I’m relocating to Tampa from Michigan and am looking for some well respected boarding facilities to check out. I am not looking to pay a ton of money for something fancy, but a small or private barn would be best. Looking to not pay more than $350 or so a month. Any suggestions?
Hay is quite pricey in FL so you may have trouble with that budget. Unless you are supplying food & bedding, I didn’t even know of places in that price range when I lived there in the 90s. Good luck!
I’m just south of Tampa in Bradenton/Sarasota area. There are several facilities in my area with a $350 price tag if you supply your own grain hay and shavings. If you are willing to board in this area, feel free to PM me. There might be one spot opening up soon at my place, otherwise I know of a few others in my area.
Best of luck! Just had a boarder move in from Michigan as well and she & her horse LOVE it here!
Unfortunately, full care board within 30-45 minutes of Tampa is significantly more than your budget at the “known” places, and probably even at places without all the bells and whistles. I know there are small private boarding barns to the north, east, and south of Tampa where you may find something in your price range, but you’ll have to do some on-the-ground scouting to find them and available stalls. Check out Odessa & Lutz (north), Plant City (east), and Sun City/Bradenton (south.) I moved from the Midwest (Ohio/Michigan) and was really surprised at how much more it costs here to keep a horse. As someone else mentioned, hay here is very expensive and real estate demand makes big property pretty pricey to buy and maintain.
Hence, I am still horseless and may never own my own without a winning lottery ticket…
If you’re coming because you’re military (or not!) there are actually a few farms in Pinellas Park by St. Pete and at least one right in South Tampa by the base. However, as others have said your best bet is either north, south, or east of real Tampa. There are bunch in the Brandon/Plant City area (east), another bunch down south near Riverview, and a third set up near Lutz and Zephyrhills.
Personally I found a bunch of useful information by going over various horse show association sites. Lots of them have listings of barns and such. So even if you aren’t interested in showing I suggest checking out these links. digs through bookmarks
http://www.floridahorse.com/ is a great general resource
http://www.cfhja.com/
http://www.foxleafarm.com/ (hosts shows)
http://www.horseshowsinthepark.com/
http://www.naomishorseshows.com/
http://www.bobthomasequestriancenter.com/ this is the riding center at the FL state fairgrounds in Tampa. They host everything from the fair, to breed shows, to schooling, to driving, to draft, to mules, everything!
Personally I’m not riding right now so I don’t know a ton of people or barns to rec but as you can see I’ve started doing the research! No need for you to reinvent the wheel. 
Oh and private boarding or small places (along with the biggies) often show up on the tampa bay craigslist!
$350 in FL will get you fairly respectable turnout board. If you can get a stall for that, the barn likely feeds coastal hay. Hay is wickedly expensive here compared to Michigan and coastal is a cheaper option. Some horses can manage all of their lives on coastal but it’s not really the best choice for forage. Without supplemental feed, many horses fed straight coastal get a saggy, wasted topline appearance. (and there’s the whole colic debate…not going there)
One thing to get used to for those moving from up north is that due to the price of hay you will find most facilities ration hay fiercely. And don’t think you’ll sneak into the feed room and throw your horse an extra flake. Many stables employ cameras and padlocks for hay storage areas. It’s like green gold.
I live in Tampa Bay and to be honest, I think you would need to be in more of the 400-475 range for a good full board private barn or facility.
There is a Facebook group called “Horse and Livestock Flea Market (Tampa Bay)” a lot of people post on there about their private farms and stalls that they have available. You will probably have the best luck looking there for board more in your price range!
Good luck!
