I’m starting to look at small properties in Indiana and Kentucky, but due to my budget, limited to 3-10ish acres. At these sizes, the properties often abut up to neighborhoods, subdivisions or parks. I am kind of worried about horses being an “attractive nuisance” with uneducated adults or children either coming up to fence or coming onto property. What kind of insurance do I need for this? Any recommendations? Obviously double fencing/hotwire would be ideal but on these size acreages can’t really afford to sacrifice too much land to that.
The equine liability insurance, No Trespassing signs and double fencing the most attractive access point is what we did. You might want to speak with the local PD about the signs, I think some towns have their own specifics about where to place them and such.
My insurance runs me about $300 a year. I’ve used Blue Bridle/American Reliable.
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I’d run a hot wire outside the fencing - with appropriate warning signage - at Lean Over the Fence height.
What I did was have excavator use what he dug for my barn/indoor base to form a berm that separates my property from the road that’s about 100’ from my fenceline.
Planted with perennials & volunteer trees, it’s not unsightly & seems to keep “visitors” off my land.
Maybe a nice stretch of thorny bushes - roses, raspberries - along the outside of the fenceline?
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I’d also worry about adjacent residential neighborhoods considering your horse farm a nuisance. At least three I have boarded at had nearby folks file numerous complaints about flies, smells, manure contaminating water runoffs, horses upsetting their dogs (!), noisy diesel tractors, dust and many other things. In two cases the adjacent neighborhoods were built after the barn facility and horses were already there.
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I have a farm in Indiana that abuts a subdivision. It’s fine. Except fireworks month in July, which gets super annoying. I had to go yell at some neighbors last July for shooting their fireworks OVER my horse fields. It was very dry and I worried about fire, plus it was freaking out my foal.
Generally we get along well. I do have my fields double fenced with a tree line about 10 feet thick, which helps. I have 20 acres and around 15 horses on property (boarding business).
IN Farm Bureau provides me with a farm policy, CC&C, and an umbrella policy. Insurance alone runs me about $6k/year but I have around 1m in structures insured.
Poison Ivy helps too.
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we are in the middle of a city, three elementary and a middle school within blocks of here sidewalks across the front of the property… on the public side the fence is backset 100 feet front the street then we are double fenced with ten foot gap so the German Shepard and Great Pyrenees have access to greet any one who approaches
Biggest issues as other have said is keeping the manure picked which is done Daily each evening. We then put that into roller trash cans for the sanitation company to pickup on Tuesdays and Fridays
Been here for 39 years without a problem other than educating Animal Control as to just what a pony and horse are as they had no idea yet their ordinance was separated by pony and horse
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The dog gap is genius actually!
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have used that to provide a place to keep dogs for friends that is How we ended up with the Great Pyrenees as she was one of the EIGHT puppies we watched for two weeks, payment was the pup
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for those on raw land near a city be aware of “extraterritorial jurisdiction” as you may be subject to the same ordinances/zoning as if within the city but without the benefits
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It is probably best that you talk to someone who sells insurance about such things in your state to make sure you have all your bases covered.
There is farm liability, equine liability, etc. All are good options.
Definitely put up a multitude of signs.
If you’re doing board fencing, I’d put hot wire in between each board.
Wire mesh would be better, with a top board.
No matter what type of fencing, I’d put a line of hot wire on top going upwards with extenders, to extend the height and prevent humans and horses from reaching over the top of the fenceline.
If the accessible fence line is fairly small, you could double fence just 3-4’ inside the perimeter fence just on the accessible side(s), wouldn’t lose a ton of land with that. Just wide enough to get a regular lawn mower down.
Cameras would be good too.
I think they also make motion-activated sprinklers to keep dogs or coyotes out of yards, could set up some of those too 
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Put up signs about the electric fence warning about it. It’s not uncommon for local regulations to require them to be posted ever so many feet.
I also have signs asking people to stay out of the pastures, to keep gates closed, to not feed the horses, etc. All of which had happened previously, so I recommend this, too. Especially if you, like me, have adorable small horses.
In addition, we have our property legally posted against trespassing. Some people have no boundaries. We also found out (the hard way) that, at least in this area, if someone has previously been allowed onto the property, and is to be no longer allowed in the future, they must be officially notified and sign something (we were told it’s a book) in recognition of this. In our case, this procedure was done by the sheriff’s office. Otherwise, it’s not considered trespassing here.
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I have these plus another sign on my gate that says to stay out.
Double fenced.
Home owners insurance with an umbrella.
Resting bitch face.
Fourteen different cameras that record and live feed.
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