Moving to Loudoun county/ Northern Virginia HELP!

[ObviousAlter15]

Obviously an alter here I am not sure if I’m taking the plunge yet and I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag too soon. Recently I got a great opportunity to move up to Northern Virginia. It’s been my dream for several years to relocate there and now all the stars are aligning… except being able to find a suitable horse property. Since I only have a limited amount of time before I need to be up there I am going to have to settle and either rent for a year or buy a property and make it work. But anyways, I have a ton of questions about horsekeeping up there and questions about the area and I know many COTH members are from there. Any help or input is appreciated!

I (luckily) will not need to commute into D.C. at all but I need to be within an hours drive of Dulles. I’m looking at Loudoun and fairfax counties right now, fauquier seems to be out of my budget. I’m afraid to be in Maryland because of traffic.

Loudoun county house keeping issues? What is the maximum horse amount per acre? Am I better off in another county?

Best trainers?

What’s up with traffic? How about the 287 and 9 intersection? Looking at a house near there and sat for 15 min on a Saturday!

Taxes?

Cost of horse keeping?

Any weird regulations on horse keeping?

Horse shows in the summer? In the winter?

Snow amounts?

How muddy are my fields going to get?

Riding on grass year round or is putting in an arena a priority?

Any places I should 100% avoid living?

What type of grass is growing here?

Any weird building restrictions you have run into?

Land use?

Amish to build barns?

Place to get gravel? Fencing?

I should add I’m in the south so I haven’t dealt with snow or mud in years. Am I in for a shock?

[findeight]

Think renting for a year is an outstanding way to learn all about an area and its horse keeping nuances. Especially if you don’t have time to do liesurely search. Often the best places don’t sit on the market that long anyway. Rent, get to know the area, developed a relationship with a good local realtor. Then look.

Social media gas made many things easier but nothing replaces personal knowledge when it comes to major decisions that will have long term commitments. Can’t pick that off FB.

BTW, winters not that bad. You’ll survive.

[Mayaty02]

I live in Round Hill which is on the far western fringes of Loudoun and yes the 287/9 intersection is a bear. They are going to be changing it to a roundabout I believe in the next several years, but route 9 is a deadly road, there are always accidents there and a lot of traffic. I am personally glad not to have to travel on it very often since i’m right off route 7. You might want to look out this way by the way. Round Hill/Bluemont does have some horse properties and are not farther to Dulles than many places in Purcellville and are easier to get to due to the proximity of route 7.

yes you will have mud, and I would think pasture rotation on a small horse property is critical to avoid that. Any grey horse will turn red because it’s Virginia red clay here. It does snow but not a lot though unfortunately roads here can sit for days without being plowed (especially if it’s a dirt road).

As far as shows, you don’t say what level you show but there is a very active unrated or local rated (VHSA) circuit here. with regard to rated shows, you can probably show every weekend at a rated show and not have to go farther than 2-3 hours of Loudoun (most will be in the 1.5 hours and under distance).

For trainers, are you planning to ship in? We board so I can’t say much about trainers that let you ship in unfortunately.

Feel free to PM any specific questions!

[ObviousAlter15]

I think I will end up renting just because of time restrictions, but the rental cost is so high and I can’t find anything with a barn.

It looks like I will have three horses on about 3 acres, am I pushing it at that amount? Maybe I put in a gravel paddock for the muddy days?

I show both rated and unrated. The amount of shows has really drawn me to the area but I am afraid I will have no shows during the winter?

[lynne]

In the winter you can still show just about every weekend between Lexington, the Barracks, and Swan Lake.

[SaddleFitterVA]

@ObviousAlter15

Obviously an alter here I am not sure if I’m taking the plunge yet and I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag too soon. Recently I got a great opportunity to move up to Northern Virginia. It’s been my dream for several years to relocate there and now all the stars are aligning… except being able to find a suitable horse property. Since I only have a limited amount of time before I need to be up there I am going to have to settle and either rent for a year or buy a property and make it work. But anyways, I have a ton of questions about horsekeeping up there and questions about the area and I know many COTH members are from there. Any help or input is appreciated!

I (luckily) will not need to commute into D.C. at all but I need to be within an hours drive of Dulles. I’m looking at Loudoun and fairfax counties right now, fauquier seems to be out of my budget. I’m afraid to be in Maryland because of traffic.

Loudoun county house keeping issues?
[B]Check the zoning on the property, online database works well.
The ordinance is LONG, over 1000 pages. Loudoun follows the “disallowed unless specifically allowed” or permitted uses model of zoning… https://www.loudoun.gov/DocumentCenter/View/99645

On page 686, “Intensity/Character. (1) Site Size. The minimum lot area for an agriculture support use (no direct association) shall be 5 acres, except the following uses shall have the following minimum lot area:” (a bunch of larger scale operations take 25 acre minimums).

In general, a private stable (stable, private) is an allowed use in most of western Loudoun.[/B]

What is the maximum horse amount per acre? Believe it or not, I don’t think there is a max in that LONG doc. The conventional wisdom is a max is 2 horses per acre, but the best for taking care of land is 2 acres per horse.

Am I better off in another county? personal choice.

Best trainers?
We have a lot to choose from. Pick your discipline…you’ll find someone who is pretty top notch, you can usually find one who has represented their country in all 3 disciplines.

What’s up with traffic?
It sucks.
How about the 287 and 9 intersection?
It sucks.
Looking at a house near there and sat for 15 min on a Saturday!

Taxes?
[B]Coming from the south, you’ll think they are outrageously high. My neighbors who have moved from the north, think they are affordable.

They are public record, go click on a property you’re interested in, you’ll see the real estate taxes. $5000-12000/year would be my expectation, depending on how fancy you go with the house. Don’t forget personal property taxes on all your vehicles too. That one is one I hate the most.[/B]

Cost of horse keeping?
Depends on how much you want to spend.

Any weird regulations on horse keeping?
Not that I’ve noticed

Horse shows in the summer?
Yes
In the winter? Less, but still yes.

Snow amounts? cyclical. We get hammered about once every 7 or so years with a crazy amount of snow. It sucks, I hate it, we live…it is expensive. Average year…2-3 storms, usually less than 8" accumulation, but 5 miles in a direction can change the accumulation by a foot in some storms. That mountain range, while small, really impacts the snow accumulations.

How muddy are my fields going to get?
Depends on your management. Mine, they don’t. But I hate mud and have dry lots and stone dust around gates and will not turn out on wet fields.

Riding on grass year round or is putting in an arena a priority?
You’re going to want an arena in winter.

Any places I should 100% avoid living?
too many factors to know what is important to you.

What type of grass is growing here?
most have a horse pasture mix of orchard, timothy, fescue and kentucky bluegrass with some clover tossed in.

Any weird building restrictions you have run into?

The zoning is above.

Land use?
above.

Amish to build barns?
I have one, love it…but it was a modular, Groffdale Barns, mine is a 36x48.

Place to get gravel? Fencing?
Yes.

I should add I’m in the south so I haven’t dealt with snow or mud in years. Am I in for a shock?

It is cold.

[Janet]

The usual rule of thumb (and zoning regulations in some areas) is a minimum of 2 acres in order to keep a horse, and and additional acre per additional horse. So 4 acres for 3 horses.

I have kept 4 horses on 5 acres in Northern Virginia, and it requires intensive management (Rotating pasture, weed control, sacrifice area, extra hay) to avoid it turning into a field of mud/clay, but it can be done.

In terms of prices, you may find better deals in the rural parts of Prince Willaim County.

[BostonHJ]

Rent. There is a ton of finance money in the area that buys up a lot of the farms so they can get an agricultural deduction. It’s beautiful. I’ve lived in FL, VA and MA and would pick VA every single time.

You probably want an arena year round - the clay can get decently hard in the summer if it’s not raining regularly and I imagine somewhat slick. If you can find an established horse property to rent, I really think that is the way to go since you know it is a temporary move.

[DoodlesMom]

We’re currently renting a barn in Loudoun, with no house (right by Dulles!). I can’t answer any questions about the 287/9 intersection, other than to say avoid it at all costs.

To answer your questions that I can answer:

Loudoun county house keeping issues? What is the maximum horse amount per acre? Am I better off in another county?
IIIRC, It’s 2 acres for one horse, and then one acre per additional horse. Loudoun is not a bad county by any means. You can always look in Prince William, though Fauquier is where I would go.

Best trainers?
There are TONS of trainers up here. It really depends on how serious you are, and how much money you want to spend.

Cost of horse keeping?
A lot. We priced it at $350+ per horse, with just rent, utilities, hay, and feed. Obviously that doesn’t take into account any major repairs or other issues. Board is roughly $450-$1000, depending on where you are.

Any weird regulations on horse keeping?
I don’t think so, at least none that we have come across.

Horse shows in the summer? In the winter?
Shows everywhere in the summer. Those that have indoors do winter shows. You just have to look around in the winter.

Snow amounts?
Oh jeez. Well, last year we got maybe 6 inches total. Year before we got like 2 feet! So it varies drastically. Be prepared for a blizzard, but know that it may not happen.

How muddy are my fields going to get?
So, SO muddy. No joke. Unless you have good drainage.

Riding on grass year round or is putting in an arena a priority?
Either. It doesn’t matter, as long as your grass area doesn’t get too sloppy.

Any places I should 100% avoid living?
I would definitely not go for Fairfax (specifically McLean and Great Falls). Land is at a premium, and unless you have millions to spend, it’s not worth it.

What type of grass is growing here?
All different kinds. But there is clover all over!

Any weird building restrictions you have run into? Land use?
So, I would definitely check out the zoning rules, as SaddleFitter said. Buying land and building may be a good option, but I have no clue what restrictions they have. And some of the zoning is really weird.

Amish to build barns?
My former BM has some really, really nice Amish barns. He’s in Amissville, paid almost nothing for his fully fenced 10 acres with a house and two little barns.

Place to get gravel? Fencing?
There are places everywhere, and a bunch of companies who can help you out. Meadows Farm is expensive, but they’re close to us, so I pickup gravel there when I need a pickup load.

If it were me, I’d look everywhere from Manassas to Marshall, Catharpin to Hamilton. 66 and 50 do get backed up, but it’s generally closer in than you’d be going.

[ObviousAlter15]

Lynne: thanks for listing those. I’m glad to hear there are shows year round.

And thank you to everyone who took time to answer me! I am quite clueless on the area.

Would I be pushing it with 3 horses on a 4 acre pasture? Maybe it would be ok if I put in a gravel paddock for them to spend bad days?

[SaddleFitterVA]

In winter, you will want to be able to keep them off that paddock during the worst/wettest weather. Some choose to put in a gravel paddock, some just fence off an area that becomes a disgusting mud bog (whoops, my bias against mud is showing!). Made that a sacrifice paddock.

3 horses on 4 acres is fine, your grass will be healthier if you can rotate, using electric with step in stakes is a useful way to cross fence at a lower cost.

Before you buy something, I also recommend you learn the Loudoun GIS mapping system and go to the soils layer. The entire county has been mapped into soil types, some, such as “Middleburg Loam” are lovely, others, like in the “Swampoodle” series are boggy when wet, and concrete when dry. My farm has around 6 different soil types.

The PDF that explains the soil types is here. https://www.loudoun.gov/DocumentCenter/View/104560

It is expensive here.