I am thinking of moving full-time to Wellington. What is the year-round riding like once the season is over?
More and more trainers have left the northeast to live in Wellington year round - so there are certainly plenty of training opportunities in the off season. People do a lot of early morning riding, and some give the horses a break from hard work in August (similar to what some of us do in late December/early January up north).
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Thank you!
Everything is quieter and much less hectic. They also do have some shows (Gold Coast, White Fences, Wellington Classic). It is pretty miserably hot and humid from June-September and some horses never adjust. If you can find a covered arena, it helps, but it’s still hotttttt.
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[QUOTE=Mersidoats;n10567307]
Everything is quieter and much less hectic. They also do have some shows (Gold Coast, White Fences, Wellington Classic). It is pretty miserably hot and humid from June-September and some horses never adjust. If you can find a covered arena, it helps, but it’s still hotttttt
Thank you. Do you like living there year round?
There’s a reason people spend winters in FL. :winkgrin:
I was born and lived in Ft. Lauderdale through my late 20s. I couldn’t deal with that heat and humidity (not just the temps and dampness, but the duration) anymore. (55 now.)
Not much has changed since I left in terms of horses… EARLY mornings are bearable for training rides. (It really doesn’t cool down until late at night, if at all, from May-October, so evening rides aren’t as comfortable.) The biting flies, gnats and mosquitoes can be minimized if your barn practices excellent sanitation and blasts fans, but there are a lot of opportunistic fungi and bacteria along with all the summer rain, so you have to be continually watchful of even small scrapes and cuts. And, of course, everything from hay to farrier work, is $$$$ year 'round.
While the show scene is more quiet, the traffic remains.
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ah! thank you! hmmmmm. lots to think about -
Do you live in Wellington?
For a temperature comparison it is helpful to look up average annual temperatures.
I live in the south and consider it quite hot here for a good part of the year. We average above 87 degrees from June - August. Many days it is well into the low 90s and very high humidity. In Wellington it averages above 87 degrees May - September/Early October.
If you have a temperature-sensitive horse or dislike the heat, you’re spending nearly half of the year experiencing peak summer level temperature.
Personally, I’d move there in a heartbeat but I’m one of those weird people who is very comfortable riding in hot weather.
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This is the coolest website ever! That may be a slight stretch but the number nerd in me just spent ten minutes reading about my area vs. other areas. This could be a helpful way to quantify weather in your current area vs. a prospective community.
https://weatherspark.com/y/18664/Average-Weather-in-Wellington-Florida-United-States-Year-Round
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Thank you - I am from the NorthEast - I like the warm weather but haven’t been in the kind of heat I am hearing about – the horse I ride got a summer sore last year in Wellington and it is still healing - and now he is back in Wellington. looking closely at his nicks…
I live in Palm City, am hour north of Wellington. We definitely get seasonal horse people but it feels more steady year-round here then Wellington, and the main summer/winter difference is the snow birds in suburbia more so than an influx of horses.
I also would much rather ride in the summer in Florida than the winter up north! Where I am, there is a breeze from the east, off the ocean, that picks up at dusk most nights. So riding at night with lights works and having a covered arena also makes a huge difference. Wellington is also more open, but farther from the ocean than Palm City, but I would be careful looking at Loxahatchee for year-round as a lot of it is wooded and doesn’t get breezes.
I have one horse who loves to get summer sores, and Quest is his best friend 
I’ve learned to manage them and have lots of different fly protection for him. We use feed-through fly inhibitor (Solitude IGR) fly predators outside the barn, and have a fly spray system in the barn. The spray system makes the biggest difference.
If you’re going to buy your own horse property, make sure the pastures don’t flood or if it’s perfect otherwise, make sure you can bring in fill dirt and be careful of property with designated wetlands. Also, Palm Beach county is picky about what you do with your manure! Last I knew there were a handful of approved companies who haul off, and composting on your property is not allowed (which in general is only a problem if your neighbors report you).
In summer, it feels like there is a decent amount of shows, not too many clinics, and in the height of season there is way too much to choose from and any given Saturday you have to pick from eight different things. From mid-January through March is the only time I’m sometimes bummed about the hour drive to Wellington as I’d go to more stuff, but I also enjoy being able to get away from the chaos that is Wellington in season!
I would recommend you go spend a few weeks throughout the summer in the area. Not just once, but several times, so you get a realistic idea of how that heat and humidity (and bug load) feels. Also imagine how your horse will manage it. Horses with any kind of skin sensitivity may not do so well spending summers in the South-East - so you need to assess that as well.
Of course, I would recommend that of any place you plan on moving - go spend some time there in the “rough season”, even if just a few weekends here and there. Different people (and horses) handle heat and humidity (and cold) differently.
good advice - Thank you!
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Thank you!
I have lived year round in Loxahatchee and Wellington. In the last 15 years, the high temps have started earlier, and finished later. Summer temps are now May-beginning November. It was 93 degrees for the first two weeks of Nov. in 2019. Screen in your barn. Makes life a lot easier. Hard to ride without a covered arena. Those who say its not that bad, are those who have to be here. Those that have done it, and left, (in the summers), will tell you that it is awful! You will be soaked to your underwear, the moment you leave the house!
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I’m down there on a monthly basis for days at a time for training - so it’s like home away from home…? 
I live year-round in north-central Florida. I will say horse management in Florida is a whole different beast than up north, no matter where you are in Florida.
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