In my experience most of Florida (and the south in general) is unless you live downtown in a big city.
However, I’m not saying if that’s good or bad, that’s just a statement about how voter distribution is.
If that’s a problem for you but you still want to live in that general area, go to Gainesville. Thanks to the presence of the university, Gainesville is about as left-leaning liberal as you’re going to find in the state. At one point, people in neighboring counties took to referring to it as The People’s Republic of Alachua County.
In addition, someone posted here not that long ago that they were concerned about moving to Aiken because it was too politically conservative. Like @StormyDay said, in general, outside big cities, anywhere in the south is going to be more right-leaning and both Aiken and Ocala are in the south.
actually that is Nation wide, not just the south
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My Aiken experience happened twenty years ago, but may still have relevance today. (I don’t know, I haven’t been back since.)
My husband was retiring from his job and we were looking for a horse-centric town, preferably with seasons, to move to. We narrowed down our choices to Middleburg, Southern Pines, Aiken, and Lexington, KY. My husband, our teenage son, and I took weekend trips to check out each place.
We arrived in Aiken late morning Saturday and stopped in a downtown cafe for lunch. I like to think we look like normal people, but when we entered the cafe, everybody turned to look at us. We were shown to a centrally located table–where all the other patrons could watch us order and eat. Our lunch was interrupted 4-5 times by other diners coming over to say things like “You’re not from around here, are you?” or “So what brings you to town?” Not in a friendly way either.
After eating we walked around the downtown area, then entered a real estate agency. We told them we thinking about moving to Aiken and asked if one of the agents could take us around and show us what kinds of houses/farms were available. Despite the office being full of people, apparently no one was available to do that. We were offered a binder of listings to leaf through.
So we sat down and looked at the binder–with all the agents sitting at their desks watching us. I pointed to one house and said to my husband, “I could live there” (which is generally how we end up buying property). He asked the manager if someone could just drive us past the property I had indicated interest in. Nope. Not without approval from our bank. Seriously? (It was Saturday–so no one could talk to our bank even if we wanted them to. Plus–not that they’d asked–but we were planning to pay cash.)
By this time I was laughing. Husband was considering buying the real estate agency just so he could shut the place down. Teenage son said it was time to leave Aiken–apparently the unfriendliest place in the world–and go home. So we cut our weekend visit short and left town. Maybe things have changed dramatically since then. At any rate I hope they have. But I wouldn’t move there without experiencing the place first.
I love your husband’s mindset!
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I appreciate all feedback! I have lived Coast to Coast, so I don’t consider myself from anywhere anymore… But Aiken would be the smallest town I am looking at, and what I find in smaller towns ( not 100 percent of course) is that generally the people from somewhere else end up meeting and hanging out with others from “somewhere else”. That has its negatives and positives as talking about how it used to be somewhere else or what is different in a new area does not help integration. I did live in Texas a long time, so I was close to living the " southern attitude" although Texas imo is a mix of Southern and Southwest- but really with the internet etc, people are more similar across the US than 40 years ago. At the same time, I am hearing some gawd awful stories of weather etc in Ocala and have experienced some rude attitudes on equestrian pages about people moving there from somewhere else. I was really hoping to immerse myself in equestrians stuff, including volunteering at thoroughbred adoption places.
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It has changed pretty dramatically. Mostly because of the huge amount of people moving in from out of state.
The downtown area is very welcoming and tourism based now, plus the huge amount of horse people coming in and out of state each year makes it so no one would know if you were from ‘around here’ or not.
However. There are towns surrounding Aiken that definitely still have that ‘you don’t belong here’ feel, so I know exactly what you are talking about. If you are in Aiken, North Augusta, or Augusta, no one is going to look twice at you if you are from out of town. But there are places that will 100% know if you are a local or not, and they will not be as welcoming. I once stumbled upon such a place when I was living there; a country bar that I very much got the vibe I was not supposed to be there.
I don’t really blame them though; the surrounding area in Aiken is dirt poor. They watch as multimillion dollar events are held at their doorstep (not just horse events, the masters is just over in Augusta) while they receive no money from that while paying taxes to pave the roads the ‘rich’ people drive on, while putting up with them in their towns, while mowing their multimillion dollar lawns. You get the point.
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I will be visiting Aiken this month. Wanted to see how horses do in the summer. Looking forward to the visit. If there are any must sees, let me know!
I live and work/board/ride/show in Aiken and have loved it here. For sure the summers are hot but you ride early or late or go to the woods and ride in the shade. I grew up on the coast and moved here 7 years ago for work. Everyone is moving south so things are changing everywhere. There is no shortage of shows, places to ride/school, or volunteering opportunities all year long. Aiken is a charming place to live and lots of my friends have come over the years as well and have been very happy with the decision.
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I don’t know that it would take that long. It took a week for my guy to be shipped from Boston to Los Angeles, and that was with a 3-day layover in Texas.
He walked off the trailer perfectly calm and happy, with no real weight loss.
I’ve been in Aiken over a decade and love the horsey life here. It is a very easy place to meet people and I have many single female retired friends here that are thriving. For those not part of a couple, Aiken is an incredibly inviting place to be.
The soil is sandy. The clay is brought in for the dirt roads and building pads. Horses don’t roll and get stained in red clay like they do in GA (for example).
It’s surprisingly unbuggy compared to many places I’ve ridden in the summer, unless you are near a creek or swampy area. Some areas, like Windsor, can be pretty miserable with gnats though.
There is a surprising amount of culture for a small town because of the eclectic population that has chosen to settle here from all over the world. The Joye in Aiken concert series brings in amazing performances from Julliard graduates and their friends. The local playhouse did a performance of “To Kill a Mockingbird” a few years ago that was better than some stuff I’ve seen in NY and London. The Aiken Center for the Arts has art classes and receptions.
Augusta and Columbia airports are easily accessible and connect you to anywhere. You can also drive (or shuttle from Augusta) to Atlanta to catch direct non-stops all over the world. Charleston and Charlotte airports are also driveable if flight pricing makes them attractive.
The reason you hear so much about the heat and humidity here in the summer is…there is not that much to complain about in Aiken. Seriously. The heat and humidity is no worse than many other places Ive spent time that get summer. And if you can pick the time of day you ride there is plenty of good riding even in the summer. Ive evented prelim in August. Taken jump lessons at 1pm in July. I ride several horses a day. It’s very doable year round to ride here. And the sandy footing means that even after a torrential downpour I can ride in my pasture or do an FEI dressage training ride on the trails.
Two local vet clinics have built surgery suites and one has hired a surgeon and the other is looking for one. So local colic surgery is now an option.
There are dressage schooling and recognized shows year-round. Lots of good trainers and clinicians. Working Equitation is starting to get off the ground here too.
It’s wonderful to live where there are so many good options in vets, farriers, saddle fitters, trainers, places to ride, etc!
One of the hardest things to adapt to in Aiken is that there is so much going on that you want to do that you have to say no…you can’t do it all.
On your visit: have drinks at The Wilcox. Sign up for a trolley tour out of the old train depot on Saturday for some Aiken history, visit the show grounds at Bruce’s Field and Stableview and Highfields. Read a copy of The Aiken Horse in print or online. Catch some free music Thursday night in The Alley. Visit the Aiken County Museum at Banksia. Stop by and watch a local competition in h/j or driving or Eventing or dressage or whatever is going on when you visit. Stop by the tack stores at Aiken Saddlery, Oak Manor, Dover, Adams Horse Supply and meet horse folks and ask questions. Browse the shops on Laurens Street. Have fun and come back soon!
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Thanks for your experience. When I talked to the two major coast to coast shippers neither would guarantee a route, stops or even where the stops would be and how long. One coast to coast shipper said they owned their overnight stop locations, but could not tell me what kind of stall my horse would be laying over in, did it have a walk out ( I don’t want metal panels) etc., yet then claimed they did not know details of the facility they owned… . I am sure being big national shippers the basic care like water, feed etc would be at least standard care, since they ship a lot of professional horses. But I did not get a secure feeling the more questions I asked. Also one shipper had horses onboard 24/7 for over 3 days, no stall picking, and my horse is huge, and poops a lot. I can’t even imagine the floor after 30 hours or so, he literally would be six inches in manure and slipping about. I would be willing to pay extra for daily cleaning , but not an option I guess. I think they just don’t want you to know or ask that level of detail. Obviously lots of horses survive that, and most owners would not know their horse was up to their eyeballs in manure for a few days since they " switch out of the box stall" for the last 8 hours of a coast to coast. The amount of time the total trips would take kept changing the more question I asked. Idk, would prefer to have a shipper start with the longest amount of time needed, and then discuss the average amount of time instead of increasing the amount of time a trip takes every time I ask another question lol. We will see, flying was a lot more controlled in that the planes took off and landed on a schedule.
Really loved Aiken. The people, the Hitchock Woods. The housing market is a tad chaotic, but loved all the equestrian activities. I barely scratched the surface in boarding, so if you have any suggestions let me know.
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I did find out FedX flies out of Portland Or to Atlanta GA which makes flying a lot more attractive.
There are tons of boarding options depending on what you want/need. Stalk some of the Aiken equestrian FB pages to see what’s been discussed/offered previously to get an idea.
(Just me gushing about my heart-town lol, feel free to ignore)
not much help but just wanted to pop in and say i ADORE Aiken. My father has a little project home just outside of town where we spend the winter, and even went down there in early august this year! (we were very lucky to find this place as it wasnt even on the market! We just happened to talk to the pervious owner and grab it for cheap since it is in dire need of some TLC.)
It was COOLER and LESS HUMID down there than it was at home (Pennsylvania) this summer! I’d live down there year round if I could bring my horse! (I cant board horses, I’m too much of a worry wort for that!)
Horses have right-of-way on our street, and we’re only a block from the polo fields (Username checks out, family plays polo) we’ve brought our horses before (once as the full 13hr trip, 4 times split into 7 hrs) and my guys handle it well, but they’re also very experienced travelers!
I moved to Aiken from the Willamette Valley, and this was not my first cross-country move with a horse. I did this a bit differently than how you are going about it, and it worked out fine.
- If you are very worried about how your horse will travel, pick a top shelf national shipper like Brookledge.
But know, too, that Aiken is 12 hours from Lexington, KY, where lots of those companies have hubs/lay-over barns. And Aiken isn’t directly on the way up and down the Eastern Seaboard, or to Florida. So while horses regularly come in and out of Aiken, it’s not like you are shipping from one race track or huge show grounds to another.
- Or pick another shipper that does national routes and can tell you about the travel time. They can tell you what their lay-over schedule tends to be. I also think that most of these guys will just have box stalls to offer, but that seems to be OK for most horses, most of the time. Again, this is true if you go with an established shipper.
And absolutely choose one with an air-ride trailer and buy him at least a stall-and-a-half. In my experience*** the drivers will put your horse in a full box stall if there is an empty one, even if you didn’t pay for that. They do want to take care of the horses.
FYI, at a pro’s recommendation, I used American Horse Transport based in Chehalis, WA. My horse had to go all the way to Wellington-ish FL. Those guys took her to Lexington, KY (in one giant haul straight through from Salem, OR). There, they subcontracted with Creech to take her the rest of the way. I was not psyched to have the trip and responsibility for my horse’s well-being divided between two companies, but both are solid, well-known shippers. The mare did great, and communication was good the whole time.
****My experience is also shaped by BBQ. When working with a shipper, I always offer to bring the horse to somewhere easy for them. If I have a farm with a too-small driveway or a problem-child of a road getting up there, I tell them and give them directions that take into account the size of their rig.
Even better, if I can meet them somewhere with the horse, I do that. Best experiences have been where I offered to meet them along the interstate at a parking lot of their choosing. They know the best places to do a hand-off like this. And I bring the drivers BBQ, or some other Real Food. If you are professional and caring toward everyone in the organization, you’ll get that back. But start by picking a shipper that does this every week of the year with horses that are more expensive and squirrelier than yours.
The reason the dispatcher can’t answer your questions as specifically as you like is because there is some “play” in their system. So while the company you talked to probably does own the lay-over facility, they might not be able to tell you if the kind of stall or paddock you describe will be available then. The same is true for the time involved for trips. It really depends on how many horses need to be gathered from where before they head across the country. Same is true on the other end, too.
All this being said, there are a handful of shippers who are based in Aiken who will do custom shipping. That means they’d set up a route that gives your horse direct service, though ti will have layovers.
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I don’t think Atlanta or PDX are set up to handle horses.
I have a friend who had a horse flow from San Diego (so LAX?). I can ask here where he landed here and how he got the rest of the way to Aiken. I think SeaTac might be your closet horse-friendly airport.
