Acreage per Horse?

[zelle]

Hello, everyone,

I am looking for input on the number of acres that would be needed for 12 hour turn-out plan based on number of horses. I’d like a 50 horse estimate. My pony club upbringing taught me one acre per horse. Was that because they were living in group turnout 24/7? My currernt farm has dirt paddocks. My horses look fabulous. But I want them on grass for obvious reasons, let alone the hay cost (100k per year for 32 horses).
Also how big would you build your paddocks knowing that you have lots of horses? My thought is paddocks for 2 horses on the boarder side of things. And 10 - 12 horse group turnout for the lesson horses. But with 20 boarders, that’s 10 paddocks. I need diagrams of good facilities!
The way I manage it here is that all the horses are on night turn-out. Weather sometimes dictates otherwise but that’s the general plan. All year round. We are eventers, if that matters.

If anyone knows anyone who does equestrian property design, I woud be interested in their contact information as well. Thank you for reading this.

[Bluey]

@Plumcreek has not been posting for long time, but has helped design facilities for all kinds of groups, commercial, residential and all sizes of horse operations.

Used to have a web site, lived in CO, may chime in with some advice, names, etc.

As for acres per horse, that depends on so many factors, may help if you can narrow the location one with some information relevant to that, state, region.

Here, in the SW, standard is 25 acres per animal unit considering horses, but no one is fool enough to go by that.
Our weather is so unpredictable, we may not get rain for months and then you have to feed anyway.
We use a minimum of 30 acres/horse, the further West, drier yet, even more.

[NoSuchPerson]

Stocking rate is highly dependent on where you’re located. When I lived in the Lexington, Kentucky area, they advised one animal unit/acre. In some areas of New Mexico it’s over 100 acres for one animal unit.

[Janet]

As several have said, it is highly dependent of where you are. One horse per acre is the “rule of thumb” in the northeast and midatlantic. I do not think it makes a lot of difference whether they are out 12 hrs perday or 24 hrs per day.

Rotational grazing is important, so it needs to be cross fenced.

[Scribbler]

Where I live the soil, drainage and grass species differ a lot within a few miles. It’s temperate and rainy which keeps grass growing all year, which is a plus. But the lowlands, while super fertile, tend to get so wet that you have to keep horses off the pastures November to May or the grass gets churned up and killed. And the uplands can get dry over the summer and grass dies off. So around here there is no way you could keep horses on a field year round without killing the grass unless you were substantially understocked (say ten horses in 40 acres). Pasture management is a real thing, and needs to take precedence over turnout unless you want your farm to be basically mud or dust. You will need to go look at conditions for your region and also local conditions water table grass species on the farm you are considering.

[Willesdon]

Perhaps ask for help from your local Agricultural Extension Service. The carrying capacity of land will be very local as there are so many variables. The PC “one acre per horse” is based on the grasslands of the temperate, maritime British Isles, where grass can grow for most of the year.

[Scribbler]

@Willesdon

Perhaps ask for help from your local Agricultural Extension Service. The carrying capacity of land will be very local as there are so many variables. The PC “one acre per horse” is based on the grasslands of the temperate, maritime British Isles, where grass can grow for most of the year.

Yes. Indeed, many British horsekeepers are now worrying about obesity and laminitis because the highly improved pastures built up originally for dairy cattle are too green and high quality for horses. I read posts about “how to introduce weeds and herbs into your horses forage.” It amuses me because I have never seen a horse pasture in Western Canada, wet coast or dry interior, that wasn’t multi species grass, and full of invasive weeds. Edible dandelion and clover or inedible thistle and dock. Now I’ve seen beautiful hay fields but they are kept for hay, nothing is allowed loose to run around and mess up the turf. But even some of our local hay fields are pretty rough and multi species.

[lenapesadie]

I’m in the extreme SE US. Here what I’ve heard said: 1 acre per horse if you are buying some hay. 2 acres per horse to make your own hay / winter graze. Being able to rotate and rest paddocks is always ideal. But I’ve seen many, many places that don’t rotate or rest paddocks and they look fine.

[S1969]

My personal opinion is that a boarding facility is unlikely to ever have enough acreage to maintain horses on grass AND still make it manageable to maintain and use as a boarding facility.

I can’t imagine requiring someone to turn horses in/out 2x a day if that meant they had to walk a quarter mile from the barn to the last paddock in the row. If you are turning out 2x paddock and want grazing for 12 hours. I would have to think your paddocks would need to be at least 2 acres, and even still…if you’re doing it without a rest/rotation - you’ll still probably end up feeding hay.

Which is ok of course. Hay is good forage and often better than pasture grass.

But - as others have said - it really depends. My 3 horses have about 4 acres and much of it is overgrazed. Without a way to rotate and fully rest, drag, fertilize, reseed, etc. each paddock they will become less useful over time. And you’ll have to mow, weed whack, repair fences etc. for a much larger property. I would say it’s probably not a cost effective option compared to hay plus decent turnout on dirt.

[sami-joe]

@Willesdon

Perhaps ask for help from your local Agricultural Extension Service.

Assuming you’re in the US, they’ll be listed as part of whatever university system is near you, or possibly part of county government if you’re in an agricultural region.

Generally underutilized, Ag Extension offices tend to be peopled by helpful, knowledgeable sorts. My local office in Maine has a free native sapling party every year and their soil maps are epic. A few visits there really changed my channel when I was deciding how to use my field.

[zelle]

Thank you everyone! Yes, I do have a local vet school that will likely be a great resource (that’s what came up when I search “Agriculture Extension near me”) For now I will plan 50 acres for pasture. with a mix of pasture/paddock sizes. I’ll plan to cross fence as needed - esp in large turn-outs - I guess that means automatic waterers because those could be out in the middle - rather than a frost free hydrant closer to a fence/gate. Also need a few tiny turnouts for horses in injury recovery. Also perimeter track to go all the way around and between it all on a horse or in a farm vehicle. Still looking for a planning/layout person.

Now I am going to start another thread asking what you need in your barn and what you think needs to go where if you built it all from scratch.

[clanter]

@zelle

I guess that means automatic waterers because those could be out in the middle - rather than a frost free hydrant closer to a fence/gate.

suggest both, just add a frost free hydrant in the water supply line for the auto waterer there are times when a hose is needed …be sure to have cut off valves install at branch line locations and along any main line in periodic distances. We have had an older line develop a leak which turned out easily bypassed as we had cut off valves everywhere. Rather than spending the $2,000 quoted cost to replace that line we simply went around the deflective section without loss of water supply to any of our hydrants

[Bluey]

For turnoff valves we use those thick metal manhole covers city water uses over a suitable sized culvert piece, placed on fence lines, so nothing steps on them and slips,.
There are 2-4 valves in there we can turn on and off to send water every which way.

If a line only has one valve, we use a piece of thick PVC with a cap and a long turn-off rod we leave in there.

[lenapesadie]

I’m short on time to sketch out drawings representing layouts I’ve seen work for larger operations, but what I’ve seen work the best is having multiple barns. For example: a barn for boarding horses, a barn for school horses a barn for retired, breeding, young horses. Having multiple barns spread out on the property helps maximize efficiency of turn out schedules.

[Bluey]

@lenapesadie

I’m short on time to sketch out drawings representing layouts I’ve seen work for larger operations, but what I’ve seen work the best is having multiple barns. For example: a barn for boarding horses, a barn for school horses a barn for retired, breeding, young horses. Having multiple barns spread out on the property helps maximize efficiency of turn out schedules.

Great idea, add a quarantine/infirmary barn and be sure to have good access to every place and wide enough for fire trucks.

We had our fire department come by help us with layout as they know where they can get their trucks thru.

[Bluey]

Also consider, in a big center there are horses all around, you don’t need communal turnout that much.
Many places have individual pens for turnout, some larger for the rare horse owner that has more than one that get along.

Ask your veterinarian, ours tell us much of his work is on horses injured because the owner insisted on turning horses together and when one has a bad day or doesn’t like another, someone is going to get injured somehow.

For commercial barns, not individual ones, very young horses and herds of broodmares or retired ones can get along enough to be somewhat safe in discrete groups.
For your regular riding or performance horses, individual turnout with neighbors is safer for them to rest when they want or move around at will.

[Bluey]

@Amberley

This is very regional and discipline specific Bluey. In CA many want individual turnout, in the mid-Atlantic people recoil in horror from it and want their horses out with friends. Pony people and endurance riders don’t ever want individual turnout, WP people only want it. OP should see what is in demand in their market before deciding.

Right, my point was, from our veterinarian point of view, safest to care for someone else’s horses as in commercial barns is individual turnouts, any other is accommodating for other needs, direct companionship one and more fraught with problems.

As always, every horse and situation is different, weighing all options, managing with that in mind seems best.

[zelle]

Wow I hadn’t considered individual turn out. I see that a lot around here. My boarders are in a gigantic group separated into mares and geldings and then pony geldings. The business grew on a property that is now too small for it. So the actual horses that are here will move over there. And they would definitely recoil at individual turn-out initially. But that would solve future issues for sure. Thanks so much!

[fivestrideline]

In a large commercial barn with horses constantly coming in and out, this makes sense. With a more stable herd, the benefits of social interaction can outweigh the risks of herd living IF properly managed. Interactions through a stall bar or over a fence don’t entirely fulfill equine social needs, but can work when there are mitigating factors.

Also, it really does vary by region and discipline. I would not board any of mine at a place that didn’t do group turnout.

[Bluey]

@fivestrideline

In a large commercial barn with horses constantly coming in and out, this makes sense. With a more stable herd, the benefits of social interaction can outweigh the risks of herd living IF properly managed. Interactions through a stall bar or over a fence don’t entirely fulfill equine social needs, but can work when there are mitigating factors.

Also, it really does vary by region and discipline. I would not board any of mine at a place that didn’t do group turnout.

There are plenty of horses and situations that are not suitable for group turnout.
With ranch horses, you weed out those horses that won’t work in the herd, but when you have performance horses, the criteria is different.
We even kept our stallion with our geldings, because he was raised with and was ok with them.

A good performance horse, even if it can’t be safely turned out with others, is still valuable, with the right kind of management that protects that horse and others.