Sacrifice paddock - how small is too small?

[danacat]

Sorry for the novel here! Lots of explaining so you get the picture.

Skip to bottom of post – to question in bold – if you don’t feel like reading all of this.

Current situation: Mud free ‘sacrifice’ area (stone dust over geotech fabric) is approximately 140’ x 60’.

Run-in shed 16’ x 36’ is smack in the middle of this area.

My horse are turned out almost 24/7 and they spend a fair amount of time in this area around shed – but they are free to wander into their huge connected pasture which is NOT seperated from sacrifice area with fencing.

Every winter and spring they tear up the pasture to a degree, and it has always recovered. But this winter portions of the pasture have taken a real beating – years of abuse are starting to add up!

Plus I have three horses in there (used to have only two) and I fear the pasture won’t recover this time.

Destroyed parts of pasture (hoof clods everywhere) will need to be harrowed, mine field of hoof holes filled in with dirt-- and I’ll have to reseed.

In order for this to be successful, I will have to divide sacrifice area from pasture with a fence. 140’ feet with gate opening to allow them eventual access once pasture is re-established.

Fence will be permanent so that next winter I can close it off on those wet, soggy, unfrozen days. Don’t want it to be destroyed again!

Thankfully I have an adjoining ‘good’ pasture that I only use in summer, so they will have that to graze and frolick in until the other pasture is good to go.

But…for the most part, and for years to come…they will be confined to this sacrifice area around shed. And I want to make it a bit bigger.

I can’t increase the 140’ length – but I can increase the 60’ width to whatever I want – within reason.

So…keeping in mind that three horses will be in there, how much would you increase the width so that they can get some reasonably good exercise: run, buck, play, blow off steam? They do get ridden (nearly) year round, so turn-out isn’t their only exercise. But still…

…I want to give them some extra room around the shed, especially without breaking the bank. Geotech fabric + stone dust is $$$!

Thoughts on minimal width/size of sacrifice paddock for three energetic horses who are turned out 24/7. 140’ X __?

Thanks for the input!

[Simkie]

Is the long side of the shed perpendicular to the 140’ side or parallel to it?

I think the solution to this problem is determining the right amount of clearance around the shed for the horses to bounce around and not have that space be trappy at all.

[danacat]

Short side of shed currently faces a long side of the fence – with about 16 ft. of clearance between shed and fence. Horses handle the gap beautifully, but it is a bit of a squeeze. I will allow for more room on opposite side of shed where new fence line will go.

[SquishTheBunny]

Your situation sounds VERY simialr to mine.

I have an approx 50 x 180 sacrafice paddock. It opens up to a “winter” paddock that is about 400 x 200. (basically its all one, and I just use electrobraid to divide them) I then have another paddock (300 x 800) that I HAVE kept open for them in the winter in the past, but not this year because the spring grass wasnt great last year. And then a 20 acre field for summer grazing.

This year, I have the sacrafice paddock and “winter” paddock open for the 3 of them and they are mostly out 24/7 except for very cold or wet weather.

In the spring melt, they are confined to sacrafice area during the day and stalls at night. However, this is generally 6 weeks per year TOPS that they are confined. Last year it was 3 weeks.

So, I think what you have planned sounds very reasonable and depends on how long they are confined for. Several weeks, totally fine to have a small sacrafice area. If they are outside 24/7 though, I would make sure IF they are restricted to it for more than 6-8 weeks a year, its big enough for them to co-exist peacefully especially when they start going stir crazy!

[mmeqcenter]

I think they say that something like 30’X50’ is technically enough space for a horse to move around enough long term, if you’re not using their turnout for grazing. So, really, the 60’X140’ is probably plenty.
But, if you want to go bigger (I would too), I’d probably go 200’X140’.

[Libby2563]

You will love having a surfaced sacrifice paddock!!! Best money I ever spent, even if it was indeed a lot of money. 140 feet wide gives you a good amount of room to play with, IMO. They will be able to use the length to romp even if the width isn’t huge.

When I was planning mine, my horse-knowledgeable contractor said that 70 feet was the minimum width he would recommend because in his experience one aggressive horse can block/guard an area that wide. Even if your horses get along well, plan for someday when your herd changes and maybe they don’t. Of course you will have that 16-foot area no matter what but I suppose you could fence it off if it became a real issue.

Walk out there and put some step-in posts or flags where the corners would be at different widths you are considering. Consider the space whenever you’re out there cleaning, haying, bringing horses in and out, etc. That way you can get a feel for what it’s like in real life. That’s how I settled on the shape and location of my dry lot. You could even use step-in posts to cross-fence it with hot tape, and let the horses try it out for a few days or weeks.

I would consider 80’x140’ as a starting point. 200’x140’ would be wonderful of course but probably $$$$. You can always expand in the future though.

[Fairview_Horse_Cente]

Pasture is never destroyed to not recovering. That said, from my experience, the thing that causes most problems in horses is good pasture. Obesity, laminitis, allergic reactions, joint problems, etc. I will take a large pasture any day that grows sparse, not rich grass. It may not look as pretty, but the horses will be much healthier and sounder for a much longer life.

[danacat]

@Libby2563

You will love having a surfaced sacrifice paddock!!!

Yes! They are great. The one I am enlarging is already surfaced – just adding to it.

[Lmabernathy]

150x150 is a half acre. You didn’t mention how much acreage is available to you. My drylots are 150x150. I find this very reasonable for 3, (up to 6 horses that get along) 3 to 5 is ideal. this gives them enough room to move around but not enough to allow a lot of vegetation to grow. I still spray for pig weed and buttercups, especially at the fence lines but they keep it pretty much dirt. I have several foundered and metabolic horses so I like them to be on pure dirt so I can control what they eat. If you get the little baby grass growing that has the most sugar and can do the most harm to a horse with issues.

They still have enough room to run and play and buck, but I keep mine out 24/7 so I very rarely have any running around, maybe a 5 min spurt a couple times a week. I keep a round bale out for them so most of their day is spent eating or sleeping.