College Station is in south central Texas about 100 miles north of Houston. It’s a pretty good sized city, around 100,000. It is the home of Texas A&M University, which is a good sized school so the city pretty much revolves around the university. I hope you like football because the Aggies are a big deal in that part of the country. The state’s only vet school is located at A&M. Because it is fairly close to Houston I would imagine that the horse community is more varied and sophisticated than Pittsburg, however Western riders will still outnumber English riders. There should be more opportunities for boarding.
I haven’t been to College Station since I was a kid but since it isn’t that far from the Gulf Coast, I would imagine the weather is more humid than Pittsburg which is saying a lot. Be prepared for mosquitoes. I know College Station is 100 miles from Houston but I wouldn’t be surprised if urban sprawl from Houston has encroached on it. Frankly, you couldn’t pay me enough to live in the Houston area. Its hot, humid, lots of smog from all the refineries and chemical companies, lots of traffic and crime. I’d prefer east Texas but then I grew up just across the border in Southwest Arkansas so that’s what I’m used too. I don’t want to be a downer but I would be surprised a College Station practice would hire a vet from California since they have all those home grown ones from the university.
I love College Station and would move back if DH could find a job there. (I’m 1 hour and 20 minutes’ drive north of the vet school - close to Waco. Y es, we have the trip timed…).
Horse-wise, in addition to A&M’s vet school, there’s Brazos Valley Equine in Navasota. They’re a good hospital - both BVEH and A&M have treated a lot of the rescue horses and have always done good work.
Town/culture wise: There’s more ‘stuff’ in CS than anywhere in east Texas. The town has grown up a lot in the past 10 years. If you like theater, A&M brings in traveling shows 9 months of the year (we used to go to a bunch of them). There’s shopping, a mall, loads and tons of restaurants.
Horse-wise: There are a lot of boarding barns, many college students come to school with their horses. When we were there, there were several self-care and full care barns. I know a couple of the self-care places shut down, and the barn manager i had moved so I can’t easily recommend any place. But I can get recommendations for you.
There are hunter/jumper people, dressage people, western people, etc. There’s not a ton of trail riding if you do that - Lake Sommerville has some trails.
You would be close enough to Houston and Austin to go to shows in both cities.
School-culture: Yes, football is big. When you live in CS, you don’t go out to eat right after home games or graduation. However if you go WHILE the game is going on, you can get great service with shorter waits. Don’t go shopping the week before or after a semester starts unless you like crowds.
Have I mentioned I love College Station? My favorite vet in the world is there.
What else would you like to know?
I haven’t been to College Station since I was a kid but since it isn’t that far from the Gulf Coast, I would imagine the weather is more humid than Pittsburg which is saying a lot. Be prepared for mosquitoes. I know College Station is 100 miles from Houston but I wouldn’t be surprised if urban sprawl from Houston has encroached on it. Frankly, you couldn’t pay me enough to live in the Houston area. Its hot, humid, lots of smog from all the refineries and chemical companies, lots of traffic and crime. I’d prefer east Texas but then I grew up just across the border in Southwest Arkansas so that’s what I’m used too. I don’t want to be a downer but I would be surprised a College Station practice would hire a vet from California since they have all those home grown ones from the university.[/QUOTE]
There is plenty of Timothy in College Station and Pittsburgh - usually the feed supply stores and vets have connections for a reliable source.
Houston is very nice and has a terrific equestrian community as does College Station, and Dallas.
If you ride English and Western, I suspect you trail ride. The NATRC (North American Trail Riders Conference) group is very active in Pittsburgh/NE TX area, so I’d suggest emailing them for suggestions on boarding facilities. Very friendly and helpful bunch.
You may want to contact an Irish Sport Horse group or Fleur Bryan (Irish Sport Horse Judge and Clinician from Kentucky that frequents Texas) for breed barns & maybe a private barn.
Good luck with the jobs and hope you can make it to Texas.
What SanJac said. Just wanted to add that I live in Houston and feed only timothy hay. I import a load when I can, otherwise I have sources here and no trouble finding it. Good luck to you.
[QUOTE=The Blue Bullet;7184773]
This was all very disappointing to read. I hope there are better things to be said about College Station as I applied to a job there as well.[/QUOTE]
You will like College Station. It is the home of Texas A&M, huge vet school there, and is a typical college town. There are English riders there too as opposed to Pittsburg. I live about 1 1/2 hours from there and compete at a dressage barn outside of College Station, Topsider Farm. They may have openings. You can e-mail Ginni Cifelli at ginni@flash.net. Much less culture shock than Pittsburg too. I came to TX from upstate NY, have been to Pittsburg and know the area and know College Station pretty well. If you have a choice go to College Station.
College Station is going to be a great place for you if you ride English. I too looked at Pittsburg (because I found an amazing house up there!) but couldn’t find the riding area. I would have drove to Mt. Pleasant for school. There wasn’t much of anything English up there that I could find, but I decided to stay put for a while. I currently have an outstanding offer to go work for a Polo guy in Hempstead. I’ve been looking that way (not far from College Station) and found that it’s way more impressive in the horse scene. It’s also close enough to Houston which is where a ton of shows are!
I came from Nevada to TX, though it wasn’t a culture shock for me because I lived in TN for years (and have a ton of family in TX). I will never look back, though I miss my NorCal friends.
I’m near the metroplex. Timothy is found. Good quality is hard and expensive. Think $35 and up for a 3 stringer. Saw some bales in grapevine for $40 including mold and bugs woo-hoo. Bermuda is mostly local and varies widely in prices and quality. I prefer my Bermuda I puck up occasionally Thats from NoCal. That’s some pretty hay when it’s around. Alfalfa is also common. Most of it comes from NM and AZ but some places are from the NW.
But this is the metroplex. Which is a good while from Pittsburgh TX. Deep east Texas is just yuck. Huuuuuuge difference from California.
Well, I grew up in Houston but spent a good bit of time in Nacogdoches/ Chireno and environs- Pittsburg is a bit north of that area so I’m not familiar with it (did do quarter horse shows in Sulphur Springs but that was in the 60s to early 70s so would not be helpful!). Here is their web site: http://www.pittsburgtexas.com/
Having east Texas genes and family I disagree with the yuck factor. But that’s just me. Piney woods and katydids and such, I like, and the folks are friendly though often (as with many of my cousins) a very dry sense of humor so you have to look for the twinkle in the eye when there is a deadpan comment. I will note, though, that Texas has almost no Federal land, so cross country/ trail rides would be limited to state lands, permission from landowners, and horse facilities.
I expect it is very rural, sparsely populated, low cost of living.
[QUOTE=SanJacMonument;7196199]
Texas is great, and we love Californians!
You may want to contact an Irish Sport Horse group or Fleur Bryan (Irish Sport Horse Judge and Clinician from Kentucky that frequents Texas) for breed barns & maybe a private barn.
Good luck with the jobs and hope you can make it to Texas.[/QUOTE]
I actually met Fleur at our national show this past August. I didn’t know Fleur had ties to Texas. I’ll be sure to inquire if anything works out. Sorry I don’t check in here too often. I did decline the offer from the practice in Pittburg.
I just had my interview this past Monday and it was with Texas A&M in their large animal lameness department. I’ll hear back hopefully by early next week. I am a big football fan so I should fit right in. CS sounds like a more promising location to relocate to.
Don’t go shopping the week before or after a semester starts unless you like crowds.