The time has finally come for us to leave Illinois! We are taking a trip down to Cookeville at the end of the month and I know there’s some folks here who are familiar with the area. My husband retired on a pension last year, so we will not need schools or jobs. But we would like some private acres for our herd of 5 and the goat. A non-horsey friend bought property in Granville and just raves about the area, but we have specific needs with the horses. Great vet, great farrier, great hay is necessary. I find the hardest part of leaving here is my horse network I’ve built over the last 30 years. My internet research doesn’t come up with a ton of horse services for the area, but I prefer word of mouth anyway. Are there any local Facebook groups I could join, I find that to be particularly useful to gauge the friendliness, crime, culture of an area. And does anyone in the area know of a Realtor who is experienced with rural property? We would like to get out eyes on the market, and will be listing our farm here as soon as we have it ready to show and the timing is right. Thanks, y’all. 
I live about 35 miles from Cookeville and in the same county as Granville. We have been here for about four years. There are not a ton of horse amenities in the area, but if you look hard enough you can find them.
Tennessee Equine is a large veterinary hospital in Thompson Station and they do travel as far as Cookeville, as well as take haul-ins. The University of Tennessee is two hours to the east in Knoxville, and they take haul-ins as well. I have a local vet, who is a one man practice, but he will refer me to Tennessee Equine if he feels it is beyond his scope.
https://www.tnequinehospital.com/
I use a barefoot trimmer and boot when necessary. I have a trimmer who does excellent work and treats my horses well. I have not shoed any of our horses in the last 15 years, so I can’t make a farrier recommendation.
Good quality have if difficult to find and can be a neverending quest. I tried 3-4 different suppliers, who were expensive and the quality was disappointing at best. I now have a neighbor, who has adopted me and specifically makes small bales just for me. I don’t use much as I really only feed hay December through the end of February, and I have tons of pasture. Much of the hay in this area is made for beef cattle, so farmers are not as fussy about it as cattle don’t need the same quality as horses.
I do drive 65 miles each direction just to get Triple Crown feed. I typically buy a 3 month supply, so I really don’t do it that frequently. I call the dealer I buy from anout 7-10 days ahead of time and they order and hold feed for me.
I am just off the Plateau and weather-wise we are a couple weeks ahead of weather on the Plateau. I was on the Plateau up around the Jamestown area last week, and you can see a noticeable difference in the amount of green, leaves, things starting to sprout and flower, etc. We also do not get as much snow as they do on the Plateau.
I can make a recommendation for a realtor and provide you with some with some other tips as well. Feel free to PM me!
Thanks Cutter for the good tips. I feed Triple Crown Senior to my old lady and I can pick it up 4 miles away at the feed store in town, so things like that will take some getting used to. I wonder how difficult it would be to find a local farmer to adopt us as well to get good horse hay, I’m glad to see you were successful. Up here we feed a grass alfalfa mix, but ours surely don’t need the alfalfa. What types of grasses are in the hay down there?
Sent you a PM!
I am about 2 or so hours SW of Cookeville in Bedford County. One pretty much has to trailer to get to great trails but the trade off is that I have fast access to one of the best equine facilities in the area. There are also several small animal facilities plus an an-animal facility where the vets take care of all large animals.
the “Tennessee Equine Hospital” “cutter99” referenced is about an hour NW of me ---- thankfully I have never had to use them but I have heard great things about them.
there is a Co-op, TSC, and a family owned feed store in my county. I think The family owned store has recently started carrying Triple Crown. I have also been buying the best horse hay in the county from them for several years. It is 99% weed free and always tests in the 8% range for NSC value — important because I have an IR horse.
I do know of a real estate agent who has shown and trail ridden all his life. A few years back he sold his Walking Horses for gaited mules and rides them everywhere from Bucksnort to Alabama to the Smokies.
in my county you can live somewhere back on a “Deliverance” type road and still only be 20-25 minutes from town and the local hospital which does have a helicopter pad that is tied to Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville. I know this because one year I stood helplessly in the hospital parking lot, watching the Vanderbilt helicopter life-flight my husband to Vandy with a big heart attack. He is fine now.
about the only way you would have riding in my county (except for the Normandy Lake trails), would be to live on a back road with no traffic that connected to other back roads with no traffic, and/or buy a lot of acreage.
^^^^This is not what you were asking for but it is another option if living close to Big South Fork is not a must-have for you:)
walkinthewalk, that’s great to know about the hay, I have to test mine too for our IR/Cushing pony. Good to know I won’t have to drive back to IL for low NSC hay, lol. We trailer out to camp with our LQ trailer now, so I don’t need to live in Jamestown to enjoy it. That’s why we aren’t focusing our search there. My hubby had a heart attack too, and is also fine now. So I figured living close to a good hospital is probably more important than close to trails. But it would be nice to find a place that has trails near enough for day rides, or even just a quiet road to ride down would be a huge change from where we are now.
I am about ten miles from the Normandy Lake trails but that’s a place that one has to park the rig right on the edge of the road.
I’m about 30-40 minutes from the Circle E Guest Ranch up in Belvidere. The TV show “America By Horseback” has filmed there.
http://www.circleeguestranch.com/contact.html
I’m about a two hour haul to Long C up in Westmoreland, TN. I love this place, never overnighted though. http://www.longctrails.com
I’m not sure if Walter Hill on the NE edge of Murfreesboro is still open but that was a decent day ride — full of pine & cedar so also full of ticks, lol
there were some beautiful trails on state gamelands, outside of Columbia, that were a nice day ride but I’m not sure if they are open anymore.
Bolo is a place I always wanted to try but never got there. I think they are about 35 miles from me toward Chattanooga. They also have hunting packages if you folks hunt.
http://theboloclub.com/location-and-directions/
You wouldn’t be lacking for places to haul to, there’s a shortage of local riding, lol.
There re are still nice places for sale in my county which is an Ag county, but according to my tax assessor, our real estate has recovered 100% from the 2008 crash. The more remote yet within decent hospital driving distance, the cheaper.
if you’re interested in looking down here, PM me. I can give you the horse savvy RE agent’s name and tell you which area gets in the police blotter all the time:)
The horse & cattle farm next to me was for sale but it’s off the market. He has 48 acres, a nice custom ranch, a huge workshop, and custom barn that I would like. All of it built since 2004. He was asking 350K and wouldn’t budge, so that’s likely why it didn’t sell, plus his driveway is about one mile long — it is not convenient for anyone who wanted to have a business there. He is now 78 and they had wanted to downsize but he still has more energy than most 20 year olds, lol
I used Tennessee Equine Hospital for years when my horses were in Williamson County and loved them. Some of my close friends still work there. But… they would not travel to my farm in Sumner County (about an hour northwest of Cookeville and slightly closer to their office) for emergency or short notice vet calls, which is the #1 reason I want a relationship with a vet. I imagine the situation would be similar in Cookeville.
After about 8 or 9 years of wasting my time with local hay suppliers, I got smart and started shipping in western hay. To the tune of $16/bale… but it was worth every penny to me. My experiences with local hay were inconsistent at best and nightmareish at worst. Like Cutter said, if you have good pasture, you can get by only feeding hay 2 or 3 months a year, even on the plateau.
I would not recommend Co-Op feeds; I have never seen a horse thrive on their formulas. It can be a handy store otherwise, albeit frustrating at times. Some have a really good equine departments, others have just the bare bones. I don’t know what feed stores are in Cookeville specifically, but most people in TN who are serious about nutrition and aren’t blessed to live near one of the few quality suppliers end up driving considerably. (Bonnie’s Barnyard draws folks from near and far!)
The area has some of the best trail riding in the country. The plateau gets a bit more winter than where I lived, but still some of the best climate for horses period.
I live in Crossville on the Plateau. We get a little more winter than off the Plateau but the summers make up for it! I am 45 minutes from the Turkey Creek area of Knoxville which is where I drive to buy grain. I am reasonably happy with the farrier I use, and I think he travels to Cookeville. TN Equine is fabulous, and UT is also a good resource. You would be welcome to visit when you are in town
I lived on the Plateau. Direct access to BSF. Moved back to OH for the reasons you listed. I also have IR/Cushings horses and was disappointed when the vet had no idea on running ACTH tests. In Jamestown your only option for emergencies with horses was UT. For humans, Knoxville or Cookeville.
The Co-Op in Roane County (Midtown/Harriman) carries Triple Crown feeds in case you feed that brand and don’t want to go to AgriFeed in Farragut. I’m pretty sure they are less expensive also.
My DD went to undergrad at TN Tech in Cookeville. After her experience with the hospital there, it would be my last choice for medical care.
Thanks, I don’t feed Triple Crown. I am so close to 40 that I can get to Farragut in about 45 minutes, and usually run other errands while I am there
I have fortunately not really had to deal with human hospitals much here, but imagine if I had an option I would go to Knoxville!
Are you set on Cookeville? If I were moving back to TN, I would move within striking distance of Knoxville. Cookeville is far from everything. I went to college there (years ago) and, well, let’s just say it isn’t anywhere I would be interested in living. You will have a much greater selection of vet, farrier, feed, etc near Knoxville. And a much larger and more diverse horse community.
No, not set on it. We plan to check out the Knoxville area on our second trip in June. It seems the land prices are higher that way. Really, we thought Cookeville is a good halfway point between Nashville and Knoxville, affordability wise. It’s disappointing to hear of the lack of good quality hay, with all that grass in TN it surprises me. The last thing I want to do is spend my summers making my own hay for the rest of my life!
Is there any hunts in the area? Either recognized or unrecognize, hubby and I would like to join a hunt wherever we land.
Before I moved to Nashville from PA in 2006, I almost moved to Cookeville for the same reasons you cited. I’m really glad I didn’t. It’s a nice enough town, (believe me, I am not trashing it) but it’s a lot more isolated than it would appear being the halfway point between Nashville & Knoxville. It’s affordable for a reason; there’s just not a lot of opportunity. It’s wonderful if you want a southern, small town lifestyle with little to no dependence on civilization. Not so wonderful if you want/need “stuff.”
Is there any hunts in the area? Either recognized or unrecognize, hubby and I would like to join a hunt wherever we land.
:lol: No. There are no hunts in Cookeville.
However, Tennessee Valley Hunt is east of Knoxville and Hillsboro Hounds hunts south of Nashville. They are both extremely welcoming.
I understand thinking that Cookeville would be a good halfway point, but I would prefer being closer to either Knoxville or Nashville than Cookeville is.
I will say I have sufficient grass on my farm that I can stockpile grass and graze all winter. Only needing hay when stalled, and my grass probably grows 9-10 months out of the year. So I don’t need much hay.
Thanks for the insight! Since you are in Crossville, do you feel like you are the perfect distance to Knox? Or do you wish you were closer?
I can only imaging the freedom of not having to buy hay to feed all year around. It sounds like heaven, frankly. My life revolves around hay season; if I will have enough, where I will store it, finding the muscle to stack it, testing the NSC. I’m so ready for a change!
I am probably biased but I really like Crossville and being on the Plateau. I don’t love super hot summers and it is noticeably cooler up here (rarely get above 90). The only really downside for me is that we are 20 miles on the wrong side of the time zone line into Central Time which means it gets light earlier here and dark earlier here than I am used to. If you like mornings it wouldn’t be a problem LOL So being a little closer to Knoxville would be nice, but then I would lose the neat little micro climate we have here, and I don’t think that’s worth it!
I am only 1/2 mile off I40 so I can be in the Farragut area in less than an hour which is really nice. I have lived in bigger cities before (Houston, Charlotte) and I prefer more rural like we are.
We are in The Valley east of Crossville. I can graze my horses usually into January before I have to feed hay. We had DEEP cold this year in early Dec. and I was astounded in that my stock that was turned out on a pasture that didn’t look it could support a jackrabbit kept three mares and a gelding apple slick! I have no idea what they were eating but they didn’t loose an ounce. When I put out a round bale they sniffed, ignored it for several days, and then only picked on it. Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot??? Why do I bust my butt to provide hay and they ignore it even if the temp is in single digits?!?!
To ensure water availability in that period of ultra-deep cold I moved them into a different pasture, put out hay, and there they ate it. Why was that? I asked 'em but the sorry snides just look at me like they didn’t understand the question!!!
Our “go to” source for hay is not longer in business (AFAIK) but decent hay is available if you’re willing to pay for it.
Hay, in most cases in the Valley (and I think in surrounding areas as well) is either a byproduct of planting cover crops to control erosion or the harvesting of whatever grows on fallow fields. It’s not uncommon to buy baled weeds if you don’t know what you’re looking at. Since land is relatively cheap here it would make sense to buy a bit more and set up a decent rotation so your actual hay needs can be modest.
But, like everything else, there is risk in this, too. Our fall season is relatively dry (we normally get about 50"/yr. in rainfall, with most of it falling from Nov. to Jun.). Two years ago it stopped raining in about Jul. and didn’t start again until well into Dec. It was also hot. That meant the fescue and other cool season grasses (the backbone of forage in this area) stopped growing. I was lucky that I had some round bales in dry storage from the previous year but many did not and the price of hay spiked badly.
The Valley is an alternative to the Plateau. We are a degree or two warmer in the summer but about the same in the winter. Our wind velocities are a bit lower. If you take a map and look at the roads you’ll see we are a series of ridges and valleys, Each valley can have it’s own “micro climate.” “Sidehill” building is very common in this area but that should not affect you. True flat “bottomland” will be more expensive that rolling property but will be cheap compared to about anywhere else in America where you can be within 30 min. of a large metro area. It’s 35 min. for me to UT Medical Center or Vet. Hospital and 20 min. (more or less) to Turkey Creek. There are also some nice areas to the east of Knoxville but if you want to be a reasonable distance from your people in Cookville you probably don’t want to do that. The airport is about 40 min. from the house.
For a long time the dominant riding styles here were Western, Saddle Seat, and English a far third. Over the past 20 years or so Western and Saddle Seat have declined greatly while English has only declined slightly. We were members of the TN Valley Hunt for a time 'till we got too old for that sort of thing!!! 
We are not far from the Big South Fork, the Smokies, or other nice areas to ride. A hidden gem is the Chicamaugua National Military Park outside Chattanooga. The trails are very well maintained and the Rangers keep the bikers, hikers, and horses reasonably separate.
If you need a really big city Atlanta is just over three hours down I-75.
All in all this is a crackerjack area for retirement, with or without horses.
G.
Circle K Riding Pavilion in Cookville…Magret Martin Jones
