Horse properties in El Paso County

El Paso County does not count horses in animal units per acre. Its Land Development Code treats keeping horses as a private or commercial stable, and no horses may be kept in a zoning district that does not allow one. Livestock generally is allowed in any agricultural zoning district, and in association with a hobby farm.

That makes the zone district the first thing to establish. Planning and Community Development can confirm it, and since the county has a rewrite of the code in draft, ask which version applies too.

The code’s standards for private stables and corrals are specific. A corral or stable may not sit over any part of a septic system. Corrals must be at least 25 feet from every property line and 35 feet from a neighboring home.

On an RR-0.5 lot, keeping horses needs at least one acre, and the limit is two horses over one year old per half acre. In the other districts that allow private stables, the code sets no specific limit on the number of horses, which is why covenants, water and the land itself end up deciding it.

Outside a designated basin, a Colorado exempt well on a parcel under 35 acres, outside a cluster development, is normally limited to household use inside one home with no outdoor use, so no stock tank. The well permit guide explains the permit classes.

Around Ellicott and Peyton is the Upper Black Squirrel Creek Designated Ground Water Basin, where wells are small capacity wells under the Colorado Ground Water Commission, and most of those permits allow domestic animal watering regardless of parcel size. Which regime a property is in changes the horse question entirely, so establish it from the permit itself.

Insurers rate rural Colorado property partly on wildfire exposure and on distance from a fire station and a hydrant. On an equestrian property that assessment also takes in outbuildings and hay storage.

The Colorado State Forest Service’s Woodland Park field office serves El Paso County and will assess a home’s wildfire hazard for a fee, and the state’s public risk viewer gives a free lookup by address. Get an insurance quote early rather than at closing.

Building permits for barns and other structures in unincorporated El Paso County come from the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department, and the county’s Engineering Criteria Manual makes a driveway permit a condition of any building permit. An unpermitted barn can complicate financing, insurance and a future sale.

Drive the approach with a trailer in mind. The county does not maintain private roads, so if the property is reached by one, find out in writing who maintains it and how costs are shared.