Colorado horse people chime in :)

[hoofs2118]

Hi BoBuddy!

Colorado is amazing- and here are my two cents. Basically I moved back from the front range (lived in Littleton and Parker) about 2 years ago, to the midwest (kentucky is kinda in the midwest right? ). Colorado is an amazing place to own horses. I loved the trail riding there. There is one thing though- if you need to live near Denver, or within a 20-30 minute commute to Denver, prices for homes where you could have a horse are not cheap and GOOD (as in your horses ribs won’t be poking out in winter, and they feed supplements) will start around $300-350 a horse. Its not cheap- but then, its totally worth it. Trust me. I was a horse boarding crazy person, tried to find different places for months on craigslist, new horse, i worked at a tack store so word of mouth and recommendations… and it still was cheap to find good boarding around $300 bucks (pasture board with 2-3 hay feedings a day).

Now why did I move back? Because it was just too expensive. I loved Denver, but we always had our head just above water financially… and the horses were not cared for in the way I wanted them cared for. And they were hardy trail ponies.

Good Luck to you! I can recommend some good boarding situations in Parker and Littleton if you need help.

PPS- Navicular is more present in Colorado (this is what my vet told me at least) because of the hard ground, and because the elevation and what that does to the oxygen in their blood. I tried out 2 horses in Colorado that failed vet checks because of Navicular. It doesn’t happen to EVERY horse or anything, I think it is just more common.

[Essie]

Countrygal or anyone else for that matter who wants to see a trailer similar to a Hawk; I have the first cousin, Equispirit.

Waving to the Black Forest and CO peeps!

[Essie]

I forgot to add that Parker is too developed and too close to Denver. It used to be a very nice country town. Franktown is still countryish as is Elizabeth. There are also some nice barns in the last 2 towns.

[CosMonster]

[QUOTE=hoofs2118;6002711]

PPS- Navicular is more present in Colorado (this is what my vet told me at least) because of the hard ground, and because the elevation and what that does to the oxygen in their blood. I tried out 2 horses in Colorado that failed vet checks because of Navicular. It doesn’t happen to EVERY horse or anything, I think it is just more common.[/QUOTE]

FWIW, I did my farrier apprenticeship there and worked full-time as a shoer there for a couple of years and I never heard nor experienced this. Now I live in NM where the ground is arguably much harder (still in the Rockies, plus we’re lucky to get 7 inches of precip a year, and are at a lower elevation than I was in CO) and I find the prevalence of navicular to be about the same, just from an anecdotal perspective.

I’ve also heard stories of whole barns being on isoxsuprine and such, but I managed a barn with around 60 horses (both boarded and farm-bred) for 3 years and we had one whole horse on it, and only two diagnosed with navicular. I was close to a few other pros who also did not have much problem with navicular in their barns. Most of these horses spent their entire lives in CO. So I really don’t think that’s true, or at least not particularly significant. I’ll readily admit I’m wrong if I see a study on it, though.

The quality of your farrier work, your workout routine (as in, not doing more than your horse can handle) and your horse’s genetics are much bigger factors in the development of navicular than whether the ground is hard or what elevation you are at. Otherwise, horses throughout much of the western US would be totally screwed.

[Simkie]

@Bobuddy;6002304

Dang it - that is not what I wanted to hear -

Any special reason to the navicular syndrome?

Shrug. Just one of those things. Hard ground, elevation, crappy farriers.

[Bluey]

[QUOTE=Simkie;6003258]
Shrug. Just one of those things. Hard ground, elevation, crappy farriers.[/QUOTE]

Breeding in some lines predisposes some horses to all kinds of navicular changes.
Those lines happen to be from a very prominent few CO/NM breeders.
Horses from those lines, if they were showing the specific conformation that may cause navicular problems, did get them while being born and raised in other far off areas.

We need to take that into consideration also.

[countrygal]

[QUOTE=twelvegates;6002585]
If you ever want to see a Hawk, just PM me. I’m not far from the center of “old” Black Forest. But if you actually want to BUY one, I suggest you contact Larkspur, as she got a better deal than I :mad:.[/QUOTE]

I REALLY appreciate the offer and will definitely hit you up!! Thank you

[countrygal]

[QUOTE=Essie;6002757]
Countrygal or anyone else for that matter who wants to see a trailer similar to a Hawk; I have the first cousin, Equispirit.

Waving to the Black Forest and CO peeps![/QUOTE]

Fabulous! I’d love to see it… appreciate the offer very much! And never hurts to meet some other horse-y folks in the area

[allikat819]

I miss Colorado ALL THE TIME. My family is in Kiowa and I went to high school in the Elizabeth area. I haven’t really looked at the real estate market, but I think the land is cheaper towards Kiowa, but it’s a bit far for a commute to Denver (you’re looking at an hour). I feel like the Colorado winters are HUGELY better than those here in NE, mostly because of the humidity. 20 degrees in Colorado is WAY more comfortable than 20 degrees here in Lincoln! And the sun actually comes out in winter in CO. I miss that so much. It’ll snow and then GO AWAY and you can get back to your regularly scheduled activities. If I could find a job, I’d head back in a heartbeat.

[Coyoteco]

OP asked if there is a minimum number of acres to be eligible for an agricultural zoning. Not that I know of. There are requirments that simply having personal horses may not meet. Check with the county where the land is located.
Someone said that one cannot get a well on less than 35 acres. That was not true last year. I don’t know if the law has changed.

[LarkspurCO]

Last I heard, navicular syndrome is not contagious. But it is not so easy to keep some horses barefoot here, depending on how much you ride and where. Hard, abrasive ground…

We do have some great farriers, though I hear it’s slim pickings up north.

Countrygal, you can buy my Hawk trailer when I’m dead.:dead:

[BasqueMom]

From what I understand, there are categories of wells in Colorado such as Household (no livestock), domestic (livestock, I think). Check with the Colorado Division of Water Resources. Make sure your realtor is up to speed
on well permits.

What we were told in 1995 was 35 acres or more for domestic wells. Elbert County
went a step farther and made it sixty acres. Smaller lots which had domestic
permits were grandfathered in. Folks who owned smaller vacant lots were scrambling
to get their permits before the deadline.

Found a bunch of links but unable to open any of them…our internet has
been less than stellar for a couple of weeks. Switching providers this week.

I think domestic wells have to be far deeper than a household well.

[rosijet]

@BasqueMom;6005430

From what I understand, there are categories of wells in Colorado such as Household (no livestock), domestic (livestock, I think). Check with the Colorado Division of Water Resources. Make sure your realtor is up to speed
on well permits.

This is basically correct. There are also irrigation wells, which are tough to find. Basically, get a copy of the well permit before getting too far into the buying process. I have seen domestic wells with livestock watering restrictions.

Wells are governed by the state, not the county or city. While it is tough to get a domestic well for smaller acreages, it’s still possible. The well depth is determined by which aquifer is under that piece of land. My domestic well is 350 feet and my friend in Larkspur near Black Forest is at about 150’.

As most people have already told you, hay is unusually high this year. I paid around $200 a ton for good timothy/orchard last year. Now it’s closer to $300/ton if you can find it.

My 3 have limited grazing on my 3 acre pasture. They have a 1 acre sacrifice paddock. I live just east of Denver which is more prairie than the Parker/Castle Rock area.

I moved here from PA in 1987 and love it! I don’t miss the humidity, ice storms and bugs from the east coast. I do miss the great grazing and softer ground though.

[BasqueMom]

We were in Elizabeth and our well was about 600 feet. Had to have the pump replaced which is how we found out how deep it was. It was great tasting water, btw.

[Plumcreek]

@twelvegates;6002320

And if you are really well-heeled, here’s one in Sedalia for a mere $9M with no water rights:
http://www.coloradohomefinder.com/listing/1024449-7007-daniels-park-rd-sedalia-co-80135/

That place is near me, and is truly one of the most beautiful horse farms ever with nice grass, pine trees backed by red cliffs… They did not show the very nice large indoor and barn, plus all the lush turnouts.

[Ride4Life]

Hi Colorado Peeps!

I boarded for about 10 years in Littleton before we finally bought our horse property last March. (Happy dance!) Board price when I left was $340 for a run pen with shelter. $425 I think for an indoor stall.

We searched for a long time before finding our place. We settled on a 5 acre property in the Indian Creek Ranch development just south of Sedalia.

So far I’m really happy with it except we only have a 3 sided shelter which I eventually want to change into a 3 stall shed row style barn. Our neighborhood has a community well & water storage with really cheap rates, and we are on city gas, but no sewer. We have miles of riding trails throughout the neighborhood along the creeks and a community outdoor riding arena. We are right next to Roxborough park, so I can literally ride from my house to Roxborough, through Swallowtail into Indian Creek wilderness and on to the Colorado trail from there. And it takes me 25 minutes to commute to work in the tech center. It’s awesome! The neighbors are all friendly and most of the horse people are trail riders and seem to be big Parelli fans. (shrug)

I’m lucky enough to know a hay guy in nebraska so I buy hay by the semi load and get 1,000 lb large square bales for $150 a ton plus shipping of $800 per semi. So about $183 a ton total. It’s pretty nice native meadow grass/brome mix. I borrow a tractor for the unloading/stacking. It’s a pain to feed & handle the large squares but it’s not that bad compared to what I’m saving since I switched. Prior to the large bales and also before the Texas hay crisis I was paying $7.50 for 55 lb bales of beautiful brome from Boulder, delivered and stacked. Like everyone else is saying I’ve been hearing about hay from $9/bale to $15 now.

There’s a couple of houses for sale in my neighborhood if you’re interested! Good luck if you decide to move, you’ll love it.

[Ride4Life]

Oh, and my vet (I use Littleton Large) told me that she thinks there are more gas colics in Colorado due to the elevation and barometric/temperature swings. FWIW.

[BasqueMom]

Ride4Life,

Know where you are…cool area. We bought a place in the development on
the other side of the highway. Can’t remember the name of the development
but it was buy Cathedral Rock. Fell through at the last minute due to a problem with the survey.

And yes to the gas colics. My horse had been in Chicago with nary a colic
and then turned into the colic king with weather changes. Switching to a pelleted feed and no alfalfa reduced the number of colics. Moved here,
only one colic in 5 years instead of 5 a year.

[BasqueMom]

However, the horses we bought there (two bred in Ky) never had a problem.

[Bobuddy]

Okay, so interested in Sedalia too. Went and looked at some of the pictures of the properties and there are some nice ones and in my price range too.

I have a pretty unique property in KY - 12 acres surrounded by the larger horse farms so I dont see anyone when I come home from work (which is the way I like it). So, if I can find a similar type of property I would consider making the move. There is nowhere to ride here - so the thought of trails nearby are wonderful.

Much to consider!