if you don’t have to commute - every day, then I’d live further out and keep my horses further. Life is better “further out” and cheaper. You could live in Warrenton and keep your horses at Morningside with Skyler Icke-Voss, or any number of good barns. The commute from Warrenton to Fairfax is about 40 minutes during non-rush hour times. During rush hour, count on 1.5 hours either way. If you don’t have to be at the office til later in the morning and can leave during an off-peak timeframe, then that might be doable. The Haymarket area is good too - right off 66 and 15 minutes from The Plains. if you don’t have to be at the office in DC or Fairfax every morning, then perhaps you could do yourself a favor and just not live in NoVA. Because honestly, quality of life in NoVA sucks. I wouldn’t live there if you paid me (I live “further out”).
Completely agree with this ^ ^ ^ :yes:
This X 1000!!! If I was given the option of NoVa or Charlottesville, I would never pick NoVa. Its too difficult to get around and inconsiderate people that can’t drive are everywhere. I’m here for the schools, not the riding.
And though my daughter is out of school (she went to Chantilly which was a very good HS), is finishing up grad school at VCU - and my parents have passed - I’m stuck here because my husband works in DC, commuting by bus and train.
And at the moment, we only have one car…:sigh:
I hate it.
Wonderful horse country is not far away, but between here and there? Wretched and hellish traffic congestion and endless, irresponsible development and building with no roads and infrastructure to support it. LOTS of stress just driving down the road, let alone going to Costco – or a restaurant. Everything is packed, all the time, and many people are rude, self absorbed, and filled of a sense of entitlement. There is no sense of community; I have to arrange to get together with horse friends (and deal with traffic to see them) in order to have any fun or even see a friendly face.
My daughter grew up here, and she always says: “people wouldn’t even stop to piss on you if you were on fire!” Now she lives in Richmond, which for all its flaws is at least a city, and people are much friendlier there.
Sorry for all that – it’s been a long, rainy day here and I had to do a Costco run at the end of it, shoot me! :lol:
Dr D - Costco in Chantilly or anywhere in that general area will suck any last bit of love for humanity right out of even the most optimistic person.
fc, Oy, yup…
:sigh:
It’s exactly as you describe – and with more and more building and development on either side of 50, yet more houses and apartment buildings spring up seemingly overnight! - it’s only getting progressively worse.
I feel trapped here, but at least I am able to get out to “paradise” five days a week, which helps keep me sane.
The poor OP! I suspect we have scared her off about that area, but she has received a lot of good advice here and I’m sure she can find some sort of reasonable compromise.
Best of luck, OP - and I hope you’ll keep us posted!
I completely agree with your sentiments Dr. D. All I have to add is Wegmans is a close second to Costco in terms of crazy making. The “traffic” problems extend from the road to the parking lot to the actual store with carts on top of carts and everyone bumping into one another.
Regarding boarding in MoCo: I used to manage a barn in Potomac, MD, basically right outside the beltway (this is a term you’ll quickly learn means a lot to the DMV Area!). I had a handful of boarders who lived in Arlington or Alexandria and boarded with me because it was WAY easier to get to our cute little place in Potomac than it was to get out to places of equal standards in VA. That being said, when we moved to a farm just across the line in Frederick County (about 20 minutes from the place in Potomac), we lost all our VA boarders because the commute got to be too much. A lot of the MoCo barns suggested are in the same general area as our Frederick barn was, so just keep that in mind.
Theres a lot of hate going on here regarding NOVA, but I do really love Loudoun county, especially once you get west of Rt 15. And I LOVE Leesburg. If you’re working from home most of the time, commuting to Reston and DC on occasion, and want decent boarding opportunities with room to keep a training/prelim horse going, I would say check out that area. Downtown Leesburg is booming with a lot of great non-horsey things to do, housing, while not cheap, isn’t ridiculous (yet), and you can be at a number of decent barns with proper ride out in a matter of minutes. Commuting to Reston isn’t bad, and there’s a commuter bus to DC (that actually picks up even further west, if you want to explore the western hinterlands of LoCo where I live!). One of my best friends has a townhouse in Leesburg and uses that bus for the 3 days a week she has to commute to DC. She goes in stupid early (I think she gets on the bus at 6:15) and is home in time to walk her dogs in daylight.
You couldnt pay me to live in Fairfax, though! I would go all the way in and be a proper city dweller if I was forced to move further east than Leesburg!
Its a different commute going from Alex or Arlington to Potomac, MD than going from Leesburg area to Destination, Bascule, Otasaga, Gina Miles or Kerry Blackmers places in MD as Alexandria/ Arlington commuters would use Memorial or Key bridge, Leesburg area - Whites Ferry or Point of Rocks.
I think around here it’s become common knowledge here that if you live and /or work in certain areas the commute to the horse is going to be about an hour, if it’s less than that you’ve hit you’re in commute heaven. Despite all the grumblings about traffic, we do have a pretty broad equestrian base here especially for eventing as there are several great horse trial within a very reasonable distance, I’m not too sure many areas can boast that claim. In the broad NOVA/MD area - there is Maryland Horse Trials, Waredaca, Seneca Valley Pony Club, Surefire Horse Trials, Loudoun Pony Club, Middleburg Horse Trials, Hunt Club Farm - all hosting 1 or 2 (or more) events per year rated and unrated, and then there’s the hunter/jumper shows and dressage shows. So despite the traffic we do have it pretty darn good.
And tack shop! - Dover, Middleburg has a few, and a couple in Potomac/Poolesville plus the traveling shops that come to events…
Ive lived in Northern Va for over 15 years, and have had my TB for 10 years at various barns all over Loudoun and Clarke County and have shown, or lessoned all over the VA/WV/MD Area 2 area. There is no shortage of qualified Upper Level Riders and trainers in the area, nor is there a shortage of lovely private farms that will allow you to come and go as you please, or allow your trainer to come teach you. Going rate for full care stall board is between $550-1000 depending on amenities. If there is an indoor, you are looking at paying minimum $700 just for board, no training included. You can usually find board at a small private farm for around $400 ( I pay $350 for full care so I hit the jack pot!!)
If you are looking to go training level and up, consider looking at Western Loudoun and Fauquier Counties, as you will have the best facilities or best ride out for conditioning, since there is still tons of farmland. I would not recommend the commute from Maryland to Fairfax… There are only 2 or 3 roads to commute on and they are major roads with unreal traffic.
I board my TB at a lovely private farm in Western Loudoun and I am extremely lucky to have AMAZING full care board at half the going rate, and I ride out to Surefire farm for all my conditioning which is a short hack away; live about 15 miles away in WV, and work in Frederick Maryland so I spend time in the car, but NOT in traffic!! I personally trailer out for my lessons and training, which has allowed me more flexibility in my training to reach my goals and just fits my schedule better.
The Purcellville/Middleburg/ThePlains corridor is a great place to find a boarding barn and is home to numerous trainers. You are also less than hour away from almost all Area 2 events, and cross county schooling facilities.
Some trainers in the area:
Sharon White
The O’Connors
Hannah Sue Burnett
Lynn Symansky
Skyelar Voss
Paul Ebersole
Jan Bynny
Sarah Kozumplik Murphy
Stephanie Rhodes Bosch
Lauren Keiffer
Chris Talley
Melissa Hunsberger
Phyllis Dawson
and more!
Are all very local to Western Loudoun/Faquier/ Clarke County, and are obviously well known, or superb up and coming riders! I think all but 3 of the above head south for the winter, so something else to consider when picking a training program and barn too.
There are facebook pages advertising local private farms for boarding, and there are larger boarding barns. (Most are H/J boarding/lessons programs, so unless you board with one of the above, you might prefer to find a private farm…just speaking from experience) Feel free to pm if you have questions! I know a couple of nice private barns that usually have 1 or 2 stalls open!
If you’re trying to keep costs down, you may consider NOT boarding with a trainer, but boarding at a barn that allows outside trainers to come in. I manage a barn and that’s what we do, and it’s allowed us to keep our costs down (and our board) quite a bit. But, you still have to find a trainer!
A lot of the barns around here are H/J, but there are a plethora of eventing trainers in Middleburg, Upperville, and The Plains (as others have said).
I don’t know if it’s been mentioned above, but Facebook has a ton of Virginia horse groups - Virginia Horse Network, NOVA Area Equestrians, VA Horse Boarding, USEA Area II… to name a few. And there is the extremely helpful Virginia Equestrian (dot com). Good luck!
