I’m looking for opinions on sizes for turn out paddocks. What’s the minimum size you would want to see for private turnout paddocks? My farm has a large pasture for turnout in small groups, but I am going to be building private turnout to accommodate boarders who “don’t play well with outhers”.
Also, if you were going to build paddocks for pasture board, what size would be the smallest acceptable size?
[QUOTE=Jhorne89;8106544]
I’m looking for opinions on sizes for turn out paddocks. What’s the minimum size you would want to see for private turnout paddocks? My farm has a large pasture for turnout in small groups, but I am going to be building private turnout to accommodate boarders who “don’t play well with outhers”.
Also, if you were going to build paddocks for pasture board, what size would be the smallest acceptable size?[/QUOTE]
The last place I boarded my horse had a private half acre +. That was, I imagine, on the extravagant side for most private turnout. The adjoining runs were about 30’x75’ with the back 16’ (so around 90’ total) part of a run in barn. I think 25’ would be about how narrow I would want if they have a shared, hot, fenceline. I’ve seen them as small as 25’x 25’ at some barns, but wouldn’t choose that myself.
Regarding pasture–size totally depends on how many horses in a group. Second question is if you are feeding hay year round? I really prefer small group, same sex turnout as a boarder.
Our private pens are about 70 x 60 feet, and have a shelter towards the middle of the pen. I wish we had made ONE smaller pen though, for horse that need limited mobility, but when that is needed now, we use round pen panels to make a pen smaller.
Around here a lot are barely bigger than a stall, maybe 24x24.
If I were a boarder, I’d prefer a long, narrow run vs a small square one. My favorite barn had individual paddocks off the stalls that were 24 x 60 or so. Long enough to trot briskly around in, roll comfortably, snooze by a buddy and avoid someone you didn’t like (less harassment with that width). Not so big they could gallop and skid, though. Horses seem to move more when the length goes up in paddocks, less so in square ones.
I don’t board but the paddock is attached to an open stall. It is 24 X100. It ended up being 24’ wide because that is the width of the overhang. 100’ long was because I ran it down to within mowing width of a grove of trees.
Being long and narrow ended up being a good thing for my Walking Horses as it gives them a chance to hit a couple good licks. They still have plenty of room to roll.
I found that the long, narrow runs can at times invite a horse to pace or run the fence or gives him enough room to get up speed without adequate room to turn.
I have a couple of paddocks that are 1/4 acre and 1/2 acre rectangles and they are a great size and we use them a ton for horses who need solo turnout, plus they are big enough that we can add a buddy safely.
Plan on some smaller paddocks and think ahead about how you might chop one down for a horse on layup, recovering, etc. I find having a variety of sizes is really useful in the long run.
The runs going off my barn are 12x36 and each has a gate leading out into a 1 acre paddock, which in turn leads into our pasture. This makes it really easy to have different configurations. I do NOT like the 12 foot widths in the paddocks, I have had concerns about horses getting cast or stuck. If at all possible, I would not do anything narrower than 16 feet were I to do it again.
I wouldn’t go smaller than 1/4 acre for meaningful turnout, though the width and length matters. I personally wouldn’t do less than 10m (30’) width.
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
