How many horses?

[st. louis kid]

What would be a realistic number of broodmares and weanlings or yearlings that a farm could have on 8 acres of pasture? Any formulas, etc.
Also, how would you lay out fencing for such?

[cng]

What would be a realistic number of broodmares and weanlings or yearlings that a farm could have on 8 acres of pasture? Any formulas, etc.
Also, how would you lay out fencing for such?

A lot would depend on how good the pasture is and where it is to start with. Good pasture with decent rainfall might hold 3 head (foals on side don't count). Any more than that and you won't have pasture very long anyway. The rule is 2 acres per horse on decent pasture but I think that is not enough.

[freshman]

Depends on the quality and lay of the land, but 8 horses would be max, I'd say, and 4-5 would be better number. Which means that realistically you'd want to keep only two broodmares in order to have room to keep their weanlings and yearlings. That's 6 horses at all times in the best case scenario; doesn't leave much wiggle room to account for the inevitable hangers-on that always seem collect at these operations--think a yearling that doesn't sell or the horse that has to come off the track for a lay-up, to mature, or to try to rehome when it doesn't run.

[Lisann]

It really does depend on whether you want the horses on pasture 24/7, with little supplement forage (hay), or if they will only be turned out part of the time.

My horses are stalled at night in the winter and during the summer days, so 1 acre/horse or less works pretty well for me. I feed a lot of hay in the winter and often dry lot them to avoid tearing up the pastures.

I'd think you'd want to break 8 arcres up into 4 turnouts. The pastures are more sustainable if you can rotate the horses off them for a while. I'd probably have a dry lot paddock or two, also.

[madelyn]

I would say two broodmares on 8 acres - if you breed them you have then got four, and then two yearlings, two more babies, etc.