Tips on managing 3 Acres for 2 horses? Rotate? No need?

[Therightone]

I am signing an agreement tomorrow and finally leasing my own land. It's only 3 acres but at the moment I only have one horse. Of course I cannot keep it this way (may get a mini as company for the horse and a pet for the kids) Haven't decided yet.

My question is will the land stay "nice" if left open to a 16hh, plus the future one. I was thinking in winter I might partition half an acre to keep them in with hay but then that only leaves me with 2 and a half acres? Bit confused.


Any tips?

 

[LovesCobs]

Depends on your horse/s 3 acres for 2 would be too much for mine if we had a good spring summer. So strip grazing would be needed. I only close very wet fields in winter, I find it better to have them graze it all. Less damage. Also be careful with your companion, if you get a pony that needs restricted grazing and your horse doesn't it'll be hard to manage them together

 

[be positive]

My friend keeps two horses, 16 hands and 15 hands on 3 acres, she does stable at night in the worst of the winter but otherwise they are out 24/7, the field is divided into 3 fairly equally and it is rotated, she usually has more than enough grass and even managed to take hay off it a few times.
I would not want to shut them into 1/2 acre unless it is mainly hardstanding or very well draining as it will just become a bog which may protect the rest of the land but will be no good for the horses stood in mud all the time, if you split it into 3 you can use them in rotation, 1 in use, 2 resting, if 1 is just a mini it will require restricting in some way as it will not require the amount of grass the horse will.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

With 3 acres of land, you would be best to divvy it up and rotate or you will end up with 3 acres of paunched pasture that you can't deal with in the winter; and in the spring you'll either have nothing OR you'll have way too much rich grass which isn't good for anything remotely laminitic.

I'd be inclined to split it into three sections: use one, rest one, and keep the rest for a schooling area in the warmer months if you need it. Or you could just use one third and keep the rest free.

I don't know who will carry the responsibility for maintenance: but it will need regular attention i.e. poo-picking! as well as chain-harrowing and rolling, plus seeding as necessary. Also it may benefit from putting down hardcore in areas such as gateways. It may benefit from soil testing as well, plus any weed control for stuff like buttercups, and/or lime putting down to counteract the acidic soil which often happens when horses graze pasture.

If you know of anyone who's got sheep, you could invite them to put them in the "spare" bit (suitably fenced of course as sheep are the best Houdini's around!) as they'll improve your pasture and clean it up for you. Tip: get someone's else's sheep if you can, sheep are born to die and can be a lot of bother if you don't know what you're doing.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

I am signing an agreement tomorrow and finally leasing my own land. It's only 3 acres but at the moment I only have one horse. Of course I cannot keep it this way (may get a mini as company for the horse and a pet for the kids) Haven't decided yet.

My question is will the land stay "nice" if left open to a 16hh, plus the future one. I was thinking in winter I might partition half an acre to keep them in with hay but then that only leaves me with 2 and a half acres? Bit confused.


Any tips?

I would cut into three and rest some and use some, If they are out full time you need to rotate to insure the grazing has time to recover. Also fertilize to - poo pick and keep weeds down as well has harrow to aerate the ground

 

[Meowy Catkin]

My friend has a shetty and a TB on approx 3 acres. It's split by a road into a small paddock of 1/2 acre and a 2 1/2 acre paddock. In the summer, the pony wore a muzzle when out and she needed to borrow some sheep to keep the grazing down. This winter they have been in the 2 1/2 acres and it has stood up well, but they are stabled at night.