I am a Canadian who has been living in the US for many years and is now considering returning to Ontario but not exactly sure where to land. I have 3 horses - 2 competing geldings and one retired mare. All are used to living out 24/7. I am looking for barns that focus on eventing and dressage that offer outdoor boarding and, ideally have an indoor arena for ~$500/horse or less. Unfortunately, I also need to be able to afford a house (~1 acre for <$1 million) and have modest town nearby to establish my business. Areas I am considering are Brantford, Kitchener, London, Port Perry, areas from Coburg to Kingston, and Peterborough, but I am open to other suggestions. I’m comfortable driving 30-45 minutes from home or business. TIA for any recommendations!
I don’t know if you do FB but there is a page called Ontario Equestrian Connection, with a large membership, and they may have some good suggestions there.
Welcome home!
Thank you! Ironically, it was in that group that I posted first and someone suggested posting on here too!
For the eventing scene, I would say we have the same amount to the west as we do the east right now. Not much in central Ontario. Port Perry is a good location, a lot of vets, coaches and farriers are local to that area. Out West, I would highly highly recommend looking at Linda Planks Sprucehaven, she offers outdoor board, she is an eventing facility that hosts all different types of clinics throughout the season as well as SOCTA shows. Its a great facility, the barns out West tend to be on the lower end side of cost, but you have less resources for vets, a good amount of coaches and farriers.
Good Luck on your new adventure!
The Kingston/Belleville area is affordable and lots of horse people around!
Thank you! Housing west of Toronto seems super pricey. I like the Brantford area but not sure I can find affordable housing or outdoor board. I like Port Perry, but I’m not sure if it’s the best place to start a senior home care business as it’s a fairly small town. I’m leaning towards Peterborough, southwestern Ottawa, or Belleville to Kingston.
Not sure exactly what southeastern Ottawa means to you since I’ve seen “east” used much further west into Ottawa than I would expect, but look into your coaching and training options before you consider it too closely. I’m east of Ottawa and while board seems to be cheaper than in other areas, there also isn’t a lot of coaching available. The horse scene is very much west or south of the city, it seems.
I’m not sure what the costs are for outdoor board, but if North Gower, outside south of Ottawa, isn’t too far, I would suggest you might want to look at Steven’s Creek Farm. Owned and operated by Teddy LaFramboise, who is one of the old school powerhouses of eventing in Canada.
Sorry that was a typo- I meant southwestern Ottawa. I’ll edit the original.
I’m a nurse in Kingston and I can tell you a senior home care service would be extremely useful here. Many of my patients have delayed discharge dates due to unavailable home care services.
Board in Kingston is difficult though. There are options but nothing great.
At present, Peterborough has limited board options as well. The best choice would be Sunnymeade but they always have a waiting list.
$500US or Canadian?
I was hoping as close to $500 CAN per horse as possible for outdoor board. I spoke to Sunnmeade and they don’t offer outdoor board and have a long waiting list for indoor board (which I am not on, just in case!).
@luvmypup yes, I was definitely struggling to find decent boarding options near Kingston. Between Coburg and Peterborough and around Peterborough definitely seem to have more choices.
Also in the Kingston area. Decent boarding is hard to find.
There are a lot of retired/seniors here ( I am a senior myself) and in-home care is very much needed.
Hi, I live in Belleville and board my horses at a facility about 15 minutes away from my house on Hw 14 called Lemondal. The facility offers outdoor board in your price range and has a large indoor arena and a couple of outdoor rings. They are in the process of adding more cross country jumps and there is opportunity to hack on the property. The facility hosts a couple of recognized dressage shows in the summer. You can bring your own coach. Belleville is a modest town and houses prices are affordable. I know a good real estate agent!
