Ideal Horse Farm Layout For Every Acreage

The feeling of driving down a tree-lined driveway to arrive at a gorgeous, and well planned out equestrian facility is something special. Prim paddocks, organized buildings, and space that works best for both horse and rider is what most of us equestrians dream envision for our horse properties. 

If you are thinking of building an equestrian facility from scratch then this is a must-read article!  Here are the best Horse Farm Layout Examples we have found for smaller sized equestrian properties.

Can you ever have enough land when you own horses?

Technically, the more land you have, the more horses you could have… And potentially, the more land you have the more options you have for bigger barn space, more arenas (who doesn’t want a large sand ring, a large derby grass ring AND two indoors?), and possibly even a conditioning track?

If only it were that easy.

Land and money are both finite resources (for some of us), and so often times this means we have to work with what we have.

Here are a few great examples of various sized horse properties. They show great ways to be creative and make the most of the land you have.

 

5-Acre Horse Farm Layout

In today’s world (and real estate market), we see more and more people owning a modest equestrian facility and utilizing the land as best as they can.

If you’re looking for a cozy 5-acres for yourself and your horses, here is an excellent example.

These images were taken from a horse farm in Wellington, Florida. You’ll notice the lack of indoor arena but you’ll also notice that there is more than enough space to put one in.

You have space enough for 6 individual paddocks and 2 group turnout paddocks. Where they currently have the home, I would instead have a 10-stall barn. The Indoor arena would then attach to the barn in the back. A modest home would fit neatly onto the green space to the left where you could overlook your paddocks.

 

10-Acre Horse Farm Layout

You might be able to tell from this example that we are back in Florida. 🙂 This luxurious facility houses 14 horses, offering two beautiful, big outdoor arenas, a big home, large paddocks and a hot walker. There is also staff housing located on the property.

There is no indoor arena on this property either but with a little bit of re-configuration, you could easily put in an indoor arena. Besides, the house is a little grand for my taste and with a smaller home, you would have a little more land to play with.

The thing I truly LOVE about this layout is the track that traces around the property – perfect for cooling out the horses after a hard workout.

 

20-Acre Horse Farm Layout

With 20 acres of land, you have space enough for a large and grand equestrian facility.

The property example below is currently for sale in the Hamptons, curtesy of Saunders Realty. You can marvel at the entire property here. This is definitely a grand estate with a hefty price tag to boot.

Here you have a very neatly laid out property. An indoor arena and three outdoor arenas (2 sand, 1 grass). There are two residences on the property. One for the owner and the other is staff housing. 14 paddocks (if well managed) offer more than enough space for the 27 horses that the barn accommodates.

With this size of property, I would probably turn one of those sand rings into a grass ring and use the front two fields to produce my own hay.

 

50-Acre Horse Farm

With 50 Acres there isn’t much you can’t do in terms of layout.

I am using the boarding facility Shenandoah Equestrian in Burlington as an excellent example of a well-utilized and well laid out 50-acre horse farm.

This property houses up to 30 horses, offers tons of paddock space and more than enough riding arenas – with 2 indoors and a large outdoor sand ring. There is also a large home on the property as well as a hay field and still a lot of room to spare.

We hope these examples of smaller equestrian properties will help you on your journey to designing your own layout for your equestrian property.

JP Gulbis

Written By: John Paul Gulbis

Broker

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