We plan to put in a dry lot in the next few months and have heard that one horse really just needs a 12x12. That seems incredibly small to me. What size do you have for your horses? Currently, we have 3 horses and may pick up a donkey in the next year. Thanks in advance! P.S. It’ll have a hay hut in there with a round bale for daily feeding. Thanks again!
I had 100x100 dry lot for my four, and that was a nice size. Don’t think I would’ve wanted to go much smaller, though–there was enough room for them to fart around and get out of the way if the big mare got cranky. Shelter was outside that 100x100 space, with four runs up to the overhang off the barn. That set up worked really well!
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12 x 12 is basically just an outdoor stall. Horse can’t move around at all. I think for an enclosure to be any use for a horse to move in, aim for something at least as large as an arena, that is 60 x 100 feet, and even bigger is better. You could more than one horse in there as long as there is not alot of kicking and fighting.
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“Depends” (like everything else asked on COTH).
Will they be mucked daily? Are they getting any other form of exercise? As stated 12x12 is entirely too small for anything more than a mini, and then even… :no:
All my horses come “up” for winter, as in no more pasture turn out because of rain and mud. One horse has a 12x12 stall and then a 24x48 gravel run. I would have liked to have gone bigger but couldn’t, and I while it has worked wonderfully for a couple years, I wouldn’t go any smaller. The other horse (soon to be two) and two mini donkeys have their own stalls (the minis share one) and open onto an approx 60x220 paddock, roughly a third of an acre. I wouldn’t go smaller than this for that many horses you have.
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Our sacrifice paddock, with pea gravel footing, is approximately 50 feet x 150 feet.
When we got down to two small horses, it seemed too large (they weren’t taking advantage of the space), so we put Priefert panels across the width to cut it down in length. They now have access to around 50 x 85, not counting the small pea gravel corral off the back of the barn (stalls open into the corral, which opens into the sacrifice paddock, which in turn opens into pastures).
They have plenty of room to move around – canter when they want to do so, for instance – but spend most of their time around the hay basket, at the water trough, hanging out in the shade of the barn in the afternoons, etc.
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Mine is about 60ishx150ish (L shaped) and it is more than fine for 3 horses. At one point a few years ago, one horse lived in it 24/7 (laminitis/metabolic horse who could not handle grass… or anything packing up in his feet).
At that time I split the paddock with a hot wire and there was a run in shed plus a 12x40is part of the dry lot for one horse with its own opening to a pasture. It was fine but I wouldn’t find it useful for extended living.
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We have individual dry lots that are 50x50. They work well for us. Wouldn’t go much smaller, but don’t see the need to go larger either.
12x12 is a medicinal paddock in our area and used for horses that are rehabbing.
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Our sacrifice area is about 110’x80’ with a 20x24 run-in inside that space. Generally we have no more than 3 horses locked in that space, though we will have the whole herd of 7-ish have access to it when the gate to the pasture is open. If I had horses limited to that size space long term, I wouldn’t want any more than 3, maybe 4, in there.
Here’s a picture. You can see that there’s some grass growing up the corners. Ours is more of a sacrifice area than a true drylot.
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If you’re going to feed in it, I’d definitely make it significantly bigger than 12x12 per horse.
My dry lot is a fenced area surrounding my barn, so it wasn’t designed exactly for that purpose but it’s mostly stone dust with some areas that are just dirt/grass. It’s about 60x80 and horses have access to their stalls.
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My drylot is only 40x80 and is shared by 3 horses, but has also housed 4 horses and a steer without issue… My “pasture” space is only 2 acres, so I could not devote much space to a drylot if I also wanted to maximize grazing area. The drylot has a 16x24 lean-to connected to it, situated so that it blocks 90% of the winter wind and provides TONS of shade in the summer.
I do have DCA in the drylot so that it stays solid in all weather.
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I read somewhere once that 30’x30’ is the minimum space requirement for horse to be able to “move around” sufficiently, but I can’t remember where on earth I read that. Just now, a brief Google search says 1/10th acre is minimum per horse.
I’ve got 1 large horse and two mini’s in a 70’ round pen dry lot, with two stalls that are open 24/7. I wouldn’t have chose a round dry lot - it was due to property constraints, but it’s worked out great. No corners, everyone can hit a canter comfortably.
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Good guidelines on drylots:
https://extension.umn.edu/horse-pastures-and-facilities/horse-dry-lots-and-shelters
Plan for at least 400 square feet per average sized, 1,100-pound horse. This space does not include space required for shelters, feeders or water sources and assumes multiple horses housed together get along.
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This is what we have for our crew which varies from 2 to 4 horses during the year. I wanted a large size since they spend their time in there when not in a paddock. We have 30’ runs off the stalls should they need more confinement.
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I prefer long runs. Sort of a paddock paradise set up. I have one pen 50x50. I think that is too small. Not enough room for a canter. I would prefer 40 x 200ft. Or bigger.
Now you can take it to the extreme. A friend has 4 acres of dry lot for 2 horses.
You can do smaller areas if you are turning out one horse per paddock. But paddocks need to be stripped of manure daily. Bigger pens mean less mucking. My horses mostly designate the back 20 ft of the pen as a manure zone. The front of the paddocks are spotless.
You want to be able to fit a tractor in there to scoop the manure pile, especially if you have multiple horses. If you don’t have a tractor, you might want to go with the biggest area you can. You need to be able to drag the pens as well.
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An extension agent here suggested 500 ft2 per horse.
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We pick up the manure in our sacrifice paddock daily, and don’t drag the pea gravel footing. The space is large enough that the manure could be left for a couple of days (especially when a neighbor is kind enough to feed for us), and the horses do have favorite areas to leave piles.
One of us will be out there picking the paddock, and a horse will walk over to deposit a pile right where the person is working – doing a favor, I guess:winkgrin:.
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I have 24X14 shed with 10 foor overhang and acre dry lot for 3 horses. They need to be able to move and play not just for their minds but for their guts. They have large trees to hang out under in the heat but tend to spend time in the shed except when the weather is perfect and the flies are gone.
It makes me feel good to give them the room to enjoy life, chase each other, roll in the sand and beg for dinner.
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My dry lot is about 100 by 120. I have four on mine. They have room to be idiots, while remaining safe.
It is split in the middle with a gate allowing access to each side. I did this in case someone needs to be separated (ahem, the B of a mare). I will say, picking poop in that large an area is not fun at all. That’s my only complaint.
@Leather Thanks for the article. It was helpful. I think we’ll end up with 45 x 65 for our 3 horses. They’ve been getting along for years and hopefully will be fine. Our barn has a feed and tack room at the back, so I don’t have any areas for them to automatically run in. They’ll be able to walk under the barn overhead when it gets too hot. At least until I figure out a way for them to get shade in the dry lot. Otherwise, I’ll be mucking the barn area daily. Thanks for the info!
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