Keeping 2 horses on 1.5 Acres?

[holly.91]

I have just bought a house that has a 1.3 acre paddock. I have 2 retired horses under 15hh (fine breeds) and was thinking of putting them on that land and splitting paddocks. There are stables and they would be stabled overnight, every night, with plenty of hay in fields when grass is low. I know more land is ideal but would this work?

 

[meleeka]

I have kept 5 small ponies on 1.7 acres so definitely doable. You will really benefit from an area of hardstanding,
probably outside of stables) for them to eat hay as that’s where they’ll spend most of the time.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

If you provide enough hay, I would expect it to work. Depending on the type of soil, you might find that providing an area of hard-standing is useful so that your horses don't have to spend time standing in mud in bad weather.

 

[suestowford]

I have two ponies on about that much ground. One is only small but the other is fairly large. In spring/summer we have too much grass, so I only use about half of it, and save the other half for winter grazing. They also get hay all year round.
It's doable, although by Feb/March there is nothing to eat in there. You also have to keep on top of the poo removal.

 

[tristar]

put in hard standing and paths to where you need to walk, ie, muckheap, gateways etc

 

[holly.91]

That’s positive to hear. Thank you for the helpful comments r.e hard standing.

 

[JBM]

Depending on the land type the ground could eventually stop growing any good amount of grass and you may have to feed year round if it gets tramped around too much
Make sure it’s well drained and should make it less of a mud hole in winter

 

[GinaGeo]

Yes it will be doable. But you might need to be imaginative with layouts.

Hard standing will be invaluable depending on the soil type. And a track can be useful on smaller acreage to help manage the land whilst keeping sufficient movement.

 

[holly.91]

Depending on the land type the ground could eventually stop growing any good amount of grass and you may have to feed year round if it gets tramped around too much
Make sure it’s well drained and should make it less of a mud hole in winter

It’s actually on a hill which helps with draining. They will not go out for long in bad weather, both are my ex showjumping ponies I’ve had my whole life so I know them well enough to know that they prefer their stable in that kind of weather

 

[paddi22]

i've a similar set up and have an area of hardstanding, and a small sand turnout, and then about half an acres was left as grass. the grass part is useless and they pick it clean so I'm turning it into a track system and planting more horse friendly bushes and trees they can forage

 

[JBM]

It’s actually on a hill which helps with draining. They will not go out for long in bad weather, both are my ex showjumping ponies I’ve had my whole life so I know them well enough to know that they prefer their stable in that kind of weather

Aw amazing I much prefer hills for horses keeps them fitter when you’re not riding and easy land to look after!
Shouldn’t be hard to manage

 

[Cortez]

As a small area for turnout, yes. As grazing, no.

 

[exracehorse]

My friend has a horse and three ponies on a small plot of land. It’s worked by putting a track system around the outside. Hard standing area with field shelters. They have ab lib Haylage in boxes in winter/summer along the track. They have time out in the middle to graze when ground ok.

 

[Above the snowline]

More land would be better but owning your house, stables and field will be fabulous. You will love ruling your own roost and your horses will be very happy. Congratulations

 

[toppedoff]

Doable

I also see small land is quite popular with those who like doing tracks systems (usually seasonal) helps save the ground and let's grass grow

 

[Bobthecob15]

Yes i think so, we bought one with a really small paddock (0.75 acres) and its really too small to do anything with full time, we would have to have another field somewhere if we were to keep 1 or 2 here. So I would say 1.5 is fine!

 

[J&S]

Yes, I keep 2 ponies at home (1 x 13hh, 1 x 14.2 ) on about 1.5 acres grass plus a nice yard and stables. I use much more hay than I used to but they look great, are regularly exercised or walked out and do ground work at home. I make a large fenced off area after harrowing and rolling and don't touch that till September/October time. They have grass from this strip grazed till Christmas. As some one above said, its pretty lean from then until the grass grows again but then its time to fence off again! I over sow with timothy seed. They stay out 24/7 as much as possible and just come in at night when it is really wet.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

I have just bought a house that has a 1.3 acre paddock. I have 2 retired horses under 15hh (fine breeds) and was thinking of putting them on that land and splitting paddocks. There are stables and they would be stabled overnight, every night, with plenty of hay in fields when grass is low. I know more land is ideal but would this work?

if you split paddocks rest and care for the resting ones it def is doable

 

[Equi]

When I had two horses I kept them on that but I did have to hire out a field for a good month or two in spring to let it recover and they were brought in daily in winter and on hard standing on really horrible wet weeks. It can be doable but it is a lot more work.

 

[Maxidoodle]

We have managed with small acreage previously by splitting and rotating the land, bringing in of a night throughout the year and supplementing with hay when needed. A track system around the perimeter is a brilliant idea, as it keeps the horses moving and let the centre grow for grazing, when it’s dry enough. You’ll manage fine, you just have to be a bit inventive.

 

[Jambarissa]

This sounds lovely. I kept 3 small Arabs on a similar size when I was young, I fed hay most of the year but the ground coped well with them.

I left my stable doors open but they only ever went in to pee Would stand outside eating the hay that was inside.

My land had a carport on it, just a bit of hard standing with a canopy which I kept my trailer under but when it went for servicing the horses moved in and after that it was theirs.

If I had what you have I'd really like to make a track, lots of info for track liveries online. It'd manage the ground and keep them moving and manage their weight but obviously involves more effort.

It sounds lovely anyway, hope it all goes smoothly.

 

[Jellymoon]

Yes, absolutely, but you will def need a dry area for the winter (as lots of others have said) otherwise it will just get trashed. Then you will be absolutely fine. You might have to bring them in a bit and feed hay all yea round, but you said that’s what you do anyway.

 

[chaps89]

Completely depends on the land.
My last yard I had a touch over 1.5 acres and I kept 2 ponies out 24/7 on it no trouble - it was very well draining and easy to split up.
I now keep 2 ponies on slightly more land, just under 2 acres but they’re in during the day from 9.30-6.30ish and it’s boggy and wet and generally not very much fun for any of us.

 

[gryff]

I have 2 14.3, 15hh horses on just under 2 acres. Wet, clay, sloping land! We've been here nearly two years now and I've got to grips with managing it. We put a nice biggish hardstanding area 35m x about 15m in before the horses moved in. They've got stables that I generally leave open and a shelter on this and always have hay available to them. I always shut them onto this during the night. Last year, I kept them off the grass too much, and it grew too much then got ruined by torrential rain. I just split the field into 5 or 6 sections. One they have some access to over the winter dependent on how persistently wet it is, then during the rest of the year rotate them around the sections. I think ot probably involves more work and more cost on hay than of you've got acres and acres, but we'll worth it to have them at home.

 

[Jellymoon]

I do find though, having managed small acreages in diff ways over the years, it gets more trashed if you split it up. They decimate the small bits, which then really struggle to recover. So I leave it completely open, and just restrict how much they go out according to the weather. It gets muddy in certain areas, gateways etc, but generally not too bad and recovers really well.