I mentioned opportunities between Sacramento and Portland. Since I live in that “in between” area and you don’t, I have a better view of what is available.
There are five USDF qualifying shows held at DevonWood between March and October. Two more qualifying shows are held in the Eugene area in June and August. Lake Oswego has a qualifying show in August as well. That’s eight competitions. hardly a dearth of opportunities. I’m not sure why you think a 90 minute drive is so far when compared to California traffic.
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Having grown up in southern New England (RI/MA), I find the Vermont winters more tolerable than the ones in RI/MA. Here in Vermont’s Champlain Valley the winter temps are about 10F colder in winter on average than in RI/MA because that difference means “snow” versus freezing rain. I have horses at home so I have to do farm chores all winter. Summers mostly have highs in the 80s with a few stretches of temps into the 90s. For me, I like having 4 seasons and prefer dealing with a few months of winter to the kinds of heat & humidity in southern state summers. The weather in the Champlain Valley is milder (less snow, less cold) than up in the mountains.
Some people keep their horses home for spring-fall and arrange to board over the winter at a facility with an indoor. (Some such spots are available due to riders heading south to SC,NC, or FL for the winter)
Just some bonus info. 
Green Mountain Horse Association A wonderful multi-faceted equestrian resource
Central Vermont Dressage Association (USDF GMO)
New England Dressage Association (large USDF GMO in wider area)
Schooling show series in Chittendon/Addison counties and surrounding area
Local attractions/activities:
Mount Philo State Park (I can see the barn where I board/train from the peak!)
Vermont Cookie Love (tempting yummies right around the corner from the barn where I board/train)
Shelburne Farms has equestrian elements with a beautiful coach barn and the breeding barn There was a long running dressage exhibition associated with the opening of a concert series here. Sadly, the concert series ended a few years ago so the exhibition ended too.
Middlebury Snow Bowl (small local ski area)
nearby state park with lake access
Both Burlington and Middlebury are college towns so there are plentiful restaurants, museums, and various cultural activities. We have a pretty vibrant “localvore” community throughout the state.
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I lived in Northern CA (two hours north of the bay area) for 7 years. I have pretty good first hand knowledge of the area.
I don’t think anyone said that $2k was for board. $2k would cover all horse activities in the areas mentioned: the quote from the person who is across the street from Hilda was that much for board, training, farrier etc. And in the areas with many smaller private barns there are good deals to be had once you are there and know people. I have a friend who boards and rides in Moorpark with an FEI trainer and I know for a fact she is paying $350/mo in board at the private home next door + some help with chores and farm sitting and just rides over to her trainers place 1 minute away. In horse-y areas there is more opportunity to do things like that which is why sometimes I think it is hard to gage cost remotely. Also it is a bit scary to rely on one venue or two for showing opportunities as sometimes they close. Especially where land is worth a lot and there is stiff competition for the property. So I would urge you to be careful of that on the left coast. Colorado HP and the Horsepark in SD are two cautionary tales.
I still think that Virginia and the east coast makes more sense financially- unless you have to be in CA or just hate the humidity. You pay a real premium to live there and it’s a big state with long travel times outside a few areas.
I agree that Oregon is a great choice for the OP if they are outdoorsy. Western Washington is similar. We have the hiking, skiing, mountain climbing and anything nautical including fishing. But we also have a great dressage scene here with a few judges who live locally, several former USET members, too. All kinds of great dressage up here and $1k a month would be considered very expensive unless you had your horse in full training. If you want rural, southeast King County and most of Snohomish county are great choices. The rain is a myth, although we do have a large number of overcast days. Some people find that off putting, I’m a native(ish, long story) so am not bothered by it. All the big barns have covered or indoor arenas, so weather is never an issue.
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Not even close. I don’t know why you are arguing. I have lived here for 30+ years and am very involved in local dressage. I’m giving the OP an honest assessment of the dressage scene. You seem to want to be a know-it-all. Is there a reason for that?
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You may like the area around Grass Valley, north of Sacramento. I have a friend who moved there from Long Beach and is very happy. She goes to Sac for shows, but it’s not crazy far. There is also good training available in the central valley, but it’s a bit too hot and politically conservative for my tastes.
I totally hear you about thing being TOO remote. When we were checking out Ashland, I broke my ankle at literally the first house we looked at. We were there with the intention of buying, pre-approved loan in hand, the whole 9. After experiencing the health care at what I think was the “county” hospital, I was convinced to stay in LA county. Well, that and the fires.
Good luck, I’m sure you’ll find something wonderful.
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Yes, aside from the person who mentioned Hilda, another mentioned the same, while another mentioned 1k with nothing included, so I mentally calculated the rest, including extra for turnout as that was also mentioned . It was more of an off-handed comment though, basically just to make the point that I’m not rich, since people were speculating.
Massachusetts can be really expensive for board and training too, so it’s not too, too far off. Though I usually always do my own riding because I enjoy it, and also the expense. I have managed to keep my horses here by doing semi-rough board for many years, and utilizing backyard facilities, which often means no indoor. I’m open to boarding out for the winter if we relocated to a colder climate. I wouldn’t want to miss so many months of training.
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Thanks for the suggestion! Actually, that’s one of my main concerns with being too remote. If an emergency occured, every second counts, and I do have kids and my own health issues. We had a similar problem on our honeymoon. We were on an island, and I developed a bad kidney infection the second day. The only ER was worse than my GP in Massachusetts. It was eye-opening.
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I turned down a job in NE last year- after calculating everything I would have been losing a lot of money to move there although it was an interesting job. There were just very few options for riding year round as a serious rider and therefore it was much more costly. And the costs meant that having resale projects was a money loser instead of a way I earn money to show. Plus housing was surprisingly expensive- I didn’t understand the property tax situation until it was explained to me. People in my field move around a lot for work and it it always interesting to hear the real cost of living in a place from someone who is well travelled and unbiased vs what you get from researching online.
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A lot of northern CA is very fire prone and under strict water conservation policies. I cannot even wash my car. We’ve several fires going now (including one just northwest of Grass Valley). In some locations fire insurance is very expensive ($7K/yr) if attainable.
Some place like Petaluma (close to the Pacific, too) might work if you could manage with a 2/1 condo, about $500K.
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The cost of living is high, here. In theory, it would be smarter to move south. I grew up down south for many years, and we were in a very liberal and diverse area with a great horse scene. Heat and humidity do not bother me too much. Unfortunately, I am not comfortable socially or politically in the more rural areas, or really in general anymore.
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Have you considered the SE? SC (Aiken or Camden) has a lot of what you’re looking for. I’m also very outdoorsy and hike a lot. I also used to live in Colorado and loved it but haven’t moved back for the same reasons, minimal horse scene, drought/fire. We chose Aiken three years ago. Plenty of land, rural but not remote, shows constantly, good trainers, easy drive to beach and “mountains” for even better hiking. The norm is to have a house and your own barn, keep the horses at home with you. I’ve heard a lot of good things about Camden for dressage too but haven’t been there.
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Another Virginian here (Charlottesville): beautiful area, great University and diversity. Horse scene is very active: dressage, hunters, jumpers, eventers. Lots of places to hike especially since we are so close to the Blue Ridge and Shenandoah National Park.
Charlottesville is only an hour plus north of the Virginia Horse Center, which hosts either the Region 1 finals or the BLM Finals every year, plus a big July show (7-8 rings) and now a May CDI. If you want to hit Wellington in the winter, its just a 17 hour drive 
A lot of the dressage community keep their horses at home, and haul to local trainers and clinicians. But there are a variety of boarding barns that are dressage only.
There are also two fox hunts, three steeplechase races (one in the spring, and two in the fall) and polo.
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I have considered the area, but I have lived many years in the south, and without making this too political, I don’t jive with the culture. I know this will be a problem with many rural areas in general, but there’s a difference between a conservative pocket in a blue state, and a liberal pocket in a conservative state. I could be way off, and I’m open-minded to hearing such.
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SE PA has great resources, instructors, training and boarding available. However, the cost of housing in this area is crazy. There are many great schooling shows in the area, and of course, we have Dressage at Devon. The weather is cold during the winter, but there are also plentiful facilities with indoor arenas. Our weather is terrific the other three seasons, especially when compared with the MW and SW currently.
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I completely get this. I had a very similar experience, which is part of the reason I now live in MD (which isn’t on your list but is fab IMO).
I lived in central VA, but it was nearly 20 years ago. I really like VA. I would go back if life circumstances landed me there. The area from NoVA (pricey 
) down through Charlottesville is where you want to be for horses. The horse scene drops off sharply south of Charlottesville and also on the eastern side of the state.
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Weighing in to say two things:
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I’m old enough to remember Maine as Dressage Central. Before the days of routine Snowbirding with Horses, Lendon Gray, the Poulin family (still something of a dynasty), the late great Miss Margaret Gardener, Centered Riding legend “Sam” Morrison (still teaching in her 80s), et al, made finding Olympic-level training and clinics a breeze for anyone with a trailer. Those deep roots still hold and although land and homes have skyrocketed, it is still affordable.
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If you think you’ll find less political friction in the rural, or even semi-rural, PNW than anywhere in the country, you haven’t listened to Oregon Public Broadcasting’s podcast, Bundyville. The fight over public lands and water pervades the West, even if you live in a relatively green area. Western governance keeps power in the hands of huge landowners, leaseholders, and developers and feels opaque compared to New England’s relative transparency. Counties have inordinate power and are tough to parse unless you know the right people.
I’ve spent decades riding in Ventura County, California, and Lincoln County, Maine. I would characterize the Ventura/Santa Barbara County dressage scene as great if you have plenty of cash. (There are exceptions: I work off part of my horse’s board at a ranch w/ exemplary training, coaching, and care. It’s the only place I would happily keep a horse within 50 miles, though.) Keep in mind that Southern California’s history of redlining and sub-dura real estate discrimination means that though you may feel good about your state’s voting block, your neighborhood block could have plenty of friction. We don’t call the VC Ventucky for nothing.
I still own my little horse farm in Lincoln County, Maine, and rent it to support my daily riding habit, basically my second adolescence, here in California. Because the Maine horse scene still seems dependable and rich, though weather dependent, I have no plans to sell. I’ll likely return when the perfect storm of fire, water, & housing crises here in the SoCal mountains push me hard enough.
Best of luck.
Full disclosure: this week, if I had my druthers and a bit of cash, I’d head to New Brunswick or Quebec. 
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Thank you for your input! I’m actually happy to hear about other stats as suggestions outside of the ones I mentioned, because there is a lot I don’t know. I am not terribly familiar with Pennsylvania, aside from my car breaking down there along a mountain road many years ago. Are there certain areas that are more dressage-heavy?
