How much is board and training year round in Aiken vs. Wellington?
It entirely depends, since many very high dollar trainers who are training in Wellington November through April arent there the rest of the year, and training board during the season often comes at a premium.
Yes I am currently riding with a trainer , half leasing, who goes to Wellington in the winter. I can’t afford to own a horse and pay the monthly charges in the NYC area and am trying to find less expensive places to move to so I can ride. It would be a permanent relocation as I would be retiring but would like to be able to ride with a good dressage trainer in an affordable location.
I pay about the same in the NYC area as I do in Wellington in season. If you stay year round and are willing to be out in White Fences or Deer Run (Loxahatchee), you can knock off a grand a month. It’s still not comparable to less expensive areas though.
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I would probably choose southern pines or Aiken or look around Gainesville and Ocala where there are really plenty of good dressage trainers who reside there year round and considerably less expensive than either Wellington or NYC.
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Central Florida - around Orlando but further out on the north and east sides - has a range of of trainer options, a big selection of shows, and lower costs than Wellington.
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With the new dressage facility going in at Ocala, there may be a migration of dressage trainers to that area. Cooler temps and less expensive. I heard that one Olympic dressage trainer is seriously considering it.
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I’ve not priced out Aiken but I’ve paid for Wellington (White Fences) and Ocala, and I can’t begin to tell you how much lower the price point is in Ocala - across the board. Board, training, vet, farrier, etc…
While Wellington is more reasonable in the “off” season, it’s still just a insane price point, depending on your financial situation.
Ocala has plenty of great training available - and if you really, really want to show in Wellington, it is accessible.
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Another place to consider is Tryon, NC. It is the home of the Tryon International Equestrian Center that hosted the WEG. Beautiful location in the foothills of the mountains with far less humidity than Aiken and milder temps. Multiple top level dressage trainers are in that area. It is within 2 hours of Charlotte and Ashville, so city life is accessible.
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The convenience of being able to show in a CDI ten minutes from your farm, pretty much every week, is hard to beat, so I’d be surprised to see anyone pursue this unless the Ocala facility puts on an equivalent number of top-level shows.
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Agree with you on this for riders/horses at that level. It will be interesting to see how the Ocala facility develops over the next several years. They claim to be set up for international competitions, with hunter, jumper and dressage sections of the venue.
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That depends on what you want - full care luxury board or full care no frills.
The higher the frills, the higher the board: full care, t/o, grain, hay (not coastal), blanket, fly spray runs $700-1200 in Aiken. Training depends on if you’re at a trainer’s barn or if they come to your barn.
Full care pasture board (may or may not include blanketing),grain, hay (may or may not be coastal), may or may not have an arena is running $400 - $550.
Pasture board self care can be as little as $125.
There are also places that do dry stalls if you can do your own work.
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Thank you, really appreciate hearing the numbers!
