Best places in the US for eventing?

[bornfreenowexpensive]

Outside of Baltimore or outside of Philly I would say are about ideal…other than the fact that there is winter. That said, winter here really isn’t too bad…it never stays THAT cold for very long.

I’ve lived all over the US. Lots of LOVELY places. While I was in school…finding time to ride is the easy part. It is making time while you are working that is much much harder…especially when starting out in a career. So I picked an area that gives me a great career…with top knotch riding and training. I’m about 45 minutes south of Philly and about 1.5 hours north of Baltimore. Phillip Dutton, Boyd Martin, and about 10 other 4* riders…as well as countless 3* riders are within 5-15 minutes of me. And they are in this area for a reason.

There are a ton of schools in this area but to me…you go to the best school for your career as you can…then pick carefully where you want to live for your job but first things first…you have to get that job.

[JWB]

In the Orlando area we have UCF, Stetson and Rollins College. All of these are convenient to three advanced level trainers (Jennie Jarnstrom, Hilda Donahue & Maren Foster). While there are no full XC courses in the immediate area, (we have a bank and a ditch and a few little XC jumps), we are 45 minutes from Rocking Horse and 90 minutes from the Florida Horse Park and all Ocala has to offer with up and coming places like Clayton Fredrick’s new place and reemerging gems like Longwood.

Unfortunately the more into horse country you go, the more rural you get. Ocala is the place to be if you want to event in FL, however it doesn’t offer many other options in terms of career, school, social life, etc. I love being close to Orlando and having the best of both worlds… I can get over to Ocala for the day when I need to, but for day to day life, I’ve got the city in my back yard.

[fooler]

Newnan, GA puts you in short driving of multiple event and dressage trainers, plenty hot with the occassional snow/ice storm.
4 year Colleges/universities within 1 hour drive are: Georgia Tech, Georgia State, West Georgia College, LaGrange College and Auburn University.
For work opportunities you are within 1 hour of downtown Atlanta and the traffic.
Nearby events Chattahoocee Hills, Poplar Place plus multiple unrecognized competitions. Within a couple of hours are Pine Top, Aiken and northward to events in TN.

[JWB]

By the way, the time in college is really a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of things. I went to college based on proximity to horses and moved after two years to get a better education. The better education has helped support my horse lifestyle much better than the proximity ever could.

[KayBee]

Raleigh-Durham area? That’s where Doug Payne is now. I think…?

[judybigredpony]

Have you locked into a Major yet and. Job path…that usually impacts the school?

Wouldn’t t it make sense to narrow the schools then apply to the ones who are in the horse areas? It also depends on where you are accepted as well.

[JER]

[QUOTE=victoriaseb;7375608]

Most importantly: I’m going to be in university so I want a barn that’s not too far from the city. I’d like to be in a big city that’s generally wealthy (my career path won’t work out in a rural, undeveloped area)[/QUOTE]

US universities are VERY expensive for international students, and, as others have pointed out, there are very strict rules for working on a student visa. If you’re aware of these not-inconsiderable matters, all I can say is: you must have extremely deep pockets.

In terms of ease-of-access for riding, I think Nashville is tops. However, there’s not so much of an eventing scene there.

Another caution: as an international student, be very careful posting anywhere that you plan to go to the US for college and live there after you graduate. If a border agent decides to go through your phone, for example, you might be denied entry to the US. I know it sounds ridiculous but even more ridiculous things happen every day, every hour at border stations.

If you are a US citizen, then you may have to establish yourself as a US resident before enrolling in a US university as an American student. Another legal labyrinth will await you.

[subk]

[QUOTE=JER;7376801]
In terms of ease-of-access for riding, I think Nashville is tops. However, there’s not so much of an eventing scene there. [/QUOTE]
Vanderbilt University is in Nashville, and it’s a great degree–if you can afford it and get in. I live in a very horsey community south of town and I’m about 20-25 minutes away from Vandy.

The event specific scene is not large, but we have a long eventing history here-- oldest US Pony Club, oldest US Horse Trials. Percy Warner Park is in the south part of the city and has courses starter-prelim that are available for schooling as well as several private facillites that welcome schooling. We only have a few eventing specific barns, but we have lots of eventers interspersed within strong H/J and Dressage communities.

We have wealth here too. Williamson County just south of Nashville is the 15th wealthiest county in the U.S., and outside of the D.C. area is the wealtiest county in the South.

No snow to speak of you can pretty much ride outside all year long. Lower costs of living both horse and human than the D.C. corridor as well.

[LisaB]

Charlottesville has a lot of students in your boat. No VA has the city and then you can board somewhere in Middleburg/Upperville but traffic is nasty.
As far as AZ, there are 2 good instructors but they are north and ASU is south. A bear of a commute to get to your horse.

[GAEventer]

[QUOTE=Sillymoose;7375625]
GA, FL, SC, etc. Since you mentioned university, I would recommend either Athens GA (University of Georgia) or Auburn, AL (Auburn University). I’m not sure about any specific boarding barns in those areas but I know both schools have eventing teams and very active eventing areas close by. I wouldn’t call these areas big city but they’re not rural either. I guess it would depend on what you consider big city. Also, no negative temps around here. It’s Hot Hot Hot! Well except for two weeks ago, but still.[/QUOTE]

I was going to say Georgia. We have three great premier eventing venues in state, and are close to many more. We have warm temperatures (usually) year round although a bit hot in summer. Ok, maybe ‘a bit’ is an understatement, but definitely NOT as hot as Florida (or buggy or humid). There are some really great instructors here, and great clinicians always coming through (esp during the winter season).

We also have very good schools, and as was mentioned the University of Georgia in Athens sounds like it might suit you. I went there for college, boarded a horse locally and had a great time competing while in school. Athens is a great city in and of itself, plenty of character and culture. UGA is a well respected college for many of it’s programs and you’re not far from Atlanta if you end up deciding to move that way for a job.

[gottagrey]

having witnessed the angst my friend’s daughters and sons as well my nieces and nephews went thru picking out schools to apply to, visiting campuses, getting rejection letters, getting accepted etc - it’s a little more involved that just deciding to move down to an eventing area to event, having to be near to the city because of your career (what career path is that exactly") and oh also being in University. I have no idea how easy or difficult it is for an international student to get into an American university or college.

[snoopy]

@victoriaseb;7375705

I’m moving from canada

I knew that immediately in the first post with your use of University and Cross.

[Badger]

I was talking to a student at USC Aiken yesterday, and she said there are so many students in the equestrian program that it’s perfectly acceptable to wear breeches and boots to class, which was what she did in order to get her early morning class in and still make it to the hunt. Lots of eventing, etc., around Aiken and the school is right in town.

But boy, picking a university based mainly on the riding is not the way I’d recommend prioritizing things. If you are going to get a college education, focus on getting the best education you can. I put my riding mostly on hold getting my Vandy degree and horses were waiting when I was done, along with a job with benefits that allowed me to afford and enjoy them.

[gr8fulrider]

If your subject line were the only question, I’d concur with others who said Area II. We have the most events in a compact geographic area.

The rest of the post reminds me of my borderline-obsessive quest, while pregnant, to find the ONE stroller that I could use for every purpose at every age until my kid outgrew strollers. Not possible. Also not that necessary.

I didn’t see what your career path is, but I will say this: it’s very difficult to find a place where there is no commute to riding and where the career opportunities are thick on the ground. If you’re going into technology, then the I 270 corridor in Maryland, which is close to a number of great events, will work.

Baltimore and north of it are wonderful places to live, but the job opportunities are Not. So. Much unless you are in the health field. I have friends in extremely sought-after fields who regularly try to find something near Baltimore and consistently get head hunter calls for Silver Spring, NoVa, and DC.

There are places that are fairly recession-proof and have big local industries-- like DC-- and then there is everywhere else.

That being said, much like the stroller, you don’t need to find a city that provides college, eventing, and career all at once. Most people don’t stay in their college towns. There’s really no reason someone has to stay in the same event barn after college that she was in during college. Sure, if you were focusing only on riding, you might want continuity-- but you said you have a non-rural career path in mind.

Go to the place that gives you the best balance of education and riding experience you can find. Then go to the place that gives you the best combination of work and riding experience you can find. Five will get you ten they’re both in one of the eventing-dense areas between NJ and FL, but if you try to lock yourself in to finding all three, you could end up mediocre all around.

[LisaB]

But I found a stroller Totally OT but take a look at Baby Jogger Elite. That thing has been everywhere!
Anyho, I think there’s definitely a balance. I know some adv. riders continued to go adv while going to school. It can be done but you won’t learn how to upside down beer bong either.