Equestrian Communities - Pros and Cons?

[fizzyfuzzybuzzy]

I am in the VERY early stages of planning our move south from New England to the NC/SC/GA area, likely to happen in late 2023 or 2024. In my property search, I saw some options in equestrian communities. I see some pros of being able to have access to facilities I wouldn’t be able to afford to buy or build for just my 3-4 horses, but at the same time I am currently very frustrated with boarding and trying to share with people who live in their own (somewhat ignorant) bubble.

So people who live in an equestrian community - would you do it again? Let’s talk about it!

[LCDR]

No, absolutely not. I am in a natinally marketed one in the area you are looking at. Ongoing conflicts about shared amenities and their use and funding and an HOA with a combative attitude. Imagine bring in the center of scores of hobby horse farms with just about everyone being a self-annointed expert on all things equestrian and who think things should be run their way. It is a nice looking well maintained place and if you just stay inside your own bubble and quiet it is OK. Then there is the big elephant- how will repaving of miles of community owned roads and resurfacing deteriorating arenas ever be funded? That now affordable annual fee may just balloon into the stratosphere.

I lived in the area for several decades and vets and farriers would relate stories about the place. I should have listened more closely to them. But their gossipy stories were just funny at the time.

[StormyDay]

I have lived in two. I think it really, really depends on the attitude of the community and the HOA. The first one was extremely toxic. It was also very small and a select few people had ‘taken over’ the whole neighborhood. They were bullies and actually banned a few people from the public areas just because they didn’t like them. One of the women who lived there (who I actually think had lived there the longest) told them to kick rocks and she refused to pay her fees anymore over it. It was pretty horrible.

The second one I lived in was huge, probably 50+ households. And it was lovely. The HOA was extremely chill and open to suggestions. They were always trying to improve the spaces for the members. And having three professionally groomed arenas, a full CC course, a lunging pad, and miles of trails was amazing.

[NoSuchPerson]

I’ve never lived in one, but did investigate four different ones (3 in Florida, one in NC) when I was thinking about moving.

It seemed to me that equestrian communities have a finite lifespan. Two of the four were repeatedly described as having been “great, a wonderful community,” during the first “generation,” but as the original property owners and HOA members moved out, the equestrian aspects began to fade away and maintenance of community facilities (trails, arenas) was reduced or became non-existent.

A third was so far down the curve that even the “official realtor” for the community, when I pressed for more details on the equestrian community aspect, just said, “Oh. Yeah. I guess there are some people who have horses.”

The 4th never really got to the point of a fully functional community and when I looked into it, the barn and covered arena were being leased by a trainer and community residents had no access to the facilities unless they boarded there and were part of the trainer’s program.

[Texarkana]

I live in one of sorts. The neighborhood was built with 25 horse properties, but no shared amenities and no HOA. Today, only about half the properties have horses on their land.

Pros are there are plenty of horse people around. That makes it easier to get services, etc.

Cons are very few of them are “my” type of horse people (I could probably say “our” type of people since most of us here on COTH have similar expectations). A lot of different standards of care. Flies and bots were horrible this past summer; I don’t know if it’s always this bad.

Sharing horse amenities would be too stressful for me. Have you met horse people? Or people in general?

[LCDR]

Mine has two dressage arenas “shared” among over 100 homes. They were built as selling points and photograph well in advertisements, but costs were cut on things like drainage so they are frequently closed to riding. I just built my own arenas to avoid the closures and the competition for open riding times. So check out how arena availability works.

And also check out who can actually ride. If you plan to use an exercise rider or a trainer to ride your horses you may sadly find that only homeowners themselves are allowed to ride in the common areas.

[fizzyfuzzybuzzy]

Yeah, this is my fear. With winter upon us here in New England, I’m having to share a smallish indoor arena with 25 horses and it’s been chaos… I was more thinking of the easier to get services, hay, etc. Plus I work from home so having anyone other than my husband to talk to might be nice… But that is a double edged sword I guess.

[ABookworm]

The first three you described are exactly what I experienced when I lived in FL!

I lived in one community with an HOA and never again. There was constant arguments about horses being on trails, roads, or the open riding field and it was a never ending battle. The arena was poorly maintained due to conflict over what footing should be used and how to properly care for it. The majority of people did not have horses and were actually annoyed by the presence of horses, despite the neighborhood being marketed as built for equestrians. It was a nightmare that I was glad to leave.

My current property is in a location known for being horse friendly, has an extensive trail system, and a public arena. The big difference is that everything is maintained by a paid membership club connected to the town or the local park district which keeps everything well maintained without the conflict of an HOA that can get finicky or biased against equestrians.

I would never live in a location where I had to share an arena that is maintained by residents again. The arena was constantly covered in weeds, full of divots, or just lacking any proper footing. Having my own arena means that I have full control over keeping the footing to my standards and I have full access that isn’t impacted by someone else using it for lessons, turnout or lunging. It’s more expensive having it to myself but I am so much happier. The community arena here has enough space where it’s never an issue and has an attendant on staff that keeps things running smoothly.

[fizzyfuzzybuzzy]

@ABookworm

My current property is in a location known for being horse friendly, has an extensive trail system, and a public arena. The big difference is that everything is maintained by a paid membership club connected to the town or the local park district which keeps everything well maintained without the conflict of an HOA that can get finicky or biased against equestrians.

I think this is what I am going to look for. My dream is that my hubby finds work in/near Aiken/Columbia, SC or is fully remote and we can really cast a wide net. The only draw back for there is that there isn’t a major airport super close. Maybe Tryon area? Close enough to Charlotte to make that our travel hub…

[LCDR]

Once you have traveled out of the Augusta, GA airport, you will never by choice ever make the drive to fly out of Columbia if you choose to live in Aiken. You may not be able to fly directly to that many places without a connecting flight in Atlanta or Charlotte, but the easy access, walk to the terminal in 5 minutes from long term parking, affordability of parking , very short line waits, friendly TSA folks, and easy, quick boarding are worth every extra cent.

[NoSuchPerson]

That’s exactly how I feel about the Chattanooga, TN airport. It’s about the same distance for me to go directly to the Atlanta airport but I usually choose to fly Chattanooga-Atlanta-final destination even if more expensive than flying directly out of Atlanta.

[JanM]

See if Groome ground transport company has trips from Hartsfield/Atlanta to Chattanooga. A friend who visited in Columbus, GA would take the Groome to the Atlanta airport, and then the Chattanooga trip. She said it was faster and easier than flying, and much cheaper, plus better connections. I thought that was creative of her.

They still go Chattanooga to ATL, and back. https://groometransportation.com/?&sd_client_id=44732bc9-42ef-4408-b972-9a656598977d

[ElementFarm]

The first one I lived in wasn’t great. Some bad history between some of the residents caused tension and drama for everyone There were weird rules about who could move jumps in the arena, and who was allowed to use common facilities. Very strict rules about what kind of fencing you could use or what your farm sign could look like – but the rules didn’t apply to half the residents because they were ‘grandfathered’.

Second place wasn’t an equestrian community. No HOA, but we did have covenants about what we could do on our property (e.g. no cows or pigs, no public facing business, no cars on blocks, etc). That worked out great. We paid a fee every year towards road maintenance. However, no communal facilities, so if you wanted an arena, you had to build it.

Current place is more like the second. Covenants are stricter but none of the residents pay attention to them anyway. No road maintenance fees since we’re on a public road. No communal facilites, but we all back up to some of the best hacking-out country on the east coast. Those of us with tractors do our bit to keep the trails near us groomed and tidy.

Place next door. True equestrian community with some truly lovely farms. We have friends in it who are frustrated though. High HOA fees and lots of rules about what the house and barn can look like, how many horses/acre are allowed, etc. And no communal ring, though there is a trail network that connects to the WMF trails that we’re on.

BL is it really depends on the HOA rules and members.

[Miss_Motivation]

I live in a gated equestrian community out west and it is generally OK. This community is 50+ years old, and has been through every kind of management/mismanagement possible, I think! At this point, it is fine if you want fun horses and good trails and responsive management, but it’s not a show horse community per se.

Some residents do have extensive facilities on their own property suitable for competition horses, some folks keep pleasure horses in simple home facilities, and some board at the 40+ acre community equestrian center.

What I like here is having a nice equestrian center with all I need around the corner at a very reasonable price. what I don’t like is what you always have with equestrians: two horse people/three opinions! But that has nothing to do with the HOA and structure.

Our community was built, first and foremost, as an equestrian community, and there are still somewhere around 800 horses in the 25,000 acre development. Lots of the horses are, like their owners, semi-retired, but that doesn’t mean that their owners are any less passionate and committed to keeping horses an important part of their community.

In addition to an HOA there is an equestrian advisory group that has representatives from all the different clubs active here (dressage, pony club, driving, new horse owners, cattle events, etc.) so a good cross-section of horse folks meet regularly to discuss concerns and opportunities for the horse people here.

The biggest issues here are above the equestrian segment: this community, at 50+ years old, has significant infrastructure needs that are not being well-met because the original support fee structure is not working any longer, and the majority of homeowners here are used to their small fees and, in my opinion as a newbie, not realistic about what it takes to support the amenities of this growing/changing/aging community.

As well, like many communities of this sort there has been some amateurish-to-deceptive-even-shady decisions made by past management and volunteer boards that saddle the community with both bad results (substandard paving, for example) and bad feelings between different factions of homeowners. These situations are not unique to horse communities: it makes a huge different how CC&R’s or other rules are structured to support a new as well as mature community.

There are lots of things I like here: gated/safe, reasonable location for me, vibrant horse community made it easy for me to make friends quickly, services for farriers, vets, etc are decent because there is good demand, dedicated homeowners who will not let trails be taken over by things with motors or fat tires… and costs are very, very reasonable to live here. In fact, too reasonable, and that’s the problem with supporting the aging infrastructure.

The perfect equestrian community probably doesn’t exist but it’s a great concept and I’m glad people keep trying it to keep folks enjoying their horses.

[LCDR]

To address infrastructure maintenance and to fill the coffers our equestrian community HOA has proposed a multi-thousand dollar fee for all new buyers, sort of like an initiation fee to join a country club.

I am not sure what to make of this plan, but there are many buyers who purchase here sight unseen and have deep pockets, so hopefully the buyer’s fee will not prove to be a deterrent to sales.

[clanter]

@Miss_Motivation

Our community was built, first and foremost, as an equestrian community, and there are still somewhere around 800 horses in the 25,000 acre development.

we live in an incorporated city that was developed in the early 1950s with an intent to be horse friendly, which it is still to this day. The horse pollution is currently denser than yours but few people even know there are horses here.

The animal control ordnance was recently rewritten to address some issues that were becoming a problem with some residents, however generally the new ordnance is more liberal than the prior poorly worded ordnance. There were about fifteen animal owners on the commission developing the revised ordnance mostly to clarify and correct faults in the prior ordnance.

Nothing was added to restrict or prohibit current uses, however the clarifications did insure continued uses.

Since then there have been several homes sold, one primary point made in those listings has been No HOA Fees for a livestock friendly home. The “city” of 8,000 is surrounded by over two million people who have little idea there is this piece of rural life in their midst.

[Miss_Motivation]

How great, Clanter, that your equestrian community is protected and thriving! That sadly does not seem to be the norm.

Before I moved here I lived in a little horsey enclave in the midst of a growing commuter city. I worked for over a decade to codify the current horsekeeping which includes several very high-density commercial stables.

We managed to get our generally-supportive city to create an equestrian overlay zone (20 horses/acre!) to grandfather in the horses… but I think they’ll be gone anyways in a decade. With land at $500,000 per half-acre building lot, it can’t long survive.

Boarders holler about board increases but don’t see past the end of their nose sometimes about why they are an endangered species.

[clanter]

@Miss_Motivation

With land at $500,000 per half-acre building lot,

we are near that, but there is a clause in the deeds for the tack of land that we are on that prohibits subdivision of a lot …that clause was made known when a developer bought two adjoining lots for a total of seven acres then proposed a 56 unit townhouse project … after they spent the money to have the site plan drawn and the plan passed through the city it became apparent to that the project would never get the 60% approval of the one hundred property owners who had to waive the deed restriction … much to the dismay of the city who was in their minds spending the tax revenue from a $16 to $20 million dollar tax base increase.

So people are buying the old houses then remodeling with a bulldozer

[MapleBreeze]

It can be really catty. I just wouldnt want to do it. Even when i am teaching a lesson at 2 of the communities nearby there is always some dang drama over who reserved the arena that day in a special text message blah blah … and i just smile and say ya’ll all pay the same hoa dues and warm up in rings together at shows right? Even when i teach a private lesson people i dont even know will show up in their golf cart and watch. Just like a soap opera.

You will never have a private ride on your horse again. Be ready to show boat your horse every ride. Good luck having an awkward ride on a young horse.

[mvp]

OP, you can PM me for details about the various communities around Aiken. I have land in one and know about some others.

My general points:

Read the Covenants. If you don’t like 'em don’t buy in. But first, you have to actually Read Them. Folks don’t.

Buy into a place that has lots of people in your demographic group and tax bracket. I kinda didn’t and that might be one source of my not digging my neighbors so very much… or vice versa. I am not married and I don’t drink, and I’m a tad younger than these folks, so I have limited utility to most of them.

By the same token: Never buy into a place that has a community barn; it doesn’t end well for the same reason that you don’t like boarding now. But know that with your own farm, you don’t have to agree with your neighbors on matters of horse care.

The real selling point of these communities for me has been the rings that are better than I would have built and better than I would have maintained for a relatively small annual HOA fee. Maintained, safe trails off of my property is another huge plus.

I don’t love gated communities for political/ethical reasons, but I really appreciate that the value of my property (the most I will ever spend on housing in my life) is kept pretty safe. I think that, looking down the barrel of a big financial bet, I sissy-ed out and bought somewhere that would be economically safe.

If you have not lived in the South before, you need to learn about and consider its culture and policies about the haves- and have-nots. This will matter most for people considering where to live in terms of things like whether or not your neighbors will have controlled dogs, or access to high-speed internet. Both are not guaranteed if you just buy your own piece of land. Again, Due Diligence will help you, but if you don’t know the questions to ask or don’t spend time here first, your research might not take you far enough.

The place where I have land is still controlled by the developer. The wheels will start to fall off a little bit when he has sold 95% of the lots and is obligated to turn control of the HOA over to the residence. God help us then. But I do think that communities live through this “growing pains” stage and can come out the other side OK. The less “stuff” the HOA has to maintain, the better it fares, it seems. There are some older, chiller communities that seem to tick along OK.

I would also be wary of buying in a community that wasn’t explicitly, 100% devoted to horsing. The non-horsers will not want what riders do and, perhaps understandably, not want to pay for what we think is important.

All-in-all, I’m happy with my choice because I am very focused on what I’m doing with my horses and I can let the rest more or less roll off my back. And, again, the amenities that are better and cheaper than I could have done for myself on my own piece of land are a major reason to live in an equestrian community.

I hope this has been helpful.