BFF going to CSU- What is Horse Community Like?

[Kinda_Kooky]

My dear friend made the cut and got into the Vet program at CSU. She is an AZ native and currently lives there with her cat, pack of dogs and 4 horses with plenty of room for all. My initial searches for potential rental properties in CO were rather disheartening both in availability and in location.

The ideal situation would be to find a place to rent that would allow all the animals. The horses can come live with me if it becomes a necessity, but of course she would rather have them with her if possible. One horse at the very least should go to Colorado for her sanity. As for the dogs, we are talking 2 large, 2 med, 2 small. All are friendly and not destructive creatures, cat included.

Worst case would be to find a place that would allow the dogs and to board one horse while there. Animals comforts are of greater priority than human, a barn with a livable shack would be preferable to a house with a field and no shelter.

Any advice as to where to start looking would be greatly appreciated. Are there popular websites for listings? Any places/areas to absolutely avoid? What is the horse community like there? Is my hope of finding a rental property in the area even slightly realistic? The way of life could be drastically different there and horse keeping could be more of a boarding situation than backyard.

Appreciate the help and any shared wisdom, we are both desert rats with only time spent in Colorado having been in the Southern part for horse shows, and for me that was many years ago. Would like to help her with this process in any way I can.

[x-halt-salute]

Congrats to your friend on the vet program acceptance!

Unfortunately your disappointment about the housing market here is realistic. Housing is extremely scarce in Fort Collins, but on the bright side pet-friendly rentals more common in Colorado than in other parts of the country. Many private and management-company rentals accept dogs with an additional deposit, but six dogs and a cat will be a very hard sell nevertheless.

Horse properties on the outskirts of town or in neighboring, more rural towns occasionally come up for rent, but tend to be more house than a student needs and therefore more pricey than just renting an apartment in town and boarding a horse or two, especially when you factor in feed/hay/bedding/labor. You are more likely to find a 2-3 bedroom house with a field/no shelter/no riding facilities than a decent barn with a tiny house. For four horses (and a lot of other critters) it may be worth looking for a horse property rental, in spite of high rent and commute time, but I can’t imagine affording such a thing as a student. Once she’s here it might be possible to find a private rental that includes space for a horse, but those situations are often arranged through connections or advertised only by word of mouth, and tend to involve some shared space with the property owners that might again be prohibitive with that many dogs.

A lot of the student-oriented rentals have leases that start in August, and get shown/rented several months in advance of the move-in date (i.e. starting now). Other apartments also tend to get listed/shown well before they are available. In other words, securing housing well in advance is a good strategy in this town, especially for a move in that coincides with the academic year. Craigslist should give you a fair representation of what is available. It is probably also worth reaching out to the vet school to see if they have ways of networking incoming students with students who are already here and have a finger on the pulse of the animal-friendly rental market.

The horse community depends a bit on what end of the equestrian world you come from. There are lots of folks in both English and western disciplines here and a good number of back yard horses, but the horse community as a whole seems less tightly networked than in other regions I’ve lived in. With an equine studies program and vet school at CSU there may be a better-defined horse community within the student body that I’m not aware of.

There are lots of inexpensive boarding options in and around town, but none that I’d consider bargains. The average quality of care here leaves a lot to be desired in my book, though if you are used to rougher board and don’t need an arena with good footing you might find things close in that will satisfy you at a reasonable cost. Availability tends to be inversely correlated with care and facilities (e.g. places with indoor arenas tend to have fewer openings, especially as you head into fall and winter). Even the pricier barns tend to require some compromises, but it’s always hard to adjust to boarding when you’re used to having the care just how you like it.

I hope your friend finds some gems in the rental/boarding scene here and enjoys her time at CSU.

[MoonoverMississippi]

X-halt described things better than I could, but I will suggest your friend decide how far she’s willing to drive before looking too hard. FC is quite expensive, and traffic can be quite heavy so factor that in rather than relying on distance to compute driving time.
Realistically, your friend may be better off leaving the horses at home and checking out the uni riding possibilities for a horse fix, considering expense and her class load for vet school.
If she’s determined to have a horse and the pets, she might want to look north of FC, or in the Loveland and Masonville areas.

[AKB]

Your friend needs to think about how much time she will have or not have when she is in vet school. She might just bring 1 horse, and board the horse very close by. If she lives close to school and the horse, she will have more time for riding. If she can rent a room in a house with a group of vet students, they can all take turns letting the dogs out. When my daughter was in vet school (not CSU), her roommates let the dog out if she was in class late. If you are in class from 8am-8pm, you want to be able to run home at lunchtime to let the dog out and also hope that a roommate doesn’t have late class the same day. My daughter was very happy to be able to ride her horse throughout vet school.Sometimes, she was riding at 7am, and sometimes at 8pm, but at least she got to ride.

[lilitiger2]

I went to grad school at CSU and we had a ton of vet students where I boarded. Had several as clients as well. They were very glad to have their horse(s)–I don’t remember any with more than two but it was a boarding situation so maybe those with a whole herd didn’t board.

I loved my boarding situation (had one then two horses), but one thing I’d have your friend check out is the price of hay. They’ve had a drought and it’s gone up a bunch since I was there.

yes to traffic (and coming up from Loveland would be a LOT of it), but if she got something near the u - and there are LOTS of houses/situations near it, she wouldnt’ have any. I lived and boarded right near CSU so it was very easy. Yes, if not boarding, more property available probably across I-25 (lots of rural communities - Eaton, for one) but there would be more of a commute.

But in general, great horse community! And congrats to her on getting CSU. As I said (and agreeing with AKB) both the students where I boarded and clients as well were delighted to have their horses. I was also in a demanding grad program and thrilled to be able to ride!

[IPEsq]

Pet friendly rentals are somewhat common in northern CO, although there may be limits on the # of pets. Horse properties for rent, not so much. I’d recommend boarding any horses she wants to bring.