At this point, I’d give my eye teeth for an EU or GB passport. I have a disabled adult son, and I’d have to bring him with me. I doubt any country would accept both of us since he’s so high cost.
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Eons ago, there was someone from Latvia who had bought a farm that included a horse. She came to CoTH asking for advice, and she and her husband both became show jumpers. Their shows sounded so lovely! They would stay in a little cabin by a lake and ride to the shows, which were insanely affordable.
I love winter, lakes, and forests, but I am scared of Putin so as perfect as that sounds, I would probably pick Ireland.
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GreyPoloPony, I grew up in Palos Verdes (in the 70s and 80s). It was an island of some horse stuff, surrounded by a sea of entirely unappealing urban sprawl-shit (IMHO). But the trails on The Hill were nice, and often smelled of eucalyptus and wild anise. Otherwise, I do not miss it for one single second.
Not to be a Johnny-one-note but I just read an obit of a Dutch horse breeder whose single notation outside of his beloved horses was that he was one of the few to complete the Elfstedentocht of 1963 under famously harsh conditions. I love the Dutch with their passion for horses and skates. If I could qualify for an EU work permit, that’s where I’d be.
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I remember her!
It was so interesting hearing her perspective on keeping horses.
I didn’t recall reading about the SJ career.
Do you recall her Username?
Anna somebody. I don’t remember! The first title topic was “Novices needs help with naughty horse.”
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There are lights you can get that help with SAD. Kind of like lizard lights. I used to have a lamp with one of those bulbs and it would slowly get brighter and brighter as though the sun was rising. It was great. Cost quite a bit, but I should look into getting another.
House Hunters International (I know, I know) had an episode where a jumper rider was looking for property in Spain. She bought a property in Matarrana. If I remember correctly, she bought a barn with a small apartment and planned to build a house. It seems like there are lots of places of the beaten path that are affordable, but I’m not sure about the equestrian scene.
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HHI used to be my favorite show. Not so much for the people or the houses, I liked learning about the cities and neighborhoods.
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Same. The formula is always the same with couples disagreeing about what type of house they want. I love learning about the locales. May I please move to the Gold Coast of Australia? Pretty please? 
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Ireland and Poland are strongly equestrian friendly. I look at horse vacations around the world and Croatia also comes up, but I’ve never been. My son visited Poland and loved it, said it was beautiful and there were horses everywhere.
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My husband and I were talking to one of his Australian clients about back home, and he told us stories about the snakes they got on the ranch and how one pretty much took his car hostage for a few days.
I want to visit Australia, but I don’t think you could pay me to live in where every animal wants to kill you. 
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So true!
I recently watched a tv show about the Alaska bush. All the houses had metal mesh fencing on top of their house siding to keep out the bears. No thanks!
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Lived in Germany for just over two years, still here, and grew up in the UK. Dual citizenship, French/US.
I live in SW Germany and am an event rider. Not a lot here for eventing, so I was doing dressage and some jumping.
I’m going to say it like this, you need to know the language. Idc how much people say they learn it in school, a lot of the horse people I’ve met don’t speak English. My vet speaks English and my barn owner does, but maybe a handful of people at the stables I’m at speak English. Which is fine, because I’m proficient now. When I started here, my basic German was quite difficult to get around with regarding horse things. Something to note.
The winters are dark and they are wet and they are cold. Seasonal depression is real. I still ride during the winter, there’s a lovely indoor where I am, but it’s just dark early and it’s difficult. Mud, lots of mud because there’s so much rain. A UV lamp will be your friend.
Nothing is open Sunday. Everything closes at 10pm, besides the bars and doner places. The cost of living is quite reasonable. Paperwork, utilities, insurance, and all that will be done in German. There’s a lot that people don’t think about when moving. Land isn’t very expensive here and there’s a lot of farm and agriculture.
You can trailer in or ride to the riding clubs and entries are 15 to 20€. Cost of keeping horses is very inexpensive too. Good horses here, decent prices. Worth it but the winters omg.
Spain is pushing back against tourists and expats, so something to consider. They are talking about introducing heavy taxes for buying property as a non citizen. The housing crisis there is hitting heavy.
I’ve been looking at moving to France in the next couple of years and buying a farm there. Maybe Italy, just kind of depends on what I find and where I want to settle.
I have a house in Morocco, so I escape from the German winters to get some sun as much as I can. That or I run off to ski. I’m close to the Swiss alps by train and a quick plane ride from Chamonix. That usually helps break up the winter a bit.
OP, I guess what I’m saying is that winter sucks. Consider that strongly when looking for a place to live.
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I think some people are really sensitive to cold, wet, dark winters. I know I am.
I would never voluntarily move to Northern Europe. Here in Maine, at least winters are so bright and sunny, and pretty with all the snow.
Like you I am a dual F/US citizen and I am spending as much time in SE France as I can, these days…I don’t own a horse there, but I know where to get my fix 
So yes, we are probably going to move there at some point. Probably sooner than later…
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I have some hardware which makes the winters very painful. As I get older, I just can’t handle them mentally. I know my post is a lot of I hate winter, but it’s honestly getting to me this year. Worse than ever.
I was in northern VA for a good bit and winter never seemed that bad, because we got the sun and some mild days. I go for weeks without the sun sometimes. It’s getting to me.
Love SE France. My grandmother has a place in Antibes. I’m checking areas. This summer I did a drive through southern France which was lovely on my way to visit a friend in Alicante. Fingers crossed for you and I’m glad you’re enjoying your time there.
My aunt moved from australia from the south of France. She’s been there about 10 years and is planning on moving back to Aus soon. One of the reasons is the bureaucracy. It can be quite difficult to navigate and very tedious. They use Napoleonic law so things like wills can be affected. In her will she had to stipulate that Australian law was to be followed as the will had been written in Australia. Otherwise her assets would be given to any children (she has one bio daughter who she doesn’t know) automatically rather than what was stipulated in the will. Anyway just something to keep in mind.
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Oh yes, French bureaucracy is not for the faint of heart, having lived there for almost 30 years, I know it well. Definitely something to think about and educate oneself about.
@FLeventer, Antibes is nice but there are too many people on the coast from May to September , I can’t take it. We are in the hills about 1 hour from the Mediterranean, and we love it there. It’s our little piece of heaven on earth, I hope it never changes…
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