That sounds like an awesome town to live in. Though seems a bit crowded at the farms(land vs horses) I guess maybe because where our horses are boarded we have a far smaller number of horses on almost that much land. But I live in Delaware, OH but my horses are in Marion. Neither town has farms in town but there is still farmland surrounding both towns(although slowly losing it to houses in Delaware) I would love to be out of town on my own farm however that will have to wait a little longer. you don't see many people with horses around but I know they are here, several of my friends have horses.

I live in Peachtree City, Georgia, which is a planned community with 75 miles of golf cart paths. Great for biking and walking, not so much for horses! Most houses have a separate golf cart garage and nearly everyone has a golf cart--they even have special parking places at target. I ride at a barn in Senoia (about 15 minutes away), which is where they shoot The Walking Dead (and some other movies and tv shows). Senoia is a really cute small town, and has lots of farms/barns surrounding it. There are several barns in my general area, so I will have lots of choices if/when I take the plunge and buy a horse. I am joining a foxhunt this year that is based out of Newnan, which is maybe 20 min or so away.

I would love living in Pinellas Park--it sounds awesome. No offense MissMissle and Highflyer, but I can't do winters up north. Someday I would like to have some property to keep a horse or two (broodmares most likely), but not sure if my husband will ever go for it.

The indoor is key for New England riding! Even with plowing and dragging an outdoor everyday - the ground eventually freezes too solid to ride on :-( - By the time I get to the barn (actually when I go to work, and when I leave work...) it's already dark - so I depend on the indoor. However the doors stay open and it's not insulated - so it's still freezing, just no wind / weather. This last winter we had record cold temperatures. I probably missed a full 10 days of riding because of single digit temps. It get's too dangerous to ride - my mare actually developed a pretty severe lung infection that they were scared would turn into pnemonia - luckiy, with medicine and rest, she was fine, but I have a feeling it was from riding her a few days in the cold!

Much like in Florida we all keep our horses body clipped all winter long too and people from other states think we are crazy!! it just takes too long to cool them out in the winter if they are hairy after a lesson or something - so we all march our shaved horses down to the indoor with about 3 wool coolers on, warm them up, rip the blankets off and ride, don't take a walk break for fear of freezing to death, then throw the coolers back on as soon as we are done! My poor mare looked like the michelan man all winter - getting turned out in a liner, with two heavyweight blankets and a hood on top of that. It's tough - I think they dislike all the blankets as much as we dislike wearing so many layers - being in restrictive, heavy blankets for so many hours a day leads to stiffness, rub spots on some horses, and my mare always looses some of hr mane from the hood.

We actually had multiple days this winter that we couldn't even turn the horses out because the snow was SO deep and crispy on top their legs were actually getting cut up - or the hills were simply too icy for them to walk up to get to the paddocks - even with winter shoes - it gets prety hairy and the BO would rather not risk it. There were multiple days this winter I was pretty peeved they didn't get turned out, but at the same time I understand, i traded flat turnout in a box size of swamp land for rolling hills - and sometimes the weather just prevents them from getting out there - plus, they have to think of the employees safety too.

I loved Wellington. However, there was so much money there I couldnt even handle it - and I felt like my non tanned fat stuck out like a neacon amoung tanned, pretty much anorexic riders!!! No offence Wellington peeps!! Im sure not everyones like that - but at the show grounds, Im gonna say 90% at least were!!!

I can't imagine living someplace like virginia, or the carolinas - where theres some cooler weather but not really snow - it just seems like perfect riding weather!! Winters here do suck! Haha summers can too! it's been in the 90s with >90% humidity the last three days!

Wow Aprilsdanes! I now have a new goal to ride Yosemite!

Sounds way cool. Although I like boarding my horse. Someone else has to wake up and feed him 7 days a week. I am lazy and I like to have at least 1 day I don't have to set an alarm clock.

Pip