All of the farmers around here have what they call a yard light. Not a yard light like you put on your garage, but comparable to a streetlight. Only taller and brighter. It's not bright enough that you could read, but you couldn't walk across the yard and not be seen, man or animal. I guess a lot of them don't even have switches on then, just a light sensor so they come on automagically. A real security conscious person would still need to illuminate the various dark nooks and crannies though.
I'm guessing you probably have more trees where you are.
Those are called NEMA "Barn lights" - if you do put one up, please, please put on a "full cutoff" shade on them. It prevents light from angles above 180 degs from exiting the fixture - aka you don't light above the fixture - this is good for 2 reasons - you actually get more light on the ground where you need it, and it doesn't mess up the night sky for miles around
BTW, if you can SEE the lit fixture, you are getting "glare" (it's the definition of glare). The problem at that point is that your pupil constricts, and it actually makes the dimmer parts of your yard darker! If you properly put in "full cut off" lighting, you will not have glare, and you will see better, even though the are might seem dimmer, because you can't see the bulb.
If you decide to put in a "Barn light" look at putting a Hubbel Sky Cap or GE Skyguard shield (if you get a hubble or GE fixture), or a RAB "Sky shade", which is generic
The RAB Shy Shade fits Screw On “Barn Lights” from: RAB, Lumark, American, Heath-Zenith, Regent/NCI, Electripak, Designer’s Edge. Additionally, it fits Clip-On “Barn Lights” from Hubbell and GE.
There is a lot of info at darksky.org (although in some ways they are a bit crazy)
http://starrynightlights.com/blog/2007/06/
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