# BHS horse per acre guidelines



## Gloverspiece (25 February 2011)

Does anyone have any issues with their local council regarding the enforcement of BHS guidelines for equine stocking levels.My local council will not allow any more than 1 equine per 1.5 acres regardless of size, breed, stabling etc. This is potentially dangerous for owners of laminitic animals. The BHS states that this is a guideline but some councils are making this law.


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## Tinypony (25 February 2011)

Can you point us to something in writing to support this?  Do you mean the council is taking an interest in how people keep their horses on their own land?
It wouldn't worry me much to be honest, in the unlikely event of a problem I'd just get the vet involved.


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## hadfos (25 February 2011)

Gloverspiece said:



			Does anyone have any issues with their local council regarding the enforcement of BHS guidelines for equine stocking levels.My local council will not allow any more than 1 equine per 1.5 acres regardless of size, breed, stabling etc. This is potentially dangerous for owners of laminitic animals. The BHS states that this is a guideline but some councils are making this law.
		
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Never heard of any council trying to enforce this rule...and tbh think it is utterly rediculous,tbh I would state your case and if they still disagree go down the route of getting veterinary recommendations etc!Tbh if you own the land what business it is of theirs providing you are not running a business from it and not declaring it to them?


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## Dizzle (25 February 2011)

I thought the BHS 'advised' 1 acre per horse??????


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## Enfys (25 February 2011)

Dizzle said:



			I thought the BHS 'advised' 1 acre per horse??????
		
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Woooooooooooo, can of worms indeed.

Is 'one horse' actually 'one equid' regardless of size or shape? 

I'd have a hissy fit if some jobsworth tried to tell me I could only keep one pony smaller than a great dane on an acre of land. Once I had calmed down and stopped throwing my toys around I'd swamp them in paperwork politely explaining just why I thought it was a dumb _and_ inhumane idea. 

To be fair, I can see why they are using BHS if they know no better and need to have guidelines, after all it is THE British Horse Society and a fairly obvious choice for non-horsey bods, it could have been worse - could have been the RSPCA they asked


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## SophieLouBee (25 February 2011)

I wish they would enforce some of that at a yard a freind is at.
18 horses on about 4 acres. 
A fair few by me are like that, makes me mad.

I think a _horse_ per acre is fair enough, especially when the weather is like it is atm. However, as other people said, it does depend on size of said equine, and weather or not it has lami etc etc.

Surely they can't actually enforce anything If the land is privately owned though?


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## Dubsie (25 February 2011)

Probably a restriction on applying for planning permission for equestrian use on what is currently agricultural land?


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## Enfys (26 February 2011)

SophieLouBee said:



			Surely they can't actually enforce anything If the land is privately owned though?
		
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They do it here in North America. 

It depends on the 'zoning' in Canada, if a property (and a 2-3 acre garden is nothing unusual, even in town) is within township boundaries then NO horses - tough! Get a sit on lawn tractor! 
It depends on Municipality ruling though and whether the land was originally agricultural or not. AND there are restrictions on dog numbers too (to prevent hoarding - no bad thing in my opinion, that applies to horses too) 

Also, horse management is quite different from the UK, keeping a horse in a half acre corral all year round is nothing unusual and raises very few eyebrows, whereas in the UK, if people did that then they'd be slammed...not ideal but nothing wrong with it either if it is managed properly.

I know that many 'ranchettes' in the US (about 5 acres) have restrictions on horse numbers too, it has been a popular topic on many a NA forum.


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## ponypilotmum (26 February 2011)

I was always under the impression that (now don't quote me on this, I'm no expert) the guidelines were for land management reasons rather than welfare reasons. 

An acre of land is some size. Quite often you'll look at a paddock and think it's plenty only to find it's not even an acre. And if you kept one horse - let's take 'horse' as in an average horse of 16.2hh - year round it would pretty soon be un useable. This of course depends on the soil. 

We go by half an acre, per horse, for summer grazing only, and rested over winter and early spring. 

For keeping out all year round (24/7) I personally would choose the acre and a half per horse. 

For natives I think that the half an acre is plenty. I know of people who keep large herds on that scale and have no issues, just feeding extra hay in winter.  That said, we had an acre per pony this winter and with all the snow the grass is ruined, so it really does depend. 


So, no, unless seriously over crowded I wouldn't say the council had any leverage with this one and I'd be telling them to go get a BHS welfare officer to advise them on their conduct and ideas in future.


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## mystiandsunny (26 February 2011)

Due to subsidies etc, some farmers who let their land for grazing enforce similar rules to keep the land good and save the grass.  Doesn't stop you using electric fencing to strip grazing/split into smaller paddocks for lami equines though.  Not heard of councils enforcing stocking levels on anything other than their own land though.


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## Tinypony (26 February 2011)

Dubsie said:



			Probably a restriction on applying for planning permission for equestrian use on what is currently agricultural land?
		
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That makes more sense.
The thing about BHS guidelines is that they are just that, guidelines.  How much land is needed depends on other factors, such as the type of soil and grazing.  
I think it's a bit unlikely that the council will start coming round counting people's horses, unless they put something in as a restriction when a planning application was approved.


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## FairyLights (26 February 2011)

much depends on wether or not the horses are stabled for part of the time. Personally I own 5 1/2 acres. there are stables and a hay shed on the land so approx 5 acres available for grazing. it is divided into 3 unequal size paddocks so that I can rotate the grazing as required. I wont keep more than 2 horses on this ground. It is good ground in Shropshire,good sheep and beef country. This is so that the land is rested and doesnt become horse-stale,and the horses can enjoy decent fresh grazing. We take a hay crop from the largest paddock each year and also have some sheep graze from time to time to keep the ground in good condition and help prevent the build up of lawns and roughs. I poo-pick the smaller paddocks. I think 1 to 1 1/2 acres per horse is ok May to Sept but if the horses are to have turnout in the winter it just isnt enough. 2 1\2 acres [or 1 hectare] per horse minimum is what I would like to see enforced.


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## Slightly Foxed (26 February 2011)

Horsesforever1 said:



			2 1\2 acres [or 1 hectare] per horse minimum is what I would like to see enforced.
		
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Oh don't be silly! It depends entirely on the quality of the land and how it and the horses are managed.


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## competitiondiva (26 February 2011)

lol, Well the only guidelines that a council (I assume you mean animal health office) would or should be taking into account are DEFRA's codes of practice, NOT BHS! BHS may have issued a general advise, but it is only the codes of practise and a vet that have any legal standing.


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## competitiondiva (26 February 2011)

Dubsie said:



			Probably a restriction on applying for planning permission for equestrian use on what is currently agricultural land?
		
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Much more likely this is the crooks of the matter??!!


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## Clava (26 February 2011)

I am not aware of ever seeing restrictions put on a planning permission of that sort. Is  this something new and which document is it refering to. You either have planning permission for equine use or you don't, enforcing a "guideline" is rather tricky. Does the planning persmission say the number of horses as a restriction?


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## glenruby (26 February 2011)

Id have to agree with whoever said they would like to see a minimum of 2.5acres per horse - for year round turnout/24/7 turnout. 
Obviously a shetland wont require much grazing in summer - but in winter they poach the ground just the same. 
I had a 4acre field that I kept my 2 ponies in all year round as a kid. I wasnt allowed to half the field with electric tape bt did keep the gateway clear by taping it off. The field was perfectly able to cater for 2 14.2hhs all year round 24/7 turnout in summer and 7.30am to 6pm in winter. I had another 3 acre field for collecting hay off. For 2 14.2hhs, 2 acres was more than enough - however for 2 16.2hhs I would think it wouldnt be enough. I do agree though, imo the guidelines were created for grass management not for equine welfare. However I hate to see horses turned ot on a postage stamp which is all too common in this country. Too many livery yarsd I visit have 20+ horses and less than 6acres - it just isnt right.

A firnd of mine kept his pony in the neighbouring field of 1acre. In order to have any grass come spring or summer - his could only be turned out for a couple of hours on very dry days in winter. He never did manage to keep the pony there turned out 24/7 in summer as there just wasnt enough grass.


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## Katd66 (26 February 2011)

I believed it to be 1.5acres for first horse and then 1/2acre on top for each additional pony and 1 acre for each additional horse.


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## competitiondiva (26 February 2011)

I spoke to someone and we believe the only time the council 'may' give any stipulation on the amount of horses per acre etc is with regard to licensing of a riding stables.........  Anything else is just guidance and advise for best practise.


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## Clava (26 February 2011)

competitiondiva said:



			I spoke to someone and we believe the only time the council 'may' give any stipulation on the amount of horses per acre etc is with regard to licensing of a riding stables.........  Anything else is just guidance and advise for best practise.
		
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That sounds more likely than for planning regulations.


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## Jesstickle (26 February 2011)

If we're going to say 2.5 acres per horse we're going to end up culling a heck of a lot of them!

I have two acres for my pair and they manage just fine. Horses don't need to eat loads of green sugary grass all year round. They aren't evolved for it and it is bad for them. Better to have less grass and feed hay all year from a welfare perspective!


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## FlashHarry (26 February 2011)

My planning was granted, but stipulated a maximum number of horses allowed to be kept at the site. It was based on 1.5 acres per horse. I guess it would be hard to police, along with the stipulation that they must be my horses, etc.


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## competitiondiva (26 February 2011)

FlashHarry said:



			My planning was granted, but stipulated a maximum number of horses allowed to be kept at the site. It was based on 1.5 acres per horse. I guess it would be hard to police, along with the stipulation that they must be my horses, etc.
		
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out of interest, what was the planning for??? just a private yard? business? riding school?


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## Holly Hocks (26 February 2011)

I've been at yards where we only had three horses on about 15 acres.  My boy didn't thrive, even though the fields looked fantastic.  I now have him at a yard where we currently have 6 horses on about 4 acres, and they are all very healthy and fat! My boy has NEVER looked as well as he does this winter at the age of 21! The grass just doesn't stop growing!  And it's used all year.  I really think the quality of the grass and soil is more important than the size of the field.
My mare who I had struggled to get weight on at other places with far more grazing also put on masses of weight even though there are about seven mares on about three acres.  I don't understand anything about soil/grass quality, but I do know whether my horses look and feel well or not.


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## onlytheponely (26 February 2011)

Not too long ago the National Park Authority in the New Forest tried to enforce this too. They backed down after the furious response from the local horse owning population.............are you in Hampshire?


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## FlashHarry (27 February 2011)

In reply to competitiondiva, planning was for private yard. Only allowed 1 trailer on site, no burning of used bedding, only own horses, etc.


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## FlashHarry (27 February 2011)

Forgot to say - Somerset.


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## MissMincePie&Brandy (27 February 2011)

Blimey.  There are many yards near where I live (mostly competition type yards), which have virtually no grazing. 
What would the guidelines make of these yards then?


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## YorksG (27 February 2011)

Presumably this is not going to be enforced throughout the land, otherwise how would the cavalry go on? Perhaps they would have to be creative and class Salsbury plane as the turnout.


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## Chico Mio (27 February 2011)

I keep two horses (15.1 and 16.1) in a bald pen of 350 sqm (less than 1/10 of an acre).  

Let's hope it is a planning issue....


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## PennyJ (27 February 2011)

Gloverspiece said:



			Does anyone have any issues with their local council regarding the enforcement of BHS guidelines for equine stocking levels.My local council will not allow any more than 1 equine per 1.5 acres regardless of size, breed, stabling etc. This is potentially dangerous for owners of laminitic animals. The BHS states that this is a guideline but some councils are making this law.
		
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Oh my, we have been there and done that in the New Forest National Park!!!  A couple of years ago, they published their draft core strategy for public consultation.  Luckily a few of us read it and discovered what a nightmare it was.  For what is termed "recreational horsekeeping" they were proposing a stocking density of a horse per hectare (2.47acres) and it was met with complete and utter uproar.  Anyone who has owned a NF pony will completely understand why (and funnily enough there are a lot of them about in the Forest), they live on fresh air and this is far too much grazing for them.  Amazingly, if you kept them "agriculturally" that was fine, you could have had 15 running 2.5 acres.  Unfortunately for the National Park, here in the forest it is a very faint line indeed between what is recreational and agricultural.  You need a technically recreational horse to check your agricultural stock running on the forest, some of which you then sell some off to recreational horsekeepers.  This was basically how the whole argument the National Park was putting forward collapsed.  In the NF District Council area adjoining, the stocking density allowed was 3/4 acre minimum per horse.   Oh and they wanted to ban field shelters and electric fencing too.  

How brave are you feeling/how rich are you?  You could always let them take you to court for Enforcement and then call in your Expert Witnesses such as BHS, Vet etc etc (all of whom were very happy to support all us Recreational Horsekeepers here in the NF and respond to the consultation document saying what a stupid idea it was on welfare grounds alone) and let them end up a laughing stock...  But it would take guts to go that route.

Which Council area do you live in?

You need to get hold of a copy of your local council's Core Strategy document and see what they have in there on Recreational Horsekeeping.   Challenge them on where they have come up with their arbitrary figure from, and see where you get.  

Very best of luck, it was a very upsetting time for all of us down here in the Forest whilst it was going on.


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## Cuffey (27 February 2011)

H&H Article with other linked articles at bottom of page

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/horsecare/article.php?aid=295362


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