We even had a new property owner of a previous horse farm have topsoil spread on top of its GGT dressage arena in order to grow grass.
And fences to many are just something requiring too much maintenance for their non-horse lifestyles.
Gah!
That was my first question when HITS Balmoral closed its doors - how much do they want for that footing?
Yes, I think they can make your property attractive to a very small subset of buyers, though I wouldn’t count on it increasing the value. We recently got a letter from a realtor on the other side of the state saying they have a client looking for a horse property with amenities just like ours. They aren’t visible from the road so the realtor must have been cruising Google Earth looking for barns and arenas! Our supposed property value has actually increased by more than the cost of the horse amenities, but that’s only because of inflation and the crazy housing market.
I absolutely would pay more for move in ready fencing.
The first thing we had to do was rip
Out 5 acres of 5 strand barbed wire when we bought our farm and replace it before I could bring my mare home . Plus the board fence will have way more curb appeal which is important when selling
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We are going to make a killing on our property at which time we sell it. We bought low as the barn was a shell that now has 4 stalls, hay loft, tack room, wash stall, grooming areas and a huge shed attached. We put up all the 4 strand electric fence. We built the arena. The kicker is that we are literally 30 seconds down the road from the show venue that hosts A, B, schooling and dressage shows along with mini trials. Winner winner chicken dinner!
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It doesn’t add value but it may help it sell faster if a prospective buyer has animals. This is just my experience in buying and selling way more farms ( big & small) than I cared to.
No one has mentioned the type of fencing. Some fencing for horses is pretty ugly and some is beautiful. I really like metal pipe fencing in California, because it is almost zero maintenance and very safe, but I don’t think it is very attractive. The gorgeous black wood fences like those around Kentucky horse farms might add value – or I should say, I wonder if they do.
Three or four board black wood fencing looks great, I agree. I have it. In my sunny, hot location it fades very quickly. The first year after painting it begins to lose its uniform look, and about year three it really needs a complete repaint. So I anticipate, budget for and accept the high maintenance cost. A prospective non-equestrian buyer might see it as a future financial drain, like some folks consider a swimming pool.
And remember what it looks like after steady visits by flocks of birds. Some buyers might not appreciate the curb appeal of the black and white striped look. Plan to paint the fences right before trying to market the farm.
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Western WA is very horsey and horse properties do go for more than your average 3 BR 2BA. We have 5 acres fenced and cross fenced, barn with a huge shop, mud free paddocks, run-ins in all pastures, and it was appraised much higher than properties in the same development that had no horse facilities.
Many of my posts on my property are used from a 10 acre farm that was fenced and crossfenced for cows and sheep, it was sold and the purchasers ripped it ALL out. Nearly new fencing. They are now used for my arena, chicken area, and third one acre paddock and I still have a small pile left, and my vet also got posts and did a lot of her fencing as well.
There are 5 horse properties that sold in my neighborhood in the past 6 years and every single one of them was sold to people without horses/livestock. One property had a beautiful dressage arena that was converted into a garden, another had an arena that is now overgrown with weeds and trees down on the fence and at one time was being used to park an RV, another who’s new owner removed all of the fencing. One just a few doors down from me totally gutted the 3 stall barn with grooming bay. They contacted me asking if I wanted the rubber mats that were in the barn and when I told them they could sell them (there were 20 perfect mats) they said it was me or the dump 
.Mr Squirrel was down there with the truck within the hour.
It makes me sad to see beautiful horse properties being sold to non-horse people.
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our barns are built with the ability to be converted into garages or shops… the appraiser said the buildings were worth Two times the value as garages/shops rather than a specific use of being a barn
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