My question is this, for those of you on the East Coast/Florida/etc., how much do you pay for board and training? What do your typical expenses look like? Any recommendations on areas or training facilities to look into?
In general the cheaper horsey areas lack English discipline and shows. The very cheap areas lack vets and farriers. The areas that are set up for quality English disciplines are in high cost of living areas because that’s where the clients are.
The cheaper the area the more potential for turnout because land is cheaper.
Hunters is also more expensive all around than jumpers or dressage. It tends towards clients being in a wrap around program and leaving a lot to the trainer.
All that said, if you don’t want a full hunter program you can board anywhere that allows your preferred coach to visit, or buy a truck and trailer to ship out.
Your prices are similar to what folks pay where I am in Canada. $850 for basic board is about typical. I do self board and come in at about half that. Hay has gone crazy expensive everywhere so costs are rising.
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IMHO the two best areas to live with horses are the mid atlantic (SEPA/NJ/DE) or the metro DC area (NOVA/MD). A distant third to those two is Atlanta and then Florida.
You want that mix of opportunity/space/quality facilities and these places have it.
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I’m in a low cost of living area in the Midwest. My current boarding situation doesn’t have much for riding facilities, but is 24/7 turnout. It’s $550 for my easy keeper and $725 for my other horse who requires a different grain. I’m looking at moving her over to a dressage focused barn, where the board is $850 and training is $70/lesson. I’m not sure horses are all that affordable even in otherwise lower cost of living areas, but at least other expenses are lower.
If you can tolerate the cold, it has always seemed to me like there’s a decent H/J community in MI. At a glance I found a few barns that are still at about the same price point as what you’re paying now, but include more amenities. It’s definitely a lower cost of living area, but if you wanted to make it to some bigger shows, you’re still fairly close to places like Lamplight that you could do without having to spend an arm and a leg on shipping.
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What field are you working in or are you able to work remote? I think that’s also a factor to look into. I’m sure you’ve already thought about it.
Not sure if DFW is even on your radar but if you’re looking more HJ specific the full care boarding is usually around $850 with turnout and a decent ring. There are cheaper options but they are mostly western barns and not footing you’d want your nice hunter in.
Board/Training packages start at $1000 and can go up to nearly $2k for full care, full training, and tack up services.
I mainly point out the job thing because when I decided to settle back down in TX, I thought “oh I have my degree in the legal field and I’ll be able to get a great paying job quickly!” to which I was SO wrong. I love Texas but Texas hates to pay. I wound up in marketing making 2x what my original career path would pay. And while “cost of living compared to Cali” seems cheaper, it isn’t always depending where you land.
Outside of that - when I was thinking of moving out of TX, I considered Lexington, KY & surrounding, Aiken,SC, and outside of Nashville (but I was quickly priced out of Franklin). I will say I did not price horses at eithers but I imagine they run similar.
Weather is going to be drastically different from what you are used to. You are either going to have long, cold ,snow/icy Winter to deal with( NE) or high, high humidity and bugs ( FL) that can be a big issue with people and their riding.
CA may be expensive but you can ride year round and be pretty comfortable…
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Human cost of living is a real consideration as well. My horse bills at a show barn in an EastCoast city are $1000 board, about $500/month lessons and a couple training or staff rides when I can’t come, farrier is pricey for hunters ($375), expectation to attend about 1 show/month, which keeps monthly home costs “low” for my area. But housing is super expensive as is general living (child care, restaurants, therapy, etc.).
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I’d add that horse keeping is made simpler when you are in a climate zone that is a natural good fit for horses. They like dry and prefer dry cold over wet cold. One quick way to think about it, is where do herds of feral horses prosper? And where do people do fine letting horses free range?
There are actually a lot of feral horses in semi desert areas like California. Florida with wet heat brings on issues for some horses. They do OK in dry high prairie with very cold winters but people don’t ride much in that weather! I’m in the PNW so wet colder winters and if you don’t put care and attention into paddock footing your horses feet will rot off.
Can you stay in California but move further out where there’s room for turnout? Anything close to a city is going to be more expensive and more compact.
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Upstate New York is another option similar to what others have mentioned- decent hunter scene, and full board in the $700-$800 range for barns with good turnout and amenities.
I’m outside Boston now and my full board is $1300 with lessons in the $70-$90 range 
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Yeah but your horse lives on sand and turnout is practically non-existent.
I certainly miss riding on beaches one day and in mountains the next, and living a world that’s always 70 degrees, but horse-keeping is just so much more pleasant in areas that still have acres and acres of grass. Even if you end up paying roughly the same amount.
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You know what ? That is ok. Horses who live in a stall or with an attached paddock are still happy, healthy and a pleasure to ride. They don’t know anything else. Depending on if your horse is an easy keeper or not that is even a blessing to not have grass to deal with.
The BB I was at for 13 years( N. CA) did not offer anything else and my horses did great. I even raised a couple foals that way.
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I keep mine at home right now in NJ, but if I were boarding I’d estimate 1200+ for board (what I consider basic - hay, feed, turnout, stalls done) with a decent indoor, and 600+ for retirement board. Lessons typically 70-100 each, shoes all around 250+ or trims at 55+. Vaccines and coggins for two horses runs me just under $1000 a year. Our personal effective income tax rate in NJ is over 5% and our property taxes are over $15k yearly. We’re ~1.5 hrs from NYC and it’s a solid 15-20 minutes to a grocery store so not the place if you want things to do. Considering a move to Florida, which has similar horse costs based on my research just no income tax and less property tax (though insurance is probably a bit high).
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I would agree that the Washington DC area and west into VA/north in to MD is incredibly horse-rich and close to the city if you are young and looking for more of a social scene. Area has a considerable amount of top class hunter trainers with nationally respected HJ shows - Upperville, Middleburg, Cap Challenge @ PGEC, Lexington VA horse center. Healthy mix of AA programs and local-only programs and those in between.
Have boarded in both VA and MD, for partial training types you’re probably looking at an average of $850-1000-1200 for base board (stall, feed, turnout, some general blanketing or holding). Partial training board programs will run you about $1500-2500 a month for some program of a few lessons or rides per month and board amenities. I have paid myself an average of $75-150 for a la carte private and group lessons. But, generally a HCOL with salaries that match.
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To tag onto this, upside of Upstate NY is low cost of board (I’m in Rochester, at a very nice barn, and the prices range from $600ish-800ish), lots of turnout, lots of space to ride, within a 3-4 hours from bigger venues like Vermont, Saugerties, Saratoga, State College, and Swan Lake, and low COL for people. Good but limited vet choice locally (but you do have Cornell), and some really good farriers. I’d say full care board at a barn with an indoor probably starts at around $550.
My barn is a boarding barn with a main h/j trainer who has a bunch of clients. That means it is all a la carte - I pay $50ish for lessons or a training ride, do all the riding on my horse myself, but take regular lessons and appreciate having my trainer able to hop on as needed. Full training programs at barns in the area will probably be around $1000+.
Downside to Rochester is there are very limited show venues locally (1 hour or less), cold winters with snow, and a pretty crazy housing market currently.
I relocated from NYC after growing up in Westchester/downstate NY, and it was absolutely worth it for the increased affordability of keeping a horse and being able to buy a house. But I also wasn’t coming from CA, so the winters were not as much of a shock to me.
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Er, a large part of where wild horses live today is a product of where we allow them to live and where there is open space for them to live. It’s not like the mustangs looked at a travel guide and picked Nevada… we drove them out there.
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Good luck finding board at any show barn around here in FL for $1000.
Honestly, most are training board packages and will run you upwards of $2200/month, which doesn’t include any of your horse show costs.
Yes, you have several beautiful facilities that offer amazing rings and opportunities, but there are other FL hidden factors that you should probably keep in mind.
- BUGS. So many BUGS.
- Monsoon/Hurricane season. Prepare to ride early or swelter starting in mid-April/May and once June hits… you need to factor in the usually daily rains (this year has been strange). In addition, horse show plans and evacuations are big factors once Aug-Oct hits. So expect any local shows to potentially get postponed by weather.
- As someone else mentioned, INSURANCE. After Hurricane Ian, expect crazy high rates. It’s tough to get homeowner’s insurance here, as well. Do all the homework before making the jump. Our HO insurance doubled from when we bought in 2021 to this year. So did taxes. Added about $350-400 additional on our mortgage each month between taxes and insurance.
- If you lose your job, UNEMPLOYMENT succccckkkks down here. Why? Probably has something to do with the lack of income tax being taken out of your paychecks. Like, expect less than half what you’d get up north or in most other areas, so you will immediately need to scramble for work should you get fired/laid off.
Otherwise, it’s fun and the areas that are super horsey are heavenly.
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Agreed 100%. Especially for a young hunter on the circuit that needs campaigned. If you think $850 and $80 lessons are high you’re in for a shock in Florida.
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To be fair - you don’t get training board up here for 1200 either, that is basic board. Partial training packages I’d expect an extra 600-800, full training/full service - sky’s the limit. I’d fully expect to be in the $1400-1800 a month range for a not uber-fancy but nice facility with competent professionals in FL (and hopefully can have lessons wrapped into that number). We are trying to spend a season down there - now housing in the Palm Beach area for a season: that makes the horse costs seem affordable 
. I might have to PM you - we have a bunch of different areas circled for review and I’m very on the fence about south Florida due to the summer heat, further North interests me a little more.
NJ unemployment is abysmal for most higher earners as well though it is more “generous” than many states, it caps at $830 a week. We also have winter which, although mild some years, seems to last a solid 4-5 months with about an hour less daylight than FL.
Aiken is a tier down but also an option. A little more eventery but not NOT huntery and lower cost of living. More isolated from a metropolis than my other suggestions. I know very little about Kentucky but I believe parts of KY are also good options for a hunter scene.
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