Stables and land

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ShipwrightsDream

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Hi,
I have seen a very small livery yard I am interested in buying, the thing is there are 3 stables and only 1.2 acres with it, obviously this land will also need to be rotated, can anyone tell me if this is a definate 'No No' for 3 horses? Any advice would be greatly received.
Many thanks in advance
 
You will struggle with only 1.2 acres but the most important thing is what soil type is it ? This makes a huge difference to how the land copes with being grazed and how well it recovers.

Can you rent land nearby to use as a fall back ?
 
Hi,

Not necessarily a 'No, no' in my book. Four years ago I would have been horrified at the suggestion, but I no longer have the typically British hang-up about having to have one and a half acres per horse (or whatever) which only applies if you expect to graze the area and not feed.

Depending on the size of your horses of course (small ponies would manage just fine on there) that amount of land would be merely turn-out paddock/s rather than grazing, you would have to be prepared to feed hay most, or all of the year, and to manage the surface (drainage, maybe all weather) so that it would stand up to winter weather rather than turn into a bottomless pit of mud.
 
I think you will struggle tbh even with paddock rotation. I just don't think 1.2 acres is enough for 3 horses all year round even if stabled overnight.

I have 2 horses and a littlie on 3.5 acres and struggle in the winter for adequate grazing. I feed them really well on hay but never thought i'd have to tbh.
 
With that amount of land imho you would have to feed some hay/haylage all year around . I suppose if you have 3 small horses/ponies or laminitics then that would not be a problem.
You could section off a turnout area for winter say 0.2/ 0.5 of an acre and then have 2 paddocks each of just under 1/2 an acre each to rotate for the summer.
You would have to drain the winter paddock and poss but down a wood bark or similar surface so it didn't turn into a bog.
It would depend on how wet the land is how successful and or costly that would be.
Not sure it would make any money with liveries as you would have to factor hay costs into the equation.
Is there any extra grazing that could be rented for the summer months?
 
[ QUOTE ]
I think you will struggle tbh even with paddock rotation. I just don't think 1.2 acres is enough for 3 horses all year round even if stabled overnight.

I have 2 horses and a littlie on 3.5 acres and struggle in the winter for adequate grazing. I feed them really well on hay but never thought i'd have to tbh.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree, I have nearly 4 acres ( split in to 5) and have two horse’s on it ( in at night), we rotate all year, but currently it looks like 4 acres of mud soup, it really depends on the land but even with the best of land I think you'll struggle, sorry.
 
I have a 1 acre paddock with my house. I have 1 horse and a shetland pony. My soil is heavy clay, the first winter the paddock disintegrated into a swamp. It never recovered in the summer until I had it rotovated and re-seeded. I now rent a larger field and use the small paddock very carefully. If you accept only turning your horses out for a few hours a day, you will be OK, but if you think you will be able to leave them out all day, every day, I think you will be disappointed.
 
I have 2.5 acres on quite well-drained soil, and have one horse and two big ponies on it - I really wouldn't want any less land, particularly in a winter like this one.
 
I'm on 2.5 acres of silt soil (fertile as hell but wet on top and dry under) with just two on it at the moment. In the past we've had four.

In short, I feed hay all year round and have a three-quarter acre 'mud paddock' for about twenty hours each day and grazing beyond that which the horses use for only a few hours (their choice, it's open for their use all day every day). With 1.2 acres, you'd only have about half that as grazing as the rest would soon be taken up with buildings, parking, stores, etc anyway. It wouldn't be easy!
 
I keep five out 24/7 on 3 acres of clay soil on the side of a fell. Yep - at the moment when it's not frozen solid it resembles the Somme but with a good roll and harrow come April it will recover. I have to feed hay/haylage all year round but I'd rather they ate that than grass TBH - grass is the devils work! In the summer I'll be setting up a Paddock Paradise within the 3 acres so they'll actually be on much less land. So yes I'd say it was doable as long as you accept you'll have to feed forage all year round.
 
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