Pony on 1 acre paddock

[Bobthecob15]

Hi there, we've just had an offer accepted on a lovely house that has a 0.9ish of an acre paddock. We love the house and the paddock is a bonus, my initial thought was its probably not enough for a 12.2 pony if we also got him a companion...I know its too small for a horse and a pony. So we are planning on continuing to keep him at livery...but I'm just wondering if we can actually reasonably keep 2 ponies on it? We'd have to add a field shelter or something as there isn't anything currently except a small barn that we are aiming to convert. Our budget wouldn't stretch to 2 acres! Thanks

 

[ponynutz]

If you supplemented with hay, yes. We have 2 (a 15.3hh and a 13.3hh on just under 2 acres).

It works bc we supplement with hay and have them in a sand paddock in winter (altho this is bc our land is wet we could easily do winter as well if it was dryer with hay).

 

[Firefly23]

I have a 12’2 cob and his companion on our .75 acre with soaked hay at some times of year as they both get so fat on the grass. I.e it is two much for them. It is likely old dairy grass though but by no means in brilliant condition.

 

[HappyHollyDays]

I have two, 14.1 and 15hh on an acre plus a sand school. I’ve put a track around the edge and they get hay plus a small feed with supplements and salt. I’ve recently let them on the middle which I divided up so they have had some grass over the last week. It’s plenty of space if you manage it correctly and have good doers as mine are. No field shelter but it’s got mature trees on all sides so plenty of shade and shelter to stand under when it rains.

 

[Lamehorses]

Create a hard standing loafing area, mud control mats or hard-core.
Only let them on grass when it's dry& limit the time (probably sensible with ponies anyway)
Track round the outside & you could definitely keep a horse & pony. Just need to supplement grazing with hay

 

[milliepops]

I'd say it will partly depend on the ground, I have 2 on an acre that gets very very wet and I have to keep them off it quite a lot in winter otherwise it doesn't recover. Something better draining would cope better esp if you had some hardstanding for feeding hay etc.

 

[paddi22]

if you have a hard standing area and feed hay you could def do it.

 

[meleeka]

If it’s natives they really don’t need lots of grass anyway so it works well. You do need to feed hay all year though and have some sort of hardstanding.