Turnout and livery yards

[Shooting Star]

Currently out at grass with around 45 acres for 20 horses. Land is split into 3 fields and used in rotation, winter 20 acres is pretty free draining so very lucky!

Previously on around same acreage for about 25 horses again in rotation, out 24/7 in summer but quite often no turnout during worst months of winter as on heavy clay and with natural springs on the land - total nightmare

 

[LeannePip]

You can use this to calculate it:

https://www.daftlogic.com/projects-google-maps-area-calculator-tool.htm

WOW!! 57 Acres, wasn't expecting that :O so even with a ratio of more than 2 acres per horse, in the boggy clay of the south, we still have to restrict!

 

[FinkleyAlex]

4 horses on about 4 acres. Mine goes out everybody day (except if it’s one of those rare heavy rain all day kind of days, to save the land), as does another mare, but the two others only go out twice a week in winter (but every day in summer).

 

[little_critter]

Ooh interesting, thanks for that link.
So we have 15 horses (mix of horses and ponies) on 24 acres. The summer grazing seems to hold up ok every year and recovers fine. We aren't restricted as to times on the winter grazing but can't turn out over night. The gateways are horrid and there are some low spots that turn into ponds. Depending on the horse some paddocks get churned up more than others but it does seem to recover every year to enable the YO to take a cut of hay off it.
I was very surprised last week when I went to check the paddock, the gateways and front section were sucking and boggy but he footpath that runs through the field (and is fenced off) was surprisingly dry.

 

[scats]

Thanks for that link, I'm having great fun playing with it!

 

[AandK]

5 acres for two horses, out 24/7/365 (using google calculator thing). Soil is clay so can get wet in parts, although there are patches of the field that are much drier than others. I used to have the field split in two and use half for winter, half for summer. The winter half would be trashed come March. I now let them have the whole lot, and last winter it meant they had a better field all winter, it was hardly trashed and recovered quickly in spring.

 

[chaps89]

That link is great, cheers LW.
We have 2 out 24/7 on just over 1.5 acres at the moment. The front of the field is coronet band deep apart from just in front of the field shelters, which about 1m stretch is pastern deep. The rest of the field is pretty much dry
All in all we have just under 7 acres for the 2 horses and 3 free-range sheep. We'll rotate round through the year but always have way too much grass! (We're on chalk which can get slippery in the wet but is otherwise good ground) I really feel for some of you though

 

[Merrymoles]

10 acres for five horses ranging from 14hh to 18hh, all in at night during the winter. However, two are laminitic and therefore on restricted grazing, so we always have tons of grass and the YO make tons of hay and haylage. We use one side of the land in the winter, divided however it suits, and the other side in the summer while the winter fields come back for hay. Currently mine and one other are on a half-acre paddock but they have three of those to rotate during the winter and by our reckoning, by the time we move them on to the third in three or four weeks, the first will have started to regrow if the temperature comes up enough so will be ready to reuse before they then go 24/7 on the other side of the land. We haven't had to supplement the grazing with forage at all this year, although they do occasionally get a bit of haylage out if it's very frosty or snowy.

 

[abbijay]

Interesting...
We have 34 horses on 25 acres of turnout. Half day turnout in winter and out overnight (approx. 20 hours a day) in summer. However some horses are on significantly less turn out than this. My horse is in a field just short of 4 acres with 3 buddies, same field and herd all year round.
The yard, barns and arenas take this to about 30 acres but then we have a 45 acre XC field and another (approx.) 30-40 acres of haylage fields.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

There are often posts here about turnout (or lack of) at yards and often posters cite the reason as too many horses for the available turnout.
I always thought (manual of horsemanship?) An acre per horse was the minimum.
How many horses at your yard versus how many acres?

Yes I was taught 1 1/2 for the first horse and 1 acre for every horse added to it,

but that depends on the land type
where you are in the country
how you look after the land
how long the horses are grazing on it

we graze 9 horses on one pair of fields about 4 acres while the other pair resting - we have loads of grass to the point we could get our own hay if we had someone to do it like we used too. None of mine are 24 hr grazing so they are in at night so the fields are no heavily grazed. They cope amazingly well and are fed- de pooed weedkilled and fertilised.

 

[ester]

over estimated LW's link drops us to 3 acres of fenced, and that includes a fenced strip of dry ditch, definitely wouldn't want more.

meant I could check wilts too, 10 on 17 there. 9 acres winter, 8 over summer.

 

[Sussexbythesea]

12 horses on just over 16 acres. Gets quite wet in winter but not clay. Daily turn out only in large individual paddocks (we have two each so can rest and rotate how we see fit). 1 Horse is a Shetland who has a couple of tiny paddocks and one is a Dartmoor that has 2 small paddocks. So really 10 big horses on around 14/15 acres.

 

[iknowmyvalue]

30 horses/ponies on 14 acres of paddocks. Out half a day in winter, don't go out if weather is horrible and they're being worked, but do go out if they're not worked. We try and only use half the paddocks in winter to save some summer grazing, so each paddock does actually have horses on it all day. Out either full day (7am-4:30pm) or overnight (4:30pm-7am) in Summer. Generally quite well draining as all on a slope and it's an old golf course so relatively sandy soil with some extra drainage, but does get muddy in gateways over the winter, although the main parts of the fields tend to be relatively ok. Grass isn't great anywhere so all fields have hay in the winter, and some have hay in summer/autumn too (for anything that struggles to keep weight on)

 

[Achinghips]

Mine are managed on an equicentral system so are technically out all the time be it in fields or in loafing areas, prepared especially with hard standing or wood chip or sand and rubber. Three horses four and a half acres

 

[Ahrena]

Not sure about the yard overall but I have 1.3 acres winter grazing (in at night) and 2.4 for summer 24/7.

2 horses, most of the winter field is v wet this time of year but we cope.