Your property acreage and number of horses

[shadedingray]

I hope this is right place for this. I’m in the early stages of looking for properties to buy within the next couple of years. I am still fleshing out exactly what I want, but I want to have an idea of what is really realistic in terms of acreage and total horses on property.

My question to you guys is, how many acres of property do you have and how many horses do you have? I know zoning laws will dictate this and I’m aware it varies by state. If you could share your state and zoning laws as well, that would be helpful.

I’m in NJ if that helps, but I’m happy to hear from anyone in the US.

[Jersey_Fresh]

Zoning regulations are one thing. Aside from that, management is what dictacts how many horses you can have on a given acreage. How much of that acreage is actual pasture vs house/barn dwelling? How long do you anticipate turning horses out for? How many pastures will you have? Do you want to feed supplemental hay or avoid that?

[SugarCubes]

In my area, it varies by county. Some counties require a minimum of 5 acres to have horses, and then you would need additional acreage for each additional horse. Where we live, it’s one fenced acre per horse. We have three acres and two horses which is a tight fit, but it works for now. We are already looking at buying 20-30 acres in a couple years. I’m in the midwest. Hope this helps!

[shadedingray]

A little background on how I keep my horses. They are currently boarded at a facility in northern NJ.

They are outside 24/7 and fed outside. They have free choice hay and always will. I do want to have a small barn for cross-ties and a couple of stalls for emergencies but barn is not the priority. I want bigger fenced pastures/dry lots and a small barn for hay, tack room, grooming, and feed.

The minimum acreage I see myself with is 7-8 based on what I want.

[ElementFarm]

I agree with Jersey, it’s about property setup and management.

We currently have about 6 acres of fenced paddock/pasture. We have 5 horses anda mini and it’s adequate, but not really big enough, so we’re planning to add another 1-2 acre field in the next year or two. We also hope to add a dry lot area, so we can put the horses there during wet days to preserve the grass, and even in spring good weather, to prevent overgrazing on new grass.

Things like soil type, grass variety will play a role. And if you rotate pastures, or do limited turnout on grass, or mainly use a dry lot area, will all change how many horses your fields can support. County Extension offices usually will come out and help you evaluate your land, and put in a sound plan to maximize it.

[Flash44]

I’m in MD, and my local zoning allows for livestock on a minimum of 3 acres, with a minimum of 1 acre of pasture per unit of livestock. I have 4.25 acres with 2-3 horses. I could not have 3 horses year round or my grass would be gone. I have 2 riding horses and a racehorse, and occasionally the racehorse will come out for a little r&r.

[ElementFarm]

I agree with Jersey, it’s about property setup and management.

We currently have about 6 acres of fenced paddock/pasture. We have 5 horses anda mini and it’s adequate, but not really big enough, so we’re planning to add another 1-2 acre field in the next year or two. We also hope to add a dry lot area, so we can put the horses there during wet days to preserve the grass, and even in spring good weather, to prevent overgrazing on new grass.

Things like soil type, grass variety will play a role. And if you rotate pastures, or do limited turnout on grass, or mainly use a dry lot area, will all change how many horses your fields can support. County Extension offices usually will come out and help you evaluate your land, and put in a sound plan to maximize it.

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

I think we have 8 acres. A fair amount is shelter belt. I haven’t re-fenced one of the pastures yet either. The paddock is 2.25 acres and the dry lot is maybe 40x75. Horse, donkey and mini donkey. I have to mow turning out 1/2 days (whole for the horse) when there is rain. If they were out 24x7 I think it would be tough on their favorite areas. I pull them off when we have heavy rain.

We grow VERY lush grass here. Very good soil & conditions.

Around here I would want 1 acre per horse. Yes, you could do less with rotation, but some summers can be dry, etc.

A lot of your acreage may be eaten up by structures, trees, etc. I would focus on how many acres of pasture are available.

[shadedingray]

Thanks for the input guys! I know a lot of this has to do with property setup and management, but I am looking at property to buy in the near future. I do not currently have any acreage and am just making sure that the acreage I want in my head makes sense and is not too little or too much.

I have always gone by the “rule” of 1 acre per horse, but I have never had my own land to really judge what that looks like. I guess I should pay more attention to the places I board my horses and how many acres they have vs. how many horses.

[Libby2563]

I have 9 acres but only 3 is pasture and about a third of that has been off-limits due to some drainage projects. There’s one more acre or so I hope to fence in the long run. I have two large horses and a mini donkey, and they have to be stabled half the time or my field will be destroyed. I’d love to have space for 24/7 turnout instead. I would not have more than 3 horses on the space I have, but lots of people would cram 10 in there and be ok with the demolished fields full of weeds. This year I’m hoping to put in a dry lot and set up cross-fencing for rotational grazing. I think that should help me maximize the space. So yes it’s all about management!

[beau159]

I got pretty darn lucky in this department.

I had always envisioned being able to buy 40 acres someday. We had a great opportunity come up before Christmas last year and we are the proud new owners of 130 acres … for my TWO horses. :lol:

Not ready to live on it yet, but I’m so glad I don’t have to really worry about acerage!

Ultimately, it depends on your area. In some places, 5 acres a horse would be sufficient for grazing. In others, you’ll need 10. Depend what kind of grasses you are dealing with, and your growing season, etc. I’d really ask around to the people in your area you are looking at and find out specifics.

My cousin who lives near me has 3 horses and 10 acres. He CANNOT leave them in the pasture 24/7 all year or he’d have no grass. So he supplements with hay. Maybe they are little piggies, or maybe he doesn’t have his rotation as good as he can BUT again, it is worth asking around to people in your area and find out what they have and how they are using it.

[trubandloki]

Drainage/soil makes all the difference. I have heavy clay soil with lots of rocks. It is either slippery and sticky or hard as a rock. A little bit of horse traffic on wet clay soil leaves you with no vegetation and lots of holes to hold the next rain.
A friend, right around the corner, has nice sandy soil. Her paddocks stay dry and mud free even in the wettest weather.

I mention this because five acres might be fine if it drains well and the horses do not kill it by simply walking on it, where 20 acres of soil like mine would not do the same.

I have 15 acres, three very easy keepers and part of it is planted in hay. I have one pasture, a small paddock for each horse and a dry/sacrifice lot.
My horses are never on the pasture 24/7 because they can not be on the pasture 24/7 with out getting way too fat. Their limited turn out on the pasture, with my not forgiving soil, allows me to have pasture all summer with out much concern of over grazing.

[ElementFarm]

one more thing to add, I think a lot of folks under-estimate how much land they need to buy to have 6 acres of pasture. Houses, yards, driveways, wells/septic, car parking, and riding rings all take a lot more space than you might expect.

then you want the fences set back from the main road. So, in our case, we have ~17 acres, but with existing layout limitations, terrain and wet areas, we will be lucky to get 10 acres of turnout (including dry lot) in a few years.
We have a some horses stalled part days, and a few horses that live out 24/7 with shelter, and we have to rotate judiciously, and supplement with hay 6 months a year.

[Parrs_Gold_Bar]

@ElementFarm;8589203

We currently have about 6 acres of fenced paddock/pasture. We have 5 horses anda mini and it’s adequate, but not really big enough, so we’re planning to add another 1-2 acre field in the next year or two. We also hope to add a dry lot area, so we can put the horses there during wet days to preserve the grass, and even in spring good weather, to prevent overgrazing on new grass.

We currently have 8.5 acres of paddock, but will be building the barn/rings on some of that in the future.

Mind telling me how your paddocks do with that many horses? I know you said it isn’t big enough; do you find your paddocks get chewed up to mud, or are they just always super short and you need supplemental hay despite the ground still being green?

[Cat_Tap]

I bought my place back in 81. At that time it was cheaper to buy large acreage than a small hobby farm. This has worked very well for me. I have 50 acres. 20 acres of pasture divided into three fields. There are 10 acres of woods and wetlands and 20 acres are worked by a tenant farmer. Because of the 20 acres being farmed I get a property tax rebate which cuts the land taxes into half. I currently only have 5 horses and more grass than I need so the farmer takes round bales off one of my fields before the horses go on it.

This has worked very well for me. I have two old barns. One is a bank barn where I store my hay and the other is a pig barn which was rebuilt inside for higher ceiling and larger stalls. I also have an indoor 60 by 136 and an outdoor 90 by 180.

The place was old and run down (no arena or outdoor), house built in 1850 but nicely intact. By having a full time job, boarders, school horses and giving lessons I was able to make all the improvements greatly increasing the value of the property.

My horses are stalled at night in the winter and on hot afternoons in the summer. I do not feed round bales and purchase my small squares. That is much easier than trying to grow my own hay.

You probably didn’t want to know all that. I seem to get carried away with my answers.

[walkinthewalk]

I was raised on a dairy farm and do not believe in over-grazing/stripping the land.

Therefore five acres per piece of livestock.

We have 23 acres with 20 acres of pasture for four horses. I have laid two of those elder horses to rest.

That doesn’t mean we are selling ten acres or limiting grazing space due herd reduction:)

[FancyIllusions]

We are located in NJ as well, but more central/southern so we have the sandy pine-barrens soil beneath the grass.

We have 100 acres, of which a bit over 20 are currently fenced in a variety of sizes (minimum being 1 acre) for 17 horses. We are looking to add more fenced pastures once the ground thoroughly thaws out.

[Guilherme]

Cows and horses have a different practical standard even if the zoning standard would be the same.

Cows pretty much graze the best tasting grass, the what’s less tasty. But they graze all over. Horse are spot grazers and will always create “greens” and “roughs.” It’s what they do.

Both will require that you rotate pastures. It’s what you do afterwards to “manage” the land that counts.

Talk to your local County Extension Agent and see what advice they have for your specific location. In NJ I’d guess that if you are near the ocean there might be differences than if you are farther inland. If you are in a “piney woods” you’ll have differences from boggy ground.

If you are near an urban area land will be expensive and you’ll have to manage intensively. If you are more rural it will be cheaper and you won’t have to do as much. This can make a difference in precisely where you decide to locate.

Rural taxes also tend to be cheaper; rural services less available or convenient.

There really isn’t a “school” answer, here. It’s highly dependent upon local conditions.

G.

[rainpants]

108 acres, 5 horses, but only about 6 acres of pasture (2 added last year, we didn’t have enough to rotate and things were getting grazed down too far.)

Still a careful balance of reseeding, fertilizing, harrowing etc to keep things going. I do have a winter sacrifice area too, its about an acre of mostly mud at the moment!

[PNWjumper]

I have 7 equines (5 horses, 2 small ponies) on 5 acres.

Mine live out 24/7 and I’ve got 3+2 in my “big” pasture/field (probably 2 acres) where the 3 horses live 24/7 and the 2 ponies live out for 12 hours and in a diet pen for the night. One lives in a maybe 3/4 acre pasture/stall, and the last lives in a small paddock (150x30 maybe?)/stall and has a ~1/2 acre pasture he goes out in when it’s not wet.

I feed hay all year round, but in the spring/early summer the horses on pasture get next to nothing (maybe 1 flake at night).

Our house/driveway/shop/arena/barn probably take up 1.5ish acres and the rest is pasture. All of my pasture is useable except for a 30x30 pond.

I sure wish we had more, and I’m feeling a bit more cramped with 7 horses (I had 5 through the winter and just got 2 more). But I was perfectly happy with 5. This is just a tough area to find “horse” property, as most of the larger properties are more “wet” than “property.”

I dream of having 20+ acres, though realistically this place serves its purpose quite well!