I would like to know how much space it takes to keep two horses, I would like it to be almost year-round, on grazing. I know that I will have to feed at least a few months of the year. I would also like to include a 200’ by 100’ arena and a decent sized barn. I would also like to know how much this would cost, as for the fencing, materials, etc.?
A lot depends on land and labor costs in your area.
An outdoor arena is going to be up to $50,000 depending on drainage. Indoor arena up to $100,000 plus Id say.
Amoubt of pasture to graze varies with climate. In desert climates there is no grass. In the PNW there is grass year round but the ground is so wet you can only let them out from April to October or mud city.
You are looking at between 5 and 10 acres for this setup if you also figure in a house.
Where I live that’s between $5 and $10 million dollars. Again varies by region.
I was raised that it takes five acres per head of livestock. When I retired 11 hours further south, I called my county Ag person and asked this question, wondering if that requirement had changed over the years – it has not – it is STILL five acres per head of livestock, if one wants to maintain them on pasture nearly all year.
I have 25 acres – it was ample when I had four horses, even though things did get dicey during the exceptional drought from 2007 thru 2009. We bought prime bare pasture land in 2003, when it was 5K/acre. We had a top of the line 1650 SqFt modular home (NOT the same thing as a double wide mobile home) assembled on the property. The horse barn is 24 x 40. The workshop is 30 X 50 with a cement floor and an office. We did about 11K in cross-fencing as the perimeter fence was already up. We shelled out about 280K for all of that – it must be worth more these days because the RE taxes keep going up.
We live on a quiet, one lane farm road, with great farming neighbors. We are 15 minutes from town, decent shopping, feed stores, and two hospitals. That’s all we need:)
I still have two horses (my elders have passed). The bully gets 19 acres, The insulin resistant horse gets six acres that is ample for him during the growing season but, long about November, the grass starts disappearing. Sometime in early January, he started running out of grass in his SIX acres. He has free access to the barn and hay whenever he wants to go in there.
The less acreage you try to skin by on, the faster it will get torn up, topsoil destroyed and nothing but weeds will grow. Not to mention the horses will not have much room to get away from each other.
There are some good books on keeping horses on small acreage but it can get expensive feeding hay all year long and having to rebuild the soil. Not to mention the worry about a poor haying season and either getting poor quality hay or not enough hay.
Before you worry about an arena, build a storage area big enough to be able to buy your hay by the season, regardless of how much acreage you have. If you say you can’t afford to buy hay by the season, you can’t afford to build an arena either:)
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As I’ve posted before, more acreage usually means lower cost horse care and lower labor horse care. Incredible cost savings in care from only feeding hay during months the pasture isn’t sufficient (in central VA, that’s 4 - 5 months with well maintained pasture), feeding round baled hay, purchased once per season, as walkin mentions above ^^^^ and turnout 24/7 with access to shelter to limit bedding costs. (and for healthier, happier horses.)
In my part of the world, good small horse properties for two horses start at 10 acres, with at least half the acreage in pasture. I’ve seen it done well with less land, but always with a concession in expense or labor. (Aggressive pasture maintenance/rotation; more hay, more manure removal, etc.)
I don’t know about the climate in Wisconsin; but I’m going to assume you’ll need more acreage to get a similar result in a less temperate climate.
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IIRC when it comes to grazing acreage a horse counts as 1.25AU (animal units; and animal unit is a cow and calf). Your local Extension Service office can give you the proper number for YOUR location. For me, in East TN, it’s one acre/AU. If I were in Alpine, TX I suspect the number would be MUCH higher!!! 
I lived in WI for about 8 years in two stints (undergrad and law school/practice). My guess is that WI number will be similar to the East TN number as both areas have adequate rainfall for good pasture growth. Both need to plan on hay during the winter (although the amount will vary as in East TN we have some edible forage plants available year 'round).
If possible, go for the most land you can afford. It will allow for better rotation opportunities and maybe even give you a shot at making your own hay (but approach this one carefully, as making good quality hay is NOT an easy or cheap thing). One of the absolute minimums for me in an equine setup is a year 'round, flowing stream that can be accessed year 'round. This solves a BUNCH of management problems in several areas.
As to facilities, if you’re a Real Man you can go with cover on your arena. This will not make it cheaper to build but will make vastly cheaper to operate as you won’t need as much artificial light nor will you need fans to exhaust hot air in the summer (and WI really does have a summer, even if it be short ) The thing the indoor gives that the cover does not is wind protection. But an indoor without a heating system will just mean you’ve got a “cold box” when the the temps go below zero F. Depending on your use that may not be an issue as you can just suspend ops when it get really cold. But if your business requires you to work even in deep cold then the indoor, along with it’s vastly more expensive operational costs, might be required.
You don’t now where you are in the state. If you’re near Kenosha your needs will be different than if you’re near Superior. Or LaCrosse.
I referenced Extension Service, above. Contact them (they are usually found in your local court house, or nearby) and see how they answer your questions. It’s a free service (well, not really, but you’ve already paid for it in your taxes and in WI that means you REALLY paid for it!! ). They are usually nice, qualified people with information specific to your location.
Good luck in your project! 
G.
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just doing a casual look for “Horse Properties in Wisconsin” … there are many available that are priced well below the cost to build the barns/arenas/fencing/covered arenas… I would look at some of those before investing in new construction
here is a 41.5 acre place with improvements that comes to under $18k per acre
https://www.horseproperties.net/properties/Wisconsin/Dunn+County/Mondovi/17304
here one on 20 acres with two houses, a modern barn eight stall barn, four paddocks with shelters, fenced… $425,000… there is no way one can build this for the price asked
https://www.horseproperties.net/properties/Wisconsin/Marathon+County/Wittenberg/28116
the here is one a Morton built 10 stall with an attached 60 by 125 indoor and 80 by 170 outdoor arena on 18 acres… $499.000… the Morton building may now cost the asking price for the property
https://www.horseproperties.net/properties/Wisconsin/Calumet+County/Menasha/24170
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ok post with links was “unapproved”…OP you really need to just look at existing horse properties in Wisconsin
here is one that is $499,000 located at N8343 State Park Rd, Menasha, Calumet County, Wisconsin
18+/- acres of land all set for your horses with added income for boarding horses! Indoor Morton 60X125 arena has a heated viewing lounge with 10 stalls and private runs. Outdoor 80 x 170 riding arena as well has a 300’ horse challenge course. 50x30 barn and 6 large dry-lots with 4 adjoining grass pastures. Automatic heated waterers in 5 paddocks. An extra 30x60 shed. Safe-Fence with 1.5 electro weave tape fencing throughout. Generac Generator system and an Auxiliary Wood burner included. Updated 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths all set for you to move in.
From what I have spent on things there is no way these improvement could be added to a bare piece of land for the cost of this property
Since my construction - 36X36 metal pole barn w/2 12X12 stalls, attached 60X120 indoor & fencing, frostfree hydrant, etc - took place 15yrs ago I cannot accurately quote today’s costs.
But my total for all of the above ran close to $100K.
House was present & I bought that + 5ac for a little over $200K.
Zoning at the time allowed me 2 horses for that amount of acreage, changes would now lower that to 1.
I am in NW IN, so climate similar to Southern WI.
I feed hay year-round as my pastures total around 3ac.
In hindsight I wish I’d done perimeter fencing - less mowing for me, more pasture for horses.
Until I added a mini 2yrs ago, that meant 2 horses on those pastures & I supplemented grazing with 200-300 small (~50#) square bales.
Last Summer I upped that to 400 bales & probably have overbought, but sure beats running out in March!
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From previous posts, the OP is a child in a lesson program. She is asking a legitimate question and one lots of people think about, but it might be more informational at this point.
And as I said in my first post, the huge variable is cost of land. People on this thread have bought entire horse farms for less than a condo costs where I live.
Other threads have pointed out that stables and arenas often don’t really increase the selling price of a property (the quality of the house can).
So OP when it comes time to look for property the first thing you need to do is go into the online real estate listings and look at farm prices. You can buy a farm and build your barn or buy a farm with a barn.
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I like that OP is already thinking tho!
I lived in WI and depending on where you are, pasture year 'round won’t happen because it’ll be under snow for a few months. When I lived there, it was only through one winter because that was all my mother could take and she fled before the second winter really got going. Most people who had horses and land, brought them home in the summer and fall and boarded them with big barns that had indoors through winter and spring.
I bought nine acres in the PNW for my current herd of two horses and two donkeys. As @Scribbler said, they are in starting October-ish and not out again until April because they otherwise will damage pasture to where it isn’t usable at all in any part of the year. But to give you true sticker shock, my nine acres was ~$15k per acre, and then I fenced three paddocks (two one acre, one 1/3 acre), put in a well and septic and built a small house. No arena yet because it’s expensive. Depending on how it appraises in April, I can possibly have enough equity to both drop PMI and get a small loan to build it without changing my current payment much, or just slowly build it over the next three years. Honestly, there was a farm for sale on the southern part of the island that I should have bought but thought was over-priced at the time…oh how foolish I was :lol:
I have 4 horses and 12+ acres. I give grain all year and hay from Oct - April, when there is not enough grass to support them. I also heavily sow winter rye so the horses have something to nibble on, although I do not count it as part of their forage needs.
And this is 1 horse per 3 acres. Depending on how lush the grass is in your area, I would say that 5 acres/horse is ok --> not enough if you do not want to supplement with hay for 1/2 the year or more.
so today I see the horse property ads on this board… I personally cannot believe what people are having to decrease their price to and still have not sold …and this is not an old property having just been built in 2003
Autumn View Farm Is a one of a kind 32 Acre Horse Farm
Expertly designed to maximize property function & natural beauty. Barn features 10 custom built 12x12 stalls, wash stall w/hot & cold water, Heated tack, feed & viewing room, giant storage room. Over-sized parking garage suitable for truck & trailer. Spiral staircase leads to 2nd floor viewing balcony & hayloft.
*MASSIVE 80’x200’ indoor sand arena w/200’ of open windows
*Outside features a 125’x165’ outdoor sand arena w/drainage,.
*Multiple pastures & white maintenance free vinyl fencing.
*Separate Well & Electric & Driveway
To further compliment the property the 2700+ SF open floor plan home features 4 beds 2.5 baths in ground pool & spa.
https://www.chronofhorse.com/directo…rian_Property/
$875,000 dollars
Locally there was a “horse property” of 1 and 1/3rd acres sell for $300,000 then the new owners bulldozed the place to bare ground leaving just the trees
Ads such as the above sure make it temping to move to New York
One additional thing to keep into consideration - just because there is grass in the pasture it may not meet your individual horse’s nutritional needs.
