Hi Tanya, if you're wanting your horses to be able to eat a mainly grass diet, without having to supplementary feed extra hay (or only feed extra during winter months), and the horses are full sized, I think two acres per horse would probably be a more realistic aim than one, unless you live in a really fertile lush area. On one acre, you will almost certainly need to feed them hay as well, although you should be able to maintain the grass without it getting trodden/eaten out with good management, which is the problem with areas smaller than that.
You can keep them on an acre and less,and as others have suggested, setting up a walkway system is a great way to stimulate movement, but then you'll need to be feeding hay as part of their regular diet.
Picking up the poop, or spreading it and "topping" the long rank grass is really essential in smaller paddocks, otherwise the toilet area will continue to grow and available feed will shrink and shrink.
It also helps to alleviate the problem of parasite burden.
I like walkways with a grazing paddock in the middle, so you can just open it up for access for a few hours a day, as the weather is appropriate, and grass growth sufficient. This keeps the grass from getting all trodden down, or fat horses from overeating carb rich grass.
We have eight horses on ONE acre! They move a lot because with a bigger group there are more interesting things going on, and their paddock is also varied terrain and interest ing. I limit their access to the small grass arena to keep the grass alive.
It's not ideal...our hay bills are huge! I'd like ten to twenty acres, with a track system... but it keeps them reasonably healthy and happy.
Cheers,
Sue
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I have not sought the horse of bits, bridles, saddles and shackles,
But the horse of the wind, the horse of freedom, the horse of the dream. [Robert Vavra]
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