I know you keep your horses at home but it is pretty standard that there is a “NO STALLIONS ALLOWED” policy at public boarding barns so I imagine this wouldn’t be different and wouldn’t be an issue in keeping a broodmare or just breeding a favorite mare.
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Not sure where @clanter got the quoted texted 
but I don’t have and don’t plan to have a stallion. In my post, I specifically mentioned babies and mares, not stallions. Lots of people who breed don’t stand a stallion. It’s very possible to
without a stallion. In fact I’d say a lot of people do.
Moving on 
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Being told how to use your own farm is not just unique to HOA’s. My vet planned to use her new farm as her haul-in equine clinic. The neighboring land owners crushed her plans by denying her application to use her farm for business.
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My feelings exactly. I’d live in the back of a van and tie the girls to the bumper first.
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You think there’s no restrictions about what the FH trainers can do with that property? hahahaha
Yah, HOA’s still suck sorry. I don’t even want neighbors lol
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I mean…there’s restrictions on what I can do with my property - like if I don’t mow my lawn my town will send a little reminder letter that will let me know I need to mow it soon or they will helpfully mow it for me with a charge of about $30/hour with a minimum one hour charge of $150. It takes me 35 minutes to mow with a push mower but not sure how long it would take the town…probably 3 hours.
So, if you mean restrictions like that, yes there are.
But more “stereotypical” restrictions like what color you can paint your barn or what you can park in the parking lot or if you need to keep your dumpsters behind a little fence so people only see them on trash day - no, not those.
But if you don’t like neighbors anyway, you would not be interested in this option no matter how it is set up so the point is moot.
Lots of municipalities do have restrictions on what you can park on your property.
Where you can park a horse trailer or motor home for example. Or how many unregistered vehicles you can have parked in plain view.
The village my parents live in has rules about what color you are allowed to paint the sometimes large boulders people have next to their driveway at the road.
Feel lucky you do not have regulations about dumpster coverage too. That is a pretty common rule in lots of places, and I am not talking about fancy housing situations.
Oh, valid point, I am not just sure what other restrictions there are in the town as I never got notices regarding them 
As far as I know we are supposed to also shovel snow off our front walk (for the postman who walks across the yards anyway) and the sidewalk in front of our house (understandably so people aren’t forced to walk in the street or deal with a hazardous sidewalk. I don’t know if this is enforced or how as I have always had my snow shoveled.
Trash cans - We just got big wheelie bins from the town last spring and I keep mine in the backyard (as do pretty much all my neighbors) because the kitchen is in the back of the house ( as it is in all houses in the neighborhood) so it is more convenient to take the messy kitchen trash out the back door instead of through the living room and front door. Opportunistic people in the neighborhood may also be tempted to steal the trash can (and have before). So not sure about “visible trash can” rules.
I also keep my shovel inside the front door because opportunistic individuals will abscond with it.
Garages and driveways are also uncommon in the neighborhood and with the small lots, you generally don’t get a lot of “front yard junk” that may look unappealing.
So…long story short…maybe we do but maybe we don’t…dun dun dun! (none of what you or I stated would be an issue for me personally).
One does not have to have a problem with a rule to know the rule exists.
I mean…yeah, if you wanna be a NERD and like read all up on the local rules and regulations and stuff…
I bet you do things like come to full and complete stops at stop signs also, obey posted speed signs…! PSH! NERD!!!
So, TR, this is a very valid point. Feel the liberty of knowing that you are not the target audience of this type of community. Totally okay. I hate kale and yet I’m allowed to exist.
Alot of this comes from the fact that after driving to and from work, through urban and suburban traffic, I don’t want to have to drive another hour to get to the barn; I want to live near my horse. But in this area, horse property is prohibitively expensive even if you’re a two-professional, two-income, kids-are-grown family. Plus there are the concerns about finding people to help you if you would like to go on vacation or you are sick, or need access to vets and farriers who are becoming reluctant to visit small barns, or losing access to trails. I genuinely am not arguing with other positions or saying that this is the model for everybody ---- it’s just that these are real concerns where I am. And I can’t realistically move to areas of the country where these things don’t seem to be an issue. So, I need a dedicated equestrian-friendly community with shared (and therefore affordable) amenities. My original question was geared to, “Who else is in the same position?”
And, the truth is that I do like neighbors. Not sandwiched in (or, at least, it would have to be a very large sandwich), but I do like occasional driveway chats and being able to yell, “Hey, come over for a glass of wine later” or, “I’m going for a trail ride in 20 minutes; want to come?” And, having been through two terminal horse colics, I don’t want to go through that again without supportive people who also knew the horse, there with me.
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I think a lot of people could agree with this in theory. I have my own small place and I’m not a social rider, but what might attract me to your vision are:
- a (well-maintained) community indoor within hacking distance
- access to a stall in a larger barn for temporary needs like stall rest (tough when you have a small herd at home, unless they’re unusually okay with being alone)
- nearby, trustworthy help on long work days or when I’m on vacation
The devil is in the details though. What if the indoor isn’t well-maintained, people can’t agree on footing type/depth, some people monopolize arena space/time, etc? What if the caretakers are not trustworthy? What if the turnout areas at the communal barn are unsafe? Yes, these issues come up when boarding, but then if you can’t live with it you just have to look for a different barn. You aren’t also selling your house.
I think that’s the hang-up. It’s nice to envision this equestrian paradise, but in practice there are so many possible downfalls that people are leery.
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All amazing points Libby2563!
I will add that when there is community stuff like this there are always those who do almost nothing and those who do all of the things - like that person who seems to always forget to pick up their manure from the indoor versus the person who is always willing to water the indoor and rake in the sides.
So picking your people to do something like this with requires you to pick just the right people, or you need to be willing to happily pick up the slack for anyone and everyone else that is there.
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Good point. And if you’re selling property - as opposed to boarding horses - you can’t discriminate based on “has the same ideas about horses as me”… once real estate gets involved, it gets MUCH more complicated.
Compounds and communities like this sound really nice on paper, but there’s a reason they don’t seem to last. At least with a boarding or co-op situation, the BO can boot anyone they don’t work well with. It is harder to revoke facility use privileges from a resident who owns property that is tied into the whole thing, no matter how airtight your contract.
A country club type facility that is adjacent but not actually connected to a neighborhood of small properties might work better, but will run into some obstacles that a normal country club does not. I’ve seen communities that have a minimum lot size (5 acres) work pretty well, but there were no communal horse facilities - just neighbors sharing or renting out their personal arena time.
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I live in Aiken, SC where there are all sorts of planned horse-centered developments.
I live in an one (or will when my farm is finished; my horses already live there and I have been around it for years). I would live in one (with caveats) but only if each place had its own farm. IMO, a centrally-run boarding operation is a losing proposition. In fact, I think it can be the investment that sinks the horse amenities in a community like this.
The problem is that there is no money in boarding and that you cannot please all of the people all of the time. And I can’t imagine anything worse than having an HOA board try to run a boarding barn.
That said, the reason I do live in one of these places is the set of other amenities-- trails off my property and rings that are far grander and better maintained that I could do myself. There is a community center with a small work-out room, too.
I don’t think anyone living in an HOA likes it. It’s not my cup of tea, but I see the purpose and I try to just keep my head down and mind my own business.
In horse communities that plan parts that are for non-horsey people, you have another lurking problem: At some point, those folks won’t want to pay for the upkeep of the horse stuff. Can you picture the fight that will be had about the need (or not) to re-do the footing in the arena? And charge everyone a special assessment for that because the HOA never quite saved up enough for large expenses like this?
Even in horse communities, people disagree about just what counts as horse-safe enough. So while we can all agree to things like no motorized vehicles on the trails, driving horses (which tend to scare the pants off horses initially) present a problem, even though they are expressly allowed in our covenants. BTW, there is a dedicated driving community a town over. People can’t agree on dogs being contained well. Some people’s dogs will bark and run the fence at them in the owner’s yard while they ride by on a trail. People don’t like it, but they have to accept that.
The one problem with the land being owned by someone else and managed to his/her specs is that the horseness of the community is not guaranteed to last. It’s bad enough when a developer has all the control (as they do until 95% of the lots are sold) and he does things like not create a good trail system. That makes the early investors worry and/or unhappy. But the HOA does own all the land used by the community and it so you can be sure that it will stay.
But to have the available land always under threat of going away or being managed differently? That makes the real estate investment in a horse community untenable.
But! If I just wanted to live in a pretty, bucolic-yet-upscale neighborhood and I regarded horses as optional in my life, I might buy here and feel safe that my property would appreciate. But then I’d be “part of the problem” in that I wouldn’t have a lot of skin in the game in terms of voting for the expense of keeping the horse amenities going.
In short, you have to set something up where the HOA doesn’t lose money (so it doesn’t undertake the losing proposition of building a boarding barn), and where the horse people who bought there are tied in to keeping it for horses. Even though people will “age in” to a community like this (they are often early- or spry retirees who have always wanted to keep their horses in their back yard), they will also age out (plenty of them are starting to trade in their show horses for trail horses or they realize that the horse they own now will be their last). More people will come along after them and buy in, but the only way to keep the horse amenities up is to insure that all the real estate in the place is also farms… and the only way to sell those is to keep the horse amenities up.
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Yes, lots of what you want are the same reasons I bought in a horse community. I did/do need horse-savvy neighbors. What has surprised me is how many of them are not. Either they couldn’t come help me with, say, a cast horse, or do horse care while I was away, or they would not because they don’t want to work that hard/work at all. I think the demographics of people who want to/can afford to buy into one of these communities are changing. These are not old barn rats (as I am) or pro horsemen with a half-century of knowhow behind them. The few that have jobs are busy doing those jobs and between caring for their own place and riding their horses, they don’t have time for the rest.
I have one bestie in my neighborhood who I trust to care for my horses and vice versa.
As to the deeded, rentable acres adjacent to each property: How is that of benefit to the land owner? So they have land divided up into small parcels checker-boarded with land they don’t own. They can’t sell it, but they can’t rent it 100% of the time, either? If it’s not a good deal for the land owner, it won’t last.
As to the other advantages-- they are real and valuable. The HOA is even valuable in a horse community in the sense that it helps keep the neighborhood horse-focused. But the fact that you have to buy a farm-sized lot (minimum is about 5 acres) means that the people who have invested there are also interested in maintaining the horse amenities… so that they can sell that dedicated farm on to another horse person in the future.
Aiken is horsey enough that you can more or less get vet work, farriers, delivery and other contractors to come out to where you are. I have coordinated with people in my community for things like farrier visits. If you can’t get vets and farriers to come out to little farms in your area, I do see the community as giving you an advantage. I have lived in worse horse markets and it can be hard to be the one little backyard barn.
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But, what is different here? You don’t have to sell your house. You just go look for a different barn. If you don’t want to use your “back 5 or 10” or whatever, you stop paying rent on it and let it go back into the community. True, I guess a terrible neighbor could potentially take over your “back 5,” but, the idea is that the HOA (gasp and horror 
) would protect most situations. And since the “back 5” is rented, not owned, the terrible neighbors’ use of the land can be cancelled if they were not following The Rules.
Overall, though, this thread has been so helpful! I am very grateful for people’s concerns over the details!
One thing about being older and around horses as an adult since 1970 is you get to see the long term results of many projects, ideas and such.
Seen many horse communities in several states and the biggest challenge is the passing of time. Families buy, the kids age out and move out. Adults get older and reduce their riding, suffer age related health problem, pass on or retire from riding and convert the barn and park classic car project or boat in it or convert it to a kennel or even an additional living unit. They like the place so will stay without the horses.
Some do move out and are replaced by non horsey residents who don’t want to pay for community barns, arenas or trails. Sooner or later they get elected to the HOA and it goes downhill after that.
If there is a community barn, they cannot absorb increasing costs and dropping horse population and if there is a resident trainer, they can’t support their business. So they have to start taking outside the community horses and clients or shutter the barn…personally boarded in formerly exclusive community barns 3 times in 2 states, dd not stay long in any of those, Plumbing issues. Burned out lights, rickety fences and such dependent on community funds to maintain trainers never stayed long either.
All three of these places looked great from the outside and all were around 15-20 years old.
Another issue is zoning changes, If they are close enough in to attract the demographic to afford a horse community, they are in the path of development. Once the surrounding land starts to fall to speculators, writing is on the wall.
Most people looking for this type community select housing on a long term basis but the reality is that time flies and things change.
ETA insurance is a far greater burden than it used be as well. Personally know two community arenas shut down by lawsuits. Both in just regular horsey areas, not part of exclusive areas. Both also some time back before liability rates really shot up.
Sounds like you might be a neighbor. I’ve put in ten years so far here keeping my head down and trying live in my own bubble.
