Re: Putting in a horse pasture- thinking about my land/ha...

Posted by donjr on December 24, 2011 at 17:33:53 from (72.85.22.77):

In Reply to: Putting in a horse pasture- thinking about my land/hay/etc posted by Cow on December 24, 2011 at 13:07:38:

Gotta jump in. It's your ground, and your life. But you really need more pasture acreage, or fence in some of the woods and some open ground. The more paddocks you have, the better your grass will be. But the grass needs a rest between grazings. You can find an older NH or JD baler in decent shape for a grand or so, but you still need a mower and a rake for hay. And a wagon or trailer and some teenagers to help get it in. So look at maybe $5K for machinery. Another tractor with live hydralics and pto wouldn't be a bad idea, so add another $5 or 6K. Then theres fencing. Figure $7 a post plus installation. If you go with board, it's higher cost, or cattle wire, which may be somewhat cheaper. Or hi-tensile, which all the horse people around here frown upon (know a few who have it and get along fine), which will cost less, but you still have to figure close to $1/ ft by the time you get the hardware and tools and gates.

Now, figure about 1 bale per day for two animals, and some grain. I hear the cost of grain is about $20 a bag, so you can probably make one bag last close to a week if you're careful. Don't forget a run in shed and water, preferably piped in. So, look at about $2 or 3K for that. You can always borrow a manure spreader if you didn't pi$$ the guy off too much who was farming the whole place, and may still be farming about half of what he was doing before. So try to keep on good terms with him. If his rent is kept lower, it may solve your hay problem and your labor problem in one quick motion. And may give you somewhere to get rid of the manure problem. I wish I had more of it; I even take it off a little horse farm I sell hay to.

Next hurdle is the livestock. I know Mom wants the critters. So did my daughter. Two 'free' ones. "We've got hay and pasture" was the way she put it. "I've got hay and pasture" was the way I put it. And then I reminded her that it costs roughly $2k per year for vet, farrier, and all the other necessities the well groomed nag expects including feed.

If money is no problem and you don't mind tying yourself down, because someone has to check on them and feed every day, go for it. But, think it out. There's a lot of fencing flling down around here because folks have had a horse or two for a while, and the little light bulb finally came on and they realized you just can't eat that big hunk of meat out there in the paddock. And they could go on vacation again, and afford a new vehicle sooner if they didn't have that expense. Just sit down, think about it for a few days, and look beyond next month- and talk to Mom about it first before you jump into it.

Have a Merry Christmas from us in Maryland-

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