Grazing your horse at the Equestrian Centre , Te whakatipu i tō hōiho ki te whare hōiho

Ride your horse while you're at university by grazing it at the Massey University Equestrian Centre. We're on the Manawatū campus at Palmerston North and are open all year.

Close-up of green grass growing in a field

If you’re a student or member of staff at Massey University, you can apply to graze your horse at the Equestrian Centre.

What horse-grazing includes

Your horse grazing fees include use of all the facilities at the Equestrian Centre. These are:

  • your assigned stable and paddock or paddock
  • shared yards and washdown areas
  • shared, assigned storage for tack and feed
  • the all-weather Equestrian Arena
  • the full set of show jumps in the arena.

As long as you arrange these in advance, you can:

  • ride on the nearby university farms
  • order hay from us
  • keep your horse at the Equestrian Centre over the semester breaks.

We’ll also help you organise coaching clinics to improve your equestrian skills.

How long you can graze a horse

The Equestrian Centre can graze your horse for some or all of the university semesters, including Summer School. You can choose how many semesters you want to graze your horse when you apply. And you can apply for grazing each year.

You can keep your horse at the Equestrian Centre if you’re staying at Massey over semester breaks. When we have space, we can also graze horses for shorter periods than a semester, like a few days or weeks. Contact the Equestrian Centre manager in advance if you want to book ‘non-semester grazing’.

You can graze more than one horse with us for different lengths of time.

Grazing costs

Grazing fees depend on whether your horse has a stable or paddock. Each stable has a small turnout paddock and costs more than grazing in just a paddock.

Fees include GST and are in New Zealand dollars.

Table showing costs for grazing
Type of grazing Cost in NZ$
Paddock fee for semester one or two $680
Paddock fee for summer semester $520
Outpost stable and turnout fee Semester One or Two $1,105
Stable (with storage) and turnout Semester One or Two $1,275

You need to pay your horse’s grazing fees before each semester. Paying grazing fees lets you use all Equestrian Centre facilities, including the Equestrian Arena.

Non-semester grazing costs

It costs $45 per week to graze your horse for less than a full university semester or during a semester break.

You can choose up to 16 weeks of non-semester grazing when you fill in the horse-grazing application form. You need to agree non-semester grazing with the Equestrian Centre manager before filling in the form.

Additional horse costs

The cost of grazing more than one horse depends on how long you want to graze the extra horse or horses.

Table showing additional horse costs
Grazing time Cost in NZ$
1 week (for up to 4 weeks in total) $45 each week
5 weeks or more $180 in total

We put your additional horse in the same paddock as your first horse. If you want your extra horse or horses in a different paddock or stable, you need to pay the full fees. Email the Equestrian Centre manager first to see if we have space.

You can apply to bring additional horses when you fill in the horse-grazing application form. And you can apply to graze different horses for different lengths of time. You need to pay grazing fees for each horse that’s accepted.

Apply for horse-grazing

Complete the ‘Apply to graze a horse’ online form by 1 December for the next academic year. Even if your horse is grazing with us this year, you need to apply for next year.

Fill in the application form to graze a horse

You apply for either a stable and turnout paddock or a paddock for your horse. There are stable places for only 15 horses so if you’d like a stable, please tell us why in the application form.

Apply for each horse on the same application form.

Although the Equestrian Centre has space for many horses, places tend to open up only when students graduate. We have to turn down applications each year so, sadly, applying doesn’t guarantee a place for your horse.

If we turn down your application, we can add you to our waiting list. This means that if a place opens up during the academic year, we may offer it to you. We do our best to help so if we cannot offer you a grazing spot, we can give you contact details for local grazing.

If we accept your application, you need to pay the full grazing fees before you arrive with your horse.

Equestrian Centre contact details

Equestrian Centre

Location

Massey University Equestrian Centre
40 Albany Drive
Palmerston North 4442
New Zealand