Innovative ideas for keeping horses on small acreage?

[Micky]

Does depend on the land, well drained, sandy, clay or peat like mine, which is a nightmare (with 15.1 and 11.2).. as said get rid of walker, open up a couple of the stables for storage for hay and feed. Take it there is a water supply there? Go for it..

 

[meleeka]

I think it sounds fine for two. I keep 5 (two horses and 3 small ponies) on two acres and find I have too much grass during the summer. They can’t have unrestricted access anyway,‘so i track the whole lot in spring and strip graze the middle (i go from one side, outside to middle, then put that back and start on the other side). Come winter they have all of it, but I do have a large hardstanding area with shelter, as well as the yard and stables for them to use. All I need to do is harrow in the spring.
Of course I do need to give hay most of the year, but it’s much less in the summer (once a day and I move the fence the other visit). The field also has plenty of brambles and hawthorn which they love to browse.

I love having my own place. It means security that I know I’m not going to lose it unless I want to and it’s snot up in value too, so a good investment.
I’d snap it up pronto if it were me.

 

[Antw23uk]

Sell the horse walker to fund mud mats ?

When you know, you know, lol

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

I would second the suggestion above to use the proceeds of selling the horse walker to buy some mud control mats. They will make life much easier and more pleasant in the winter. The advantage of them over a permanent hardstanding/track is that you can reconfigure as you wish when necessary. Sometimes you don't understand how your land is going to work until you have been there a year or two so having flexibility is key.

And the other advantage is that you don't need planning permission for them, as you would for concrete.

 

[HorseMaid]

An update to this thread - finally managed to wheedle from the seller the price they are hoping for, safe to say that we have a decent enough budget, but £250,000 for this is ridiculous, I can see it being for sale for a very, very long time!! ?

 

[cauda equina]

Blimey! I suppose they think someone will take a punt on getting pp for a house

 

[HorseMaid]

I'd be incredibly surprised if they could, due to the area its in! Can't see anyone paying that if no PP already granted. Its a shame as its a nice little place but that's way above a sensible offer - back to the drawing board!

 

[HappyHollyDays]

It sounds expensive but I suppose it depends where in the country it is. Around here the last yard that went up for sale had 8 boxes, outdoor school and around 5 acres and sold for £200+. There’s a plot of land, 3.5 acres for sale with no facilities went on the market today for £350k.

 

[HorseMaid]

It sounds expensive but I suppose it depends where in the country it is. Around here the last yard that went up for sale had 8 boxes, outdoor school and around 5 acres and sold for £200+. There’s a plot of land, 3.5 acres for sale with no facilities went on the market today for £350k.

It's in the South West (North Devon). For comparison another field fairly close but almost exactly the same acreage is about to go on the market for 70k, that already has 2 stables but just a few miles too far for me. The land is also in much better condition.

 

[Equi]

It’s likely they think someone could refurb the stables maybe? Unless they are just wooden jobbys. But does sound very overpriced for what it is.

 

[HorseMaid]

It is ridiculously overpriced - they'd be looking for 4x what they paid for it, less than 5 years ago, and it's in an awful state compared to then too!

 

[HappyHollyDays]

It's in the South West (North Devon). For comparison another field fairly close but almost exactly the same acreage is about to go on the market for 70k, that already has 2 stables but just a few miles too far for me. The land is also in much better condition.

In that case they are overpricing themselves and like you say it won’t sell. Sounds as though they are being greedy given the current climate and think an out of townies will snap it up and get PP to build.

 

[babymare]

I had 2 on less than acre. Poo picked every day and I mean every day.. Weed cleared weekly. It’s doable but damn hard work and costly in winter with hay. But hey was worth it ?