soil and grass and also the lay of the land and drainage.
 
OrangePepper said:
Take a careful look at the fields now as Winter is the time they will become poached. It really does depend on the type of soil and grass and also the lay of the land and drainage.
Click to expand...

This. Field behind my house is rented out (not by me) in summer it looks fine, lots of buttercups as a clue but otherwise fine. This winter it has four horses on it (is 2-3 acres max) and it is destroyed, totally poached, some green left but nothing really to eat. Luckily the horses were given a pallet feeder that now gets filled with hay, but before that they were miserable. At the weekend there was so much rain surface water was running off the field and into our garden.
 
We've a 16.1 wb, a 14 native, and a 13.2 arab x all living out, currently on an acre only half of which is well drained, with adlib hay, we get hay off our bottom acre field and that's grazed when not put aside for hay when dry (it floods so you an imagine...)(we also cut 2 acres of a neighbours), and the third acre is a wooded area which is used for summer grazing. This is the first year we've not been self sufficient on hay but we didn't have the 16.1 last year. So yes easily IMO.
 
Be very careful with the type of land. We have almost 8 acres with 3 horses (two 16h and one 14.2) but I wouldn't want any more on it. Our land is clay so what was green and well covered is now a mud bath (with some grass only because we have slopes that drain well). We will paddock off (currently two big fields of 4.5 and 3ish each) this summer so we can rotate better and also put hard standing in but these aren't necessarily costs we anticipated. Also check the quality of the fencing/hedging - we had to fence every boundary after we bought as my older girl would go through the hedging rather than be on her own! On the plus side though we were able to bale our fields in summer (they do come very good once it dries) so have been self sustaining on the hay all winter.
 
Same as Ceriann; we have two 15.2's a 12.3 and a 14.1 on 5.5 acres and although very very wet and muddy at the gateways, there is still plenty of grass. I wouldn't want any less land, I wish I had more. I don't take hay off in the summer, I leave it so I don't have to feed any hay outside during winter; They have started to come in at night now.
 
It does does depend on how the land is but it would be worth a try - BUT check that the property actually has 3.5 acres of turnout not a plot of 3.5 acres. I'm horsey house hunting at the moment and most of them give the total plot size, so from 3.5 acres once you've taken out house, garage, drive, parking, garden hedges etc you can be left with a lot less of actual accessable pasture.
On 3.5 acres you may well need to build/ fence a trash paddock for the worst winter months, that you either put a surface down on or accept that you have to start again with it each spring - if you let them have free range of the whole lot it'll be pretty ruined in a year or two.
 
It is possible but you have to know what you are doing before you start. A lot will depend on the soil and drainage.
We have lovely soil and it drains well but because we are in the bottom of a valley some floods and the rest turns to mud very readily. Keeping two horses on 3.5 acres was only just doable. Have since got another field and can now do our own hay and rest the grazing - makes it much easier.
 
Polos Mum said:
It does does depend on how the land is but it would be worth a try - BUT check that the property actually has 3.5 acres of turnout not a plot of 3.5 acres. I'm horsey house hunting at the moment and most of them give the total plot size, so from 3.5 acres once you've taken out house, garage, drive, parking, garden hedges etc you can be left with a lot less of actual accessable pasture.
On 3.5 acres you may well need to build/ fence a trash paddock for the worst winter months, that you either put a surface down on or accept that you have to start again with it each spring - if you let them have free range of the whole lot it'll be pretty ruined in a year or two.
Click to expand...

Yes that is an issue we are finding too. And different estate agents for the same property differ in their size estimate grrr. The land in question drains well as slightly sloped but ideally I was looking for at least 4.5 acres of grazing but the house is fab. It's in a rural area opposite fields so may make enquiries as to renting or buying a few more acres to put my mind at rest.
 
there is a google maps tool (can't recall the name of it but a search on here will find it) that you can use to measure yourself to be sure- it's very useful but if land is on a slope you get more than it'll measure from above.
 
I keep 9 on just under 5 acres so more then possible. I have 11hh and 14hh donkeys who have about 1/4 acres during summer with adlib straw and during the winter they have a shelter and small gravel yard with adlib straw. I have a 20x30m gravel yard that 6 live on with double field shelter and adlib haylage and 1/2 acre they get turned out on weeks day for few hours each day and my elderly TB gets a shelter adjoinging the donkeys with small yard and tiny paddock with adlib haylage. Which leave me 4 acres of grazing for summer which I have split into 5 paddocks. I rotate 1 paddock a week as well as feeding 1 round bale hay a week and they all do really well and grazing always looks good (bar the 1/2 winter paddock).
 
Google Planimeter:
http://www.gravoplex.com/Planimeter/GMapPlanimeter.html

I would say that is not enough land if you want them living out. I had 3 acres between 2 and had to bring in at night Nov-Mar to keep the land in decent condition. If you let the grazing get trashed in a bad winter then you end up chasing your tail to get it good through the next summer before the bad weather starts again.
 
It depends - if you want them out 24/7 all year round you may struggle. but if you devide it into paddocks have a sand turn out for the really wet days they you'll manage fine.

Blitz
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top