Miniature horse pasture size?

[seattle]

Just curious...how big is the pen that you keep your miniature horse/s in, and how many minis live in that pen? Do you think a 65 x 80 ft dirt pen is big enough for two or three minis (that cannot be on grass hardly at all)?

 

[chandab]

I have pens from16x60' to 50x100' depending on the horses, some of the horses get out on grass, and some don't. The big pen seems to be big enough for them to get up speed and play pretty hard, if they want to. And, to help the exercise along, you can always spread their hay piles around, so they have to do a little walking while they eat.

 

[shalakominiatureshowhorses]

I dont know my pastures dimensions, but i think the main pasture with the barn in it is MAYBE 2 or 3 acres. We also have a small paddock with some shade trees in it for the extreame heat we get down here that is maybe an acre. They have room to have a good gallop, and i have 3 minis in mine. and i dont have grass in mine, they ate it all :/

 

[rabbitsfizz]

I have two/three acre pastures, all horses on grass 24/7 at this time of year. They are still horses, and if your only option is a pen then you will need to find somewhere (a livery barn near you, perhaps?) that has a turnout area (a normal sized menage would do) that you can let them have a good run and a buck in every couple of weeks. The run in I had attached to my foals stall before I turned them out was half an acre.

 

[Jill]

I do think that size of a paddock would work for 2-3 minis

 

[targetsmom]

I think it is important to recognize that what is ideal and what is available may be very different. Around here (CT) land is very expensive so you often see big horses in tiny turnouts, and they seem to do just fine. I know someone (who comes on this forum sometimes) who raises minis on 1/4 of an acre. Most of our herd is in a pretty small dry lot, but we do have an acre pasture that we turn them out in every week or so and they LOVE that. The mares or mares and foals are on it the rest of the time. Your minis should be fine especially if you take them out when you can, go for walks, etc.

 

[happy appy]

I have a few different pen sizes. 160x80 and 40x60. The big one has a 2 acre pasture off it and the small one has a 1/2 acre pasture off it. The small one is for my colt (hopefully gelding soon) and the other is for the rest of the herd. I have 5 in the big one and 2 in the small one. They have access to the grass pasture daily for a good run and buck session. There isn't much grass anymore. You can never go wrong with too much space, only with too little.

 

[HGFarm]

Make it as big as you possibly can- the more room the better. That is a pretty good size but I would rather have too much room than not enough. We have NO such thing as grass or pasture here- it's all dirt lots. So I have a couple of sizable 'pastures' for the horses to live in. That sounds like a pretty decent size though.

 

[MajorClementine]

I would think that 2-3 minis would be very happy in a paddock that size. It won't ever grow any grass because they will overgraze it and trample it but if you are just going for dirt that would work great. I have 2 minis in a 90'x32' area (minus 24'x16' in one corner for the dog kennel) and they have plenty of room to kick up their heels and play. It works out to about 2500 square feet of space for them (after subtracting the dog kennel) and you are looking at over 5000 square feet. That is double what I have. My minis don't seem cramped at all. They do get out to graze the lawn some and then training, walks, etc.

 

[Breannanalley]

I think that should be fine. I would get them out to move, like exercise or on a walk once in awhile. I have 2 minis that have a pasture area of 30x100 and they seem to be doing ok. They get locked up at night in a 14x16 area, that is off of the pasture. They get out Monday - Friday to work, and my gelding loves to run through the field with me! It's all and what you do for them. But again I think your dimensions are great even for a mud lot.