I am looking to move somewhere for warmer year round temperatures. Preference is to stay on the East Coast, but open to other areas. I currently live in a small town near Lexington, KY and am wanting suggestions for something similar. Ideally locations within a hour of an equine vet clinic, close enough that getting a good farrier, dentist, chiropractor, etc is not a huge issue. Most likely I’ll be boarding, so locations/areas that have some different options.
Southern Pines area of NC is an equestrian mecca. Alot of great vets, farriers etc. Home of the Carolina Horse Park which hosts eventing, dressage, hunter/jumper & driving shows. Lots of great boarding faciities and just a great horse community. Hunt Complex in Raleigh hosts H/J and dressage shows is about an hour fro SP.
Aiken is another horse centric place although it is getting more and more built up.
In addition to SP and Aiken, Tryon, NC is another area with a temperate summer (i.e. hot but not blazing hot 
)
“Warmer weather” is subjective and depends on what you are comparing to.
Are you fleeing snow, or just major accumulation? Sub-zero temps, or just too many months of cold?
Also how much summer are you willing to tolerate - heat? humidity? hurricanes? bugs? Or are you willing to vacate for the hottest summer months, in exchange for relatively easy winter months?
If you can briefly describe the kind of winter and summer weather you prefer, it will help with location suggestions. 
1 Like
It is in the original post.
2 Likes
I looked at Aiken to move to years ago. It is pretty and cute; it does feel a bit “out there”. Maybe things have changed? Aiken compared to the Ocala area: Aiken does not have the quantity of vets, farriers, shows etc… It has charm, Hitchcock’s Woods and a lot of positives. But the density of professionals and competitions does not compare to Ocala.
If you are ok with three seasons. (mostly two) I would look North of Ocala. There are some great small towns: High Springs, Micanopy and getting more built up Williston.
1 Like
left Kentucky after the winters of the late 1970s when we got 60 inches of snow and temps dropped into the minus 20F, did live in Southern Pines in the early 1970s at least at that time unless you played golf there was not much else to do beyond the horses also summer humidity took its toll on me, worked out Tallahassee in the mid 2000s, pretty isolated for a state capital
There is not really a prefect place for horses these days
What is your budget range? Looking to buy a house or a townhome? Do you work? Will you need high speed internet? Do you want summer year round or just milder winters? Do you have a desire to show or lesson? What do you consider a small town?
Williston, Bronson, Morriston, Reddick, Micanopy, McIntosh, Sparr, Archer, Anthony, Belleview, Summerfield, are all east and west of i-75/301/441 between Gainsville and Ocala Fl. (and a bit south of Ocala) You will be an hour from great vets, chiro, etc.
I would also add Newnan, and Conyers in GA as well as Marietta and Alpheratta.
I also know a lot of the drivers from SP and Aiken have moved to Windsor SC. I am not sure of the horse vendors out in Windsor.
Not sure when you looked but Aiken has a ton of shows year round now. Stable View and Bruce’s Field continue to add dates and offer incredible facilities, Jumping Branch, Sporting Days and Full Gallop Farm have many well-attended recognized and schooling events, Highfields does a ton of H/J, and loads of schooling shows of very high quality at places like Vista, Apple Tree and Dara Knot (re-imagined Paradise Farm). It’s rare to find a date where there aren’t multiple choices within a single discipline and during the high season there are usually multiple shows at most of those venues every week. You could easily show within 30 minutes of Aiken year round, ranging from poles on the ground through 4*S. USDF, USEA, USHJA, Split Rock, Polo, etc etc. Nothing like WEC, but that’s not my cup of tea anyway.
Vet wise, Performance and Southern Equine continue to get better and better on their facilities and can now do abdominal surgeries. We’re a few hours from Universities but I would say the horse vet situation now is great. Several very good mobile equine vets as well. The major glaring weakness for vets is the lack of a 24 hour small animal ER but there are excellent facilities within an hour. Very good farriers as well.
It’s definitely a four season place. Summers are hot and winter you will get freezing temps, although it is usually pretty mild overall in the winter. Summers aren’t Florida hot and we have the bonus of rare (with Helene obviously being a big exception) major threats from hurricanes.
Footing is amazing, year round.
Real estate is definitely hot but you can live within a reasonable driving distance of downtown and venues in horsey but more affordable areas (Windsor is an example, as mentioned above).
Aiken is also a reasonable driving distance from Tryon, Conyers, Thomson (Pine Top) and Southern Pines, and not too bad from Ocala.
3 Likes
I spent two nights in Aiken. I looked at a bunch of properties and liked a property in a nice community that was adjacent to the HW. The lot sizes were small. I think the one I looked at was maybe three acres. It had a community riding ring.
Thank you for the show info in the Aiken area. I didn’t think Aiken was similar to the many show options in Ocala that go on for weeks/months. WEC, HITS, FL Horse Park, plus many schooling shows. Further 1 1/2 - 4 hours away there is Tampa, Venice, a fun place to show by the beach, Terra Nova, WEF.
WEC isn’t my thing to show at, but it sure is fun to go watch an $80k hunter derby or the Nations Cup. And plus, there is a ton of shopping if there is something you need but want to try it on or see it first. It’s also a great place to bring your dog for an outing in the summer when it is cooking out, the climate controlled indoors are great. There are also many different disciplines showing there and all sorts of events going on in the Expo Centers.
.
There are at least four vet clinics within 10-25 minutes of me that do surgeries. And UF is 45 minutes away. I have been here a couple of decades and couldn’t name 1/10 of the vets in the area. There are SO many options for vets and farriers. And I have three hay/feed stores within five miles. There are at least five others within 15 minutes.
I admittedly love the heat and could never live North of Ocala. I realize the weather is a deal breaker for a lot of people and I get it. As crowded as it has gotten here, that is a good thing. So much building going on.
1 Like
