# Small acerage! Barn and pasture help please!!



## Ambernd4711 (Jan 15, 2015)

(PLEASE bare with me for this long post lol!)

Ok guys I have a few things I need help with. I'm not new to owning horses but I am new to having them on my own property. I've always boarded. 

I am currently looking to buy a house. I have been looking for a few months now and my deadline to find a home is approaching. With everything in my price range there is either great land with the house nearly falling down OR a great looking house with no land. I think I have found a home that is a happy medium but I need advice from you guys to determine whether or not a horse or 2 is even a possibility with the land. ( I wont be buying a house unless it has horse potential!  )

This home is only on 1.6 acres. With a stream running straight through the middle. One side of the stream has the house with a grassy area behind it. While the other half has quite a few mature trees (its not a wooded area just random trees), but there are open areas.

I attached a pic of an areal view with property lines and my sketches of how I think things could work out. Its just an idea so please feel free to give me better options/advice! I was thinking of having 3 fenced areas total. One small paddock type area with a lean-to/stall (on highest point of property), then another extending from the paddock and over the stream. Then the last area would be where the majority of trees are. The horse would be kept in the paddock every night and on rainy days to help prevent grass from dying.

QUESTIONS:
What do you think?

What type of bedding material can I put down in the paddock area to prevent it from becoming a mud pit?

What is a good size paddock area? Keeping in mind the shelter will probably be roughly somewhere around 20ftx12ft

How often should the pastures be rotated for grazing?

With such little land I'm assuming I will have to feed hay on a regular basis? What is the best way to go about this? A round bale to eat freely or so many flakes per day?

During the winter would it be best to keep the horse in the paddock the majority of the time to try to save the grass? with being let out for a couple hours a day? Is that mean? I'm not sure! lol

I know I've got more questions I'm sure I just can't think of them. Any input, advice, or opinions are welcome and appreciated!


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## ArabLuver (Aug 27, 2014)

I can't see the photo.


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## DuckDodgers (May 28, 2013)

I can see the photo! I don't have much advice, but 1.6 acres seems quite small if you take into account the land for the house/driveway/etc. I read through trying to see how many horses you were planning on keeping, and I only saw that you referred to "the horse" somewhere. I hope you're planning on having more than one... even if you do have one of the very few that is ok alone (really alone with no one else on the property) I'd still not buy a place unless I could have at least a couple.


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## Ambernd4711 (Jan 15, 2015)

Well I plan on at least one horse. But I haven't quite decided on a companion animal. I would love to have 2 horses but I just don't know how that would do with the land. I was thinking of getting a goat or a miniature horse.


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## clwhizy (Aug 20, 2014)

Another thing to consider is a riding ring, if you plan on having one. This will take up quite a bit of space as well.


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## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

Don't expect to have any grass on that size of property and rotating just won't work. Also keep in mind some trees are poisonous to horses. Some maple, box elder and hickory I think. So I would check that out. You will hay year round. Will you have a place to ride?
Not sure of location but I would think 3 acres would be a minimum and it may not even be zoned for horses on that small of a parcel unless you are in CA or something.


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## jenkat86 (May 20, 2014)

I agree with churumbeque. I don't know where you are located, but I don't think you will have much grass at all. You can add things like pea gravel to help combat the mud...but there will still be mud. Where my horses are at there are 3 horses for 5 acres. And even with that the grass will get scarce. For one horse and a buddy I would want at the very least 2 acres. 

I'd like to suggest something...since you have always boarded, try looking into a small farm or property with a house to lease or rent. I boarded for 7 years and then moved my horses to a private farm. I just pay for pasture and barn space. I do it all. I think it's called rough board? But I supply all my feed and hay, do all the feeding and mucking...I just don't live there. Yet. (My husband and I will be leasing the whole property and house starting this spring.) Anyway, where I was going with this...I've learned more in the past 8 months doing rough board than I ever learned while boarding. I feel like it really got me ready to have my horses in my back yard, so-to-speak.


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## Shosadlbrd (Nov 3, 2013)

I think it would be a mistake to buy the property with that little bit of land, if you want a horse.


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## RBuchele10 (Aug 19, 2014)

A few questions that i thought when looking at this photo...

Is this property zoned for livestock? With the stream running through it, you may want to make sure that you can build or have horses there. Many times, if property is near or on a swamp (we often have this in Ohio), governing bodies will tell you that you can't even mow, let alone have livestock. Swamp ecosystems are sensitive and highly protected here. Also, think run-off into local watersheds and well systems of neighbors -depending on where that streams begins and ends, you may not be able to use that as pasture space. Something to think and ask questions about!

Is the entire property only an acre? If so, it's best to have 1-2 acres of WELL ESTABLISHED pasture to support just one horse. And if the entire property is only 1 acre, it's going to cost quite a bit in hay to supplement a horse's diet, so just be prepared for that if you decide to go with this property.


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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

What do your local zoning laws require for acreage concerning livestock? That more than anything will determine whether or not you can keep horses on such a small plat.

1.6 acres is VERY small, and you'll never have pasturage. You can't stop it from becoming a barren dry lot, and you'll have to be very proactive in keeping on top of manure management. 

As long as your zoning laws are agreeable, you stay on top of land management, and you can financially support feeding hay year round, then that property is a possible option. 

In my opinion, anything less than 3 acres is a waste of time. I have 5, and it supports 3 horses nicely as long as I stay on top of pasture rotation and regular harrowing.


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## joyb0218 (Apr 26, 2014)

On paper, our property us 1.55 acres. We are surrounded by farmland and our property is a perfect square, it's like, 300x300 (maybe a little more).

We have two horses and a small barn, along with our house. We make it work. However, we are zoned agricultural, so even though our property is small, we can have livestock.

Our pasture is divided into three areas, so if we need to seperate horses or rotate areas, we can.

Here's the deal: you CANNOT avoid mud with this size property. YES you will have to feed hay all year... Even rotating our pastures does not allow for enough grazing.

Here's the bonus for us though, and it may be a bonus for you, but you won't know this unless you move in... We were blessed with GREAT neighbors. Our neighbor is a farmer and he sells hay! So we are fortunate, you may get fortunate as well in this regard. Not only that, but he even let us put up a temporary fence on part of his property to let our horses graze. 

Long story short, if I had listened to everybody who said our situation couldn't be done, I wouldn't have horses right now. Cherry Hill has a great book called, Having Horses on Small Acreages, or something like that. Check it out sometime. If you have any questions or tips that we've learned, OP feel free to send me a message.

As for riding, we do ride around our pasture, we also go down the road, and we also ride out in the fields at the permission of our neighbors. Most people who live among farms are very welcoming of horse owners, at least that is how it's been for us!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## joyb0218 (Apr 26, 2014)

Oh! One other thing... And it's a biggie. You must comply with your state's laws regarding manure disposal. This was one thing that I had NO IDEA about until I got horses. Horses poop up to 50 lbs. per day, per horse. So, for two horses you're looking at A HUNDRED POUNDS of manure every.single.day... Every day!

The book that I talked about in my last post discusses this as well. You will have to have a place to put it. With property the size of mine, we have to clean it nearly everyday. It's basically like cleaning a gigantic stall! Trust me, it piles up FAST!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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