# Paddock vs. Pasture vs. Pen vs. Field vs. everything else



## AnalisaParalyzer (Apr 25, 2012)

That's pretty much how out goes here. 

But we also have what we call a "run". A dirt or sand outside attachment to a stall.


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## Avna (Jul 11, 2015)

Out here in the arid West, it's more like:

Pasture = big fenced area with the remains of dry grass in it (which probably means at least five acres)
Paddock = something English with grass in, probably has a white board fence. Never really seen one except in pictures. 
Pen = small sand or dirt enclosure
Field = interchangeable with pasture, unless it is described as unfenced. 
What is unenclosed is *range*


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## Saskia (Aug 26, 2009)

Here in Australia: paddock = field = grassy area usually over an acre. Pretty much everywhere in Australia is fenced. We don't use pasture or pen.

A small enclosure with dirt or grass is called a yard.


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

Avna said:


> Out here in the arid West, it's more like:
> 
> Pasture = big fenced area with the remains of dry grass in it (which probably means at least five acres)
> Paddock = something English with grass in, probably has a white board fence. Never really seen one except in pictures.
> ...


Yep, this. :lol:
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## beau159 (Oct 4, 2010)

In my neck of the woods, "pasture" is a large grassy area for horses to graze. "Corral" is an enclosed small dirt area. 

And that's about it. We don't really use the terms paddock or pen. 

And when people talk about "field", it's usually a field where crops are planted/harvested... Not where livestock graze.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## tinaev (Dec 2, 2012)

A pasture is a fenced area of land. It could be big, it could be small. But it's a place for your horse to live and eat and eat whatever grass grows there. A field could also be considered a pasture. The main difference being that horse owners say pasture and everyone else says field. Paddock is not a term we use. A pen would be a small enclosure.


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## Chevaux (Jun 27, 2012)

Where I am (Saskatchewan), we have:

Pasture -- large area usually measured in acres and fenced with wire (barbed, page, electric) as the norm
Corral -- anywhere from small to medium size (in comparison to the pasture) and fenced with post/rails or metal panels or page/diamond fencing
Field -- main purpose is to grow crops but livestock may be turned out on it after the crop is taken off


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## JCnGrace (Apr 28, 2013)

We have:

Pasture-large fenced in areas of grass

Corrals-smaller than pasture, square in shape, ours have grass in them but quickly turn into dry lots if the horses are shut in.

Dry lot-fenced in area where, in my case, the minis live 24/7 and there is no grass or weeds growing.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

We have:

Pasture - usually 5-10 acres, can be "fenced & cross fenced"

Field - where they grow crops, not for horses usually

Range - more out west where they have large tracts of land (sq miles) wide open

Run - an attached dirt area behind a barn stall

In & Out - Stall with an attached run

Corrals - small fenced areas for horses, can be for single or multiple horses

Pipe corrals - area for horses that is enclosed with panels made of pipe rather than fenced

Mare Motel - Pipe corrals that have a "roof" over the top of them, usually configured so that at least 12 ft of the corral is covered, aisle is covered and 12 feet of the corral across the aisle is covered. Real handy in climates like AZ & So Cal. 

Don't use Paddock or Yard, unless I really do turn them out to mow the grass in my front or back yard. Rarely use pen, unless referring to cattle.


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## Hadassah (Nov 1, 2015)

I grew up in west Texas and we had pastures, very large acreages, and then you had a horse trap, usually five acres you could lure them into to finally catch them in. A pen was small, like a corral and used interchangeable. I would have just died and gone to heaven if I ever heard one of the cowboys say "paddock" as I envisioned beautiful, slick hunter jumpers and race horses in paddocks vs the wiley, hard to catch, ranch horses we had. But I am pretty sure those cowboys wouldn't have ever heard the word paddock or admitted to it if they did. :wink:


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

In my experience:

A paddock was what TB farms had in KY, MD, NY, etc. with grass. Though, I have seen paddocks that were only for brief turnout and were sand or dirt, at stables.

A pasture is many, many acres. The smallest I've had was 700. The largest was more than 5,000.

A pen was either something at the corrals, one section of multiple pens that made up the corrals, or a small lot (grassed) of 2 to 5 acres where we'd keep horses in that we intended to use the next day.

A field is cultivated/farmed in some sort of crop.

Yard is the area between buildings.


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## Jan1975 (Sep 7, 2015)

Where I live (rural northern IL), we say "pasture" for anything with grass and "lot" for things with dirt. I've also heard "paddock". I actually use paddock because the word "lot" is weird to me. But I also say "dinner" and most others say "supper" so I'm weird anyhow. :lol:


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

Jan1975 said:


> Where I live (rural northern IL), we say "pasture" for anything with grass and "lot" for things with dirt. I've also heard "paddock". I actually use paddock because the word "lot" is weird to me. But I also say "dinner" and most others say "supper" so I'm weird anyhow. :lol:


LOL We have dinner at noon and supper after work.


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## SamanthaB (Jul 22, 2014)

boots said:


> In my experience:
> 
> A paddock was what TB farms had in KY, MD, NY, etc. with grass. Though, I have seen paddocks that were only for brief turnout and were sand or dirt, at stables.
> 
> ...


I'm sorry, maybe I'm having a moment of stupidity, but when you say 700 and 5000 what unit are you referring to?


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