Horse properties in Elbert County

Article XIV of the Elbert County Zoning Regulations governs domestic hoofed livestock, which it defines to include horses, cattle, mules, sheep and goats. In the RA, RA-1, RA-2, AR and A-2 districts, and on nonconforming parcels under 35 acres, the maximum density is one animal unit per half acre. One horse, mule or cow is one unit; four miniature horses are one unit. Young animals under six months do not count until they are weaned.

The small-lot districts are stricter. An R-1 lot may keep two equine and no other large animals, and an R-2 lot may keep none. The A district is not named in the density rule, so on A-zoned land ask Community and Development Services what applies rather than assuming a number.

The horses and zoning guide walks through the three permissions a horse property needs: zoning, the well permit and any covenants.

The same article sets the physical requirements. A shelter is required once a parcel holds one animal unit. A corral is required where there is more than one animal unit per 35 acres, and it may not exceed ten percent of the gross lot acreage or half an acre, whichever is less. Manure has to be removed or spread regularly.

Walk a property with those in mind. A generous corral on a small lot can exceed the limit, and a missing shelter is a compliance question the moment you bring a horse home.

Keeping your own horses and boarding someone else’s are different uses. The county’s Land Use Table lists boarding, breeding and training as its own land use, split into operations of up to ten animal units and those above ten, and sets how each is treated district by district.

If boarding is part of the plan, ask Community and Development Services how the table applies to the parcel before you buy, and read any covenants too, since a subdivision can prohibit it outright.

Elbert County Public Health is clear that well permits are issued by the State of Colorado, not the county. On a parcel under 35 acres outside a cluster development, the standard exempt permit allows household use inside one home and no outdoor use, which rules out a stock tank. So a parcel zoned for ten horses can have a well that may not water any of them. The well permit guide shows how to read the permit before you offer.

Wells here that draw from the Denver Basin are drawing on aquifers the state describes as not renewable, and the county has monitored those water levels with the U.S. Geological Survey since 2015.

Looking near Elizabeth? The Elizabeth area guide covers the town, the county around it, and who supplies what.

Elbert County handles barns through its accessory structure checklist, and the building permit exemption covers only one-story, non-commercial detached buildings of 200 square feet or less with no utilities. A barn with power or water needs a permit, and an existing one should have one on file.

County public health advises that horses and other livestock should not be kept on the septic system’s soil treatment area, so check where the leach field is relative to the paddocks.

The county’s wildfire page asks residents to plan for evacuating pets and livestock as well as people, and links the state’s Home Ignition Zone guide. Hay stored against a barn is a fire question your insurer will ask about too.