Dry Lot: Placement Options

This post is a little out of order because I've already built my dry lot. But I found it in my drafts and thought it might be helpful to someone to see the decision process I went through.

For context, the goals I wanted to meet by installing a dry lot were:

• Allow for exercise when turnout would damage the pasture (mostly winter)
• Minimize stall time for the horses
• Minimize chore time for me (no more stall cleaning and twice daily turn in/out, except in especially rotten weather)
• Make horse care easier for others, even non-horsey people, in the event of an emergency or when I'm away

The measurements in each option are taken from Google Earth Pro, which I'm sure isn't entirely accurate but gets pretty close.

Option 1. Near barn



Area: 0.09 acres
New fencing needed: 175 linear feet minus one gate
New footing needed: 2,298 sq ft

Pros:

• Easy access to barn for cleaning, haying, etc
• Half of area already has footing and fencing

Cons:

• No direct access to pasture
• Too small for real exercise
• Concern about dominant horse cornering the other
• Concern about multiple horses cramming into one stall (only shelter available)
• One horse thinks turnout doesn't count unless he's led out of the barn

Option 2. Near pasture gate



Area: 0.18 acres (6% of pasture area)
New fencing needed: 210 linear feet including three gates
New footing needed: 6,771 square feet

Pros:

• More compact area for cleaning, haying, etc than option 3
• Size and cost are a good balance between options 1 and 3
• Fits with rotational grazing plan (one gate could lead to each third of the pasture, with water available in the dry lot near the gate)
• "Donkey paddock" (small stonedust rectangle on south edge of this layout) could allow a special-needs horse to be turned out right next to buddies

Cons:

• No existing shelter
• Squarish shape may not encourage exercise, compared to option 3

Option 3. Southern edge of pasture



Area: 0.39 acres (14% of pasture area)
New fencing needed: 370 linear feet minus three gates
New footing needed: 15,930 square feet

Pros:

• Allows access to existing run-in
• Long, narrow shape may encourage exercise
• Fits with rotational grazing plan (one gate could lead to each third of the pasture, with water available in the dry lot near the gate)

Cons:

• Footing cost is probably prohibitively expensive, and not improving the footing would lead to unsafe mud and lumpy frozen ground in the winter
• Reduces already-limited grazing space significantly
• Possible choke points? Narrowest point is about 30 feet wide

I ended up going with a slightly longer and narrower version of option 2, and I'm really happy with the result. I did have to invest in a new shed but the old one wasn't in the best shape anyway. For more information on the final design, see my post on the new dry lot.