With all due respect, then, perhaps you can’t comment on just how “not bad” the eventing scene is in the PNW. I say this as someone who has lived in many different places.
Y’all, you are incredible! Thank you so much for sharing your advice. It’s helped me narrow some stuff down and confirm my initial gut feeling.
I’ve been smitten with Seattle for a while, and I’d like to explore it more. When it’s safe to do so, I’m going to visit again and get my bearings. I figure if Seattle doesn’t work out, there’s always Atlanta 
I do love Atlanta and the amazing eventing scene it offers, but the distance from the mountains and the heat are thorns for me. Seattle sounds like it fits more of what I’m looking for with the horses than CA. Happy to make some tradeoffs for the amazing access to nature. I wanted to follow up with a couple of questions. Thanks again for your support with this!
Turnout. What does wintertime turnout generally look like? Is it large enough for the horse to canter a circle?
Autonomy. Only jumping in lessons is something I can manage. Dumb question, but does it seem like this might be a sign of the times? Or just something that’s more prevalent in the south? (My prime riding years were 2002–2012. Rode in GA, AL, and NC. All considered normal behavior to practice by yourself, just to work on form, rhythm, and straightness. Just small stuff.) Is hacking by yourself still considered OK behavior?
Barn recs. My gameplan is to half-lease (maybe full lease if the job allows). Eventually would love to buy, but we’re about 2 years out from that point. I’d love to find a trainer who’s knowledgeable and willing to work with a LL rider who’s eager to knock off rust + regain skill. (FWIW, I’ve evented through Training/C3 pony clubber, last event in 2007. I’ve owned a horse before, and we still have him–27 and livin’ the life in GA.) BNT is not necessary, mostly looking for someone encouraging, willing to take a joke, and able to explain concepts systematically. What barns do y’all have in mind? Some far these are on my radar:
- Polestar Farm (↠I know, it's so far, but what a dream, right?! Maybe if I work remotely...)
- Donida Farm (↠Seems to be larger than what I'm looking for, but just want to confirm.)
- Coast to Coast Eventing
- Next Phase Eventing
- Hawkwind Farm
- Eickert Eventing
- Lodestar Training
Thank you again!!
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Donida is more of a show facility than a boarding barn these days. The owner, Gwen Blake, is a dressage rider/trainer, and I believe the only people who board there at present are Gwen’s dressage clients - although I think she has a working student who is an eventer. They usually have a derby or two there every year, but there is no eventing or jumping trainer based there.
The neighborhoods you are listing are primarily “heart of Seattle” places which would set you up for a very challenging commute to most any of the barns on your list.
I think finding a half lease is also going to be a challenge - not impossible, just not a ton of options. As mentioned above, most of the eventing focused programs are pretty small even if the trainer is a big name in the area so might have one half lease available now and then. Other trainers possibly worth checking out would be Napoleon Eventing/Baernhof (sp?) and Cornerstone Eventing - both in Enumclaw and Freedon Run at Reber Ranch in Kent. The logistics with respect to your Seattle neighborhoods would be challenging, but I know they all have clients that make it work from Seattle neighborhoods.
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Wintertime turnout IME is either one of 2.5 things: a run and maybe a sacrifice paddock, or your horse is on pasture board anyways and the pasture turns into soup.
As to neighborhoods, I live outside of Tacoma but work in Capitol Hill. It’s nice, pretty convenient, but popular, and thus finding an apartment can be a challenge at times. They just can’t build enough to keep up. West Seattle AFAIK from my friends who live there is good if you’re looking for more of a suburban feel, but it can be a complete PITA to get anywhere that isn’t West Seattle. Case in point, they’ve just closed the West Seattle Bridge for what will probably be months.
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I would recommend Polestar, and any of the Grandias, and Todd Trewin (but maybe not lease options). If you can get to Vashon or Gig Harbor, there are good options too, but maybe too far from you. I can’t remember which barn Karen O’Neal is out of now? Could you live in Bellingham? Super cool city with easier access to trails, etc. and Jessica Heidemann is there!
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Bellingham would be a huuuugely long commute to Seattle :eek: But people from south end of Whidbey do it regularly (I, myself, would rather die). And oddly, there are eventers here, even though yes, Whidbey Trials were cancelled. There is a trainer in Coupeville (center of the island) who is excellent and has a good program, and her daughter is an UL eventer who travels with some other trainer but unless I FB stalk, I dunno who that is. Her name is Kim Knott. Not sure that island life is really OP’s scene tho, all the places she listed are very big city.
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Thank y’all so much for your recs so far! Super helpful! I think Bellingham wouldn’t be possible, unfortunately 
PS: @TheJenners
Thank y’all so much for your recs so far! Super helpful! I’d like to stay in Seattle (or Remond if it works out that way) for the job prospects. Ideally, I’m hoping for a remote or flexible hours/WFH policy situation, but I’d still prefer to stay in an urban environment. I know that makes it harder on myself, but I love the energy of a city. Makes me wonder: does Seattle have their own Oakland? I spent the first few years in SF and moved out to Oakland a couple of years ago. From Oakland to the barn, it’s 25 minutes without traffic, which is helpful on the weekend/WFH days. My offices have always been in the city, and during rush hour, the commute is generally 1–1.5 hours so I don’t mind gritting through it. I love being in Oakland for it’s personality, activity, and for getting me on the other side of the bridge + closer to the barn. Any Seattle equivalent?
PS: TheJenners, love your donkey!
Lemme tag a few people, hopefully they can chime in. They are hunters but definitely closer to Seattle and might know some leads… @PNWjumper @costco_muffins
And thanks, I actually have two, but the one in my profile picture is the original Evil Burrito, hence my expression :winkgrin:
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Seattle traffic is among some of the worse in the country. I would not live in the city proper if my intention was to ride daily. I dont know what you do for a living but Redmond and Bellevue have strong tech cores. As everyone is learning now, working from home is an attractive offer to lessen commute days. Smart companies are thinking very carefully about where they establish because the logistics of the commute and the cost of living. Personally Amazon was not smart. They plonked all those workers into the heart of what has been known for years as the Mercer Mess. They did no one a favor. Plus the city allowed it which tells you how far thinking Seattle and King County admin has been over the years.
Redmond is a little more laid back and “smaller” a city. It has a newly built up downtown core and is sublimely walkable. Huge dog park bike trails and all. Redmond city symbol is the bike and they pride themselves on being bike friendly. Microsoft HQ is in Redmond
Bellevue is a larger and older established city and has a more posh downtown. Bellevue has less of a neighborhood feel. The downtown is bisected by the freeway and there is an old industrial area that splits the homes out further. Bellevue was built in the heyday of the car. More nightspots than Redmond
A lot of tech companies have work cores in Bellevue and Redmond
both of these cities are a sensible bus commute into Seattle and it is easy to springboard out to many barns from there. Redmond would be my option. I lived in Redmond when I had my horse and it took me 20 to 30 minutes to get to the barn way out on the east edge of Redmond Ridge
I dont think you can get to any of the eastside ( woodinville redmond maple valley) barns from Seattle proper in under 1 1/2 hours on most days
The ground logistics here are hampered by Lake Washington. There are three options, take one of the bridges or drive around. When one of the bridges gets messed up, the other options feel the impact. None of them are free flowing except on the weekend in the early hours.
COL in this region is exceedingly high. For a 1 BR apartment in the Seattle urban area plan at least 1800/ month, higher in most neighborhoods you mention. Capitol Hill is not car owner friendly and you will be hard pressed to find a place that provides parking. Columbia City is a sentimental favorite since I grew up near there. It is a newly gentrified area and has high ethnic diversity. Avoid West Seattle unless you only wish to stay in West Seattle, otherwise tack on another 1/2 to your barn commute.
Donida and Polestar could easily be 2 hour on a weekday. If you are wanting to be at Polestar, then living in Everett would be a more reasonable choice.
Personally I would focus on Redmond as having the comfortable neighborhood feel you seem to be looking for. Easy to get out east to where there are many barns. Easy to get into Seattle proper by bus for work or car for the weekend, evening etc.
I have lived in this area all my 62 years. The urban coolness of Seattle is no longer for me.
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I mean, I’d say Tacoma, but I also spend about 4 hours a day commuting to Seattle (granted I’m coming from Puyallup and am 100% reliant on the cluster that is Sound Transit, it isn’t necessarily that long to Tacoma depending on where in Tacoma you live). But an Eastside commute from there (if that’s where you find work) would be close to a nonstarter. I did have a few buddies who did a Puyallup to Eastside commute, but they were all hardcore cyclists and built their training rides into their commutes. More power to them.
I know of people who make commutes from Monroe or Woodinville work, but then you have to weigh urban feel against barn accessibility.
Otherwise though, I think you’ve gotten some great advice from @hoopoe. The geography around makes things a huge challenge. And IMO that’s not helped with how business and infrastructure in the region has been concentrated in Seattle.
I would either live on the east side (Bellevue, Redmond, etc) or on Vashon or Bainbridge Island. They are commutable by ferry depending on what part of Seattle you are going to. Both islands have nice barns, etc. for hiking, biking, etc vashon is better.
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As mentioned, traffic is a beast (except during a pandemic). The only saving grace is that it is focused around the rush hours still (approx 6-9am and 4-7p). If you have a work situation that allows a flexible time to go to the barn, the city can work. But otherwise you might be a lot happier living further out, closer to the horses and shortening the commute. Or planning on riding primarily on the weekends. Or live close to work (even within the city, commutes can be tough) and just plan on a long evening commute out to the barn, but hopefully a short return after rush hour.
If you are looking for more of a walkable urban feel, but closer to horses you might like several neighborhoods in Kirkland and Bellevue. They are more single family home residential but you’ll be close to Seattle proper and lots have neighborhood areas to walk to and get a coffee on Saturday. There are even still a reasonable cluster of horse properties in the Bridle Trails area (not many/any eventers, but lots of trail riding). Another, more affordable, area is the area around main street Bothell (the rest of bothell is full on suburb). If you work from home, want to have horses, hate traffic and are OK with a little town with some good coffee shops and restaurants, you might like somewhere like Duvall or Snoqualmie. Definitely small town energy, but walkable and more going on than a rural small town. You’ll likely find sprawl is a lot more contained here than most southern and midwestern cities (we still have plenty).
We moved here from the midwest 3-4 years ago and love it! One thing we did, which was an act of desperation in the crazy hot housing market of the time but actually ended being really smart was that we started with 6 month sublet in the heart of Seattle - a neighborhood too expensive for us to buy a house in or live long term, but a GREAT introduction to the city. Once we had jobs we knew we’d stick with and the lay of the land, we had a chance to really explore the neighborhoods and commutes we might want to live in long term, and ended up buying a house much further out (where we could afford it, but also an area we love!).
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- Polestar Farm (↠I know, it's so far, but what a dream, right?! Maybe if I work remotely...
- Donida Farm (↠Seems to be larger than what I'm looking for, but just want to confirm.)
- Hawkwind Farm
- Lodestar Training
Meg Finn - good group of AA riders with a variety of goals.
Anna Stein - good riding young adult who has a relaxed and laid back barn.
Kim Knott - the best of the best, but moving to AZ, which is gutting.
Siena Massey - traveling trainer who works out of a few places (Equidae farm, Mercer Island Saddle Club) has eventing clients and is good for lessons if you find a barn that you enjoy without a trainer you love.
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We live in Snoqualmie and it’s the best. Our home is 5 mins to the freeway and even in terrible traffic it never took my hubby more than an hour to get to the far side of Seattle. We have a little farm up on Snoqualmie Ridge and can Access 20 miles of trails out the door and can even ride to Starbucks. Boarding is a little cheaper out here - $700-900 for places with indoors, but most kind of have turnout. Once you are into Redmond etc you are in the $1000+ range easily. And that’s before training, which is often required.
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