# We just put a bid in on a house.. Any red flags for this land??



## AmberPick (Jul 13, 2010)

Just so you know I have not been here in person, I trust my husband and realtor _that much_! We have looked at 25+ houses though and they know what I'm picky about.

What do you think about this land for horses??

BELOW: This view is from the back yard (about 3/4 of the way back). I know its' not the best pasture land but we've got a year or so to work with it.










BELOW: Same view, a little to the left (yeah my husband is a great photographer, LOL)










BELOW: View to the right of the other two photos... I am ripping that ugly wierd plant out if we get the house.. And I'm not sure what kind of trees/bushes the other ones are.










BELOW: This is the opposite angle - straight back from the patio doors. You can see the little shed (soon to be barn). It's not at the back of the property, the land goes back beyong there! Lets please note my husband took NO PICTURES OF THE BARN!! 










BELOW: This is from the middle of the yard facing the neighbors to the right (am I confusing or what?)










BELOW: This is from the front yard, I just put it on there because who DOESN'T want a swing in their front yard?!?!









BELOW: Last but not least, the view from the middle of the front yard.. 36 acres of empty field - we're tracked down the owners and we're going to see if they would let us ride in the field! It doesn't hurt to ask, right?!









All comments are welcome! Over all the house is on 1.5 acres (zoned for horses), the house & front yard on .5 acre, the rest on 1 acre.


AND HOW COULD I FORGET.. The neighbor's cute little donkey!!!


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## mliponoga (Jul 24, 2010)

Well, first of all congrats! It looks like it will work well for horses, I know some people will say it's not enough acreage, but I've seen boarding stables with 50 horses run off of 10 acres, so if you're just looking to get a couple horses it will be perfect. We have about four acres, but we only pasture about an acre of it, but we do let our horses out on the rest of it almost everyday. But be aware, you might as well just throw horses on it, it's not enough acreage to sustain a pasture, it will be drylot within a month or two.


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## AmberPick (Jul 13, 2010)

Thanks!! We're super excited, they accepted the bid today!  

You think one horse would eat it all up? We are probably just going to stay with one horse to begin with and maybe like a companion miniature or something.. If my hubby really likes riding we would buy him a horse (if there is enough room). We were also thinking of using the front yard as a pasture to alternate between the two, but how long would I have to have the horse off the pasture before it could properly re-grow? Hubby is not big on the idea of putting them in the front but he will if it will save us on hay!


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## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

They say you need 2 acres per horse to graze. I have 2.5 acres for 2 horses and I give hay all yr but less hay in the summer. That yard looks fairly barren so I would give them hay all yr unless they didn't eat it.


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## AmberPick (Jul 13, 2010)

churumbeque said:


> They say you need 2 acres per horse to graze. I have 2.5 acres for 2 horses and I give hay all yr but less hay in the summer. That yard looks fairly barren so I would give them hay all yr unless they didn't eat it.


Well the yard won't be barren after we move in and by the time we have horses in a year or two. Whether or not we put a pasture up there we will be watering the yard and fertilizing it (there are some really green areas so I don't think it'd be too hard) but we definitely will just have to anticipate feeding with hay with not having two acres!

Thanks for the responses!!


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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

Amber, what's the required acreage for livestock there? Even though your neighbors have a donk, it doesn't mean you'll be able to put a horse on that land.

1.5 acres, even zoned agriculture, may not meet the county's requirements for livestock habitation.

I have 5 acres. The minimum allowable for one horse is 3 acres, with 1/2 acre for each animal thereafter. Which means I can have no more than 5 livestock animals at any given time.

Never trust a RE agent to know the zoning laws. You may _think_ they're doing things in your best interest, but they're always looking out for their own salaries.


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## mliponoga (Jul 24, 2010)

I agree, a lot of places around here are 5 acres for one horse, and another half acre per extra. So, I would check with the township to make sure before signing on the dotted line.


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## ptvintage (Feb 12, 2010)

I'm sorry to be a downer, but I think that isn't enough land for a horse. You're right, the quality of the pasture is very low. It will be extremely hard to maintain any grass on a pasture that small, you will end up with a dirt lot. The horse will graze it down to nothing, and because you don't have space to rotate, no new grass will grow. I don't think you'd have any space for a yard, not even the front yard.

The ground also looks very sandy. I'm not familar with foliage/dirt in the area you're from, but I would be wary of sand colic. 

I'm sure it could be manageable, but it will be a problem you would have to face.


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## mliponoga (Jul 24, 2010)

It will be manageable, but don't plan on being able to only pasture feed them, I don't think with even one horse it will hold. Our pasture is about an acre and half and one horse and her baby ate it down to almost nothing in a month when we first moved here. We still have another acre and a half we let them roam on during the day and feed at least a half bale to each horse per day. I wouldn't get in too much of a worry about the sand, I've kept horses on sand with no problems, but you just have to be careful.


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## myhorsesonador (Jun 21, 2009)

I'm sorry to add to the negativity but I live in Florida so I know the ground here. 1.5 acres is no where near enough. Right now I see sand on the ground well sorry to burst your bubble but that’s what it’s always going to look like, and it will look wore after you put a horse on it. You can fertilize all you want but the sand just doesn’t support growth. IMHO I would pass on this place. Sorry.


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## Maverick101 (Nov 8, 2009)

I agree with the other posters regarding the space and adequate pasture.

The only thing I would add....is if you could track down the people w the property across from you (38acres of empty field).....they may let you rent the field ans use it as pasture land...worth a shot.....that way you can have the area on your yard to use in winter and non grazing times, and have access to the field when you need it....just a thought


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## AmberPick (Jul 13, 2010)

We did all of the homework before - I became pretty good friends with the people at the zoning office - in that county you actually only have to have one acre and they do not have restrictions on how many horses you can have on that one acre. It doesn't matter if it is zoned agriculture or residential, as long as there are no covenants on the neighborhood (which there aren't, we passed on a place that had a convenant on it).

We didn't trust our real estate agent (but she was very honest) so I did the dirty work! But we also did manage to get ahold of the people who own the 36 acres across the road (our home inspector knew them and he hooked us up!) and they said they are fine with us riding out there anytime with no rent. So what we've decided is basically the back pasture will really be more like a paddock & we'll try to be riding 5+ times a week between me, my husband, and our friend who rides.. We wanted something with more like 5+ acres but we have a lot of restrictions that prevent it - my husband is active duty Army so we have to live close to base.. He will be going to school when he's done so we have to live close to a different town.. We have to be able to afford all of this on a teacher's salary and Army BAH for E5 once he gets out of the Army.. There were actually two houses to choose from (we have to have a house by January 1st) soooo we couldn't just pass it up and look somewhere else!

Imagine that, with all the houses on the market there were two that met our criteria!! I'm nervous about the land but at this point I'm just happy it's possible to have horses!!

Thanks for all the feedback (negative especially, how do you learn if you don't know what you're doing wrong) I really appreciate it!!


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## AmberPick (Jul 13, 2010)

myhorsesonador said:


> I'm sorry to add to the negativity but I live in Florida so I know the ground here. 1.5 acres is no where near enough. Right now I see sand on the ground well sorry to burst your bubble but that’s what it’s always going to look like, and it will look wore after you put a horse on it. You can fertilize all you want but the sand just doesn’t support growth. IMHO I would pass on this place. Sorry.


Do they have the same kinds of sands in Ocala as up here? This is by Milton (between Pensacola and Crestview) and I know there is a site where I can look up what kind of soil it is but I can't for the life of me remember what it's called right now. All of the places we saw around here had nice thick green pastures but I really don't know much at all about Florida except that it is warmer than where I'm from! It seems like there are a million houses for sale in the area but none with horses (in our price range).


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## AmberPick (Jul 13, 2010)

So here is the new question!!

It's a general consensus that my horse will not be grazing in my not-so-lush, not-so-massive 1 acre pasture - but is it enough room if I'm feeding hay year round? What other accomodations am I going to have to make (since we went through with buying the house)? I have plenty of room to ride, but what else do I need to take into consideration now?

For example, do you think it would be okay to just keep one horse (with the donkey and goat next door sharing part of a fence with them?) Would that be enough interaction or would there be enough room for a small pony? AGAIN, negative or positive feedback is great to hear!


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## Alwaysbehind (Jul 10, 2009)

Is it optimal? No. Will it work just fine? Yes.

If you are willing to feed hay all year then your 1 acre of fenced turn out should do fine. 

Accept that it will become a muddy mess in the wet season. Which will cause it to get all churned up and you will not have much vegetation after that.

But your horses will not suffer if you are feeding them hay.


One thing you might want to think about is manure management.

With a small lot properly managing your manure is pretty important.


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## myhorsesonador (Jun 21, 2009)

AmberPick said:


> Do they have the same kinds of sands in Ocala as up here? This is by Milton (between Pensacola and Crestview) and I know there is a site where I can look up what kind of soil it is but I can't for the life of me remember what it's called right now. All of the places we saw around here had nice thick green pastures but I really don't know much at all about Florida except that it is warmer than where I'm from! It seems like there are a million houses for sale in the area but none with horses (in our price range).


yes sand is sand here. I also have some friends used to live in Pensacola and they said the sand was the same.  Maybe get some sod? There is also some playses that have some kind of top soil that they can put down then plant your seed. Round hay bails are your friend. just remember that. with thoughs things in mind you should do fine.

On a side note my dad is an E7 in the navy reserve and he is stationed in tallahasse. Oh the joys of the millitary. >_< lol


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## myhorsesonador (Jun 21, 2009)

Alwaysbehind said:


> Accept that it will become a muddy mess in the wet season. Which will cause it to get all churned up and you will not have much vegetation after that.
> .


Not here in florida. The sand that she has in her yard the water will soak right into the ground. some times we wounder if it even rained. There are places here that do turn to muck but I dont see that happaning in her yard.


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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

myhorsesonador said:


> Not here in florida. The sand that she has in her yard the water will soak right into the ground. some times we wounder if it even rained. There are places here that do turn to muck but I dont see that happaning in her yard.


I have sand. You're correct in that the property drains well.

However, when you have horses out on it they _will_ turn it it a nasty, muddy mess.

My front paddock is pretty much a dry lot at this point, because the horses have churned it up with their feet, and eaten any grass down to nubs.

Which is why the horses will be rotated through my pastures, once the fencing is finally finished. I'll have 4 pastures, and the horses will be rotated every 2 days.

Just because you have sand doesn't mean a horse can't turn a place muddy. Especially such a small acreage.


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## Alwaysbehind (Jul 10, 2009)

Thank you SR.
Add that though you have sand and the OP has sand, your climates are different.
It will be a muddy mess during the wet seasons.


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## mliponoga (Jul 24, 2010)

I doubt the whole pasture will be a muddy mess. Some of the low spots will be but I doubt all of it. Our pasture has places that are, but a lot that aren't. We don't have much more than an acre fenced in to be honest, but have an additional 3 acres that our horses get turned out onto to munch on grass. Haven't cut my lawn all summer . But we still feed each horse about 4 flakes a day.


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