Moving: Where would you go Part II

[cabbru12]

Hello,
I am reviving a thread that was started 4 years ago by someone else who was looking to move anywhere in the country. I’m finding myself in a similar situation and wonder if people would mind offering their advice based on my criteria?

I am looking to relocate somewhere where I can:

• Board at a barn that does AA or A horse shows, but where I don’t have to spend the entire winter in Wellington and/or show every weekend. Daily individual turnout a must.
• Looking for a barn with a friendly, social, fairly low-key atmosphere, but where I can show when I’m able.
• I have a 9 yo Warmblood gelding who will eventually (barring major injury) do the 3’6" A/O Hunters and probably Performance Hunters/Derbies. Primary focus is his happiness. Don’t want him to be pounded on. He’s pretty straightforward, so doesn’t need lots of training rides or any special set up.
• I travel for work so need easy access to a major airport.
• Also, need to have someone at said boarding facility who can hack my horse while I’m traveling (I’m away 9-14 days a month, depending)
• Anything north of NJ, PA won’t work.
• Top choices are Denver area (best for me for work), Charlotte area, eastern PA. Barn can be in NJ, but I don’t want to live there. So the barn would need to be pretty readily accessible from eastern PA. I love VA, but it would be more difficult for me for work. South FL would be difficult. KY a possibility with CVG nearby. Aiken and Camden are appealing but too far from a major airport for it to work well for me.

Would love to get recommendations on trainers/barns in the areas I’ve mentioned, and/or other thoughts on places that meet my criteria that perhaps I haven’t thought of or explored.

Many thanks in advance for your time and recommendations!

[Spudsmyguy]

Western WA has pretty much what you are looking for and has a temperate climate. The East side - Redmond, Woodinville, Issaquah, Sammamish, etc. have a number of AA barns and I assume they travel to Thermal in CA in the winter. I have no idea if it’s required. SeaTac airport is not far and is easy to access.

[cabbru12]

Thanks so much for that. Are there any barns you’d recommend?

[Tha_Ridge]

If you’re fine with a NJ barn and want to live in PA, I’m in a program in Passaic County, NJ, that is exactly what you describe. I actually live in NYC, and like you, travel a lot for work. Horses get great care, great program for those who need it and less involvement for the horses who don’t, head trainer is on the road about two weeks out of the month, but the (talented) assistant stays home to teach, takes crews to one-day shows when there’s interest, and so on.

[cabbru12]

Would love to have info on that barn! If you feel more comfortable PMing me, that’d be great. Thank you!

[Spudsmyguy]

In Woodinville there’s 5C - hunter/jumper barn, in Sammamish there’s Potlatch, Rockmeadow, Legacy, Brackenhollow (more geared towards kids). Check out Flying Changes magazine for a listing:

https://www.flyingchanges.com/directory/trainer-directory/

[Tha_Ridge]

DMing you!

[fourfillies]

What about the Leesburg/Middleburg NoVA area. Super easy to Dulles and lots of options to check all your boxes.

[Ceffyl_Dwr]

I went to boarding school in Middleburg. What a truly lovely area of the country.

[TheJenners]

I love reading these and daydreaming, despite being tied to a job and owning my own farm Western WA, as @Spudsmyguy said, fits your needs and not only is SeaTac a major airport but there are now commercial flights coming out of Boeing so you can go a little further north and still be close to an airport, and maybe not have to open a vein for the boarding you’re looking for or a place to live.

PS an expected $$ range for board or your own housing might help, this area is stupid expensive in my mind but then I read what some people pay in NE where you are also listing as possibilities so my “expensive” and yours may not be the same.

[StormyDay]

I’d suggest eastern PA since you said that area is good for work. There are a ton of barns in that area and some awesome BNT. Horse shows are plentiful. Also, the cost of housing didn’t get as bad as some areas.

I grew up in the PNW, and I would not recommend going there to someone with horses. The cost of board is significantly higher than other cities, turnout is usually not great, there is still a lack of horse shows there (though it’s gotten better recently) and the cost of housing there is ridiculous. Plus the weather is dreary.

Charlotte has some pretty decent barns in the area, but I personally wasn’t thrilled with the area.

If you just need to have an airport nearby, Aiken actually has one in Augusta that is pretty decent and the prices are usually really inexpensive to take you to a ‘bigger’ airport.

[TheJenners]

@StormyDay

I grew up in the PNW, and I would not recommend going there to someone with horses. The cost of board is significantly higher than other cities, turnout is usually not great, there is still a lack of horse shows there (though it’s gotten better recently) and the cost of housing there is ridiculous. Plus the weather is dreary.

Truly? Because I see posts from people in the NE who just throw out board costs that are $1500/mo the way I mention the price of my Thai takeaway food! Agree on the housing though, I can’t believe what it’s doing right now. Rental market is even worse.

[cabbru12]

Thanks so much for all of this info and insight. I really appreciate it. I am leaning strongly toward Eastern PA. I grew up in that area, so it is familiar to me. I just haven’t lived there in a long time and don’t really have the horse contacts there anymore. Again, many thanks for taking the time. And, keep it coming, please!!

[Spudsmyguy]

Jenners is right, I wouldn’t be able to have horses if I had to pay $1,500 a month. There are a few places out here that are approaching that level but it’s not the norm. These are also top notch FEI level barns too. Most board out here for full care - turnout, stall cleaned, fed, etc. runs about $500 to $800 depending on location, amenities, and level of care. Human housing, on the other hand, is astronomical.

[cabbru12]

I get that. The PNW is gorgeous. But, I think for my purposes, it is probably not in the top three choices. It will be a little hard for me to get to work from there and also my family is on the east coast. I’m currently in a place with astronomical housing costs, so that in and of itself doesn’t necessarily deter me. But, I’d prefer to go closer to family rather than further at the moment. But, I really do appreciate that feedback and will keep it in mind. Great information. And board for me is running $1700 a month for full training. So you probably won’t find me with sticker shock (although I wish I could be shocked by paying that amount.) My mother really should have handed me a tennis racket as a kid…

[fourfillies]

Lots of options in Philly suburbs (both PA and South Jersey). I rode in South Jersey when I lived in Philly and it was an easier drive than the PA Philly ‘burbs. Most of the BNT that would bring along a Derby horse spend at least a few weeks in Florida if not the season (Louise Serio, Phoebe DeMott) but not all.

[fourfillies]

I visited Aiken recently and really enjoyed it but I would NOT consider it if I traveled for work. Getting to and from southern PA was a PITA and I’m less than an hour from BWI. Don’t know if it’s a COVID issue or what but my options were a puddle jumper from Augusta or Columbia to ATL or Charlotte or driving to fly out of ATL or Charlotte to BWI. Travel time was no joke 10 hours both ways with tight layovers and not many options for time of day to fly. I really considered just driving

[StormyDay]

@TheJenners

@StormyDay

I grew up in the PNW, and I would not recommend going there to someone with horses. The cost of board is significantly higher than other cities, turnout is usually not great, there is still a lack of horse shows there (though it’s gotten better recently) and the cost of housing there is ridiculous. Plus the weather is dreary.

Truly? Because I see posts from people in the NE who just throw out board costs that are $1500/mo the way I mention the price of my Thai takeaway food! Agree on the housing though, I can’t believe what it’s doing right now. Rental market is even worse.

If you want to show in the PNW and want to be anywhere near a city, 1500 a month is low.
11 years ago, I was contemplating paying 2k a month for board just because it had an indoor. At one point I paid 800 a month but there was no weekend turnout or grain feeding.

To me the difference that I saw between the PNW and the east coast is that in the PNW I had to pay premium prices for any sort of board. Here, there are places that are 2k a month, but 5 minutes down the road there are places that are 600.

[TatteredDaydreamer]

I recommend eastern or SE PA, tons of great options with trainers at all different levels and board ranges. Tons of horse showing, and some really lovely areas to live.

[TheJenners]

There are those places here too, they are just always full