Hi, I have read through I think all or most of the topics of moving to Aiken or Ocala. I am looking to retire in a very horse centered community and to be closer to an aging parent in South Florida. I am currently on the West Coast, tired of the mud, the rain, the barn properties turning into housing developments and the all day it takes to travel to Florida when I need to! I have one 13 year old thoroughbred and ride low level dressage and property trails. We don’t do full training, but we do lesson and have training rides every week. Does Aiken offer full care plus type boarding with blanket changes, etc, good footing, quality hay etc? And which barns offer larger individual turnout, as that is what my horse needs ? Is there a full year community of equestrians? How is the summer really? I have read that Aiken has slightly better weather than Ocala in the summer? Do the equestrians do any horse events in the summer. I would not be buying a farm but a house and board my horse. Any experiences moving there as a retired single or tips, are appreciated. Its always been my dream to live in a horse centric place, but I also know that dreams and reality may not be the same. I do have a passion for thoroughbreds and would also love to help at a thoroughbred rescue if there is one in the area. Initially my first choice was Aiken, but I did notice that there are no direct flights to West Palm, so while short flights, it takes 4 hours due to layovers. That is not a deal breaker as my top priority is for my horse to be in a good area with good care. I did read that colic care is limited locally. My horse had colic a few times the first few years, I have since developed a strong gut management protocol. He does eat Alfalfa, and either Orchard or timothy is that hay available and is it always an extra charge. Any other tips info are highly appreciated! I focused this post on Aiken, but I may write a similar one with questions for Ocala. It seems like Ocala is becoming more seasonal in boarding with dry stalls catering to the upper level show venue and I keep hearing how brutal the heat is in Ocala in the Summer. I do like a change of season. While I would do schooling shows etc. we are not aiming for high level shows. Personally I am low key person, and while I enjoy wine, food with friends, music, I really look forward to barn time the best. Oh, and transporting a horse from Oregon to Aiken, are there any air flights and if so, what airport do the horses fly into. If there is anything else I should know, please share. I plan on visiting early summer to get an idea of life and heat in the off season.
If you hate mud and housing developments, the east coat is also not for you. Unfortunately I can’t speak to living in either location long term.
You can get quotes from Brookledge, they facilitate air travel via FedEx Cargo. Cross-country is $11-13k right now for the required grooms and a stall container, which holds 2-3 horses depending on size. If there are other horses going your way to share the stall container that would reduce your cost.
Alternatively, they offer ground shipping as does Equine Express and a few others. That usually involves a few days of layover mid-trip. Quotes for that run $3-5k ish per horse for a box stall.
I’m no help on the specifics of Aiken or Ocala living, but I’m planning a cross-country move from OR to FL (or somewhere around there, am also tired of PNW rainy season) and those are the prices I was quoted recently.
Actually Aiken has sandy soil. That’s the biggest reason it’s a Mecca for east coast eventers in the winter. The footing is good enough to train and run XC in winter instead of mud like the rest of us on the east coast have all winter.
(Source - grew up in SC and learned all about the “Sandhills region” in middle school science class.)
I lived in Aiken. Caveat: I have never lived in Florida, but I have visited it both for work and leisure. Most of my time in Florida has been in/around southern Florida.
Aiken is certainly closer than Oregon to Florida, but don’t forget Florida is a big, long, state. Aiken to Fort Myers is 9 hours with no traffic. I just picked a random southern city off of the top of my head that has a big retirement population. If your parent is in West Palm, you are looking at 8hr drive and change. Your airport options are likely Charleston or Atlanta.
There is no escaping Florida heat in the summer. Unlike Aiken, when night falls there is no appreciable difference in the heat/humidity index. If it was 95F/90 humidity during the day, it’ll likely only taper down a few degrees at night. In Aiken, once the sun is down there is a sizable difference in your comfort level. It can be hard for horses in Florida, even when they are carefully managed with cooling fans in their stalls and night turnout. There are many climate-related skin problems that seem common in FL and much less common the more north you go. From a horse welfare perspective, I think Aiken is the better choice if you have an option.
Aiken does not have mud. Aiken has clay. The soil is sandy clay mixture. I cannot think of a single time, even after heavy rain, that I ever encountered mud the way it is in the NE. Even the dirt roads after a heavy rain were bright martian red, no mud at all – but if you were unlucky enough to have a horse roll in a wet clay patch, you’d be currying for weeks.
You may want to consider ease of access to amenities outside of just board. There is no dearth of professionals in Aiken such as farriers, vets, dentists – many of which are not seasonal. Ocala has several mainstays but many of the best are seasonal and only down for the winter circuit. Hay and alfalfa are much more expensive in FL than SC.
There are other factors to consider as well: climate and natural disasters/flooding/storms. Florida receives a battery of climate / weather related storms. Aiken does see severe summer thunderstorms, though.
If I had to pick the two, I would pick Aiken, although I love the Ocala/Florida scene outside of horses. Aiken might feel like a big city to visitors, but it is small and insular under the surface – there is not much “culture” there outside of Southern culture. If you love Florida for how it is a melting pot of cultures, languages, and ethnicity, you might find Aiken boring after a while.
My choice would be purely a practical one: Aiken is more affordable, more comfortable for the horse, and has easier access to year-round professionals. The drawbacks are Aiken has a lower educational threshold, higher crime rate, and is further from your parent’s home.
I love FL life, but the summer heat is hard on horses. Like @beowulf mentioned the lack of cooler temps in the overnight hours is the big difference. I think that alone might make boarding in Aiken easier than boarding in Ocala. IMO the heat is the biggest challenge. Not everyone takes the heat as seriously as I do, until their horse stops sweating too. It’s way easier and cheaper to take it seriously before it’s a problem. I sure wish I had.
Hay is expensive but this goes back to FL is a big long state. I’m up in the Panhandle as far west as you can get and then a hair more. Right smack on the major interstate that brings western forage to FL. My hay situation isn’t as costly as say South FL’s hay situation. On the upside, the supply is usually quite good. I can get whatever I want easily enough.
Emergency vet care and access to emergency equine surgery is one of the things I’m very grateful for here. I hear the situation in Ocala is good on that front as well.
The winter weather is amazing here. I’ve ridden outside all winter on unimproved native dirt (sandy clay) and pasture. The weather is just as good in Ocala I’m sure if not better.
I’m not retirement ready so I’ll leave that side of things to wiser individuals.
I wish you a happy retirement!
Thanks, I did not realize flights were over 10k now. I don’t think my horse will survive a week plus ground travel though. I did see on another forum that FedX also flies horses. Its fun to think about being in a horse community but the reality of moving is daunting!
Thanks for sharing knowledgeable info! MY minor in college was Environmental science and I was pretty sure Aiken was not all mud most of the year…
After reading some Ocala site comments , I realized I need to give Aiken an equal look due to the heat. I did live in S. Florida 30 years ago for about 7 years. It was very hot in the summer and I did not ride much during the summer. At that time Wellington did not have many covered arenas and rode outside.
Good info. Yes, the heat all day all night in Ocala scares me for my horse. Where I live we have clay mud. My horse rolls daily and I often have to towel off his blanket with piles of clay slime all over the blanket. I have learned to leave on his coat to dry and then curry off or he would be wet from a bath all the time. I was wondering about farriers etc. My horse is barefoot and even in the Northwest we don’t have the best barefoot trimmers for thoroughbreds. I took a class in rasping and use a farrier for the overall balance then I add a 45 on the bottom ( keeps my horses feet from chipping) and I back his heels up weekly. If I have to get more training to do it all, I am ok with that. My horse does have melanoma, hoping there at least vets that can cut the nodules off as they appear. There is a flight from Augusta to West Palm, with a transfer so it takes about 4 hours. My mother has household help, so my being there to visit is more of an oversight role, her daily needs are met. But I know the " slip and fall" events are coming and she will need emotional support during her recovery. I am wondering how Aiken is trending for the future. The WEC in Ocala seems to be changing the horse community, and wonder which one will be better for the 10 to 15 years I might be in either place. I guess health care ( medicare is another consideration…)
I’ve shipped cross country on air-ride trucks. I know breeders who did so also. My current horse was shipped from Vancouver to NC on an air ride van. It’s smoother than you think for the horse. I’ve not known a horse to have a problem.
I lived in Aiken and currently have property in Ocala. I also lived in Ft. Lauderdale for a while.
I love both places but ultimately decided on Ocala for my second property because Ocala had a few benefits Aiken didn’t. But there are certainly pros and cons to both.
Aiken Pros:
- actual season changes. Usually no snow though.
- hilly regions get a nice breeze in the summer
- close to both the mountains and ocean if you need a change of scenery
- beautiful town
- land is cheaper than ocala
Cons
- no close major airport (have to fly out of Atlanta or Charlotte)
- not the best hospital system
- no major equine medical center nearby
- some racial tension issues in the area
Ocala Pros:
- equine hospital
- close to both orlando and the ocean if you have family members who don’t ride/ children
- several major international competition venues in the area
- larger city if you enjoy city things
- better hospital system
- 4ish hour drive to south Florida
- major airports are Gainesville or Orlando, both about an hour drive
Cons:
- hot as hell in the summer
- no seasons; though it does get colder in the winter than in south Florida (it actually froze my neighbors well pump solid this year)
- property prices have gone up and are just going to keep going up.
- might get a little more rainy days in the summer than Aiken
Both now have a year round horse scene; it used to die down in the summer in Ocala but with WEC being open year round that has ended. Both have good boarding options, trainers, and good vets and farriers. Both also have sandy soil so no mud.
Both have BUGS. Giant, massive, flying bugs. Both are extremely hot in the summer; Aiken is regularly just as hot and humid as Ocala but some parts of Aiken do get a nice breeze in the summer which helps a lot.
As far as shipping, the air ride semis are really nice and if you get a box stall I doubt your horse will have any issues. Flying is faster but it’s also very stressful for that time period. Plus, I think they only ship out of a select few airports on the west coast (IIRC it’s LAX and SEATAC, and Seattle may no longer do that) so you’d have to trailer him to the airport anyways. And your choices on the east coast are Miami and JFK. So you’d end up trailering quite a bit anyways.
Thanks, great info! So did you ride in both places in the summer? And if yes, what time, and did you keep it short?
how long was the total trip?
I rode all summer in Aiken. I usually rode at around 9-10 am. Any earlier and I felt like I was swimming in a swamp from the humidity, any later and it started to get too hot. I also found that I kind of needed to ride in the mornings because afternoon thunderstorms are really common.
I haven’t been in Ocala in the summer yet, so I can’t help you there. I was in Ft. Lauderdale/Wellington in the summer and it was brutal. I’d ride at 9-10 pm once it had stopped raining from the thunderstorms.
The horses get used to the heat so I never felt I needed to keep the rides shorter than usual. If I had to ride in the middle of the day for some reason then absolutely, I’d do as little as possible. When it was really hot I’d actually bathe the horses before and after the rides.
Oops! He actually went from Vancouver to the El Paso TX area and I don’t know how long that took. He shipped as a yearling (with his half brother who went on to win the 70 day stallion test) and I didn’t have him yet. Both horses were fine. I shipped him from West TX to NC and I want to say it took a few days. I used Equine Express and they have a hub in TX that he went to first. Then, he came to NC on an East Coast run. I used Equine Express to ship from Pgh, PA to Houston, and Houston to NC. I used Blue Chip to ship from Southern NM to Pgh. In Houston, I was at a breeding/show dressage barn and they used Equine Express to ship horses to as far as Hawaii. So, horses are fine going at least 2K miles.
I’ve not had or have heard of a problem with horses shipping long distances on air-ride vans. You could call individual companies and ask how horses do on very long distance trips. I’ve found that they go out of their way to make the horse comfortable and delivered in good shape mentally and physically.
I am not ever trying to persuade people to move to Ocala. This area is changing too rapidly. But I do want to say that the heat is not 24/7 here in the summer. It averages 72 degrees at night and in the morning. Riding in the summer is usually comfortable until 10ish. And then it warms up to blazing hot with afternoon t-storms.
There are plenty of pros who stay year-round and there are shows year-round with a bunch of nice schooling shows. IMO, there are way more options for vets and farriers in Ocala.
Thanks , that was helpful. I plan to visit both places when its warmer, not during the optimal times. There have been what I surmised were exaggerated stories of the horror of having horses in Ocala all year e.g during the summer. Yes, it appears Ocala will be changing. I am not sure how that will affect boarding etc. Aiken too it seems has a population growth too. What do you feel is essential to have for a horse at a boarding barn in Ocala in the summer? Stall fan, vented barn design, does having concrete matter for storms etc? Also do horses have to evacuate Ocala when hurricanes hit the coast?
I’ve looked at both and there are several good threads comparing and contrasting as well as adding in Southern Pines and Tryon areas. I pumped the brakes because of the crazy real estate prices in Aiken. Amplified beyond my grasp for anything close to turn key. Seems to be pushing folks to buying land and building.
Boarding costs seem very comparable to other national “outburbs” with plenty of turnout. I did find the airport situation very frustrating. There’s just no expeditious way to get there, as you point out. My total travel time to Ft. Myers is 5 hours, Aiken was 10!
I can’t speak to Aiken, but I have riding family in Ocala. First of all, understand that it is VERY right-leaning. Whether that’s your jam or not, I won’t presume to know.
Second, I’m astonished by the board rates in the Ocala area. At least the places I know of have super expensive board (compared to central NC, where I live).
