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It really depends. If you are feeding hay and picking up manure daily, a paddock is probably sufficient. If however, you plan for them to get most of their nutrients from the pasture, you should have 1.5 - many acres per horse depending upon the type of vegetation growing and soil conditions. It is recommended that you rotate pastures, periodically mow the weeds that horses don't eat and pick up or break up manure piles to prevents parasite infestation. We have more topics like this on www.myhorseplay.com
oh, one more thing...you should learn about the poisonous plants in your area. In the U.S. we have Cooperative Extensions to help us with that. Usually horses will not eat poisonous plants but sadly, occasionally it happens. And again..we have poisonous plant info. at www.myhorseplay.com
You need to check with local ordinances and laws. In Wayland, MI I had to have an acre for 1 horse and a half acre for every horse after that. I did receive a letter once that I was half a horse over my limit, which till this day no one on the board could tell me how that was.
It is really best to have 2 acres per horse. You can get away with one acre but you will have to keep on top of manure removal, mowing to keep the weeds down (maximizes the grass growth) and seeding and fertilizing. In inclemet weather you may need to keep the horse in until the ground has firmed up so that his hooves and teeth do not tear out the grass by the roots. I have worked with less but we rotated paddocks, and had a sacrifice paddock. We also did all of the above mentioned. It worked out and they had grass.
It depends on if you are planning to buy hay or just keep them on pasture. If your buying hay one acre is enough room to keep them even a paddock is sufficient but you have to exercise them more and let them stretch out more often.
If you are not supplementing hay and just have them on pasture it really depends on the quality of hay and grasses that you have. In my area I wouldn't go less than five acres per horse without supplementing hay.
It depends on law....feeding....what you expect from the land...how much exercise horse needs...ect...varies. I have 33 acres...I have a round pen, a paddock and a field. We are adding a 2nd paddock...and have not used much of our property yet. My horses are fed hay/grain 365 day per year...
