Horse property and activities in Canon City area? (Colorado Springs, Florence: for sale, real estate)

[fasterhorses]

Can someone tell me what horse activities are available in the Canon City area? Barrel racing and trail riding in particular. What areas would you suggest to purchase a small land parcel (10-15 acres) for horses and to build a small home on or an existing setup? Also, if you buy property outside of the city limits, how do you obtain water and utilities? Where do you find out about what jobs are available in the area or in the prison systems in the area? Where are the prisons? Sorry so many questions.

[SheridanL]

Hi,
I live in Canon City. There are many properties for sale with land.
I am on 2 acres and can have a horse IF I wanted!
Across the street from me is a horse property.
I live on the East side of town. Horses also have the right of way in Canon. JFI.
The paper here is the Daily Record. Just google Canon City then, go to the DR and you can look up employment.
They do have a horse program within DOC.
There is the East Correctional Complex off of highway 50 ( you can't miss it, there are a bunch of prisons there!) CSP, Fremont, Skyline, Arrowhead, Centennial, Fourmile..they are building CSP2 right now.
On the West side of town, there is Territorial ( my dh was a Major there).
Florence, has all of the Federal Prisons (it's like a couple of miles outside of town) Minimum, medium and supermax(the Alcatraz of the Rockies).
I have family working for DOC (one in Colorado Springs), it is a HUGE employer here!

There isn't any ONE area I would suggest for horses. You just need to Google real estate here (there is alot available).
My neighbor does barrel racing on his property (I watch them all the time) but, I think the fairgrounds is a place that is used. Trails, hmm,...I guess by the Royal Gorge , which is west right out of town.
Nothing is very far.....and it is beautiful here!
Oh yeah, when looking for property/homes....try to look at ones with irrigation/ditch water. There are tons of different ditch companies...mine is Fruitland. It makes a world of difference! Someday, it will be worth Gold!
Hope that helps, any other questions, I'll try to answer for you!