What's a person need for horse property?

[Pilot]

We live on 10 acres of timberland. We are looking to move and the best market around here seems to be for horse property, not small timberland.

Clackamas County has just about more horses per capita than any other county in the US, so horses are a big thing around here.

We are gong to thin our stand, but clear a portion to make it good for someone who has horses.

How many horses do most people have? How big an area er horse should we clear for pasture? If stumps are cut low, 6" or less, it that a problem for the horses? What else can / should we do to make the property attractive to horse people without spending a fortune? Any other suggestions?

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I would not try to clear in order to sell.

 

[Ed of all trades]

You could easy spend more than you will gain. Yes stumps are a big no no to horse people. You would need clean pasture with fence and a stable. I would quit while you are ahead. Ed

 

[RedNeckRacin]

Don't bother trying to cater to horse people. They are the hardest people to please and you are going to lose your butt trying to attract them in. Someone is going to be interested if you price things right. Now if you want to put horses on your 10 acres it's easy. Just start with a couple sacks of money .

 

[Threepoint]

Agree with all of the above! But if you feel you must go ahead, then to make it minimally satisfactory and move-in ready for, say, two horses, you'd need to clear 1-1/2 to 2 acres, remove the stumps, til and plant with orchard grass (but the horses would still overgraze it and need to be on hay brought in year-round as well), fence the cleared area with at least 3-rail post-and-board fence, build or bring in on skids a small run-in shed for shelter, and have a clean water source (well or city) that can be protected from freeze in winter.

You could additionally fence part of your timber (many horses love to loaf in the woods), but remove trees and vegetation known to be toxic to horses (there is a lot).

As you might expect, all of this won't come cheap or quick, even if you are in a position to do much of the work yourself.

 

[GPintheMitten]

As a guy who's kids grew up with horses, I agree with the other guys
Sell your property to someone who wants it asis.

Don't worry, horse people will do ungodly expensive stoopid stuff to support their horse hobby.

 

[Wagtail]

We live on 10 acres of timberland. We are looking to move and the best market around here seems to be for horse property, not small timberland.

Clackamas County has just about more horses per capita than any other county in the US, so horses are a big thing around here.

We are gong to thin our stand, but clear a portion to make it good for someone who has horses.

How many horses do most people have? How big an area er horse should we clear for pasture? If stumps are cut low, 6" or less, it that a problem for the horses? What else can / should we do to make the property attractive to horse people without spending a fortune? Any other suggestions?

Firstly, I agree with the other posters. It'll be a pain in the arse to truly get your property up to a ready 'horse property' standard.

However, that's not to say that you can't get it to an advertised "potential" horse property. Hey, it's all in the wording of the real estate listing, eh?

So, ideally a minimum horse property is for two horses and for that you need at least 5 acres of relatively flat land. This will allow for about 5-6 fenced paddocks and an exercise area. The need for the paddocks is for the owners to rotate the horses to a 'new' paddock about every 10-12 days. The 'potential' exercise area will need to be a surface area of either a flat dressage arena 20 x 60 metres OR a competition arena 100 x 200 feet.

I'm not saying you need to build the paddocks/arena, just show the potential for them. The same goes for an accessible area for a stable/hay storage/tack room.

Also, these areas need to have a potable water source reasonably available (paddocks & stable).

If you've got this (or the potential for it) you've got a 'potential horse property' for someone who wants to invest in making it up as one.

 

[drssg]

Don't worry, horse people will do ungodly expensive stoopid stuff to support their horse hobby.

Hey! I resemble that remark! ;-)
But yes, if horse people are interested, they'll figure out how to develop the land to their liking. There's a good chance a buyer would want a different layout than what you envision. I'd be wary of trying to figure out how horse people think.

 

[2ndhalf]

A really nice Truck and Horse Trailer Rig and sort of run down living quarters always attracts them where I live.

 

[GPintheMitten]

A really nice Truck and Horse Trailer Rig and sort of run down living quarters always attracts them where I live.

Yah, that would do it.

Trash your house and build a $100 k arena.