Has anyone ever rented a house or apartment that they could bring their horse to? How did you find it? I feel like I’ve looked for places on Zillow and assorted rental sites with no luck, but I’m moving to an area due to a job change and would really love to not have to board my horse (she’s home now). I feel like there must be people who have a cottage or an above-barn apartment, but I haven’t the slightest clue how to find these people! I’m moving to Maryland, west of Frederick, in case anyone has a spot for me 
You can try here…
www.marylandequestrian.us/main.cfm?action=classifieds
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But Maryland and Virginia are very horsey areas and rentals are really difficult to find, depending on where you’re looking. For instance, there’s almost nothing ever in Loudoun County (Northern Virginia) but there tend to be more down around Richmond/Charlottesville.
It might be worth contacting a realtor in that particular area that could keep an eye out for you as well. If you do find something, be prepared to jump on it or it will be gone.
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I saw this and thought it’d be great, but mostly found places in Virginia, and at the bottom of the page it says Virginia Equestrian. I know MD is relatively small but I thought it might have its own websites for this sort of thing! Thanks 
Keep an eye on Maryland and Virginia Equestrian. There aren’t many in Maryland but the occasional one does pop up. Also check Facebook for equestrian groups. I’m not familiar with the Maryland ones, but I’m sure there must be some.
I currently rent a house on a small farm. The landlord has four horses here, I have my one.
She actually reached out to me when I was a working student to see if I wanted to rent it (I was renting a room in someone’s house at the time). She would trailer in for lessons with the head trainer and stable with us at shows. So she saw exactly how I handled horses, managed them and rode.
Renting houses and apartments is a crapshoot. You never know what kind of tenant you are going to get. Add in a few horses (that you do not know, or know how they behave) and it’s a bigger “what if”.
I’m not putting you in the category of a bad tenant with dangerous horses, but it may be more realistic to board for a few months and establish a network in the horse community where you are. I think then you will see more of these opportunities present themselves through word of mouth.
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Word of mouth…I think that’s exactly how these sorts of things go. Look at how many threads there are about crazy boarders or crazy farm owners. I imagine there are a lot of people who want to be very selective about renting out parts of their property.
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I found one in our local Pennysaver, a weekly paper that’s mostly assorted local ads with some news. I rented a small farm - house, barn, garage, and 3.5 acres
In the 90s my mom moved across country and used a local realtor to find a place.
Try the Equiery for MD - it has a small real estate section.
http://equiery.com/
http://equiery.horsetrader.com/general-classified/real-estate-classifieds?gid=333&s=X045
Looks like there are several rentals on there right now, but the first three I saw were all about 1/2 hour east of Frederick.
And there are plenty of crazy landlords hereabouts as well. You wouldn’t believe some of the stuff I encountered while looking. If you find something, listen to your spidey sense. Don’t be so desperate that you will take anything that comes along. There’s nothing worse than having to move not only yourself but your horse(s) and all of their stuff as well.
Look at realtor.com. Check the rentals and also the for sale homes. When a suitable home for sale is empty, contact the realtor to see if they would rent it until it sells. Homes in Frederick County often are slow to sell.
Craigslist! You have to be careful (if it sounds too good to be true then it then it probably is, take someone with you and all that) but I have seen properties like you are describing listed in the housing section.
I think there’s one near Ocala that will be available soon.
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OP, we have 1 stall at my barn in Harpers Ferry, WV available. I work in Frederick and live in WV, so we’re in the area you are looking. We are eventers, but welcome anyone and its very quiet and laid back- no big training barn feel or hype. We have a lit ring, decent turnout on 10 acres, and xc jumps coming over winter.
Board or any facility to rent is next to none west of Frederick, just FYI. It took me two years to find a place for my mare closer to my house, where I was previously commuting 1.25 hours into Loudoun County for board, and board in LoCo is now on average $650/month for basics, and $700-800 for full care with some sort of riding space, $800+ if they have an indoor. It is extremely rare to find a place to rent with space for horses in this area below $2000 a month, even in WV, or western MD. I’ve lived in NOVA for 16 years and owned my horse for 11 and I’ve watched barns disappear, along with homes, and the price keeps going up 
feel free to PM me or email me if you’re interested in boarding with us and Ill put you in touch with the barn manager!
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Most of the places that have a cottage/apartment and room for a horse - it will be either work off in exchange for board or board will be in addition too. You might want to post on Poolesville Equestrian Group or Maryland Equestrian Classifieds to see what pops up there. While Poolesville is about 20-40 minutes from your “west of Frederick” location people from all around seem to post there. I would also venture to say that some of the housing might be, to be polite, rustic.
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