Would a retirement farm make sense if land were provided at minimal cost? Manager would have live offsite

[HungarianHippo1]

How much is availability of, and cost of, land a barrier to the expansion of equine retirement facilities?

Solar farms are always looking for beneficial, ag-friendly use of the areas around and between the solar panel arrays. Right now the best option for these solar companies is to partner with sheep farmers. Sheep are short enough to graze pretty far under the slanted panels (= less mowing for the solar farm owner), the 8ft tall chainlink fencing around the perimeter is good protection/containment, and they don’t damage the solar panels and supporting structures like goats and cattle tend to do.

I was wondering: what if the solar project made the land available as free grazing for an equine retirement / rescue facility While horses also like scratching posts, they’re more likely than cattle to respect an electric tape fence around the arrays. Ditto for the perimeter fence, would be easy to set up a electric tape inside the chainlink to keep them safely away from that.

The solar farm would still have to mow directly under the panels, but the horses could graze the 12ft-wide alleys between the rows, and of couse there’s open space around the perimeter of the arrays.

But a big challenge would be that you don’t have a resident caretaker-- this would be a remote pasture that someone would need to visit and check on. But seems like if you had free grazing, and minimal fencing costs, that tradeoff might be worth it?

What do you think-- crazy idea?
PS In anticipation of a blizzard of opinions on whether solar power is good/bad, please note this post is not about that, it’s just a question about operational realities of equine retirement facilities.

[endlessclimb]

Any way to just let the horses under the arrays, even if that means raising them some? They could double as shelters.

[Zu_Zu]

Caretaker needed on site always for safety • for all equine retirement facilities !

[Simkie]

Aren’t sheep really consistent grazers? They … mow, basically?

Horses definitely aren’t like that, so if the attraction is living lawn mowers, that might not be a great fit?

[trubandloki]

Are the horse owners financially responsible for any damage Dobbin does to solar equipment?

I have no problem with someone not living there.
My horses are home alone all day while I am at work and technically alone all night while I sleep in the house.

[2DogsFarm]

True & same here.
Even though I’m retired, there are times I’m away even longer than a 9-5 job would entail.
But as @Zuzu says, these are retired horses, so likely with health issues.
I don’t know that I’d be comfortable boarding an older, retired horse without eyes on them at least once daily. Twice better.

[trubandloki]

Twice daily care can easily happen with no one living there, was my point. Sorry I was not clear.

[2DogsFarm]

As long as that caretaker is experienced enough to recognize a problem, provide at least first aid, medicate when needed, know when to call a vet & be willing/able to remain with vet until the issue is resolved… Then Maybe.
What happens when caretaker is sick, has a personal emergency or taking time off?
Assuming appropriate backup will be in place, still a Maybe.

[SusanO]

I don’t know if this would work. My horses (all breeds) have been terribly destructive. Used the gutters on the barn as tail scratching posts and tore them up. Also could not resist taking their teeth to a freshly painted surface. I could see them tearing up the solar equipment just hanging out around it. There would have to be lots of hotwire. Might not be worth it just to have the grass mowed.

[SLW]

I wouldn’t want my horses within a half mile of a solar farm because if a storm hits, the flying debri of glass would be devastating.

Also, is it measurably hotter in and around the solar panels?? All I can compare it to is standing outside a big glass building and dealing with reflective heat.

[MsM]

A vet clinic near me has solar panels. They are on tall poles in the parking lot and the cars are parked under them. Provides some shade or shelter from rain/snow. Of course with that setup you might have a tough time getting the grass to grow under them for grazing!

[Bicoastal]

@HungarianHippo1

While horses also like scratching posts, they’re more likely than cattle to respect an electric tape fence around the arrays. Ditto for the perimeter fence, would be easy to set up a electric tape inside the chainlink to keep them safely away from that.

The sheep folks I know with solar grazing contracts are not allowed to have any additional infrastructure, as the corporation doesn’t want anything to impede access to/maintenance of the panels. Solar workers and vehicles come and go at any time but access is controlled and monitored.

No hot wire or additional fencing, no shelter, no running water. The sheep grazers have to invest in industrial-grade and unique mowing equipment to mow under the panels in order to meet the contract requirements.

It’s not as casual or quick and easy as it looks. I wish more solar farms would go up over parking lots, like @MsM’s example. That makes so much sense, and not occupy farmable land.

[B_and_B]

We have a good sized ground mounted solar array (25 panels). I definitely would Not put horses in with it. The underside of the panels is as important as the top side, all the micro inverters and computers are there, as is the wiring. You would have to custom frame the panels, and flying mud clods from a horse galloping past could do damage.
A high enough mount to be horse safe would have to also built for the wind loading on the panel and that would be prohibitively expensive as well.