# 2 horses on 5 acres. Advice?



## Samson5261 (Jul 25, 2013)

So my mom just told me that this coming spring we will be moving to a place with five acres and I can bring the boys with me! I'm excited about having them back at home with me instead of boarding but I have never had them on someplace this small. I plan on making a sacrifice pen and keeping them there when the weathers bad. I had also thought about keeping them there through the night. I was wondering if anyone has or is keeping horses on small acreage and could give me some helpful hints or advice? I know its not until spring but I would rather have a plan and be prepared then scramble at the last moment! 😃
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## Maple (Jan 10, 2012)

Granted we are in different countries with different climates but I keep my two on about 5/6 acres. I have it divided down the middle, and also a yard with shelter so that I can keep them off the field if needed. I only let them graze half at a time, they spent about 2 months on the far end and have now been moved to the near end. I definitely recommend being able to section it off, otherwise it will never get a chance to recover.


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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

I have 5 acres and 3 horses. It's definitely doable, but as you say you'll need a sacrifice area for when the weather's bad and you don't want them tearing up your pastures.

My pastures are separated into 4 separate ones, with a sacrifice area behind the barn as well as a dry lot out front. During the grass growing season, the horses are rotated through each pasture once a week. That way, it'll be 3 weeks before they go back on the original pasture, which gives me time to mow, harrow, and the grass to grow back up.

Good luck! It's a lot of work having them at home, but totally worth it in my opinion.


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## beau159 (Oct 4, 2010)

ROTATION. 

Never keep them in the same spot very long. Make sure you section it off. 

And don't let them graze on it constantly. You'll absolutely use that sacrifice area.

Consider having a way to water the grass to help it grow faster.

You can check with your local soil conservation office to get more tips for your specific area and climate. 

Also, make sure you check your local laws. Make sure the land is zoned to have horses on it, and that there isn't a limit for how many horses you can have per acre.


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## Roman (Jun 13, 2014)

It sounds sufficient enough. You can divide the pasture into 3 pastures. 1.5, 1.5, and 2 acres. The two acres should be kept for summer, and the rest Spring and winter. Or rotate every 3-4 mo.
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## DIYHorsemanship (Feb 22, 2014)

I suppose that 5 acres includes the land with the house and yard?

We have 2 horse and a mini on 7 acres, as everyone says, got to have a sacrifice pen, I have and electric fence I move around. It works great.


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## LadyDreamer (Jan 25, 2008)

Our neighbors never figured this out. The pasture was green but the grass was shorter than any golf course. Because of this, they destroyed fences to get to the grass on the other side. Every now and then, we would find one of hers in our field. She had five or six out there and no hay, until Animal Control FINALLY got through to her that they needed supplementation. Luckily, that is no longer an issue. Horses are gone and lot is for sale. 
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## Samson5261 (Jul 25, 2013)

Yes the five acres includes the house and a back yard. There is also woods there so I would say about 3 acres is able to be used for grazing. I plan on using an electric fence and moving them around to sections. I know its zoned for livestock cause they use to raise cattle before they sold the surrounding land. I have not had a chance to get out there and take a look at what I'm dealing with. My mom thinks I'm jumping the gun she's all we are not moving till spring so why are you worrying about this now!:/
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## squirrelfood (Mar 29, 2014)

Here in northern Arkansas, 5 acres won't usually support 2 horses. It would have to be pretty good grass year round, and you know what happens in July and August with the hot dry weather. I would divide your pasture as well as having a sacrifice lot, or your grass will be worn to dirt by September.


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## Samson5261 (Jul 25, 2013)

squirrelfood said:


> Here in northern Arkansas, 5 acres won't usually support 2 horses. It would have to be pretty good grass year round, and you know what happens in July and August with the hot dry weather. I would divide your pasture as well as having a sacrifice lot, or your grass will be worn to dirt by September.


Ya I figured that I would be feeding hay through those months. I don't know what the quality of the grass is just yet but I figure its not the best since its never been treated or seeded. It helps that both of my boys are air ferns! Lol
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## squirrelfood (Mar 29, 2014)

I have 5 horses on 26 acres here in hill country. The grass didn't last through August, due to lack of rain..Plan on feeding at least some hay most of the year.


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## Northernstar (Jul 23, 2011)

LadyDreamer said:


> Our neighbors never figured this out. The pasture was green but the grass was shorter than any golf course. Because of this, they destroyed fences to get to the grass on the other side. Every now and then, we would find one of hers in our field. She had five or six out there and no hay, until Animal Control FINALLY got through to her that they needed supplementation. Luckily, that is no longer an issue. Horses are gone and lot is for sale.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Thus the phrase, "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence". I do believe it was written in observation of equines


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

you may want a rain cover for that sacrifice area.


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## Northernstar (Jul 23, 2011)

First and foremost, good for you for having the mindset to think ahead! That's def step 1 in your favor of bringing your horses home. 
When I acquired my first horse, Star, she was boarded by her previous owners (they lived in a subdivision so boarding was the only option). My husband and I, however, own 5 acres such as you, and I planned, read, walked the property in preparation of bringing her home. One of the best treasures for ppl such as you and I, is a book titled, *"Horse Keeping On A* *Small Acreage"* by Cherry Hill. It is full of good, sound advise in every aspect, and I've since recommended it to many. If your library doesn't have it, I bought mine for a few dollars on Amazon. It's worth it! 

Now I have 3 lovely mares on our property, have put an addition connected to the original 14x14 slant roof, and, well.... check out my 'barn' to see how happy everyone is - Best of luck! It's exciting 

** Must add that I live in a cold and heavily forested region with sparse grazing...I have 3 paddocks for them to browse, but indeed am dependent on hay all year. Consider a daily loose mineral-my girls are in their low 20's and many are shocked


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## Samson5261 (Jul 25, 2013)

Northernstar said:


> First and foremost, good for you for having the mindset to think ahead! That's def step 1 in your favor of bringing your horses home.
> When I acquired my first horse, Star, she was boarded by her previous owners (they lived in a subdivision so boarding was the only option). My husband and I, however, own 5 acres such as you, and I planned, read, walked the property in preparation of bringing her home. One of the best treasures for ppl such as you and I, is a book titled, *"Horse Keeping On A* *Small Acreage"* by Cherry Hill. It is full of good, sound advise in every aspect, and I've since recommended it to many. If your library doesn't have it, I bought mine for a few dollars on Amazon. It's worth it!
> 
> Now I have 3 lovely mares on our property, have put an addition connected to the original 14x14 slant roof, and, well.... check out my 'barn' to see how happy everyone is - Best of luck! It's exciting
> ...


I actually plan on buying that book next payday lol!

I plan on building a shelter and feeding hay out of slow feed nets. Would it help if they where kept off the grass at night? It would only be for 8 hours but I was thinking it might also help. Both of my boys could stand to loose weight and are not hard to keep weight on so this should help as I usually have to buy lower quality hay since the good stuff causes them both to just get super fat😄lol.
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## alexischristina (Jun 30, 2009)

I never realized how lucky I was until I came on this forum :lol: our property has so much drainage that I can keep 2 - 3 (we had 4, at one point) on just over 3 acres undivided all grass with no mud problems. The pasture doesn't get torn up, it gets grazed down for a couple months out of the year but we feed hay so it's no big deal. There's only 1 or 2 spots that get super mucky and they would regardless of the horses. Now we're moving the onto a similar size lot but different location so I guess I should start taking notes...


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## Samson5261 (Jul 25, 2013)

alexischristina said:


> I never realized how lucky I was until I came on this forum :lol: our property has so much drainage that I can keep 2 - 3 (we had 4, at one point) on just over 3 acres undivided all grass with no mud problems. The pasture doesn't get torn up, it gets grazed down for a couple months out of the year but we feed hay so it's no big deal. There's only 1 or 2 spots that get super mucky and they would regardless of the horses. Now we're moving the onto a similar size lot but different location so I guess I should start taking notes...


The place we use to have was 20 acres and we had five horses there. We had a two acre sacrifice lot, one smaller grazing pen(the yard we didn't like mowing it lol!) then a 16 acre pasture where they spent most of there time. This is all new to me and I want to make my boys as comfortable a possible. I figured what I am going to save on board I will just spend in hay but I would rather then be right outside my door than a two hour drive away! Lol
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## BadWolf (Oct 12, 2012)

I'd suggest a system called Paddock Paradise.
That's what we're doing and it's working really well for us and our horses on 6 acres.
There are a lot of websites that explain the system, and a few threads on here too.


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## xJumperx (Feb 19, 2012)

Maybe it's just the climate I'm in, but I've never had a problem with having 3 horses on approx. 5 acres of land (6 acres total, subtracting an acre for house and yeard). 

I don't section off or rotate, but I have to mow it once a month because it gets so tall in places. The horses are on it 99% of the time in the summer, and during all daylight hours in the winter when the weather is good. I've never had an issue with my field. They have plenty of room to run about and be silly, and don't seem to mind being where they're at.

I am in Kentucky if you're wondering my climate situation.


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## Change (Jul 19, 2014)

I had 10 horse on 5 acres in the California desert. Didn't have to worry about pasture there! 

It's rough having to figure out how to manage all this green stuff!:wink:


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## squirrelfood (Mar 29, 2014)

xJumperx said:


> Maybe it's just the climate I'm in, but I've never had a problem with having 3 horses on approx. 5 acres of land (6 acres total, subtracting an acre for house and yeard).
> 
> I don't section off or rotate, but I have to mow it once a month because it gets so tall in places. The horses are on it 99% of the time in the summer, and during all daylight hours in the winter when the weather is good. I've never had an issue with my field. They have plenty of room to run about and be silly, and don't seem to mind being where they're at.
> 
> I am in Kentucky if you're wondering my climate situation.


You also have real dirt. Here we have...............rocks.


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## Samson5261 (Jul 25, 2013)

xJumperx said:


> Maybe it's just the climate I'm in, but I've never had a problem with having 3 horses on approx. 5 acres of land (6 acres total, subtracting an acre for house and yeard).
> 
> I don't section off or rotate, but I have to mow it once a month because it gets so tall in places. The horses are on it 99% of the time in the summer, and during all daylight hours in the winter when the weather is good. I've never had an issue with my field. They have plenty of room to run about and be silly, and don't seem to mind being where they're at.
> 
> I am in Kentucky if you're wondering my climate situation.


Sadly even on the 20 acres by July we had no grass and had to feed hay. July and August are two of the driest months here. I plan on having to supplement hay and grain pretty much all year long.
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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

Change.. thats funny ! bet you went broke on sandclear ! I am Cali but have clay . hard as cement in summer even with tons of mulch, and slippery sticky mess when wet. 
I do have irrigated pastures and put 2 horses out on approx 1 acre but they still get hay.
and the horses i put out on the 2 and 1/2 ac pasture also get hay, I will put 3 -4 out there.


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## RegularJoe (Aug 26, 2014)

Northernstar said:


> *"Horse Keeping On A* *Small Acreage"* by Cherry Hill. It is full of good, sound advise in every aspect, and I've since recommended it to many.


I came here specifically to recommend that when I saw the thread title.


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## squirrelfood (Mar 29, 2014)

I've owned my copy for many years.


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## Northernstar (Jul 23, 2011)

Samson5261 said:


> I actually plan on buying that book next payday lol!
> 
> I plan on building a shelter and feeding hay out of slow feed nets. Would it help if they where kept off the grass at night? It would only be for 8 hours but I was thinking it might also help. Both of my boys could stand to loose weight and are not hard to keep weight on so this should help as I usually have to buy lower quality hay since the good stuff causes them both to just get super fat&#55357;&#56836;lol.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


I live in the far north where grazing is scarce- the other 2 paddocks I've built for them to 'graze' is more or less a nice little treat. My mares are easy keepers as well, so this is a 'blessing in disguise' grass wise. _If you_ _have lush pastures and overweight horses, however, then yes, I highly recommend_ _putting them out to graze only for small periods_ and not giving them free choice. I feed 1st cutting timothy hay, btw, and a good loose mineral called 'GroStrong'. That, and free choice salt, water. They are 3 healthy mares! Sounds like you are on top of things! Best of luck


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## Samson5261 (Jul 25, 2013)

So I guess my stepdad has told my mom that I can winter them there but move them for the rest of the year somewhere else. He's making plans for my horses without even talking to me so its frustrating me:/. Me and him just don't have the same opinions as each other when it comes to animals. Rowdy is very sensitive to change and being moved so much just would not be good for him. My stepdad just says stop babying him and treating him like a sissy lala! It's not like he as to pay for anything or care for them. I'm even buying all the fencing and stuff. He's just one of those men that if its his idea then its the best and ONLY option and that just makes me mad!! Which is why we agree to disagree a lot!;(
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## Samson5261 (Jul 25, 2013)

squirrelfood said:


> You also have real dirt. Here we have...............rocks.


Man are you right about the rocks! We had to replace a section of fence last year and we had five corner post holes to dig! We didn't get any dirt but plenty of rocks! That's why I'm going with electric fencing no corner posts so no holes to dig!!
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## Change (Jul 19, 2014)

stevenson said:


> Change.. thats funny ! bet you went broke on sandclear ! I am Cali but have clay . hard as cement in summer even with tons of mulch, and slippery sticky mess when wet.
> I do have irrigated pastures and put 2 horses out on approx 1 acre but they still get hay.
> and the horses i put out on the 2 and 1/2 ac pasture also get hay, I will put 3 -4 out there.


Stevenson - I lived in Mojave and the "dirt" I lived on was actually caliche. Sounds like you're in the same area - Lancaster, by chance?


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

change,not in Lancaster, I am in Bakersfield. Been to Lancaster , Mojave, dont care for wind or the sand .Yes i do have caliche , one side of my driveway is caliche cannot grow roses, other side is the clay and the roses grow .


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## LadyDreamer (Jan 25, 2008)

Figure out where they are going to be NOW. Get it all sorted out before committing one dime of your money to fencing or anything to do with that property. If they are going to just be allowed to spend the winter, find their new barn now and put that fencing money into their board.
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## Samson5261 (Jul 25, 2013)

LadyDreamer said:


> Figure out where they are going to be NOW. Get it all sorted out before committing one dime of your money to fencing or anything to do with that property. If they are going to just be allowed to spend the winter, find their new barn now and put that fencing money into their board.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


It wouldn't even bother me as much if he was talking to me about this but he calls my mom like we can do this with the horse and then move them here. They are not even his horses both are mine and he's never had anything to do with them. He should be home tonight and I will be talking to him but its like talking to a brick wall most of the time:/
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## Maple (Jan 10, 2012)

Samson5261 said:


> It wouldn't even bother me as much if he was talking to me about this but he calls my mom like we can do this with the horse and then move them here. They are not even his horses both are mine and he's never had anything to do with them. He should be home tonight and I will be talking to him but its like talking to a brick wall most of the time:/
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Unfortunately if you are in the home of your parents/stepparent and this has to do with their house, they can and will call the shots. I can understand being frustrated, and I am unsure of your age but if they are funding the horses then they are entitled to make these choices for you. Try not to go in "guns blazing" and have a logical plan drawn up with what you intend to do.


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## Samson5261 (Jul 25, 2013)

Maple said:


> Unfortunately if you are in the home of your parents/stepparent and this has to do with their house, they can and will call the shots. I can understand being frustrated, and I am unsure of your age but if they are funding the horses then they are entitled to make these choices for you. Try not to go in "guns blazing" and have a logical plan drawn up with what you intend to do.


I'm 23 and I pay for everything that has to do with the horses and all my animals really. I also help out with the bills and food or anything else. I don't mind just changing where I board them and not putting them on the property but I just don't like how he's not talking to me about it. I can talk as logical as I want with him but it rarely works. If its his idea then its the best and only way to go. I talk to him calm and if it gets heated I take a break then try to approach the subject differently but it just doesn't always work sadly. I have told mom that it is doable to keep them there full time and that I would rather spend the money that I would use on board to keep them there full time.
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## 3ringburner (Feb 8, 2014)

I've always heard 1 horse per acre, we have 2 on 3.5 acres and have been on 2-3 months and the grass is holding up great!


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## Samson5261 (Jul 25, 2013)

For my sacrifice pen how big should it be? I would like to make it where I can seperate the two for feeding sometimes. Also what should I use for fencing for the pen? Will the electric work or I was thinking maybe some horse panels.
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## Change (Jul 19, 2014)

stevenson said:


> change,not in Lancaster, I am in Bakersfield. Been to Lancaster , Mojave, dont care for wind or the sand .Yes i do have caliche , one side of my driveway is caliche cannot grow roses, other side is the clay and the roses grow .


There's a trick for growing roses in caliche. Take a jack-hammer :lol: and break up the caliche, then, with a roto-tiller, add hay and horse-manure, a little potting soil and bone meal - drop the rose in and keep it moist. I had forty of the most beautiful roses surrounding my (sod) lawn. That, and the wild poppies were the only green on my place!


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