Hunter Jumper Scene in Ontario Canada

[2nd_time_around]

All, I’m curious about the hunter jumper world in and around Ontario Canada. I’m assuming costs are about the same for board and training as the mid-Atlantic area in the US ($1200 - $1500 for just board/$2400 and up for training board). Is board without training even available? Or board with lessons but not full training? Are there local shows for adult ammy jumper types? Do you have to get on waiting lists for boarding? Any areas that you would recommend considering if moving there?

TIA for any information.

[c0608524]

Ontario is absolutely huge. Can you narrow down the area you’re thinking of?

For reference, the area I live in is an absolute dead zone for the horse community. An hour away there are much more options. Two hours away, even more.

I’m a wee bit biased, but I think I live in an incredible area even without the larger horse communities bigger cities have.

Edited to add:
Also want to point out what absolute garbage our dollar amount is. When you talk about costs of board/training board, 1200 usd is closer to 1700cad. Just something to keep in mind

[Night_Flight]

Ontario is huge, and even within a particular area there can be a huge variation, both in terms of cost and quality.

Asking more specific questions would definitely be helpful.

Edited to add that weather also varies widely; if you dislike cold and snow then southern Ontario will suit you better than Ottawa, for example. Some details of what you’re looking for in terms of lifestyle, riding and showing could help to narrow what part of the province might suit you best.

[SolarFlare]

@Night_Flight

if you dislike cold and snow then southern Ontario will suit you better than Ottawa

Offer not valid in 2025

Yes, loads of horse stuff in Ontario but as said, depends on the location. Around the GTA (Toronto and surrounding areas) it’s high COL and along with that, high cost of board (plus the legendary traffic). There are still boarding barns where you don’t need to be in full training and can bring your own coach for lessons. If you get away from Toronto a bit, there are still options that will be under $1000/month (CAN) for board.

In Southern Ontario, we have lots of schooling shows, as well as the rated shows, in most English disciplines. You’ll be able to show jumpers for a reasonable price on the schooling circuits, depending on the height (big sticks you’ll likely need to go to rated shows, but up to about 1.10m you should be able to find schooling shows).

Will you be located somewhere specific for work? We’ll definitely be able to help you more if we know what area you’ll be in, or what areas you’re considering. There are quite a few Ontario riders on the board.

[2nd_time_around]

Thank you for the responses! I apologize for not being more specific, I actually don’t have more specifics other than the southern Ontario area for sure - we are not lovers of cold/snow. That said I grew up in northern areas and know how to drive/survive in it. There may be an opportunity to change companies and primarily work from home, so good internet access is key but location is flexible. It is not something I would have entertained previously but due to existing circumstances it seemed to be worth considering, but its more of a fact finding mission at this point to see if it is viable animal wise etc.

[c0608524]

I tell people I live in the “Caribbean of Ontario”… but again, horse-y dead zone

[jvanrens]

@2nd_time_around

southern Ontario area

Even with this as your preferred location, you have to be careful. Some of southern Ontario falls into a snowbelt area, like London Ontario gets regular dumps of snow, more than other parts. Checking into the lake effect might be an idea.

This was a funny (as in odd not haha) winter for snow in Ontario. Southern Ontario had more snow than the Ottawa area until the last couple of weeks. Old man winter unfortunately realized he’d neglected burying eastern Ontario…

[MHM]

It’s been a pretty crazy winter all over the place. I think I saw on the news that the area around Toronto got more snow last week than it got altogether last winter, right?

I’m not in Canada, but this feels like the most severe winter weather I’ve seen in years.

[jvanrens]

The area around Ottawa got more snow in a week (two separate dumps) than we did last winter. I think my brother said it was 67 inches. Toronto area snow started earlier than Ottawa’s. We barely had a few inches a couple of weeks ago. The snowmobilers are happy though.

[crackerjack]

In the last two snow dumps we got 67-70 cm… inches would mean over 5 feet nearly 6 feet!!

I’ve been riding in the Ottawa area over 40 years. Boarding spaces are hard to find. I’m also not impressed with a lot of the barns or the horsemanship but beggers can’t be choosers. Ottawa is a huge geographic area so there can be a lot of travelling. You can fit Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, Edmonton, and Vancouver in the same geographical space!

It does get cold but it does get very hot and humid as well. Snow isn’t really an issue because if there is a storm it’s unusual if things close (a few things did last week- even with the big snow schools were not closed but the buses were cancelled) and everything is up and running definitely by the next day.

Most hunter/jumper shows are held at Wesley Clover Park. In August they have the Longines Major League show. I believe there are 6 gold shows and about 8ish Trillium shows. You can also go schooling there when there’s a down time. Westar holds their Trillium show at their facility, and they try and make it fun.

Costs are comparable to the rest of the province. Board without training is available. Where I am my coach comes in and there are other boarders that have other coaches come in.

One of the downsides to Ottawa in terms of jobs is the French requirement. It is much more difficult to find a job if you aren’t bilingual even if it turns out you never actually use French on the job. Jobs are there but the job search is harder.

[SolarFlare]

@c0608524

I tell people I live in the “Caribbean of Ontario”… but again, horse-y dead zone

Well now I’m curious because I’m trying to figure out where that is

[jvanrens]

@crackerjack

In the last two snow dumps we got 67-70 cm… inches would mean over 5 feet nearly 6 feet!!

Oops! The switching between Imperial and Metric caught me up! I do know I had to do some digging to get from the front door to the sidewalk!

[SolarFlare]

@crackerjack

In the last two snow dumps we got 67-70 cm… inches would mean over 5 feet nearly 6 feet!!

Last night I tried to hack on the conservation trails across the road from the barn, and didn’t get far before I encountered a giant snow drift that was at least 4 feet tall. It blocked the entire trail! I think my horse would have tried to get through if I asked but I was truly worried he would get stuck, and I wouldn’t be able to get off and help as I would be more stuck

[DarkBayUnicorn]

Ontario is vast, covering more than 1 million square kilometres ( 415,000 square miles ) and larger than France and Spain combined.

If you’re looking in and around the Greater Toronto Area, there is a ton of choice and variety.

Cost of living is higher (average for a one-bedroom apartment in Toronto is $2150/month), and you have to really know traffic patterns. When someone claims their barn is “30 minutes from Toronto” they might mean from the city’s absolute northern border, driving at midnight, in mid-summer, with no construction. Not from downtown at 5pm in rain or snow, or on the Friday afternoon of a long weekend. Our standard joke around here is that Toronto is 2 hours from Toronto. Little known fact: Toronto is the fourth-largest city in North America, behind Mexico City, New York and Los Angeles. And we have the traffic to prove it!

Horse show scene in the GTA is substantial, with Gold (A circuit), Silver (B circuit) and schooling shows. We have two large venues: The Caledon Equestrian Park and Angelstone. Like many locations in the US, there is one very large horse show management company running the vast majority of events, for good or for bad. https://angelstone.ca/tournaments/ There is a lot of quality at the Gold shows, with horses there able to step into the ring at WEC or WEF and hold their own.

There are still many boarding barns that allow outside coaches, but quality of care varies substantially, and the best ones often have waiting lists. Also, the majority of really good coaches don’t freelance, but prefer to run their own programs from their own barns.

Land in the GTA is super expensive. So hay is expensive, especially as more and more land is turned into housing. Anyone who tells you they can properly feed a horse for under $500 a month in a location under an hour’s drive (in good traffic) from Toronto is lying. That is base price for outdoor board, no grain, no blanket changes, no lessons. Anything cheaper than that is dubious in my opinion. They’re going to scrimp on something to make that number work. Double it for indoor board with grain. Base price of $1000. Add one lesson a week with a halfway decent coach and $1500 is the norm. Full training board ranges from $2500 on up depending on the program and the pro.

Further outside the city is a different story. And the further you go from the city, the more reasonable it gets. But quality of training may go down, and expense to get to shows will go up.

I’ve been embedded in the hunter/jumper scene in Southern Ontario for 40 years, so feel free to DM me with specific questions.

[c0608524]

I also wanted to mention that if you want to travel in the states, living in a boarder town most definitely has its perks. It’s much easier (in my opinion) to cross at a land boarder and then fly domestically in the USA than to fly internationally out of Pearson. Proximity to Detroit or Buffalo might be something else you want to think about.

[Silver_star]

IMO you would want to be within 100 or so kilometres (sorry, don’t know the conversion to miles) either north or West of Toronto. The prime horsey areas seem to be north of Toronto (I.e. King City, Schomberg) or west (Guelph east to the Caledon/Orangeville area). As others have mentioned, the cost of living is pretty high in southern Ontario. But if I were moving to Ontario and didn’t have to worry about being within a certain proximity of a downtown Toronto office, I’d live in Guelph. Much more reasonable cost of living and good access to a solid horse scene! And still a reasonable drive to the airport and downtown Toronto.

[2nd_time_around]

Thank you everyone this has been very helpful! Hard to gauge snow from this year - VA Beach got over a foot last week. I grew up on the Great Lakes so I’m well acquainted with lake effect snow…

[cristalle]

@Silver_star

But if I were moving to Ontario and didn’t have to worry about being within a certain proximity of a downtown Toronto office, I’d live in Guelph. Much more reasonable cost of living and good access to a solid horse scene! And still a reasonable drive to the airport and downtown Toronto.

Guelph is also a university town, with an excellent veterinary school and hospital. As a university town it also has a vibrant atmosphere, with lots of shops, decent restaurants, cafes, bookstores, and a music/art scene.