How much land for three horses?

[InformalRoman]

Can anyone advise on how much land would be required for three horses (all three are around 15 to 16 hands)?

There would be stabling available so they wouldn't have be turned out 24/7.

Would also be aiming for flat(ish) good pasture ideally fenced into three fields so that they can be rotated.

Thanks in advance!

An acre per horse at a time )1-1.5 recommended by BHS welfare guidelines) with allowances for rest half the year, so I would go with 6 acres plus if possible.

Agree with the above.

Thanks for the replies - have had a look at the BHS advice which is 1 to 1.5 acres per horse on permanent grazing (didn't see the rest for half a year allowance though?).

We have managed just fine with two horses on 2 acres before so wondering if we could get away with 4 to 5 acres if they are stabled overnight during the colder months?

You could do it on six acres, but life would be a lot easier on ten. People do keep horses on very little land successfully, look at the cavalry horses in London, but easier for you and much nicer for them to have plenty of turnout. Also means that if the weather is terrible, a drought for instance, you've got a bit more breathing space. You'll need to be very careful on your land management if you're on four acres.

What kind of land? We have clay which gets vile in bad weather. So have two acres per horse.

I agree it depends on the land. We are on chalk (and at the top of a hill) and don't get too much of a mud problem so we can get away with less space. We don't need a lot of grass though as we have a big fatty.

Thanks for all the replies.

Soils would most likely be free draining and loamy in the areas we're looking at, so hopefully mud would be less of a problem. The horses are two retirees (so not ridden) and one youngster that is lightly exercised. They would be stabled at night and turned out during the day.

It also depends on if they are good doers. Also shod horses churn up the ground more. But I'd say

Sorry too early...that should be an ok amount of ground. I have 5 on 8 acres currently but one is only 11h.

I've got two (both shod in front) on 3 acres (split fields) I like them to live out as much as possible but still end up hay feeding in field and usually stabling 6hrs daily all year round. Clay soil is a nightmare.

We're on clay in Suffolk and we have 3 ponies (12.2, 14 and 14.2) on 7.5 acres and it is barely enough. We have two fields - one of which we only use in Summer and strip graze very carefully - they have to eat everything before the can move up. There are two oak trees in there so we have to electric tape around them as well. In the Winter (November to about Easter) they move into the other field which we divide into 4 quarters. They are split 1 and 2 in the bottom two quarters at the moment and we're saving the top two quarters until end of Feb. These fields due tend to get trashed even though they are in from 3pm until 6.30am and kept in completely in really bad weather. We have them rolled and fertilised as soon as we can move them off.

Previously - before DD - we had 3 horses on the same land and again it was only just enough. We had to be so careful with the paddock maintenance and strip grazing.

If I had 3 horses again I'd go for a minimum of 8 acres.

I have 3 ponies, 12.2, 13.2 and 14.2, on 4 acres of clay. They live out in the summer and are in at night in the winter. It's way way too much in the summer as they are all good doers - I only use small paddocks and I'm planning to make hay out of the rest next season. In the winter I use the whole field and it never gets too poached with 3 ponies. So it's plenty for me, but I guess with 3 big horses you would need a lot more grass and they would churn it up a lot more.