MA is all about location - but yeah, most counties do not have the same tax as CT. Taxes in MA are high but nothing compared to CT. Taxes in NH are also deceptively high. I live less than 15m from the NH border - I don’t think NH has the same horse-scene that MA does, though it is very close. Like another poster, I considered moving out to NH until I looked at the taxes involved. Some parts of MA are much cheaper.
One thing to consider, as someone who has lived in all of these states (except CT, but I have spent a lot of time in CT), is whether or not your riding goals (yours and your client’s) include riding all winter. You will at minimum need an indoor for VT and NY if you want to ride all year. Which means your client base will likely either decide ot pull shoes, or keep shoes year round - here, if you’re not riding year-round most people pull shoes. You could get away with it in CT and MA, but you would likely not be able to do W/T/C without an indoor where I am. There are weeks where I can’t do anything more than walk because of ice under the snow and I am not a wuss about footing (eventer). The cold is not so bad but the winters are awful - lots of snow, lots of ice under the snow, rain, snow again, etc… and still way better than winters in VT.
VT can get really cold. It is also, as another poster said, very rocky - if you buy uncleared land you will probably remove more ledge than tree, in the end it might not be as good a deal as you thought it was. VT summers are sweet, wonderful, and painfully short - and their winter is very long and cold.
The riding population in VT is not as dense as you’d think; there are segments, but not meccas, IMHO - so professionals are not easy to come by and you are stuck with whoever is local, flaws and all.
The same goes for upstate NY. There is lots of land, but you’d be surprised how little horses - I found lots of isolated pockets. NY at least has some serious meccas where you can get good professionals, but there is a lot of land in NY so do your research on the area first. I had a very hard time finding good, qualified, educated professionals when I lived in upstate NY. Horse keeping in the country is very different than the horse-keeping I grew up with in central MA. Speaking to a vet in the area, she said things are just different there.
Land in NY can be very, very cheap - same with RE tax, but not income tax. There are trade-offs.
In MA, we have a ton of farriers and I am with Soloudinhere that many of them are underwhelming. I have had that be the case in every state I have lived in, except in SC (Aiken). Our vets are for the most part, fantastic, and we have several top schools very close. We could use more dentists, and have a good assortment of saddle-fitters, chiropractors, and massage professionals nearby.
NH is similar to MA for the most part, in my experience, though I think there are less showing opportunities in NH.
If I did not have my job to contend with, where I am very competitively paid and would not find someone to match it, I would move to western MA - the taxes suck but the land is cheap, and it is still close enough for all the horse things we need.
Also, re: farriers and what they charge.
There is honestly only one “specialty” farrier I would be comfortable recommending in this area and his prices are steep, last I checked he was in the $425 ballpark for 4 shoes, that doesn’t include pads or drilling & tapping. Once you get into specialty-shoe territory he is easily beyond $475.
My current farrier, who is dependable, amicable and does fine with our horses charges $180 for my horse that is 4 shoes, rim pads up front. $120 for fronts only, and $45 for a trim, I believe (I don’t have any trimmed).
I’ve had a few farriers in this area and say ballpark, trim is $30-50, fronts are $120-140, and four are $140-200.
