I am looking into pasture board for my horses and was wondering a few things. I plan on taking care of them myself. Is the pasture usually shared with other horses? Would I get a discount for boarding multiple horses in the same paddock? Lastly, if anyone has experience with show horses living in a paddock 24/7, feel free to share, thanks!
Really depends. Around here pasture board is almost always individuals not boarding businesses. You can find almost any arrangement from renting a field yourself to putting your horse in an established herd where the property owner understands horses and keeps an eye on things.
On a good summer pasture the only work is topping up water and keeping an eye on fences. Even if there is an owner onsite they are not going to be doing more than a visual check.
As far as keeping “show horses” in a field, it’s got more to do with the special needs of the horse rather than his job and value. Most horses adapt fine to summer pasture (unless they are prone to grass laminitis). They will get dirty and get tangled manes and may get a few nips. But underneath it all they will be fat and shiny.
Where I live it’s rare to find good pasture on a property with an arena or trails access. Most of the pasture around here was originally dairy farms and might not even have any barns suitable for horses.
It completely depends. Barns a mile down the road may have a totally different approach.
Self-care pasture with the facilities to keep a show horse in work can be challenging. In some areas it is more common than others. Some offer discounts for multiple horses. Many do not. Some offer private turnout but most do not for self care.
I pasture board my prospective show horse but it is not self-care.
I don’t pasture board. If I did, the one thing that would always concern me is … would my pony go in shelter during a thunderstorm or would they stay out? I have sheds in my fields, and we still bring in if it’s going to storm. I have some that make a bee line to their sheds the minute it sprinkles, and some that would stand out no matter what. I’m not being critical of pasture boarding at all- this is just something for you to think about as you evaluate different places.
All my horses live out 24/7 in pasture. They show in riding (dressage and eventing), driving and draft. It works well for them. I do not show in the winter, so they don’t need blanketing. Blanketing is a huge hassle and time consumer in the winter if they live outdoors. Naked is the way to go.
I do take boarders, but I would not meet the OP’s requirements. First, I will not do self care. I have learned from experience that no matter what people say they will do about feeding, many of them are unreliable. Sorry if that is harsh, but I charge a board rate that includes feed and hay. I make sure every horse on my farm is fed daily. Horses share 10 acre fields. Second, you want a separate field for your horse – it will cost you more. If I can keep 6 horses in a field and you want it exclusive for your two, then it is going to cost extra to be exclusive. My field board rates are pretty inexpensive, so unless you are bringing horses that don’t graze, I don’t offer multi-horse discounts. I have a nice farm with an all weather sand on bluestone ring and access to trails. I am fine with boarders coming out as often as they want to use the property. I also do a great deal of maintenance on my property and I carry liability and CCC insurance on boarded horses.
I think the OP should be looking to rent a field. It might be cheaper. She can deal with the upkeep issues (like learning to love mowing and trimming), the feed/hay acquisition and storage, and the insurance. I definitely recommend getting liability insurance if that field is not being monitored by someone living on the property.
I do think pasture board is more healthy for most horses – there are exceptions. The boarders I have had over 20 years have been happy with the services, unless they really just want stall board and think they can morph into it at my farm. I ask them to leave because no horse lives in a stall unless it is for a vet lay-up.
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Pasture board can mean different things. Ironwood Farm is doing supplementary hay and running a riding facility.
When I put my mare out for vacation in the fall, I put her in a herd on a field my trainer rents. There is water, a small run-in shelter, and nonhorsey neighbors who will notice if the horses escape. Other than that the horses just eat, gallop around, socialize. If they want to stay out in the rain and graze they do so. There is nowhere to ride or work them. I drop by once a week to say hello and untangle her tail. You could not keep a horse in work there. That’s typical of summer pasture in our exurbs. The pasture is good enough to keep 4 or 5 horses fat through December
I don’t know of any place around her with the setup Ironwood has. It sounds wonderful
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Outdoor board and its availability is often very regional.
When I lived in Alberta outdoor board was offered at a large variety of facilities. Everything from DIY rent a field setups, to high end show barns.
In Ontario they are few and far between. In southern Ontario real estate is very expensive, and farms are often too small to support the number of horses without the paddocks turning to mud. Even when stalled the majority of the time. As you go north outdoor board becomes more available, but you often lose amenities and quality trainers.
I was lucky enough to find a barn with a phenomenal trainer, an indoor arena, two outdoor rings, and outdoor board. My horse is a cribber if he is stalled. Outside he virtually never cribs. He decides when to eat, when to nap, when to seek shelter, etc. He doesn’t need or want a human to make those decisions for him.
Saying that, he is also my A/O hunter. Other than during a pandemic I would be at the barn 5 days/wk to ride, do blanket changes, and grain. He has never had an issue with the elements if I clip, etc.
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It is hard, although not impossible, to find a facility with outdoor board that also offers the facilities needed to maintain a show horse.
Things to consider:
- A horse in full work will almost surely need grain 2x a day. Not all places offer this, especially if they have good grass.
- Body clipping. Depending on your discipline and climate this can be a huge issue. You might consider a place where the use of a stall is available in the winter months.
- Many places with large herds do not allow horses to wear hind shoes.
- Some horses who live out 24/7 have a hard time adjusting to being stalled at the horse show.
It is definitely doable and is healthier in the long run but every pasture boarding situation is not always going to be ideal for keeping a show horse. Good luck!
it varies so greatly… we offer both stall and pasture board. all of the 45 or so here currently are on pasture board. i supply hay and grain, do all the labor, and we will NOT allow people to do self care, since we’ve been burned in the past. we have an indoor, outdoor, trails, hunt course, my eventer and dressage show horses all live out too. we turn out in groups of 2-5, depending on the horses and the size of the paddocks.
now, drive a half-mile down to the farm at the end of my road, where there is any number of combinations: self-care; owner provides grain or hay or both and BO feeds it; full care; solo turnout; a turnout group as large at 10 or 12 horses. all depends on what the BO is able or willing to provide.
As you’ve already heard, there are all varieties out there. I have done both a pasture with ONLY my 2 horses in it & a group pasture. I keep them at home now, but they still live out 24/7. We are not actively competing right now, but I have in the past & yes, they are still out 24/7. They have a shelter. I think this is even MORE important for sport horses, to keep bodies moving & minds healthier (with the caveat that not every place in the world has that option, but where possible, it’s my top priority).
As for how much of the care you do & how much you are charged, that’s between you & the property owner. The last place I boarded, the only thing the farm did was to dump horses’ feed in, provide hay, & fill water trough. I did everything else, including dragging/picking paddock, providing said feed, providing my own tack storage, I even added some tape & t-post caps to fencing (with permission) for safety.
As others have said, there are a lot of variations out there as to what is available. You could generally expect to pay more for a semi-private turnout arrangement (just your two horses). But, a less expensive situation with larger groups might have more squabbling and horses getting picked on. Most pasture board situations I know are pretty non-particular about what horses get turned out in which field for pasture board–there might be a mare field and a gelding field, and some of those situations don’t take into account if there are horses with hind shoes or aggressive horses or horses that are known kickers.
I personally do not offer pasture board, because it requires more land per horse, and increases my costs for pasture maintenance, while at the same time the owner is expecting a hefty discount. It just financially isn’t worth my time. Pasture maintenance is expensive–seeding, fertilizing, weed control, managing mud, managing high traffic areas, etc. There absolutely is a lot more wear and tear on a field that has horses out 24/7 vs. inside part of the time.
I would not expect any discounts for two horses–that’s just not realistic. Most boarding rates are set pretty close to actual costs for the BO. Whether you have one or two horses doesn’t make those horses any less expensive to keep.
I personally have kept show horses on nearly 24/7 turnout, but as the BO I have always had the flexibility of having stalls available as needed, which if you are showing is extremely helpful. Oftentimes there are reasons to keep a show horse inside periodically–they might be having trouble keeping shoes on due to stomping at flies in the afternoon, or they might need to be inside when it rains due to skin sensitivity, or they might be body clipped and be cold when there is cold or wet weather. Blanket changes are much more annoying to manage when you are outside. It’s harder to ensure that your horse is eating an appropriate diet if they are eating with other horses. If your horse is getting any maintenance like joint injections or ever has any injuries or lameness, you might need the ability to keep the horse inside overnight. You might not want to miss a farrier appointment because it is pouring rain and your horse is soaking wet and muddy but you have a show coming up. Also, sometimes horses that are turned out with a group and never separated become overly attached to pasturemates, especially if they are just turned out with one other horse–that can be an annoying distraction to deal with if your horse or the other horse/s is upset or whinnying incessantly when you are trying to school. Coming inside on a regular basis can really help prevent those awkward attachments from forming.
Also, a lot of facilities that have adequate training arenas for show horses are not set up to be hospitable to low dollar pasture boarders. It just isn’t an economically feasible model unless you were also going to be paying a lot for training. Equine facilities are so expensive to own and maintain, renting out pastures really just isn’t a setup that works out to be economically fair to the owner of that facility, unless they still charge a pretty high rate.
