Location blog hop

Thanks to Sarah at ASSFS for starting this blog hop, this one is really interesting!

My horses are located at home in York county, PA. York is not really "Pennsylvania horse country" in the sense that Chester county/Unionville is but there is a fairly active horse community and the taxes and cost of living are considerably more reasonable. The ground is rocky and shale-y, it drains well but establishing good quality pasture can be a challenge. There is a lot of available trail riding but your horse should probably have shoes because of the rocks. We are in close proximity to the Hunt Valley, MD area which hosts a variety of horse events (shows, paper chases, fox hunts, Maryland hunt cup) and is home to my favorite tack store Maryland Saddlery.

Costs of horse keeping?

• Trim-$30-$35

• Shoes-$65-$120 for fronts (side note-we haul out for shoeing since no farriers in the area are able to shoe the 2 draft crosses)

• Average cost of a month of full time training- I think around $700 but I've never had anything in training!

• Average monthly pasture board- $300

• Average monthly stall board- $500-$700 depending on facility

• Hay: Small squares (grass) around $6.00, we make all our own hay in big squares 3x3x8 and the custom baler charges $10 a bale, I also buy big alfalfa squares from our neighbor at around $170/ton 

• Mountain views? None, my neighbors have a nice farm though!

Frustrating things about our area?:

• Shit weather

• Area is crowded/traffic (although not as bad as Chester county!) 

• Some people are snobby 

Weather? Is mostly shit December-April

This is a picture of our place from the 1920s-looks like the weather sucked just as bad then!

Riding demographic for the area? Some hunter/jumper. In my immediate area, mostly trail riders or people that have horses and ride on their farms (like me!)

Other notes? The thing I most appreciate about where I live is the easy access to a variety of places for riding. I live within 20 miles of several county parks (one with cross country jumps!) and a few arenas I can pay to ride in if I want. We are also within an hour or so of Michaux state forest for mountain rides. The lay of the land at our house is very hilly so it is tough to ride at home but I can get it done if I need to. I've been turned off of foxhunting for the most part around here because the people were rude. The traffic can be bad and at times it feels crowded here, but I know there are other areas that are way worse! Overall I'm happy to have my first farm here (but I'm already ready for Spring!)

So, tell me about where you live. Are there any frustrating things about your area? What is the weather like? How does the cost of keeping horses compare to where I live?