I’m nearing the end of my working years. While I love New England, it’s incredibly expensive, particularly taxes. I was looking at Delaware, but it looks like a very flat state and I have yet to see any horses. Are there any good horse areas in Delaware? I cannot stand heat, so moving further south is not an option just to save a buck. I need my ocean, so anything outside of a 30 minute drive is out too. I’m looking for an area that has both horses and ocean, 4 seasons, low taxes and not so friggin hot/humid. Not a big fan of insects or snakes that can kill me either.
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I have lived Delaware-adjacent most of my life, growing up right over the PA line from Newark, DE and now living a stones throw from the Kent County, DE line in MD.
I have a love/hate relationship with Delaware.
Are there horses in Delaware? YES! A lot. But… they are generally not the “COTH” kind of horses. Lots of backyard/trail type horses. There’s a pretty big low end western scene, everything from WP to ranch to rodeo. There are a fair number of large Arab and breed farms. There is a huge standardbred racing scene. The Thoroughbred racing scene exists, but Delaware Park only runs a few months out of the year so few very thoroughbreds are based out of there year-round. They tend to just ship in for the race meeting then head off to the next track.
As for H/J, Dressage, Eventing… there is some. Nothing at a particularly high level, but more than living in the middle of nowhere and you’re fairly close to very active areas in PA, MD, and NJ. There are a lot of schooling shows, little show series, and even a horse trial or two. I’d take it over some other places I’ve lived, although not a Mecca by any means.
Delaware has two halves: Wilmington/New Castle County, which tends to be wealthier and like one big suburb of Philadelphia. Then there is “slower lower” Delaware— Kent and Sussex counties, which are like if rural Alabama and New Jersey had a baby.
Northern Delaware is pretty pricey. Hillier. More of an English discipline scene, but also WAY more crowded. You have good hospitals, tons of jobs, a good amount of culture. The climate is very similar to the rest of the Philadelphia region- 4 seasons, hot, humid summers, some snow in the winter. You are about ~1hr from the beach.
Slower lower Delaware is much more affordable, but pretty much the opposite in every way. Flat, rural, agricultural. HUMID. Low land. Less of a winter. Mosquitoes that will eat you alive. You are closer to the beach, but the horse scene tends to be more backyarder/western/breed-focused. There are still a lot of good horse services and amenities, though- hay, feed, supplies, vets, farriers, etc. Traffic is a beast in the summer.
The one exception on lower DE would be the beaches themselves, which are lovely beach towns. Touristy, but they still have a small town vibe. No horse scene right at the beach towns, you have to go inland a bit. EXPENSIVE.
Taxes are great. Tax free shopping is great. Although there has been a HUGE influx of retirees to the southern part of DE and you can feel the growing pains. The home prices are way up but the amenities and infrastructure haven’t kept pace with the growth.
What did I miss? I’m about to hop in my truck to go run errands in… Delaware.
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Thanks for the in depth info. I’m pretty boring. Beaches and horses is all I like to do. I’m done with eventing for the most part, but still like to do hunter paces. As for the humid part, how many months of muggy crap are we talking? Is the flat part of DE all flood zone?
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How many months of muggy crap? Hmm… I’d say maybe 12? Lol. Nah, that’s not fair. It gets gray and cold for at least 3 of those months. 
But it gets pretty darn muggy, especially May-Sept, not helped by the fact that anything that’s not a cornfield or a chicken house is a swamp.
I don’t know what’s formally a flood plain and what’s not, but pretty much all of southern DE is well below 100’ elevation… most of it like 20’ above sea level. It’s swampy with poor drainage. The state digs massive drainage ditches lined with sandbags so the land can be used.
Hunter paces are hard to come by. There is a very nice fox hunt (Wicomico) right over the MD line. There are paper chases and poker rides at some of the parks.
I remember listening to a podcast with an advanced level eventer with a home in Rehoboth where he spent a lot of time. He kept his horses in eventing country in VA and PA and would book an air b&b near his horses to ride for a couple days every week. Because that made more sense than trying to board and condition an advanced eventer at a low level place that would still require a 30 min drive.
But for people who just want to enjoy horses, there is a good sized community.
I would really encourage a visit! Delaware is so small, you could literally visit every sizeable town in the state long enough to form an opinion over the course of a weekend.
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I’ve thought about looking in MD or VA, but same humidity issue and more $$ to be closer to the beach. I despite the wet/swampy/mosquito thing, so I guess DE is out unless I stay up in the more populated part.
30 minutes from the beach is the kicker.
MD only has one small section along the ocean, directly below DE. Delaware and that part of Maryland are all basically the same horse community, so everything I said above is still true.
You have more coastline in VA in the sense you have the VA eastern shore plus the VA beach area. Still humid.
I’m making you a video of my errand running so you can experience the beautiful scenery here.
What about Jersey? Still humid, but slightly less so. $$$, though.
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No interest in Jersey. I thought about VA, but same humidity problem. I would go an hour max from ocean, but I do love it even in the offseason.
How far from water is that area of MD where they hold the MD hunt cup and the new 5*? (Fair Hill?) MD confuses the crap out of me since there’s just that one sliver up by PA that seems to have the fun horse events.
Far. The beach is a good 2+ hours from those locations without traffic. The Delaware beaches are closer to those locations than the MD beach, Ocean City.
Maryland has the bay splitting the state. Now, it’s very easy to be 30 minutes to the bay and in a super horsey area.
Fair Hill is where I grew up. (Right on the PA/MD/DE line there)
Can you swim on the bay side, or is just a look at it / ride a boat on it body of water?
Something else to keep in mind: the USDA has adjusted the hardiness zone maps northward, in general. I’m thinking that will keep happening. So whatever the climate is now in the places you’re considering, the climate could soon more like what’s happening 100 miles south or more. Best of luck.
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You can swim in it! Now, people have a lot of opinions on whether you should swim in it due to varying bacteria levels. But, there are many public and private sandy beaches. People swim in it all the time.
Muggy from May/June to October (I’ve even seen it humid into November). If you don’t like hot and humid, you will not like Delmarva summer or fall.
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Does it have to be an ocean salt water beach? You might open up more location options if a big lake with sandy shore beaches would suit you.
(No suggestions, just thought I’d put it out there.)
Grey
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Yeah I’m an ocean fish. I’m not a lake girl. Wish I was. It would make things a lot easier.
Where are you now?
Trying to upload my great video (sarcasm), but COTH is not cooperating.
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CT. I love New England but the taxes are getting ridiculous. Maine and NH are out cuz the water is too damn cold even in August, which leaves me with RI or MA, neither of which are very affordable. CT has lost it’s mind and it driving utility prices through the roof. People are paying more for their electric than for their mortgages. It’s just unsustainable.
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Enjoy the bad photos through my dirty and cracked windshield since the video won’t upload. My dashboard is covered in plastic ducks and legos because… kids.
Farmland, swampy bodies of water, new construction in the middle of nowhere, horse farms (some quite ostentatious), chicken farms…
This was all from driving around Kent county and northern Sussex county, about 45 min from the ocean proper but pretty close to the Delaware Bay coast.
Although you can enjoy my two year old in her new $10 halter and $35/37 clearance rain sheet and 200g blanket I picked up at Chicks… because tax free shopping is always a win.
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Yeah, if you don’t want humidity, definitely don’t come to Jersey!! LOL I swear it’s humid year round except for a few days in winter when you go from humid to static shocking yourself. This summer has been especially brutal with dew points consistently in the 70s since almost June. It didn’t used to be this way, but seems to be the new climate. I mean my tack can go green and fuzzy overnight if I don’t have a dehumidifier running every day spring to fall. It’s honestly gross.
Beyond that it’s actually a great state…well, at least the southern part!! We have some pretty great beaches (Brigantine and Cape May are my favorites). We are not far from good horse options. The southern part of the state is not as congested and is much more rural than most people realize.
What about West coast? Less humid areas and you can still get your beaches. And I totally get the beach thing…even if I don’t get there all season, there is something about knowing it is only a 15 minutes drive from my house and you can just sit and have that salt air therapy!
I lived in northern New Jersey as a kid, and it was idyllic back then (I’m old). I remember the house being very uncomfortably hot in the summer, but we’d just go down to the finished part of the basement and hang out there. Plus we were in the local swim club’s pool a lot during the summer. And winters were great when you’re a kid and don’t have to commute on slushy or icy streets.
It was a completely different story when I moved back for a few years, in the early 80s. My apartment was boiling in the summer and freezing in the winter, and we never seemed to have hot water in the winter, either, due to old, crappy boilers. I had one of the few four wheel drive vehicles around, so I was expected to show up at work no matter how bad the roads were. I tried to explain that I couldn’t drive over all the stuck cars, but no one cared.
Plus my then boyfriend (now very long term husband) and I lived in Elizabeth, the armpit of New Jersey.
