# Am I crazy for considering putting horses on my .7 acre property?



## Raen (Jan 5, 2012)

Hi horse people! I'm new here, though I've been lurking for a while. I was hoping for some advice on my grand plans (or, alternately, some sense knocked into me.)

I'll start with some background on my experience with horses. As a young teenager (in Arkansas), I got very "into" horses, and ended up with three (thanks, mom and dad!). I rode hunter-jumper and trail, and kept my horses on our property--I think the pasture area was about 3 acres, but was mostly wooded. I was the sole care-take of the horses for a few years, so I do have a good sense of what is involved. As I got older, other things became more important and we sold the horses. 

Now I'm 31, married, living in Maine. I've been leasing an OTTB for a year at a stable 6 miles from my house, which has been wonderful, but, of course, I want a pony of my very own to trail ride around my house. We live in a very rural setting with lots of places to ride, and I'd love to have a horse to go play with every morning and hack around on. I'm thinking something very low-key, easy keeper, not "fancy," just a good, solid horse. And a companion pony, of course. But that's it, I swear. I do not wish to collect a whole herd. 

This is a rough sketch of our .7 acre property.









(The yellow rectangles in the sacrifice area represent horses, the boxes are 3.5 x 8'.)

I'm going to try to post this now, because I want to see if the forum has some sort of minimum post count before you can post images. More info in the next post, if this works.


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## Raen (Jan 5, 2012)

It worked!

OK, so that's what I had in mind as a possible set up. The horses would be kept in the sacrifice area, and allowed to graze in one of the two paddocks when conditions were dry and the grass could handle it. 

Here are pics of the fenced area and future fenced area:



















The grass grows very, very thick in these areas. 

I'm also talking to the guy who owns the few acres of hay fields behind our house to see if he'll let me lease that land for pasture, which would make this whole scenario so much better, but he hasn't gotten back to me yet. 

So, any immediate thoughts? Is this a crazy thing to think of doing assuming I'm only working with the land we have?

Thanks for reading.


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## iridehorses (Oct 22, 2007)

Welcome to the forum!

Although it's been done, having a horse on such a small area (assuming your zoning will permit it) presents quite a few challenges and not something I would recommend.

Among the negatives are manure collection and disposal, odor, flies in the summer, mud (since the horse will quickly eat and stomp every blade of grass), companionship, neighbors, hay/feed storage, and others that I'm sure other members will think of.

There are reasons that most towns require minimums for housing livestock and .7 acres is considerably less then I can imagine being allowable - for good reasons.

Being able to rent the hay field would be the best bet.


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## Raen (Jan 5, 2012)

Thanks, iridehorses. Yes, I've checked, we're zoned agricultural and we're allowed horses.


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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

You may not be able to depending on your state, county, and local laws concerning livestock.

The first place you need to start, is looking into your local zoning laws. I know out west you can have horses on crazy small acreage, but they're pretty strict here in the east.

Rule of thumb for most places in the east is 3 acres for one animal, and 1/2 acre thereafter for each additional. But as I stated, check your local zoning ordinances, as they'll give you an idea of the acreage required for your particular area.

I have 5 acres and 3 horses, which I consider the bare minimum necessary, although my local zoning laws state I can put more animals on a property that size.


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## Delfina (Feb 12, 2010)

*If* your property is sufficiently large enough for zoning regulations in your area, I would strongly suggest a goat instead of a pony for a companion. Much less wear and tear on your property due to it's smaller size.


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## iridehorses (Oct 22, 2007)

Raen said:


> I've checked, we're zoned agricultural and we're allowed horses.


But being allowed and being realistic are two different things. My opinion would be that unless you can rent the hay field, it is too impractical to do it the way you have planned.


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## CLaPorte432 (Jan 3, 2012)

What size of "pony" are you looking to put on the property? Looking at the pictures, it actually isn't that bad if that back area is completely fenced. Looks like there's plenty of room for one horse to mosey around out there. I've seen way worse and if you ride frequently then your horse will get a good amount of exercise. Granted it's not the ideal situation for a horse but it's do-able.

Horses are herd animals though so having a single horse may be lonely. I'd recommend getting a companion goat to keep your horse company if you decide to go through with this. 2 horses would be way too much on that land. 

You could also just get a few minis and keep leasing a riding horse at the barn. Minis are adorable! But I understand wanting to have your own ridable horse to just go hop on.

Your property looks very nice. Grass looks good, problem is, it wouldn't stay that way once you put a horse out there. Darn thing will demolish that grass in less then 2 weeks because it'll taste so good to him. ;-)


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## Raen (Jan 5, 2012)

I'm pretty small myself; I was thinking of getting something around 14 hands--or maybe even a bit smaller--for my riding horse (at 5'2" 130lbs I'm most comfortable on a small horse), and a little companion pony or mini. I'm open to the possibility of a goat companion, but I know they're difficult to keep fenced.


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## Raen (Jan 5, 2012)

Possibly even Violet? How cute is this girl?! Am I too big for a 13 h pony?

Why yes, of course I've already been horse shopping.


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## CLaPorte432 (Jan 3, 2012)

Using chainlinked fence or cattle fencing (kind of like chainlink but without the metal sticking up over the bar) would work for a goat. I just wouldn't put anything they can climb on right next to the fence because chances are they'll climb it and hop over. Goats are pretty cool though because they'll eat weeds that are around the house. They are garbage guts. I'm the same size as you and I fit very well on my 13.3 POA. So I think 13.3 to 14.1 would be a really good range for you. Maybe a little bit of an older horse (10 years would be good) that is broke for trail riding and will ride out alone.

If you don't go with a goat, a mini would probably be better then another pony due to the size of the area they'd be in.

Where do you plan on storing hay and grain? Tack?


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## Raen (Jan 5, 2012)

Kind of depends on the horse, but I was considering free-feeding round bales, and getting those plastic wrapped ones. Grain and tack could be stored in the 6x8 shed, which is currently empty.


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## CLaPorte432 (Jan 3, 2012)

For one horse, the free fed round bale would go bad by the time the horse got half-way through it. And I find free feeding round bales can waste so much hay if you don't have one of the metal things that go around them. I have 3 horses and they wasted so much by pooping and peeing in the hay.

I'd suggest building a shed or something for feed storage. It doesn't have to be large, but it'd be extremely helpful to have. You could try free-feeding for awhile until you get something built but I can just imagine the money going down the drain. :-( 

Covering hay stacked on pallets with tarps doesn't work well either. Our 3rd year of having horses, we lost 900 bales because we couldn't fit them in the barn. We had 11 horses at the time so we needed the hay, but there went over $2000 worth of hay. And cleaning it up was a mess too. 

Live and learn though.


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## Raen (Jan 5, 2012)

What if I kept a round bale in the shop and pulled of however much daily to feed? How long would a round bale be likely to last a large pony and a mini? 

We'd be getting our hay from the guy right down the street, so I don't really need to store a ton of it at once.


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## CLaPorte432 (Jan 3, 2012)

Also, currently with the snow on the ground, we are only feeding between 1 and 1-1/2 square bales of hay per day. My horses are 14.2, 15 and 15.1 hands and are between 1000 and 1200 pounds each. And they are still ummm...fat. LoL. They get grained about 4 times a week. 2 lbs of 12% sweet feed.

I can just imagine what a single pony would eat. Maybe 3-4 flakes a day? Depends on the horse though. Might be a super easy keeper, might be hard to keep weight on. Depends on where you live too and what seasons you have and the temperature as well. It been down into the teens here in Michigan at night and around 30 during the day. If it's 20 or below, my horses get put in the barn. Anything else, they are typically outside. 

I also have a Curly and a Curly-cross and they have been known to withstand temperatures -40 degrees F.


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## CLaPorte432 (Jan 3, 2012)

Raen said:


> What if I kept a round bale in the shop and pulled of however much daily to feed? How long would a round bale be likely to last a large pony and a mini?
> 
> We'd be getting our hay from the guy right down the street, so I don't really need to store a ton of it at once.


That sounds like a pretty good deal.

Depending on the size of the round bale and how much you have to feed, It could last you up to a month.

The past couple of years we used round bales and since our horses made such messes of them, we did exactly that. Stored them and then pulled off what we wanted to feed and wheeled it out to them. We fed 4 horses like that and a round bale lasted about 10 days. We also fed grain.

With one less horse this winter, we went with square bales.


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

Check zoning laws for offsets. In the county where I live (AZ), you can have 4 horses/acre. However, there are offsets required depending on specific zone type, so I have to keep any corral 40' from a side property line, 10' from the rear, and 60' from the front. Any shelter I build has to be 50' from any property line.

In Arizona, it is pretty easy to keep horses in a corral. It turns to muddy yuck when it rains, but with 12"/year that USUALLY isn't a big problem. Rain and snow make it unpleasant pretty fast, so it would be much harder to keep horses in a corral elsewhere.


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## Raen (Jan 5, 2012)

Definitely "easy keeper" is a criteria I'm looking for in my hypothetical pony. 

We're in Southern Maine, it gets pretty cold here, but we don't have snow on the ground yet this year.


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## CLaPorte432 (Jan 3, 2012)

> In Arizona, it is pretty easy to keep horses in a corral. It turns to muddy yuck when it rains, but with 12"/year that USUALLY isn't a big problem. Rain and snow make it unpleasant pretty fast, so it would be much harder to keep horses in a corral elsewhere.


I hear ya. I'm in Michigan, but it's been either raining or snowing, and the ground hasn't had a solid freeze this year. And then stayed frozen. My pasture, all 3.5 acres, is a muddy mess. I have to drive my 4-wheeler all the way out and feed way out back because I don't want my horses standing in 12 inches of mud and muck. Gross. It's even worse in the spring time. I had to fence my horses to the back parts of my pasture because they all had a raging thrush infection.

This year we are doing some major damage control to the field to try and prevent it from happening again.


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## Raen (Jan 5, 2012)

Yeah, if we do this the sacrifice area will be stripped of dirt and covered with some sort of footing that won't turn into a mud pit. Not sure what yet. The barn I'm leasing at has some serious mud issues I'd like to avoid if at all possible. The ponies will ONLY be on the grass when it's dry enough not to get churned into mud.


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## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

I know my 14.1h Arab mare (SUPER easy keeper on 3 acres of limited grazing, with 2 llamas) shares a single 5 lb flake of alfalfa with the llamas and has unlimited grass hay that she really doesn't touch, everyday and she stays chubby. 
I also give her a pound of Enrich 32, which is a ration balancer, to make sure she gets the vitamins and minerals she needs.
It's not a lot which is really nice. I've found that getting alfalfa is the cheapest option for me since I'd have to feed her SO much grass hay to make up for what a single flake of alfalfa does. One 140lb bale of alfalfa lasts me for over 3 weeks.
Of course, you'd need to figure out what's appropriate for your pony but one easy keeper is a pretty great thing! 

If your going to do this, I really hope that farmer lets you lease his field. Otherwise, your backyard is going to turn into a mud pit. 
I thought that having a horse on 3 acres was going to be pretty mud-less but that is not the case. There's mud everywhere. Not as bad as it'd be if I had more than one horse but it's pretty bad.

ETA- that's an excellent idea to cover your sacrifice area with something to keep the mud down. I bet if you used some sort of outdoor arena footing (maybe that's your plan), you could be in business.


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## Darrin (Jul 11, 2011)

I've seen horses kept in backyards on corner lots so yes you can do it on .7ac.

Best thing for your sacrifice area is sand. You will want to clean out the poo at least once a day, twice if you have the time. They can pound the poo into your sand which in turn can turn into slop when it rains.

For your inevitable fly problem during the summer, use fly predators.


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## xxGallopxx (Dec 1, 2011)

In my opinion, I wouldn't even think about putting one horse, let alone two on .7 acres. I currently live on 4 acres, and my horse has a 1 1/2 acre pen. He mowed that grass down. And when it rains, he tears up his pen. I hand graze him, and sometimes just turn him loose in the backyard which is fenced in with chain link. I would recommend getting a goat or miniature horse as a companion for your horse. Also, plan on feeding plenty of hay. Those horses (or horse and goat lol) will mow that grass down in no time. Definitly ask that farmer if you could rent the hay field. Whatever you decide to do, good luck!


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## Raen (Jan 5, 2012)

I've decided not to do this unless we can rent the pasture behind our house. There are other fields in the area we might be able to rent, but since the whole point of this endeavor is to have the pony at home, I only want to bother with adjacent land. 

Thank you, everyone, for all the great advice.


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## mystykat (Dec 4, 2011)

It's really great to see you put so much thought into this and be so rational and take everyones advice. I wish you luck in renting the land


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## xxBarry Godden (Jul 17, 2009)

Raen, In England the grass is good but 0.7 acres is not really enough for one horse, which can be a poor utiliser of land. The only way it would work is to keep the horse in a stable for most of the day - as they do race horses etc. 
The 0.7 acres would have to be divided by electric tape so that the land can be rested. The dung would have to be picked up. The wet areas would have to be protected from scuffing and you'd have to take care that the weeds don't take over. You'd need a small flat training pen as well plus somewhere for a muck heap

As for two horses, whatever size, - no not really. I would not suggest a goat, but even if you used a sheep then there would be two mouths eating the same area of grass.

No, you need access to more land. I'd say even with living out and dividing fields up, you need at least 1.5 acres + training pen, + muck heap + stables and hay store.. If you bought as company a shetland or a retired horse to live out, then you'd need another one and a half acres - of good grass - minimum.
Remember a confined horse gets frustrated. The scientists say they like to spend their day grazing.

If all you have is 0.7 acres then book the horse into the local livery yard/barn and bring it home for week ends and holidays.


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## Cacowgirl (Feb 19, 2011)

Violet is a lovely pony & certainly big enough to carry you-I'm the same size & weight as you. Hope you can get some of the hay field-that would be awesome!


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

Raen, when I read your first post I thought you were on the right track. Turnout into the larger area when it's ready, sacrifice area, etc. What you might wish to investigate is building a track around the perimeter of the larger area and letting that be the sacrice area as well. The horses will move far more looking for small hay piles. The center would remain for brief turnouts for fresh grass. If you google paddockparadise you can see examples of tracks.


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

You can keep a horse on tiny acreage, but it is a lot of trouble. You will have to totally provide the horse's food supply. You will have to pick up and dispose of all droppings. In my experience, goats are a pain. They get out. They yell loudly when unhappy and they sound like a screaming child. This cannot be good for neighbor relations. A small pony or mini would be a better option. If you use a round bale, it needs to be covered and fixed to that they cannot get on it and trample it and pee in it. 

It will be a lot of work, but it may be worth it in the board it saves you. I kept two horses on an acre for one summer. They were fine, but it worked me half to death.


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

Raen said:


> Possibly even Violet? How cute is this girl?! Am I too big for a 13 h pony?
> 
> Why yes, of course I've already been horse shopping.


Ha! I saw her ad too recently- she is a sweet looking girl. I'm always "casually" looking for the same thing you are. I'm in SW NH.


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## Rascaholic (Oct 4, 2010)

Keeping a horse on this small an acerage would be a pain, but it is possible. Pea gravel is your best friend if you do this LOL. It will keep the sacrifice area from becoming a muddy bog. I know some folks prefer sand, but if you do watch for sand impactions which can cause colic!


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## Fellpony (Sep 9, 2011)

I was on a livery yard here in the UK where the horses had an 1/2 acre paddock to live in. And we were charged £30 per week with a stable. Your place is not ideal but with bought in hay it is doable.

The Paddock paradise track sytem would work, it keep my fat ponies on that system during the summer


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