Permanently banished to a drylot: how big should I make it?

[EssexFells]

I will be getting a laminitic mare on my farm who can never be on grass; drylot only, and no roundbale access like my other horses have.
Within my existing barnyard area, there’s an area about 1/10th acre that I could fence off for her, roughly 65x40’. It’s the red-shaded rectangle in my photo, and the ligher shaded area is my existing barnyard, where I have a roundbale in a Bale barn. The two areas would share a water hydrant, and everyone would have free-access to shelter…

One of my key concerns is that I want to be able to get my tractor from one field to the next without lots of horse wranglling. / gate guarding. This setup accomplishes that. And would let my other horses continue to enjoy their roundbale, but Ms. Fatso can still keep them within sight.

But is 1/10th acre enough space? I’m sure it’s enough for her to canter around a bit if she wants, but no full-out gallops. I could go bigger, but honestly, I suspect that on bare ground she’s not going to have much motivation to constantly move around and graze. I’ll see what toys she likes, if any.
What does COTH think?

[starsandsun]

Is this for 24/7? Is she going to be ridden?

[trubandloki]

@EssexFells

I will be getting a laminitic mare on my farm who can never be on grass; drylot only, and no roundbale access like my other horses have.
Within my existing barnyard area, there’s an area about 1/10th acre that I could fence off for her, roughly 65x40’. It’s the red-shaded rectangle in my photo, and the ligher shaded area is my existing barnyard, where I have a roundbale in a Bale barn. The two areas would share a water hydrant, and everyone would have free-access to shelter…

One of my key concerns is that I want to be able to get my tractor from one field to the next without lots of horse wranglling. / gate guarding. This setup accomplishes that. And would let my other horses continue to enjoy their roundbale, but Ms. Fatso can still keep them within sight.

But is 1/10th acre enough space? I’m sure it’s enough for her to canter around a bit if she wants, but no full-out gallops. I could go bigger, but honestly, I suspect that on bare ground she’s not going to have much motivation to constantly move around and graze. I’ll see what toys she likes, if any.
What does COTH think?

I am guessing she will spend her spare time moving around looking for tid bits to eat. That is what mine do when they are turned out in the sacrifice area.

If this mare requires no grazing at all, then you want to remember that a bigger area means work on your part to keep the vegetation off.

[wsmoak]

I would do a track system if you possibly can, rather than a rectangle. The book ‘Paddock Paradise’ gives an overview or there is lots of information online. At a minimum, make a long thin path, preferably a loop, and put hay at one end and water at the other so the horse is encouraged to move.

[Jarpur]

@trubandloki

If this mare requires no grazing at all, then you want to remember that a bigger area means work on your part to keep the vegetation off.

This is what I found; I ended up cutting my graveled sacrifice paddock almost in half. Large enough for the horses to still trot or canter around freely, kick their heels in the air, etc.

[mmeqcenter]

40’x65’ is enough space. I believe the recommended absolute minimum is 400 sq ft per horse.

[EssexFells]

24/7, she’s fully retired. In the dead of winter I’ll let her graze on the dead grass (ETA: after it snows, and will test sugar!) but that’s only like late Jan to early March.

[EssexFells]

I’m going to use herbicide and then get a couple dumptrucks of sand. Should help, but yeah will be a fun new farm maintenance task.

[luvmyhackney]

If you want her to have a romp in the big field, you can tape the hole in a grazing muzzle and use that.

I’m building a 50’ x 60’ space for my pony between my grass fields and the big horses kick up their heels just fine in it.

[EssexFells]

good idea re muzzle. I can feel her giving me the stink eye already. LOL

[WildGooseChase]

I kept two very easy keeper mares on a 60x60 for years with no issues. They both were regularly ridden though. Not hard, but enough to keep some juices flowing.

[lenapesadie]

My foundered horse has a 75x150 plus a 45x45 plus his 15x20 run in stall. He is ok to have a few nibbles otherwise I’d make his space smaller.

[DMK]

Mine have a 50x75 ish space and it’s plenty large, although the young retiree who has back issues finds it problematic when he is confined there for extended periods. If we have a drought and grass is slow to come back in spring I leave them locked up for 6 weeks to give the pastures a break, otherwise they are only in during the day or have full pasture access 24/7, depending on the season. The first year I did this resulted in some interesting vet bills. He started standing parked out all the time. He wasn’t lame or laminitic, so we wondered if he had bladder stones. Once I spent sufficient money on THAT notthedx, that’s when we figured out he was … backsore. VERY backsore. Mind you all he does is walk, crib, eat hay or grass and drink, but apparently if you remove the grazing/walking and replace it with stuffing his face at the roundbale 24/7, that will make him sufficiently sore. Lesson learned, they don’t necessarily move around that much in a dry lot and apparently retiring him was the right decision if that could make him sore.

That said, two things I would consider:

1. grade the area and put screenings down and tamp or roll before adding sand. When it comes to horses on dry lots, putting sand on unprepped soil is mostly throwing good money after bad.

2. If you could create a grazing walkway around your perimeter, that would be best.