Is 2.5 acres of land enough for 2 horses and I am using some of the land for a barn with apartment loft?

Question

I have 2.5 acres of land and i want to use some of it for a barn with an apartment loft. Has anyone lived in an apartment loft, where the stalls are on the first floor and the apartment is on the second floor? Is it alright to live in permanently? The barn with the apartment loft is 1296 sq. ft and it has four stalls, but there is another barn with an apartment loft that is 1728 sq. ft and it has six stalls. I like the one with 1728 sq. ft because it has more bedrooms and bathrooms. But I won't need six stalls, because I plan on buying two horses. So what should I do with the extra stalls?

Here is the website where I saw the apartment lofts.

http://www.barnpros.com/products/apartment/

Answer 1

Check with your local zoneing office.  Different states and countys have different requirements for acreage per horse.  Here locally its 2 acres for the first horse and 1 for everyone there after.    Out where my sister lives its 4 acres for the first and 2 per thereafter.

Also  your extra stalls.. turn one or two into a carport?  as long as you dont intend to idle a car there for long periods it will be fine.

edit:  how much land you need depends on where you live as well.  1 acre of land in kentucky vs 1 acre in arizona.. See a difference in grazing land?   Or are you going to drylot..

Answer 2

For the acres question: it depends on your area. In some places, you need 1 acre for one horse. In others where there are little patches of grass, you need 50 acres PER HORSE!Anyway, I've never heard of the apartment above the barn deal...but it sounds pretty cool! You should buy the larger apartment, and with the remaining stalls, I would rent them out! Or, if you plan on buying and breeding a mare, leave one stall open for her foal and rent the other three. You can always make some $ if you have a small boarding barn. I would do it...Good luck! :)

Answer 3

It's a little bit small, but then again, my three horses get 10+ acres, so we're all a little bit spoiled at having been so blessed. As long as those acres have grass, and there is shelter, I suppose 2.5 acres would do. Check with your local and state laws, as there may be a per-horse acre requirement.

Answer 4

I see this question all the time. You can keep 2 horses on less than that. There are horses that spend their lives in stalls, so why wouldn't 2 1/2 acres be enough. A lot of places allow 2 horses on 1/2 acre. If you are wondering if 2 1/2 acres will grow enough grass to feed them year round, I would say no, but it is more than enough if you feed them hay. A rule of thumb only applies to specific areas of the country. In the South West it would probably be hard to feed 2 horses on that, but say where I live in South Dakota it may be possible if the land is managed properly.

Answer 5

that is definately enough room! my paddock is only about 1 acre i have 15 horses they take turns being turned out. make sure to fance the area in properly so your horses cant jump/get out and check everywhere for nails, or other dangerous things that can hurt your horses.good luck!

Answer 6

It sounds so awesome it might get cold in the winter thought you might want to think about that. And you should have enough room for both horses as long as they can have hay and grain too along with the grass.

Answer 7

with the 6 stalls, one can be a tack room, one a wash room, and that leaves it down to 4 stalls.  you could lease out you're stalls to one other owner if you wanted to. and the last stall could be an office type set up to keep track of horse type bizz, or whatever bizz you could think to do in it. that way it'd also be like an extra room for you,a place to get some work done, and be near you're horses at the same time.

i think it'd be okay for 2 horses. our field is 1-1.5 acres and it's held two of mine. . . just make sure you plant really good grass for them (it'll save on the amout of other feed you have to get).

Answer 8

check with your town about land use but an apartment above the barn is fine long as it doesnt  catches on fire.

Answer 9

the general rule is 2 acres per horse

Answer 10

First off, have you checked on insurance coverage for a residence attached to a barn?  I've read that some companies will not insure such a structure, especially if hay will be stored in the barn area (fire hazard).  Or, it could be very costly, so I'd check on it before moving forward.  If there are no restrictions in your county, you can keep two horses on a couple of acres as long as you plan to meet all their dietary needs without depending on pasture grasses.  Use your extra stalls to create a wash stall, store hay, shavings, equipment,etc.  Are you in an area that is very cold in winter?  Unless the barn area is kept heated I would worry that the loft might be too cold, and a too-warm barn isn't good for the horses.  I'd check with the county permits dept and see what they have to say about the structure.  I don't know if you've kept horses before, but have you looked into manure management in your area...two horses create quite a bit of it every day.  We haul ours to a composting farm nearby, but we have to pay them to take it. In some areas you can rent a dumpster for it.  Outside of all that, it looks wonderful and I wish you the best!!!

Answer 11

To have a happy horse you ideally need 1+ acres per horse. Just make sure you maximize paddock space to the corners of your property and maybe even to make it feel roomier get a small run-in for your horses to go catch some shade in. For now if you lack room anywhere you can use the stalls for some storage of things like wheelbarrows or whatever. But if possible in the future if you could expand your property and maybe buy a few more acres you can board those stalls!

Your apartment idea sounds like a great idea! I would love to practically live right in my barn! Maybe you could go look at one or go check it out to see if you could imagine yourself living in a space like that. 1,296 isn't bad square footage at all my apartment is 2000 and veeery spacious for 3 people!

Good luck with it buying a horse is tough but buying two is much tougher! Moving also is one of the toughest things to do i happen to be doing both as well!! :)

Answer 12

it is a little small but i have seen horses live on less. if you exercise them then they should be fine. i think that the apartment/loft with stalls under it is amazing! that is a really great idea. maybe look at a model and be sure that it is for you before you buy but i think that it is fine for year round living. you will probably want a feed and tack room so getting the bigger one might not be a bad idea so that you have a few extra stalls. only do it if you have the money though.

Answer 13

I think that's enough land, but plan on buying more hay than you would if you had more pasture.  It's more than enough room to provide for exercise.

I've never actually lived in a barn apartment, but there was one two doors down from my parents' house.  It was nice, and the owners lived there for years before building a separate house and renting out the apartment.  You'd just have to be extra cautious about fire safety, and hopefully some extra fire resistance is built in.  You could also install sprinklers (which are a requirement for all new homes in my County now, anyway).

You will use those extra stalls easily.  First, maybe you could just leave some of the area open with no stall dividers, for easier access storage.  You will want to build a tack/feed room in one, and might choose to make one into a wash stall.  If I was living above a barn, I might choose to store my hay in a separate shed.

Answer 14

its about .5 too small... but that isnt really that big of deal.

so yeah its enough.. depending on where u live

Answer 15

it sounds nice and looks CUTE!! good luck

Answer 16

It is enough room for 2 horses.  I'm so happy you are thinking and planning ahead :)

Answer 17

As long as your zoning laws permit, you should be able to reside there. An acre per horse is fine, but you wouldn't want to push it past that unless you want to feed hay along with the pasture. You will want to be keeping those 2 acres well maintained so none is wasted to manure or overgrazing. There's a good book on this called Horsekeeping on Small Acreage by Cherry Hill. You could use the extra space for shavings storage, feed storage, a tack room, a grooming area and roomier stalls.

Answer 18

I would say it depends on how you use the 2.5 acres.  Are you wanting to use the majority of it for pasture?  Or just for a turn out area for the two horses?  If using it for a turn out area, it's sufficient for excercize.  If you're hoping that it will serve as pasture throughout the summer months, you'll want to supplement with other feed.  Good luck with your plans.