Where We At?

I'm joining the blog hop started by A Soft Spot for Stars.  I'm it is really interesting to read about horse keeping across the country.

Downtown Waxhaw is super cute!!

We live in Waxhaw, North Carolina about 30 minutes south of Charlotte.  

Our average temp in the summer is upper 90's, in winter mid 30's.  We have very wet winters and springs, but our soils is crap.  Local hay cost $5 - $8 for 50 lbs fescue and $40 - $60 for 4x4 round bales of the same hay.  Quality varies and is hard to find, most growers run out of hay in Jan - Feb, so it is important to have a place to store your own.

Board in this area is around $450 - $500 for a backyard style barn, most boarding barns are in the $650 - $900 range.  Pasture board or Co Op barns are very few and far between.

Training runs me around $50 - $70 for 45 minutes to an hour, and we trailer out for our lessons.

Our Hunt Club membership is $900 for a full season and $400 for partial.

The show season runs year round with small breaks around Thanksgiving and Mid July/ Aug due to weather.

This area is a GREAT horse area, our town is one of the horsiest places in the state.  We do not lack for good trainers or places to show.  In fact the new International show grounds in Tryon are less than 90 minutes away!! We are right down the street from 3 farms with covered arenas, jumping arenas, and less than 15 minutes from our fox hunt's main fixture.

All of these facilities are less than 20 minutes from our driveway!

However, land with homes in our area is not cheap!!  We looked for years and finally found our diamond in the rough.  If you are not doing horses on a shoestring teacher budget, expect to pay between 350k and 400k for a 3 bed, 2 bath house with a barn and between 5 and 10 acres of land.  

We did not pay that, but we got almost 6 acres of land.  A barn-ish structure, and a 1500 sq foot 3 bed 2 (not really functional) bath house.  All of which needed CPR.  After living here 2 years and slowly rehabbing everything we have:

View of house from barn

 - 3 beds (OK 1 is an office right now, but it counts)

 - 2 baths - that work!!

 - 2 decks

 - a 12x16 feed and tack shed

 - a 16x8 hayshed

 - a 16x16 equipment shed

 - a 30 x 30 barn that has:

               - 2 10x10 stalls

               - 1 10x20 stall

               - 10x20 run in

               - 10x10 tool room

               - a 10x20 overhang/ aisle

front side of barn

 - a 40x80 arena

 - 1/2 acre grass pasture

 - 4 acres of wooded pasture

 - and 10 miles of riding trails of the back of the property

Best way to end a crazy work day!