Best places to live and event

[alphamare4]

I know there have been some other posts on this topic but I found that none of them really answered the questions I have. I’m currently a nursing student about one year away from graduation. I live in Arizona and am tired of having limited event opportunities and few clinicians come through the area. I’m also a bit frustrated with the dismal turnout situation on the West Coast. Mostly for these reasons I’m planning on moving after graduation, and would like to work in a hospital setting, but as a nurse I’m not super concerned about finding work. I’m more looking to find work where the horses are. I’m a pretty consistent Training Level eventer, but I doubt I will ever go higher than prelim. Here’s my wish list in looking for a place to live:

1. Lots of events in the surrounding areas. I’m talking within 30 minutes-3 hour range. I’m used to commuting 6+ hours for events but I don’t want to do it EVERY time anymore. Once or twice a season would be fine.

2. A long show or activity season. By a long season I don’t mean that every event has to be a 3-day: I’d be fine with a 6 month eventing season and doing indoor jumpers, dressage shows, and/or clinics in the winter. I just want to have options.

3. Preferably near a big city so I can make a bit more money at the city hospitals. My current idea is that I’ll live in a suburban/rural area with the horses and commute in 3x a week for my 12 hour shifts, and then be close to the horses to get to ride as much as I can. I’m flexible on that though and could feel comfortable living in a big city or in a rural area, I’ve just found that generally board/rent goes up the closer to a big city you get and pay goes down as you go out-- and that takes a chunk out of my horse budget.

4. Somewhere LGBT+ friendly. This is a pretty big issue as I can’t see myself moving somewhere I’d feel worried about people seeing me with my SO in public or where there are very few LGBT people/resources for us. I’m open to checking out unexpected places and seeing how comfortable we’d be there. The Deep South seems fairly unlikely though.

Are these unrealistic requirements? Anybody else have experience making horses work as an RN or DNP (I’m considering going back to school later)?

P.S. Specific cities or towns as a jumping off point would be much appreciated-- I know very little about the geographic makeup of anything west of Texas so answers like “XYZ area” are pretty rough.

[headbrickwall]

UK 😁

[BWP]

@headbrickwall

UK 😁

^^^ this! :lol:

[asterix]

Easy. Washington, DC area, which includes northern VA, much of Maryland, Baltimore, possibly PA around Philly.
i live in DC and board at an event facility in Maryland between Baltimore and DC. Horses are out on a 70 acre xc course. Lots of great boarding options, many major medical centers, very LBGT friendly (especially DC), tons of events …I can do a schooling event on a Wednesday night, a recognized event on a Sunday, and a recognized dressage show the next weekend at three different venues less than 2 hours from my farm (which itself hosts all three of those things). In addition to great instructors at my farm and several others near by, we have folks like Jimmy Wofford, Stephen Bradley, and GP dressage trainers coming through to clinic every month.
Event season is from April through early November. We have a local facility that has huge bluestone pads and puts out all the xc portables in the winter so you can jump around, plus the normal stuff like jumper and dressage schooling shows. The area also has several active fox hunts.
come visit - it really has everything you want.
the downside is that traffic can be tough so you have to figure out your work/barn/home commute, but it is entirely doable especially with a shift schedule.

[Ajierene]

I agree with asterix - anywhere between DC and Philly is a good bet. My horse lives in Oxford, PA and is about 20 min from Fairhill and about 30 min from Unionville, PA where Plantation, Boyd Martin, Phillip Dutton, Buck Davidson are. Adamstown, MD has a few venues and is about 2 hours away. Bucks County Horse Park is about 2.5 hrs, as well as NJ Horse Park.

Turnout is also much more common - the biggest reason for horses being in stalls for part of the day is owners wanting them to be, not because of lack of turnout. My horse is out 24/7 with ability to put her in a stall if needed.

There are schooling and recognized shows year round - I frequent a schooling jumper that’s held the 3rd Sunday of every month, year round, rain, shine, or snow.

As far as LGBT issues - I’m not 100% keyed in there but those that identify as such that I know don’t usually have problems. There are to many unique people in this corner of the world for someone to worry about who’s hand some stranger is holding.

[IFG]

Not quite as many event, but less crazy traffic in the Providence-Boston area. Less intense eventing scene. We used to be the Mecca, but alas no more. Very LGBT friendly, especially Providence.

[justix]

Charlottesville, VA. Small city with 2 very good hospitals. UVA has an outstanding nursing school. Mild winters and centrally located. Lots of good events near by (schooling & recognized) and a great selection of coaches, trainers, etc.

[bip]

@IFG

Not quite as many event, but less crazy traffic in the Providence-Boston area. Less intense eventing scene. We used to be the Mecca, but alas no more. Very LGBT friendly, especially Providence.

Sadly, I would not recommend this area. It feels like eventing is dying here, and our ground is so rocky. Plus traffic is awful.

[acottongim]

Ocala! Season starts in Sept/Oct and runs till April with H/J, eventing and Dressage. LOTS of shows and there’s still stuff going on during summer but it is hot.

Near to UF/Shands as well as Orlando and Ocala has a thriving medical community.

As for LBGT - I honestly couldn’t tell you but with all the riders etc it feels open and good? I haven’t noticed any of my friends who are gay complaining about the culture.

[Manahmanah]

What asterix said.

[Texarkana]

The mid-Atlantic region on the whole is fabulous for eventing. Seriously, just pick a city.

I grew up in the aforementioned Oxford, PA-- the HEART of eventing country! I was mucking stalls for international 4 star (now 5 star) riders in high school and didn’t even realize how good I had it! :lol: Although not exactly the heart of high paying RN jobs.

I went to VA for college (about an hour south of Charlottesville), and they also had eventing a-plenty.

Ironically, I was never in to eventing when I lived in PA or VA. Then I moved to TN and TX, which are absolutely devoid of a decent eventing scene… and that’s where I ended up getting involved. While there was activity, it was sparse and frustrating. Now I’m back in MD and loving horsey life!

My only caveat is that everyone (in terms of major trainers) goes south anymore-- Aiken or Ocala. It sucks for those of us who need to work full time jobs. But despite that fact, it sounds like the mid-Atlantic would still suit your needs. There is definitely an active show season during the 6+ months everyone is here. You can literally show every single weekend if you want, even through the winter.

[Hey_Mickey]

Ocala may be worth a look for you- you may not like the climate though, its a very different type of hot.

There are alot of hospitals in the area. Close to Orlando and Gainesville (UF is located in Gainesville)
Alot of places to XC school even in a 20 min raduis, a lot of schooling shows, a lot of facilities you can ship in to. The best of everything, with all the options are right in front of you.

The local culture is a mix of old people, Hispanics (really really really good Mexican restaurants in the area), horse people, rednecks, but also the young crowd seems to be very open and nice, but there is not much of a night life or “stuff” to do- nice art museum, regular art festivals and music etc, some fun bars, local brewery.

[ExpialidociousOTTB]

I would also suggest the Ocala area - but live in Gainesville. Being a college town, Gainesville is super progressive, a tiny dot of respite in the south :-). There are 2 hospitals within 10 mins of the city center.

Living in Gainesville will allow you to work your 3 12s, enjoy great restaurants and other cultural type stuff, and spend your other 4 days with the horses around Ocala. I board in Micanopy (20 mins south of Gainesville), and it’s 20-60ish mins away from tons of horse shows, schooling venues, etc. Majestic Oaks is right around the corner, it is a beautiful eventing facility with regular schooling shows.

[FitToBeTied]

Charlottesville. Northern Virginia is ridiculously expensive and getting more so. Loudoun County is dominated by developers and they just keep building more houses.

As someone said above, Charlottesville has two top flight hospitals in UVA and Martha Jefferson,

[luckycricket123]

@alphamare4

I know there have been some other posts on this topic but I found that none of them really answered the questions I have. I’m currently a nursing student about one year away from graduation. I live in Arizona and am tired of having limited event opportunities and few clinicians come through the area. I’m also a bit frustrated with the dismal turnout situation on the West Coast. Mostly for these reasons I’m planning on moving after graduation, and would like to work in a hospital setting, but as a nurse I’m not super concerned about finding work. I’m more looking to find work where the horses are. I’m a pretty consistent Training Level eventer, but I doubt I will ever go higher than prelim. Here’s my wish list in looking for a place to live:

1. Lots of events in the surrounding areas. I’m talking within 30 minutes-3 hour range. I’m used to commuting 6+ hours for events but I don’t want to do it EVERY time anymore. Once or twice a season would be fine.

2. A long show or activity season. By a long season I don’t mean that every event has to be a 3-day: I’d be fine with a 6 month eventing season and doing indoor jumpers, dressage shows, and/or clinics in the winter. I just want to have options.

3. Preferably near a big city so I can make a bit more money at the city hospitals. My current idea is that I’ll live in a suburban/rural area with the horses and commute in 3x a week for my 12 hour shifts, and then be close to the horses to get to ride as much as I can. I’m flexible on that though and could feel comfortable living in a big city or in a rural area, I’ve just found that generally board/rent goes up the closer to a big city you get and pay goes down as you go out-- and that takes a chunk out of my horse budget.

4. Somewhere LGBT+ friendly. This is a pretty big issue as I can’t see myself moving somewhere I’d feel worried about people seeing me with my SO in public or where there are very few LGBT people/resources for us. I’m open to checking out unexpected places and seeing how comfortable we’d be there. The Deep South seems fairly unlikely though.

Are these unrealistic requirements? Anybody else have experience making horses work as an RN or DNP (I’m considering going back to school later)?

P.S. Specific cities or towns as a jumping off point would be much appreciated-- I know very little about the geographic makeup of anything west of Texas so answers like “XYZ area” are pretty rough.

You could try Frederick, MD. Frederick itself is very LGBT friendly, close to a good eventing scene and you’re close enough to Bethesda and NIH and government health agencies. Lots of healthcare options around and you could easily find a place to live, reasonably priced boarding barn and job all within a reasonable commute.

[bornfreenowexpensive]

Seriously hate the traffic in the DC area. I’m very happy up here in SE PA just outside of Philly. I know several nurses in this area. It is still more metropolitan even out in horse country. I wouldn’t want to commute all the way into Philly (although I know people who do and its not as bad as commuting in DC) but there are also some top hospitals in Christiana in Newark Delaware. Newark, Delaware is just a stones throw to get to the top horse areas in SE Chester County PA. For example…many riders live West Grove/Kennett Square…near Boyd and Phillip etc. but may work either in Philly or Wilmington, DE. Lots of YRs go to University of Delaware in Newark but keep their horses out near West Grove. Easy access to lots of good venues. I rarely travel more than 1.5 hours to an event…through Intermediate. Lots of schooling venues.

Yes…negative would be winter…but it really isn’t that bad. And I would say this area is generally considered LGBT friendly.

[Groom_amp_Taxi]

Pacific Northwest/Area VII - specifically on the West side of the Cascades could work quite well for you too. Way better turn-out typically than Cali. Solid six month eventing season. The distance to drive to ALL the rated events might average a bit out of your three hour range, but if you settled around Seattle or Portland, you would have plenty of opportunities. Overall not as eventing dense as some of the other places being thrown into the mix in that we don’t have that many big name trainers resident here, but a fair number come through doing clinics. Decent sized cities to look at/around could be Olympia, Vancouver WA. Extremely LGBTQ friendly area.

The biggest downside is the gray for days on end in fall, winter, spring.

[_PlayerHater]

@alphamare4

I

3. Preferably near a big city so I can make a bit more money at the city hospitals. .

FWIW sometimes the rural hospitals pay more as an incentive. However, the work quality may not be as good as what you’ll see at the larger hospitals.

As others have said, somewhere around Philly or Charlottesville would probably be your best options. Maybe throw Richmond and Raleigh Durham area in there was well. Also after you get your feet under you as a nurse, consider traveling nursing positions. You could go south in winter and north in summer and you get paid a significant amount more.

[BraveSC]

I live in Aiken and it has a lot of what you are looking for! We have numerous venues that host recognized and schooling horse trials/CTs pretty much year round. Obviously the showing is a bit slower in the summer months but you can certainly get your fill still. Atlanta is only 2.5ish hours away and you’re close to events in NC/FL as well.
Augusta GA is right over the border and isn’t too far from certain parts of Aiken and there are plenty of hospitals there as well as in Aiken. 200k+ people live in Augusta so its pretty happening place.

[asterix]

The thing about dc traffic is that it really matters wheee and when. Going from dc to nova almost any time can be awful… but I live on Capitol Hill, right in DC, great urban neighborhood where I can walk to everything from Shakespeare to Trader Joe’s (am in our 9 acre dog park 2 blocks from house as we speak, and hubby is in gym a block away)… and I’m 45 minutes in no traffic at all to my barn, IF I go in the AM. After 3 pm, totally different story.
So for a 9-5 person, the traffic is terrible, but if you are doing shifts it might open up other opportunities. Plus you don’t have to live where I do (and to be honest I could not have afforded it earlier in my life) - lots of suburbs offer relatively easy access to horse stuff and work stuff.