What is the perfect size/acerage farm for you?

[Serigraph]

I'm a new farm owner...almost a year now with the boys at home. I cannot stop thinking about expanding my place though and picturing the land behind me cleared and fenced. In reality though, that would be way too costly now. However, I could probably lease an acre or two behind me.

What size farm works best for you and how many horses do you have on pasture, pasture that remains pasture and a food source?

I have 6.5 acres which is nearly all pasture since I use the front as turnout at times, and 2 horses. This seems like the best plan to keep pasture and work in check, but I would love a few more acres and one more horse, or at least I think I would! Ideally I think my perfect size would be 15ish acres with 3 horses.

What is your perfect size and why?

[baileygreyhorse]

We have 28 with about 10 in pasture for our 3 boys. About 6 is hay fields. There is a ridiculous 3 acre front yard, which is worthless. The rest is yard, gardens, driveway and a bit of woods. Not the best use of the acreage. I'd love to have another 10 or so, but not sure why. I envision a lovely XC course out there. Not sure why since I don't ride any more and all 3 horses are retired. It's nice to dream though.

[Melissa.Hare.Jones]

The general rule, if you want to maintain good nutritional value in your pasture, is two acres per horse. However, it really depends where you live... in areas where grass is tough to grow, you may need much more area to provide enough grazing to cut down on your hay and feed bills.

I have three horses and find eight acres of pasture to be ideal - plenty of room to run and play, with separate resting, pooping and grazing zones. The total property is 12 acres and to me that's plenty for two people to take care of (mowing, weed whacking fence lines, maintaining outdoor arena footing etc.). It's also just big enough to use the perimeter as a nice galloping track or warm-up/cool-down walk.

[county]

We have 328 acres that we own and lease and thats been about right for us. I'm 58 now and this past year its started to get harder to keep it up. But this past Aug. I quit my job in town so now its not hard at all.

[deltawave]

I think the "20% rule" probably applies--whatever we have, we tend to think we'd be happier with 20% more. :)

We have 11 acres, about 6-7 of which is for the horses. The rest is creeks, woods, driveway, house, etc. It's actually just fine. With careful pasture management I can keep the horses grazing from April until November, provided the rain is adequate. They're all easy keepers, so TOO much grass would see them fat. They graze from 2-10 hours a day, weather/footing/season permitting.

However, I lust after the 10 acre field to the west, the 20 acres to the south, and especially the 2 acres to the north. :D Not so much that I'd be able to do much with them right away--I just want them. The 2 acres especially would be a great spot for a ring/jumping area AND if we owned it there would be no house built there--the property is for sale and I dread having someone come in and building and then deciding they're offended by horses. :rolleyes:

In all honesty, the acreage we have in pasture right now is just about as much as I can easily manage WRT mowing, soil management, etc. So I'm not particularly itching to get more land, it just is sort of in the back of my mind. :)

[tle]

We'll be looking at property sometime next year hopefully. Of course we'd love something with a LOT of acreage perhaps in woods for various reasons (our own wood supply, fun trails, places to play and possibly hunt) but I don't know financially if that will be possible. I am sincerely hoping though that we can get in the 15 acre range at a minimum. That way we can do everything we really want to do -- horses, cows or goats, chickens, expanding the rabbit operation, a small orchard, a large garden... we would really love to be as self sufficient as possible -- not sure how the horses fit into that as they're require more stuff than the others, but we still want horses. :)

[kipster]

I envy my neighbors 20 acres. If prices keep dropping maybe I will be able to afford it! I have 5 acres. The property is set up well, with 4 acres of pasture, the other has the house and arena. Honestly with my job, it is actually just right for us. I don't think I could keep up with more!

[Rancherff]

We have 100+ acres, miles of riding trails, creeks, wooded paths, large hay and alfalfa fields, a pond, and WORK. Unless you want to be a full time farmer/rancher (or it is undeveloped) this is simply too much property. My choice is 5 acres for all the human and horse related buildings and 15 in pasture/hay. This size is easily hobby farmed. However I would want to be next to BLM open space where they pay the taxes and I don't have to worry about keeping the acreage up. Most important feature...WATER.

[dserthorse]

[QUOTE=deltawave;3832533]>>


<<We have 11 acres, about 6-7 of which is for the horses. The rest is creeks, woods, driveway, house, etc. It's actually just fine. With careful pasture management I can keep the horses grazing from April until November, provided the rain is adequate. They're all easy keepers, so TOO much grass would see them fat. They graze from 2-10 hours a day, weather/footing/season permitting. >>

I don't have enough land, and I'd love to have more. Nevertheless, I think it does depend on where you live, the weather that year, and your pasture management.

A place I used to board had this great land- in central VA- a total of about 40 acres, with two mare pastures totalling about 14 acres of that. About 7 mares on that 14 acres, and since it had been grazing land for years, and was not rotated, it was certainly not what I'd think of as lush. Nevertheless, more than a few horses grass colicked and several foundered. So, it was too much of a good thing, at least the way it was used.

My own horses, 6 of them on a measley 5 acres, eating grass from about April through Sept or Oct, 20 hours daily, with two flakes of hay when they are stalled in the afternoon, stay on the plump side. I do have three fields and I rotate, and reseed two fields every year- one in spring and one in fall.

In my perfect world, I'd have two acres per horse, with no limit to either acres or horses. In reality, I'd be in horse heaven with maybe 16-20 acres and eight horses. I think. I'd take more land though! Of course.

<<However, I lust after the 10 acre field to the west, the 20 acres to the south, and especially the 2 acres to the north. :D Not so much that I'd be able to do much with them right away--I just want them.>>

I think I've found kindred spirits. All my life, I've wanted horses, dogs and land. Like a litany for me.

Laurel

[onthebit]

Hubby and I were just talking about this the other day. Our family farm where we are now is a bit over 100 acres, mostly pasture. Ideally we would like to end up with about 250 acres, mostly pasture but some wooded areas, as we just don't have enough land to do all that we want to do right now. When we lived in Vermont several years ago for about 18 months we bought a house and 15 acres (I had four horses then) and honestly it felt like living in a subdivision to me.

[Bluey]

I am always surprised how many horses and terrain features you all manage to squeeze in so few acres and make it work.:eek:

Here you need 30 acres per horse and that is when it rains at least our average, which it has not done in many years now.

Our horse pasture is 122 acres and barely works for up to 4 horses, without destroying our fragile native short grasses.
This year, because we aren't getting any moisture this winter, we will be resting it during the growing season, from April to July and keep the horses in a cattle trap during that time.
We don't have enough water to irrigate either, or the right kind of climate to support those good, cultivated grasses so many have further East of here.

[EqTrainer]

DW said:

"Not so much that I'd be able to do much with them right away--I just want them. "
--

I so understand this. I have always wanted MORE land, even when I was a child and lived on a 280 acre farm. Now I have 22 acres and just found out that the 50 acre hay field across the street from me is going to come up for sale. I am so in lust for it, I can hardly stand myself, and have come to tears thinking about someone else buying it. I think I need professional help to get over this :lol:

[mkevent]

It's like in Gone With The Wind when she holds up that piece of dirt and says(Oh I can't remember what she said but it had something to do with the importance of land so of course I teared up a little)
I think how much land depends on:
1. If you work outside the home/farm(more land more work)
2. Where in the US you live
3. How you practice horsekeeping and what exactly you expect your pastures to provide-ie.does it need to supply all the horses nutritional value or a place for them to run and exercise or maybe something to occupy their time and give them some of their nutrition?
I currently have 6 horses on my 7.5 acre farm. Probably 6.5 acres fenced. I live in South NJ so the grass is decent but I also feed grain and hay and are in paddocks(not pasture) from 8-16 hours per day, depending on the season. My set up is more expensive because right now I'm feeding 3/4 bale/day/horse along with grain because the pastures are more for occupying their time other than nutrition. With the cost of land around here(and taxes) I don't think I could afford to go bigger-not that I haven't thought about it!

[Sparky Boy]

We have 40 acres but really only use about 6-8 of them for horses. The rest is lawn or woods. I would like to have more pasture fenced in but it wouldn't be convenient to my barn.

[dserthorse]

It's like in Gone With The Wind when she holds up that piece of dirt and says(Oh I can't remember what she said but it had something to do with the importance of land so of course I teared up a little)


I think that was actually when she declared that she'd never be hungry again :lol:

But I got ya.

Laurel

[scpezold]

Would love more land. We are on 21 acres with 3 horses but 7 of those acres is a LAKE so technically 14 acres. It is great because we have a water source for the horses (yes, it has been tested, it is moving water, etc) but it is just too much. I would love to fill in part of it to have more pasture (anyone ever done this?). Ideally I would love to move where the land is flatter but hubby says no. I am grateful for what we have but I would love more land!
BTW: 3 horses (well 2,one is on stall rest) have been fine on 12 acres and they are out 24/7.

[mayhew]

We have five acres (two of which is pasture, and three of which is a forested cliff, so not really usable) and it isn't nearly enough, even though we borrow the neighbour's pasture. I wanted the place with more land, nicer barn, and a trashy house, hubby wanted the place with less land, a barn made out of trailers, and... a less trashy house. Hubby controls the purse strings, so here we are.

[greysandbays]

640 acres would be just about right.

With the home yard in the middle, it would be far enough away from neighbors to be tranquil and when the country totally goes to hell, it would be big enough to live 100% off the land. (And provide enough "fighting room" for when the government and/or looters come calling with unfriendly intentions.)

[mayhew]

Makes an awfully big landing pad for the black helicopters, though.

[merrygoround]

DW said:

"Not so much that I'd be able to do much with them right away--I just want them. "
--

I so understand this. I have always wanted MORE land, even when I was a child and lived on a 280 acre farm. Now I have 22 acres and just found out that the 50 acre hay field across the street from me is going to come up for sale. I am so in lust for it, I can hardly stand myself, and have come to tears thinking about someone else buying it. I think I need professional help to get over this :lol:

Oh Dear! It's such a common disease. Isn't there a vaccination for it!!! :lol:

[lawndart]

Can never get enough land. :D We started with 30 acres, and are now up to 52 acres. Just yesterday I said to my husband, "maybe the neighbors on the other side would sell 10 acres or so"...God bless him, he just chuckled and gave me a hug :winkgrin: He grew up on a several hundred acre farm, so to him, this is just a hobby farm. ;)

The most important thing is where you buy land. Not just close to work, but will that area be developed in the future? Are they planning on a landfill next door? How about a major McMansion development in the next ten years?

After living in the Poconos and putting up with the neighbors late night parties, and smoldering diapers he chose to burn along the property line, I swore I'd never buy another place with neighbors in sight or sound of me.

All I look at now are horses, my own and my retirees, my property and...State Forest. Priceless!! :winkgrin::)

[Vandy]

I think it all depends whether you plan to grow hay and/or have horses on pasture. Our farm is 50 acres, but since it's the desert and the land is very hilly, hay is not part of the plan, nor is grazing. Between the horse operation (20-25 horses) and our small home, we only really use about 10 acres, 3 acres of which is divided into 2 fenced dry lots for turnout. Of course, it's nice to trail ride around the property, but with horse-friendly neighbors, it doesn't really make that much difference. Ideally, I'd like to fence some more turnout areas, but we'd still be using less than 20 acres. If there was pasture, or if the land were better suited to grow hay, it would be a different story.

[MunchkinsMom]

We bought a 10 acre farm 4 years ago, in a section of the county that is deemed as "farmland preservation area" so it cannot be subdivided (10 acres is minimum now). One acre is for the yard, the other 9 is all pasture. I have 3 horses, and in the summer when the grass is growing at a rapid rate, I have to mow to keep up with it (and to keep the weeds down). This is about perfect for me - I don't have to traipse all over the place to find the horses (oh, the pasture is in a U shape around the house - which also helps).

Zoning here allows 1 animal per acre, but I think 9 horses would stress the pastures.

[2DogsFarm]

I'm going to buck the trend here and say less land.

Right now I have 2 horses on 5ac, about 3ac in pasture, barn & arena.
If I had done more perimeter fencing I could probably stop feeding hay all Summer. And I'd spend a heckuva lot less time mowing.
Or if I could put 2ac in hay it would keep my 2 in hay year-round.

I would do just fine TYVM with 3ac, perimeter-fenced, house in the middle and add my 3rd horse (actually the driving pony I am lusting after).

I do not need the acre+ of lawn I have now to mow. :no:
A teeny plot surrounding the house, big enough for my little veggie plot and some flowers would make me ecstatic.

I actually had the builder who put up my present barn do a CAD rendering for me of a 3-stall barn with 800sf house attached. I'd fence the whole shebang so house would be surrounded by pasture.
This is my Retirement Dream Farm :D

[Arcadien]

Although I understand lusting for more, I think I've finally realized my 5 acres for my 3 horses is perfect and any more would be too much for me (I'm on my own and work full time) to manage even adequately. I don't expect my pastures to feed them though - just occupy them. I have "dry" paddocks attached to stalls, and a run in with a bigger dry lot when I want to rest the grass, and then I have two roughly 1.5 acre "pastures" in grass. Have XC fences built into the fencelines to school, a corner of one pasture (90x180) in sand with stadium jumps, and a small dressage arena marked out in another corner with small wooden 4X4 posts for letters.

I guess it all depends on what you want to do with that land, how much you need!

Cheers,
Arcadien

[Quin]

I see a new clique forming: Land Hos! I, too, feel you can NEVER have enough land, whether you use it for horses, other farm use, wildlife areas, or just plain as a barrier against neighbors.

We own 30 acres here. Only about 15 is fenced for horse pastures; the rest is house, outbuildings, small hayfield, woods, meadows, and creek. There are 2 main pastures separated by the barn lot, plus one small pasture that we use only rarely (lack of shelter and have to haul the water in). I used to think I'd like 40 acres - or 640. Then a few years ago I got to spend a few days riding with some folks who had about 9,000 acres. I've been lost in envy ever since.

EqT, I'm with you and the others. I don't need to USE it. I just want to HAVE it. Land is wonderful, and it's the one thing they're basically not making any more of. I'll take all I can get.

[Baroquecoco]

we have 200 acres here in virginia which has been good. we bought and are moving to 120 acres in ny which we have already decided will not be enough for hay, etc. as well as horses. so I dunno maybe 250???

[dressagediva92]

We board, but if we could own land I would love to have 20 acres of pasture for one horse. But if I had my own land I would have two horses. :cool: Guess I can keep dreaming though.

[Tom King]

Bigger is better not only for the horses but for having the neighbors farther away.

[SidesaddleRider]

To me, 60 acres is perfect.

My parents had a 60 acre farm, with 40 open acres and 20 in woods.

We currently have 14 acres. On the left side of us and behind us is 45 open acres in 3 parcels that the owner just uses as a (crappy) hay field. Oh, to have that land... Or even just one of the three parcels... that would be heaven.

[Jeannette, formerly ponygyrl]

I end up quoting the mythical ol farmer a lot - "I'se not greedy. All I wants is my land, an the land that 'jines it."

Seriously, we have about 60 acres. 10 more and I'd be happy ;)

[EqTrainer]

Jeanette, your website is beautiful, I just looked at it. Congratulations! You must be really enjoying having your own place.

[amdfarm]

I think I'll always want more land, just to have it. I like big open spaces.

I admire and love my friend's 140 (owned/leased) farm, but they raise cattle and horses both and need that kind of land. Just 10 of that is in hay ground and it doesn't produce enough to support their numbers. They still have to buy from outside sources to get through winter. And keeping up w/ the fencing is almost a full-time job.

I currently have very little land and more horses than it need, but it and they do fine. I feed hay year round because of it though so it can get costly.

BF and I are currently looking at a decent sized acreage (almost 14) already fenced w/ different sized pastures and a pond in one corner fenced off from the horses. It's very deep and almost completely surrounded by trees. W/ my numbers and if I sell a couple, I think it'll work fine for rotating and such during the summer and sacrifice paddocks in the winter months. There's room on the other side of the shop/barn to make another paddock or training area, as well. If there's less yard to mow the better and I'd rather the horses use it. The yard is more than an acre itself. Same as I have now actually, just flat vs hilly, which I prefer. I'm sick of hills!!

We did look at another place, smaller house and old hog barn that could work as a horse barn w/ some modifications on 32+ acres and for less money, but none of it is fenced, it's in crops. It would take a lot of work and money to get it put into pasture and ready for horses plus all of the fencing. That's not something we really want to tackle. It has a pond, too, but also some wetlands and timber which would be great for hunting. Simply too much work and not in the school district we wanted either. Even w/ that amount of land, I'd want some of it in hay ground, so the acreage in the end would end up being what we're looking at now.

There's 60 acres next door that wraps around this place that we'd talk to the owner about possibly leasing what's directly next to it. It's in crops now, too, but an arena and a couple dry lots wouldn't be a bad idea. Sometimes my stallion has to go somewhere if I don't want him to breed all the mares he's usually w/. Good place for the portly ponies, too.

I just hope we get it so I can start dreaming even more!! :D