Finally moving forward with getting stuff built. Currently have 6 horses that are all turns out together on 20 acres. We are wanting to keep as much pasture as possible.
Paddock sizes? Wouldn’t mind buddying up 2 horses. Debating between 4 rail pipe fence or horse woven wire panels from TSC.
What is your climate? State is helpful if you don’t mind sharing. Is this the same 20 acres you’ll be cross-fencing? Do your seasons require sacrifice/dry paddocks? Do you ever plan to have more horses (be realistic 
)?
I have 5 on 5 acres of pasture in NorCal and we have no grass July-October but that’s just the climate. It does get grazed short in late winter/spring but they’re all fat then with no hay and wearing muzzles so there’s more than enough grass.
Montana. We currently have a front that’s about 7 acres. We are putting a single wide out there’. Wanting to do paddocks and an area closer to the house and leave as much pasture as possible. Everything is fenced (not very well) I’m sure they are doing to turn into dirt paddocks.
These are Montana horses that live outside 24/7. Also needing to reseed and fix our irrigation. Different story for another day lol.
Been a shock for me, coming from Nor Cal myself with a jumper background and did the whole working student/groom for fancy jumpers etc.
I have a paddock that’s ~50’ x ~100’ and it’s a good size for one horse in the winter/overnight. They could canter a few steps down the “long” side and trot around a bit but that’s it. I’d say double that for two horses for dry lot usage, or even bigger for more horses. If these are the only horses you’ll have and they all get along well, you can put them all together in one paddock but I’ve always found a use for an extra space.
I’d highly recommend splitting your big pasture into two or three, and depending on the shape/length of dividing fence putting one or two gates between them. I often move the horses into one field to mow or in case of a visiting horse that I don’t want to close into a paddock. My gate between my two fields stays open 99% of the time.
As far as fencing is concerned, I’d bet the cheapest/lowest maintenance option is no climb with a wood rail on top (a la Kentucky breeding farms) on wooden posts. I think it’ll depend on what you can get up there for what price. I can’t imagine you’ll have an issue finding a fence builder. 
You could do panels if you really want to be able to re arrange/move things, but they’ll be pricey. I have Centaur on wooden posts and while it is, IMO, the best fence that exists, it is $$$$$. I have babies so that’s how I justify it. Babies are dumb.
20 ft 4 rail is 110-130 depending on who you go thru here. I thankfully married someone who is handy handy and has 15+ years fencing experience. Just hard getting him to fix stuff around here. He doesn’t want to do woven wire/no climb. Said it’s a PITA to get tight but who knows.
Ya I did the no climb around my yard for the dogs and my guys struggled with it.
If money is less of an issue, you should check out the centaur. Literally zero maintenance and easy to install, just have to concrete in your corner posts or anywhere that isn’t straight. Can’t say enough about it.
So is it 6 horses on 20 acres 24/7 or is that 7 part of the total, and 6 horses on 13 24/7? In any case, my inclination would be to create two dry lots, ideally three. But two could work. Those would be small. I have a dry lot of a quarter acre that works for 2 drafts and a pony. They can stay in it for days if required, not happily, but they can. I then have a 1 acre field (flat, dry, mostly saved for winter or rainy weather) and two 3 acre fields. In general they only get 12 hours a day on those. They spend 8 to 14 hours in the dry lot. And I rotate according to the grass and the weather. One field is dry, the other is swampy, I use that to my advantage. In wet weather I try to put them on the dry field. In dry weather on the wet field.
You will be feeding hay. I would recommend three small dry lots, for ease of catching horses, winter weather issues, and letting fields rest as needed. By having well fenced dry lots that they spend much of their time in, you can actually reduce the pressure on the other fences. (in my experience)
When I have a solid cold winter, I can and do let them out on the bigger fields. But if I have to (I am in CT) I can use the small, flat acre paddock to let them stretch their legs during the day, and keep them in the dry lot at night. One warm muddy winter that was a stretch from January to April. Then I rested that acre and reseeded it. But I did not beat the other six up!
On fencing. The dry lot is Solid: a combination of building walls, stone walls, and four strand black bear shocking electric rope. The acre paddock has three strands of 2 inch hot tape on T posts on three sides, the top strand is at 5 feet. The third side is hot tape on 48 inch step in posts…really! But that side is on the top of the other two big fields. They are divided by a line of step ins with hot rope. But the exterior is hot tape/impenetrable rose/stone walls. I would prefer the exterior to get even more ferocious, but it works. I love the step in cross fencing though. I can shift the electric by a few feet over a thousand foot run, that lets me mow the fence line or adjust for the fact that horses always like to walk along a fence line. By shifting it, I keep that from becoming an actual beaten trail.
It works, because the horses are always being moved through the fields. I never, ever let them get ‘bored’
They are currently on the 7 since the ripped part of my back fence down. Usually I have the back open as well that has a creek/more shelter.
I currently have 2 horses stuffed in a 50 foot round pen. Horses were all just trimmed today and I have 2 that are a bit pre founder (gosh there had to be a better word for it) might be a discussion for the horse care page.
So I do have a few who would benefit from living in dry lots.
Montana - is your land flatter or hillier? No climb is easy but time consuming. Hilly is a little tricky, but not crazy.
Where we would be fencing it all flat. Currently perimeter fence it sheep fence with 2 strands of barbwire (Montana, typical) the horses have destroyed. Husband is wanting to replace everything with 4 strand smooth wire and fence stays and possibly hotwire. It’s been a debate for a while.
Smooth wire like tensile wire? That would be a hell no from me - that’s dangerous fencing for horses.
It’s currently mostly barbwire. Unfortunately that’s 110% the norm out here
Any wire (other than mesh) is a hell no from me. I’ve seen too many fence injuries. If you’re looking for cheap, probably electric tape is the best to go, as long as you’re not fighting with brush touching it and having to constantly trim around it.
Oof. Yeah I’d try to talk hubby into tape, or at the VERY least coated tensile wire.
I have high tensile coated electric wire, and the coating is white to make it more visible to deer, so they don’t take out my fencing. I’ve been here 8 years and so far that has worked.
Where I live it is flat and open, and the wind whips across the open fields and destroys electric tape, so that wouldn’t work here.
high tensile coated electric wire the coating is white
may not be ideal for use in Montana since blizzards can occur there I would think the white wire would just disappear, the same for electric fence tapes that gets covered with ice
Good point. Florida/California resident here and never thought of that.
My mom used it in Western NY without a problem. IME the horses learn to look for the fence posts if they know there is a fence.
My dad and I took out a section of electric fence so the horses could get to a new barn, but left the posts until we had time to remove them properly. I had to lead the horses past those posts for 3 or 4 days before they were convinced the fence was gone.
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