Horse SA Horse and property management

Horse care & property management

Horses are kept statewide in South Australia, with the highest numbers found throughout the Adelaide Hills, Adelaide Plains and the Fleurieu Peninsula. The most popular horse keeping system is incorporated into small properties, where horses live outdoors all year round. Horse SA advocates for horse keeping, as it is a regulated activity in South Australia.

The care of horses and the care of the land on which the horses live is a focus area for Horse SA. Horse property managers and agistees alike are invited to network with other horse owners through educational programs, promoted through the Horse SA events page.

A key guide for horse owners is the Horse SA HorsesLandWater Action Planner and Management Guide, which provides a checklist approach to property improvements and assists to meet local council planning requirements (see below).

Horse SA also partners with natural resources management boards to share best practice information, and engage with broader initiatives, including the Upper Torrens Land Management Program Native Grasses and Horses project.

In July 2016, Horse SA was awarded the National Climate Change Adaptation and Research Facility Climate Change Adaptation Champion – Community category 2015-2016.

Educational resources

Resources developed for horse owners, notes from workshops, webinar recordings and PowerPoint presentations are available for free online access from the following platforms: Youtube & Slideshare

Horses & Dung Beetles Fact Sheet Series

Compliance

Horse keeping permission: If more than one horse per 3 hectares of land used for horse-keeping or horses is hand-fed, then a Development Application may be required by your local council to gain approval. Each local Council’s Development Plan will set out horse keeping rules. The keeping of horses is recognised by the state Development Act (1993) Regulations (page 135), and is further applied by each local council in their area.

Property Identification Codes (PIC): To support biosecurity management, emergency and natural disaster response and assist to maintain the health of all livestock and horses in South Australia, each eligible property is required to register with Biosecurity SA. Registration is mandatory in South Australia for all properties with one livestock or more e.g. horse, alpaca, sheep. Visit Biosecurity SA for more information.