I’m a dual US/Canadian citizen (born here to Canadian parents and am considered a “Canadian citizen born abroad”). As it happens, I may want to exercise said citizenship in a pinch.
I still have family in Ottawa, but my specialized expertise would likely put me in Guelph or Charlottetown, PEI. What’s it like, expense and training-wise, for a capable ammy in need of good care but not a lot of bells and whistles? Showing would be the least of my priorities, but access to quality training would be nice.
This is relatively unlikely to actually happen, but I’m a big believer in research and preparation.
Right? Maybe we can establish an ex-pat community group.
The irony is that I hate the cold with a passion, and I’m not quite sure what moving that far north would do to my psyche. I spent the first 17 years of my life plotting to escape New England winters. Go back voluntarily, whaat?
Guelph is great. You have the Ontario Veterinary College there, and are about a 20 minute or so drive to Angelstone (venue that hosts silver and gold level shows). Lots of barns, lots of trainers as you are within an hour so of King City aka horse Mecca. Probably about 1 hour to Caledon Equestrian Park (where the 2015? Pan Ams were). Those are the key showing venues in Ontario, with the exception of Wesley Clover Park in Ottawa.
I no longer live there so harder to comment on barns. Lots of great trainers, full board will probably run you $900 ish canadian up to $3K if you want all the bells, whistles and full training.
Come. It is lovely. And not nearly as cold as you think!!
I’m in Ottawa… and even though it’s known as the coldest capital city in the world, thanks to climate change I was riding in a t-shirt only a couple of days ago. Today a sweatshirt. Last winter wasn’t terrible either. Guelph would certainly be warmer. I don’t think it’s nearly as cold as it once was so it might be better than you think! I would assume you’d have a lot more choice in Guelph than PEI.
As a Westerner I have no specific advice, but it’s very clear the center of sport horse life in Canada is in Ontario. The Maritimes are a very long way East. Toronto is the biggest city in Canada and it’s basically North of Detroit, which in the US is Midwest not East Coast.
I’m just south of Guelph and at one point, this was the area with the highest number of horses per capita in North America. We also have multiple racetracks within an hour’s drive so there is a large racehorse population.
That also means lots of vets in the area, so you shouldn’t have any issue finding one. As mentioned, OVC is right here, plus we have Milton Equine and King Animal Hospital within a short drive that do elective surgeries and diagnostics.
Along with hunters and jumpers, we also have lots of eventers and dressage riders in the general area, and rated and schooling shows for both. I’m not very familiar with the Western scene but I know there are quite a few options there too. We also have beautiful hacking.
For boarding, there are many barns that offer outdoor board which would run you approximately $450-$500 range (with an indoor arena, which is mandatory if you want to continue riding in any consistent way here). Indoor can be had for less than $800 if you don’t need an indoor but expect about $800 to be your minimum with an indoor, and any newer boarding businesses I’ve seen open recently seem to be about $1000+.
It’s a great horse area!
Charlottetown - I’ve been there once From my understanding, there are barns on the island and the Atlantic Veterinary College is there, but there’s no show circuit. That might be more for eventing though. It’s a beautiful place but I’m not familiar with horsekeeping there.
I did my undergrad at the University of Guelph and it’s a lovely place to live. The city has grown a fair bit since I was there, but friends say that it still has a small town feel. The climate there is very mild compared to areas just to the north. Lots of slush days in the winter. Horsekeeping can be wet and muddy for much of the winter. But like others have said, it’s pretty close to the horse mecca of Ontario, so lots of access to barns, coaching, shows, equine veterinarians and referral hospitals, etc.
I’ve only been to PEI and Charlottetown once, I loved it. But my impression was likely biased seeing as we were there visiting the beach and eating lobster during a heat wave They can have some nasty weather, and my impression was that the horse community was very, very small.
Ok, fair point. Buffalo New York is closer to the coast than Toronto, because of how the coast is shaped. Toronto and Ontario generally are completely based around the inland waterways of the Great Lakes (as are Chicago Detroit and Buffalo) and St Lawrence seaway, vacation land is smaller lakes in Northern Ontario. It’s the financial and cultural heart of Canada and PEI, while lovely (I’ve never been) is remote and rural and requires a ferry ride. Americans may have trouble visualizing how under populated large areas of Canada are due mostly to geography and climate! Also distance. I Googled and driving to PEI from Toronto is 16 hours and almost 1700 miles.
Ontario is definitely considered part of eastern Canada, though not “east coast”. Eastern Canada is generally considered to be everything east of Manitoba, and not including the territories to the north.
Guelph is certainly more horsey, though prices in PEI seem to be very reasonable in many areas for houses, hobby farms, etc. (simply based on ads I’ve seen pop up for those places that would be three or four times as expensive in Ontario), if you’re willing to be further from the horse scene.
As far as I know about the horse business on the Island, Standardbreds are quite popular. Two tracks that go during the warmer seasons. The Gold Cup and Saucer is a huge provincial event.
Oh absolutely we call Toronto Eastern Canada from BC! But I was trying to explain to an American OP that while “Eastern Canada” is the financial and cultural and population center of Canada, it’s really located closer to the American Midwest. The real East Coast Canada is rural, lower cost of living, and quite remote, a mix of farming and former fishing villages.
Yes, the cost of land would be much cheaper in PEI. I’d compare it more maybe to Maine than to the urban American East Coast.
From my understanding, there are barns on the island and the Atlantic Veterinary College is there, but there’s no show circuit. That might be more for eventing though. It’s a beautiful place but I’m not familiar with horsekeeping there.
They can have some nasty weather, and my impression was that the horse community was very, very small.