It all sounds wonderful but how do you think he will handle being next door to a boarding barn, with all the goings-on, other horses, etc? Without a companion, he may not be happy. If you add the companion, you add cost, wear and tear on the land, more manure, etc. I would be concerned that you would quickly outgrow the acreage, be dealing with mud and are now “stuck” with a house that you just purchased if it doesn’t work out. With flies, manure, mud I’m not sure I’d pull the trigger until I visited other properties w/same setup and spoken with owners there about regrets, etc.
I had 4 horses on 1.5 acres in south Florida. It’s very common down in the Ft lauderdale area, there are whole horse subdivisions where no lot is larger than an acre or so. I did have grass but almost all of my 1.5 was in grass so they had a bit more space than your guy will have. I can see from your overview you may have more property around the sides of the house that could be fenced, if so do that. The more space the better.
Be prepared that one day you may lose your boarding barn. The green pasture looks big enough that if it was cleared and leveled you could ride there.
I love having my horses home. It’s worth it in my opinion. However, expect to not save as much $ as you think. Between building and fencing costs, and then the cost of feed and hay (we were paying between 12 and 20$ a bale) you will save some money but not as much as you may be thinking. A horse getting high quality hay and grain may cost 400$ a month just for feed.
PsyPsy … Go for it ! AFTER you have investigated every aspect twice. You’ll know going in what to expect and plan for.
We have two horses. Our farm costs are much more than boarding the two out. BUT… the immediate and constant horse interaction and the pleasure of the land is the reward.
edit to add… the only enclosed space, you’ll need is hay storage. The bigger and more ventilated, the better for hay storage and purchase. The horse only needs a run-in shed to escape the heat, flies, (in FL you won’t have snow enough to measure.)
I’ve been hesitant to post this, but here goes…my board is $800 a month! I can’t fathom a situation with my very easy-keeper where I wouldn’t save money in this situation. When we add the mortgage, cost of fencing and the barn, plus feed and hay, at a monthly rate I’m saving a boatload.
But yes, I will check things five times over. We haven’t even made an offer on the property yet, as I wanted to do my homework before wasting the homeowner’s time.
I have a couple of “appointments” with friends this weekend to explore their property. One has two horses (plus her house) on 1.06 acres, and another has 4 horses on 2 acres (plus her house). I want to check out these real-life situations and get their tips.
4 Likes
I have had both situations and am lucky enough now to have them at home. One point that no one has mentioned is that horses need / love to RUN!! It’s part of their nature. This property is just too small for that - sorry. I have 10 acres and 4 horses / ponies and they regularly take spins around the field, bucking, kicking and playing with such joy that I couldn’t keep them cooped up in a small paddock. Additionally, one of my horses is a TB and he wouldn’t be any fun to ride if he doesn’t have enough space to run / buck off all of that extra energy and steam.
I have six horses. Four of them spend 8 months out of the year in a 60x100 drylot, the other two spend the 8 months in a 60x60 drylot. I do have pasture that they are out on during summer, but not full time. What you are proposing is completely reasonable.
would also suggest that you look into doing a slow feeder and a shelter/stall run in that you don’t necessarily have to bed. That saves time, money, and HASSLE.
I am not sure what hard costs are for you where you live, but I can do the math and figure that each horse eats about $160 in hay per month (I do free choice in whole bale nets) and each easy keeping horse is $0.40 for a vitamin balancer and the hard keepers up to $1.50 per day in a steam bound grain product. So most of my horses cost $172 per month. A hard keeper might cost me $217. That of course is just to feed. I do not have shavings, we have sand pits in the drylots for the horses to sleep on.
I usually spend about $300-600 per year on gravel replenishment for the drylot. We compost our manure (which is not a lot because of not having shavings in the stalls.
A big factor that a lot of people don’t think about when they bring horses home is how much time they are willing to devote to horse care. I found a way to manage mine that is VERY easy, but it is uncommon. I can feed supplements once per day and check water/do paddocks in less than 40 minutes total for six horses. Other people I know can’t get their horse chores done in two hours with one horse and feed are feeding morning, noon, evening, and again at night. Not that my way is better, it just works for me and helps me not feel tied to the farm.
Additionally, think about how you will feel if you don’t have as many friends at your barn. Some people who bring horses home feel very lonely.
If you feel good about these things, then go for it! I LOVE having my horses home, but that is because we thought through our plan immensely.
1 Like
I completely agree with you - this is what I miss most about Texas. But none of the boarding barns in our area have turnout larger than what I am suggesting here. I’d love to have a minimum of five acres for one horse, but I’d have to move to an entirely different state for that to fit into my budget 
2 Likes
