# How much space does a horse need?



## Eolith

I have heard 100' X 100' is a decent size dry lot for one horse -- enough to allow them to stretch their legs and move around. I wouldn't think that you have to double or triple it with the addition of each horse, but you might consider adding another 20' per extra horse... or something like that.


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## Jalter

Eolith said:


> I have heard 100' X 100' is a decent size dry lot for one horse -- enough to allow them to stretch their legs and move around. I wouldn't think that you have to double or triple it with the addition of each horse, but you might consider adding another 20' per extra horse... or something like that.


That sounds way more reasonable.
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## bsms

I've got 3 horses living in a corral that is about 80 feet in diameter, although it isn't a perfect circle. They all seem healthy. The County building code here requires 400 sq feet per horse.


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## PaintHorseMares

We can leave 4 mares in our 100'x200' ring comfortably, but I wouldn't call it "turn out".
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## Honeysuga

With plenty of exercise and enrichment, you can keep them in a smaller area. If the horses begin acting aggressive or pushy towards one another you might want to add more space.


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## loosie

Yeah, agree with the above, esp honeysugar & PaintHorse. It depends. To a certain degree it's like saying a certain dog 'needs a big yard' when regardless of size, if it's not a motivating environment it doesn't matter. Horses need exercise but are largely lazy beasts when there's no reason to move, (generally) are far better in company, so I'd opt for keeping 2-3 horses in a yard/paddock of whatever size. If it's very limited, so long as they have adequate room to get away from one another they tend to get on. But in a small pen they will need a fair bit more exercise from you. They are made for open spaces, lots of movement & herd environment & I do think this is best, but whatever we may be stuck with, keeping that in mind & working for the most natural lifestyle we can will help.


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## DancingArabian

You have to check with your local government. Many places have minimum per horse requirements.
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## Cowgirls Boots

Where I live the law in my town is 2 acres for one horse and 1 additional acre for every other horse. So if you have 2 horses you need 3 acres, etc..
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## jaydee

You do need to check on zoning rules for your area first
Depending on how much daily exercise & attention/stimulation the horse gets you can keep a horse in a stable 24/7 and it will be fine - its how many racehorses, competition horses, working horses etc live but they aren't in that small space all the time and if you cant give them the work then their muscles will weaken and circulation not be so good - plus their mental attitude can change and bad habits being like food aggression,weaving, chewing and cribbing develop
If you're going to put a lot of horses into one small area they have to get on really well with each other as no room to avoid conflicts


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## SlideStop

Our paddocks are roughly 60x60, give or take on a few. 2-3 go in each and we always make sure they get along swimmingly because there is no room for really escaping. When they are fed we spread the hay and always leave one more pile then there is horses.
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## kassierae

Our guys are in a few different size paddocks on 2.25 acres. The biggest is probably about an acre, with a group of three and a group of two rotated on it. Then we have a 48'x72' pen/riding area that has anywhere from 2-6 minis in it. Another small pen that is maybe 15'x72', usually has 2 minis but occasionally 3. Both of those pens can be opened up to the barn to give more room if necessary. The smaller pen is maybe 35'x40', give or take. It's a bit odd shaped, and it has 2 minis in it. The smallest is about 15'x20', and it has one mini in it. 

Our paddocks have little to no grass, so essentially dry lots. The horses get fed twice daily, and have had this routine for 15+ years. They used to be on straight sweet feed, but we have recently begun adding a 12% protein pellet(I forget the other ingredients/percentages), and our grain about 75/25 SF/pellets. They are given about 10lbs of hay per horse(5 lbs for the shetland, about 2 lbs each mini), per feeding. Never had an issue with colics, ulcers, bad attitudes, hot horses etc. that is associated with our routine. Is it ideal? No, absolutely not. But it has been tried and true for so long, that my grandmother is unwilling to make changes. I would prefer they were straight pasture kept, but there just isn't the room and our ground does not grow grass well, it is a slate base.


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## SlideStop

Anyone one looking to keep horses should be looking at the largest possible space, not the smallest. The bigger the better and the more turn out the better! We have 25 horses on 7 acres. Every little spaced has, and has to be, been optimize! 6 horses come in at night as per their owners request. And on pair is in during the day 7-4 and out all night. There is room for pretty much ALL there horses to be outside 24/7, if need be.
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## kassierae

All of ours are out 24/7, except in winter they stay in if it's below 20*F, snowy or rainy. They all have room to get away from each other and are only turned out with someone they get along with. It's a very peaceable situation, for us. No real scuffles or anything like that, even with one breeding stallion, a former breeding stallion(now gelding), and two stud colts. The boys play rough, and my mares boss my gelding around, but nothing they can't handle.


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## WesternRider88

Our horses have their own corrals that are about 20x20. We ride them often and they are turned out in 5 acres for most of the day unless it's raining.


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## spirit88

My horses just got kicked out to pasture yesterday its 4 acers of lush grass. Their in hog heaven. Won't even come up for their dailey alfalfa pellets with supplements.

Their paddocks are a 100 by 50 that's were they live in winter. Hardly ever have them in paddocks come summer they run on the 4 acers.

Running out of hay so its pasture time full time now.


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## Jalter

Slidestop, is that 60x60 meters or feet?
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## SlideStop

Feet
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## loosie

SlideStop said:


> Anyone one looking to keep horses should be looking at the largest possible space, not the smallest.


I'm sure just about everyone does, but I think OP is asking because reality means that the largest space *that's feasible for someone* may be vastly smaller than what might be ideal - such as your 60' pens(sorry, but can't bring myself to call that size a paddock!:lol:


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## Jalter

SlideStop said:


> Anyone one looking to keep horses should be looking at the largest possible space, not the smallest. The bigger the better and the more turn out the better!
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


I also don't completely agree with this. Not everyone who loves horses can afford a 100 acre home. I'm asking about the smallest a horse can comfortably live in, not "what is cheap and barely acceptable" haha. The horse does need to be comfortable, I agree with that, but a ton of space doesn't seem to be nessesary unless pasture is its only food sourse.
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## SlideStop

loosie said:


> I'm sure just about everyone does, but I think OP is asking because reality means that the largest space *that's feasible for someone* may be vastly smaller than what might be ideal - such as your 60' pens(sorry, but can't bring myself to call that size a paddock!:lol:


That's pretty standard on Long Island. There are larger ones then that, as well as a few smaller ones. There's not a lot of room and it may not be ideal, but our horses have the most we can provide for them, barring we pack up and move our facility or sell half our herd and cut back business. It's also better then *A LOT *of places I've seen. 

What I meant was your smallest space should be the maximum amount you can provide. Sure, you can keep a horse in a 60x60 foot paddock, but is that because your A) to lazy/cheap to fence in the 10 acre pasture or is it B) because that's all the room you can possibly give them?


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## bsms

Here is an aerial photo of my corral for 3 horses. Zoning restrictions on setbacks for horse corrals prevent expanding it much. It is about 70 feet top to bottom, and about 95 feet max across. A lot of the time, all 3 horses will be side-by-side under the double shade. If my neighbors didn't hate horses, I could expand it by about 30 additional feet...:-x


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## jaydee

Jalter said:


> I also don't completely agree with this. Not everyone who loves horses can afford a 100 acre home. I'm asking about the smallest a horse can comfortably live in, not "what is cheap and barely acceptable" haha. The horse does need to be comfortable, I agree with that, but a ton of space doesn't seem to be nessesary unless pasture is its only food sourse.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


 So much of the east coast is heavily trees that open land comes at a price, we are fortunate in having acreage that's actual grassland and even then its not a lot (just over 9 acres) compared to the open spaces in other parts of the country but I come from a country where it costs a lot of money to have grazing land so I'm used to keeping horses on small areas and managing those areas and the horses on them
There are some big barns around us that actually do have a lot of land but still keep the horses in small individual turn out pens (I cant call them paddocks either because its not what I think of as a paddock)
What you need to do is make sure the horses have sufficient fiber all the time to avoid dietary problems like colic and enough exercise and attention to keep their muscles and joints healthy and their minds stimulated
The British army and police horses are stabled 24/7 but they get a LOT of attention and work


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## SlideStop

Jalter said:


> I also don't completely agree with this. Not everyone who loves horses can afford a 100 acre home. I'm asking about the smallest a horse can comfortably live in, not "what is cheap and barely acceptable" haha. The horse does need to be comfortable, I agree with that, but a ton of space doesn't seem to be nessesary unless pasture is its only food sourse.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


I totally agree. Not everyone can afford 100 rolling acres but I do think you should give them the most you can. Horses were made to move, it keeps them healthy physically and mentally. My friends property is two acres, her house is on one acre and the barn is on the other. Their "pens" are 30x60ish attached to the barn, then they get turned out in the riding arena or one gets the run of both pens and the other gets the arena. Is it ideal? No, but they get the most space my friend can give them.
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## PaintHorseMares

We fence as much as we can so there's less grass to mow. Saves me time and gas $$s.
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## caseymyhorserocks

My two horses are kept in a 100 ft long pen with half of it being 30 feet wide and the other half 70 feet wide, but only in winter to preserve pasture. I have 20 acres, but only 2.5 acres of open land - the rest is heavily forested and I cant trust Candy in a temporary fence which is the only thing we can use as we are logging it in 5 years. And you can bet every inch of the 2.5 acres is used for grazing (except for the house and garden!) , including my lawn. We get a lot of rain, 50+ inches so they can only be kept in a gravelled area safely, and I am not graveling one of my pastures!

As I live in Cali, I see a lot of horses kept in less then ideal situations. The biggest horse boarding spot here has 200 horses on 5 acres. Horses are kept in box stalls with one window, and if they are lucky they are let out a 12 by 30 pen each day. Every horse is miserable. Casey goes crazy if I ride her there because of all the horses with vices and running around in their tiny pens. Another place turns horses out in 12by 30 pens as well. I went to the bay area for a horse show, amazing facility. The horses had stalls with 50 foot runs. You could turn them out in a 20 by 100 pen if you wanted, but no more than 1.5 hours, and every horse there was happy! I saw no cribbers, chewers, pacers, etc, and every horse was regularly exercised. I wouldn't mind boarding there if it wasn't 50 feet off the freeway. It is all about the facility and the surrounding horses!


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