ASSFS Blog Hop: Location, Location, Location

Since I have been enjoying these posts so much, I decided to share my information.  I am on the gulf coast about 30-45 minutes from the actual beach.

I honestly don't know the costs of quite a few of these or they are solely based on me, because when I moved here I didn't have a horse and once I did have a horse I knew where I was keeping him.

Water jump when we were in a drought (it comes with a duck too)

Board- $485 (Stall)  This includes everything (blanketing, twice a day feeding, little extra care things).  In addition to that we have a full sized dressage ring, a small dressage ring, a jump field with enough jumps to do full courses through prelim, cross country in two fields including a water jump, banks, and a ditch (full courses step over stuff through novice and a few training/prelim).  There are also trails most of them are 20ish minutes but I have figured out how to connect a few loops with minimal backtracking to add up to around 50 minutes.  I also really really love the turnout.  The horses are outside at night (16ish hours) from April to October/November and then during the winter they are out for 8-9 hours.

Full Training-???  I honestly don't know of any place that has full training.

Hay-???  I don't know the cost of this one either.  I do know that you can buy alfalfa that is hauled in from somewhere out west for $24 for a 100 pound bale.  We have costal hay which I think sucks, but it is what is available.  I have been supplementing with timothy pellets to help keep the weight on Stinker.

Field where a galloping path is cut during the summer

Shoes/Trims-  I only know the cost of our farrier, who I know is the most expensive in the area but he is worth it.  I think trims are $40 and Stinker's full set of shoes are $185.  He gets hot shod and I know it goes up from there if pads are involved.

Weather...
Hot as balls.  The kicker down here is the humidity and the fact that you can only take off so many layers before you get arrested for public indecency.  The temperatures mainly stay in the mid 90s during the summer, but when you factor in the humidity is is typically in the mid 100s.  Anhidrosis is a major problem and we have several horses that have it in the barn.  There really isn't a spring or a fall which makes me sad.  We get quite a bit of rain but the soil is sandy so it handles the rain a lot.  Hurricanes can hit here, but I am really hoping I will move before that happens.  The winter is nice, despite the humidity making it feel way colder than it actually is.  But the summers suck and are really miserable.  I really don't know why anyone colonized this area before the invention of air conditioning.

Riding Demographic
There is a pretty good mix of things.  There are lots of people that do western (speed events and the pleasure classes).  There are hunter jumpers in the area along with the eventers.  There isn't a ton of straight dressage right here, but within a couple hours there are more people that do straight dressage.  But you can find whatever you want in this area.  We do have one tack store and it mostly caters to the English crowd.

We even have minis

Frustrating Things About The Area
There aren't very many good instructors in the area.  S is one of the few that regularly competes and she is totally dependent on clinics for instruction (most of which she has to set up, while teaching a full schedule and taking care of a 25 stall barn).  Basically, S is super woman.

Nice Things About This Area.
The people are amazing.  The cost of living is super cheap (basically the only reason I can afford a horse).  I really adore my barn and the people that come with it.  If you can block out the summer months the weather is nice.

Jump Field

Overall, I am really happy with where I am.  Although you might want to ask me again ing the summer that might change.  It isn't somewhere I would say move for horses (it is fairly far to get to recognized shows) but if you end up in this area due to life it isn't so bad.