Finding the right horse property in Delaware

For some people, the dream home comes with a barn. Maybe you ride and want your horses out the back door instead of across the county at a boarding stable. Maybe the dream is bigger, like running an equine therapy program. We know people with all of those goals, and the right property for any of them is hard to find. It can be really frustrating.

Delaware is a good place to look, though. We’re a small state with a lot of horse life. Delaware has roughly 13,000 equines and more than 2,000 equine operations, and the industry contributes about $360 million a year while supporting over 3,000 jobs. The demand is real, and so is the community. The trick is finding land that’s actually set up for it.

Space matters, and so does what’s on it

Everyone knows horses need room. What surprises people is how much, and how much that room has to be set up correctly.

Extension specialists offer a good starting point: about two acres of pasture per grazing horse reduces hay dependency during the growing season, and less than one acre per horse isn’t ideal. Pasture quality moves that number around. Most guidance ranges from 1 to 2 acres per horse on excellent, dense sod to more than 3 acres on poor or unmanaged pasture.

Then there’s the infrastructure, which is where a lot of properties fall short. You want a barn with the right kind of stalls. You want pastures laid out properly, with grass coverage everywhere, water where the horses are and shelter out in the fields. Layout matters more than people expect. Rectangular pastures encourage exercise, irregular shapes raise injury risk, and dividing large pastures into smaller ones allows rotational grazing.

That’s why fenced paddocks, run-in sheds and automatic waterers are on my checklist every single time. Building all of that from scratch on bare land takes real time and a real budget. Buying it already in place is a huge head start.

Check the zoning before you fall in love

My favorite story about this one: we were helping a buyer with a standard town lot. Everything was going smoothly. We got to the offer, and they asked, “Well, do you think I can have my horse here?” It honestly hadn’t occurred to us to bring it up. I had to tell them no, I didn’t think they could. I felt so bad!

It’s funny now, but it’s a good lesson. In Delaware, there’s no single statewide livestock zoning law. Authority runs through three county governments and dozens of incorporated towns, and standard residential zones in suburban and urban areas typically prohibit horses and other large livestock. Out in the county it’s a different story. Sussex County’s AR-1 zoning includes private stables for horses among its permitted uses, and the code sets a 200-foot property-line setback for stables.

So if horses are part of your plan, tell us on day one. We’ll look at zoning, setbacks, deed restrictions and any HOA rules before you get attached to a property. That’s a lot easier than finding out at the offer.

95 Ringside Drive, Dover:

A farmette for your passions.

This location is really unique. It’s about 9.8 acres across two parcels, tucked at the back of the Bechers Brook setting. You have neighbors on big lots close by, so you’re not in the middle of nowhere, but the property itself isn’t subject to the HOA. That’s rare. It also sits right next to a working stable with instructors, and access to wooded trails.

The barn was originally built with six horse stalls and is now being used as a home-based workshop, with heat, hot and cold water, and garage doors on each end. That gives it flexible use if you need it for something else. For horse people, the drains and waterer hookups are still in the old stall areas, and the lumber, hardware and waterers are on site for reinstallation. Pop those stalls back in and you’re ready to go. There are four pastures with electric fencing and horse waterers, plus an open run-in barn and a shed.

The house is a really nice size if you need space: four bedrooms, three and a half baths and over 4,100 square feet, with a first-floor primary suite, a stone fireplace and cathedral ceilings. Outside you’ll find an in-ground saltwater pool, a patio, a sunroom and fruit and nut trees. It’s a turnkey estate in every sense.

View the full listing for 95 Ringside Drive

6505 Griffith Lake Drive, Milford:

Just bring the horses.

This is our newest listing, and it’s in one of my favorite parts of Milford. We live in that same area. You’re right around the corner from Abbott’s Mill Nature Center, with fun events like Music at the Mill and explorer camps for kids, and right next door to the trails at Blair’s Pond.

The stalls here are in place and 100% ready. It’s almost 11 acres, with more than seven fenced paddocks and pastures depending on how you open or close them off. Every one has automatic waterers and run-in sheds. There’s Amish-built electric fencing and a lane system connecting the front and back fields, so it’s really easy to move horses inside to outside, from this pasture to that pasture.

The barn is a 36′ x 80′ Morton barn with six matted stalls behind Dutch doors, a tack room, a feed room, a wash stall with hot and cold water, a full bathroom and a big hayloft. A 22-foot covered extension links the barn to the turnout, so horses can move between stall, shelter and pasture on their own. There’s also a solar-lit riding arena and two covered hay storage areas.

The house is a custom ranch with three bedrooms, two full baths and right around 2,000 square feet of mostly one-level living, with wide-plank hickory floors and a vaulted great room. Upstairs there’s about 851 square feet of unfinished space if you want to expand, and architectural plans for an office or flex area with a bathroom come with the property. The HVAC and roof were done in 2023 and the well in 2020, so the big-ticket items are handled.

View the full listing for 6505 Griffith Lake Drive

If you’ve got the dream and the vision, the right property really does make it happen. The wrong one turns into a stretch fast. Whether one of these two catches your eye or you’re just starting to look, I’d love to walk the land with you and talk through how it lays out for your horses and your plans.

You can always email us at hello@theparkergroup.com, or call our office at (302) 217-6692 with any questions about either listing. Tell us about the horses first. We’ll take it from there.