Those with your own land

[HaffiesRock]

I am going to look at a 4 acre field to rent tomorrow. I love where I am now, but have no grass and have had to feed my native ponies hay and feed all year round. There is also the age old problem of being annoyed by fellow liveries...

The plot is fenced and has its own water supply, has excellent hacking and a field shelter. I know the area and the grass is good so 4 acres should be more than enough for 2 native ponies. It is secure, and is 8 separate paddocks within one huge field, surrounded by houses.

There is no electric, but I don't have that where I am now so not missing anything.

Main thing that is putting me off is lack of storage. The land owner said other people hire in a storage container? I have looked online and emailed a couple for quotes. Anyone use these? Rough idea of cost? There is no where to store hay so would it be OK on pallets covered in a large tarp?

I don't have a ton of money for setting up so need to keep costs down initially. I have a lot of electric fencing so not worried about splitting the land up, its more the storage side of things.

I just want my own space, more grazing for the ponies and some peace and quiet!

I have a sharer for my mare so would have just the right amount of company.

Any tips?

Thanks

 

[Spot_the_Risk]

Storage container or an old caravan, depends how secure you need it to be really, and what you can put on the land without complaints being made! In your situation of renting would go caravan, if you leave you can resell it and it'll be a good bolt hole for coffee, getting changed etc.

 

[YasandCrystal]

There are companies that hire containers but they work out expensive. We hired a double ended 24 ft one for a year - it was £58 per month and in the end I decided to just buy a lorry body for £350 from a horse box conversion company reasonably local to me. It's around 22 ft long and has a curtain side and roller back door, which are all handy for leading it with hay and keeping everything dry.
We have a generator too and we bought a tool site safe to house that in and cemented it down.
Our 2 energisers and batteries are housed in metal feed bins weighted with half paving slabs and padlocked. Hubby drilled a hole in the bottom for the earth stake and another for the wire. You could use a shed for storing feed or do as I do and use Chestnut Horse feeds who supply a range of feeds delivered in a lockable rodent and waterproof wheelie storage bin. I keep mine outside my stables. I have just bought a huge plastic Keter storage container from a dealer at a boot fair for £40 to store my jump fillers in. If you look about a cheap solution is usually out there.
It's so good having your own land you won't regret it.

 

[WelshD]

I wont store hay outside under tarps personally. When i needed extra hay a while back i had some large bales of wrapped hay/haylage delivered, the chap tipped them off the trailer so they stood on end. We then cut round three sides of the top and lifted the hay out in sections, we replaced the 'flap' of the wrapping back over each time then used a tarp weighed down by beer crates to keep it all dry. The wrapping was peeled down for each layer, this meant the bottom of the bale remained watertight

You cant really have any accidental puncturing of the wrapping so need to fence off ponies!

 

[WelshD]

As for extra storage chest freezers are good. We have a caravan that i bought on ebay for £350 that has been a godsend. Also if you have transport look at second hand sheds on ebay, most people dont buy the bigger ones as they cant transport them so there are bargains to be had

 

[NeilM]

4 acres is going to be more than enough for two natives, even if the grass is poor. We have our two on 2.5, split into two separate paddocks for winter / hay and summer use.

We make our own hay and store it on pallets and under a couple of big canvas lorry tarps. As long as you keep the tarps from touching the top of the bales (we use milk crates) then it's fine and we have been doing this for years.

We have no storage, so everything gets carried to the field in the car. That said, we do have a trailer and that sees use in winter with spare rugs and such kept in there.

I think a caravan or shed would be your best bet, containers are huge, cold, damp and a target for those inclined to investigate other peoples property, plus you'll need some form of crane or hiab to deliver it.

One tip, have the land chain harrowed in the spring, especially after a soggy winter. It is amazing how well harrowing levels out all those cavernous hoof prints. Oh and if you have not done it already, put a solid rubber tyre in your wheel barrow, there is nothing more depressing that pushing a barrow full of poo with a flat tyre across a sodden paddock in the rain.

 

[HaffiesRock]

Thank you everyone.

I didn't think about large bale wrapped hay. At the current yard we have poor access so can only get small bales into the barn and everything has to be barrowed but the field has proper access so wrapped hay may be the option.

I'm not sure what you can or cant put on the field yet, but ill as when I visit today.

Thank you everyone.

 

[Equi]

If they are in that size of field they won't need much hay if any, id not worry about that yet. I would get a container for tack etc but a shed would do for that.

 

[Sukistokes2]

How about the back off an old lorry.....?

 

[neddy man]

the container part of a lorry is a good bet try e/bay or try haulage companies like TNT, if you put one of these in a field you do not need planning permission as it is not a permanent fixture (but check with landowner that he does not mind , )

 

[Pebble101]

Don't leave anything valuable up there. Someone around here has just had her two mobile stables dismantled and stolen overnight.

 

[*hic*]

For storage consider an old, possibly MOT failure, luton type van. If you get one that's a runner you can run 12V lighting system from it, plus it provides plenty of storage, is lockable, and you can hook up an inverter and get 240V to clip etc. Plus it can't be considered permanent and you can still sell it for scrap at a later date.

 

[Sukistokes2]

Don't leave anything valuable up there. Someone around here has just had her two mobile stables dismantled and stolen overnight.

Really!!!!!!! Good Lord!!! What is the world coming too......not even bloody buildings are safe now........:O

 

[CazD]

For storage consider an old, possibly MOT failure, luton type van. If you get one that's a runner you can run 12V lighting system from it, plus it provides plenty of storage, is lockable, and you can hook up an inverter and get 240V to clip etc. Plus it can't be considered permanent and you can still sell it for scrap at a later date.

Something like this would be good. We have the back off an old BT van. It cost £50.00 from our local vehicle auctions. Its watertight, has lockable rear doors (hubby fitted a padlock) and holds a reasonable number of bales and bits and bobs.

 

[HaffiesRock]

Thanks everyone. Been to see it and it is absolutely perfect! The Lady who is moving off is offering most of the things se has on there for sale so will be meeting her tomorrow to discuss. It really is everything I could ever want!

 

[dollyanna]

I don't have good enough access to get storage like an old truck or solid structure, so I have a large polytunnel. It went through last winter brilliantly, and this year I am better set up with as much hay as I could get in - about 50 bales. I have it on double pallets with a tarp in between to keep the damp off from the ground, but overall it is a pretty good option if access isn't great, and I keep a round storage bin (like the ones in sheep fields) locked inside it with all my grooming stuff, headcollars, hat etc inside. But I am in a fairly hidden corner, probably wouldn't keep so much stuff there if it was more accessible, but then I wouldn't need to either!!

 

[pennyturner]

I get 33 bales in a 1973 14' Sprite Musketeer
- and that's with all the fixtures still in place, (cushions in the wardrobe).