keeping horses in small paddocks

Jodie

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Jan 17, 2001
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I was wondering what people thought of keeping horses in small paddocks. There is an agistment place i'd luv to move my horses to they would have a paddock each but they are quite small to the size i'm keeping them in. the place isn't to flash but has an arena and will be under five minutes from where i am moving house too in which case i can see them twice a day. would the extra care and attention they would reciece be worth a smaller size paddock. obiviously they will be exercised ect they already have and will continue to have unlimited hay and be hard fed twice a day. they are already checked twice a day but by someone who i pay to do it but she tends to not change there rugs according to the weather as much as i would so some days its quite warm and they still have heavy rugs on. but i cannot get there to do it as its 30mins away i get to them now 5 days a week. the other things is by moving them i will also save money on board as this place is much cheaper and i wont have to pay someone to check them on top of that. so clearly even if i have to feed much more i'd still be in front as well as having them just minutes from my house. what do u all think?
 
May lives in a patch 100 feet by 120 feet (no idea what that is in acres or metres!) because she has to have her intake monitored rather closely. She has enough room in there to hooley around if she wants and goes out just about every day anyway. I don't see a problem with small paddocks - it sounds like a good way to avoid arguments between horses and as long as they can see and touch other horses over the fences it shouldn't be a problem. I'd be worried if they couldn't groom each other though, or if the paddocks are so small there's no room for them to run.
 
well they would be next to other horses. i have kept them in private paddocks before next to each other for feeding purposes and neither horse mind being in a paddock alone, its actually quite good for one of them to be own his own sometimes as if his always with another horse you cant leave him alone with out him going mental whereas if you swap it around and put them in together sometimes and separate them some times or keep then next door to each other where they still can touch and talk and do horsey things...lol (which is the situation they would be in) they stay happy and i can take one out knowing the other is happy still.

as for paddock size there is one which at a really rough guess would be 1 acre wouldn't be anymore and some slightly smaller as the place is right in the middle of residential suburbs they dont have much land. they look tiny to what i'm used of seeing but with that being said these are ex racers not long of the track who have been stabled or in yards for their first five years of life so maybe i'm being paranoid as naturally they wud get the very best of care. the paddocks have grass obviously that would go down pretty quickly but they are pretty much living in mud now in a big paddock. in these paddocks least i'll beable to feed them individually as they are together now and i have to feed one a bit more than i'd like and one a bit less than i'd like. although they are healthy i'm just not 100% happy with it. it would solve every thing i'm not happy about now such as not being able to be there 2 feed and rug myself, traveling, money, be so much easier to give them proper care when ones injured as one is now. the only prob is paddock size i know of some people keeping healthy happy horses in smaller paddocks with no grass and supprisingly little feed its just not the way i've done it in the past i dont want the horses to suffer at my convience but are they really going to is the question maybe i'm just being paranoid.
 
One acre is ample, really. My sec A would become obese on that very quickly. Her paddock is a fenced off corner of our seven acre field - and although I do feel bad about her being in there and on her own, I'd feel much worse if she got laminitis. She actually seems a lot happier with this arrangement - she has always been pushed around a bit by other horses.

Not having grass is not that bad - if they had plenty of hay or haylage they'd still be getting what they needed. Have to admit ours have always been turned out on fairly big areas so it still seems odd having May penned in now.

I'd give it a go. The paddocks sound like a good size really and if it solves all your other problems, I think it would be worth it.
 
our three are stuck in the small pasture up by the barn all winter and through some spring until they have been acclamated to the green grass. its probably about 1 1/2acres and they make do quite fine. although when we do let them down into the big pasture (10acres) they sure do run around a lot, they really enjoy it.

if its really that much better then where they are now then the small pasture shouldn't be to much of an issue. 1acre will do fine.
 
How many paddocks are there & how many horses? You should really work on the basis of 1 1/2 acres for the first horse and then an acre for each horse after that. Even at that size you need to be able to manage the land properly in order to promote new grass growth in the spring, otherwise it is eaten whilst it is growing & you soon end up with horse sick land.

However, if you think you can manage the land effectively & you & your horses will be happier if you moved then it's certainly worth looking into. Are there any other pieces of land around or different yards you could enquire at so that you give yourself a few options to choose from?
 
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