Texas vs tenessee (Houston, San Antonio, Austin: allergies, living, restaurants)

[EDS_]

Not sure if the OP will circle back or not...but a friend who used show jump thought North Dallas Equestrian, which I think is actually in McKinney, used offer some kind of horse time share deal and they allowed those horses to race barrels. Might be worth a call to verify.

[KRMAC7]

Originally Posted by EDS_

Not sure if the OP will circle back or not...but a friend who used show jump thought North Dallas Equestrian, which I think is actually in McKinney, used offer some kind of horse time share deal and they allowed those horses to race barrels. Might be worth a call to verify.

Thank you! I don’t quite understand that post that said there are not barrel racing stables/or they don’t let horses barrel race when Texas is known for horse country and rodeos..just confused me a little

[4Movingeast]

I think maybe the other poster meant that in Dallas proper there aren't many stables esp that cater to Western type riding. In the N TX area, there are MANY stables that cater to the Western crowd.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by KRMAC7

Thank you! I don’t quite understand that post that said there are not barrel racing stables/or they don’t let horses barrel race when Texas is known for horse country and rodeos..just confused me a little

I'll reset. I'm a lifelong horse owner FWIIW. My wife has been on me for years to build a dual space stable here in North Dallas. I wiggle out of it because - pre-covid anyway - we travel too often.

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Texas has by far and a away the most horses of any state in nominal terms. Oklahoma has more on a per-capita basis FWIIW. So this is for certain horse country.

All that said riding opportunities are limited in the bigger cities to private stables and usually very expensive club type stables and even more limited for barrel racers. FE, and I'm not certain it's active right now, there's a stable on Royal just west of Inwood in Dallas with a carousel and small riding surface that's not big enough for barrels.

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If barrel racing will be a key driver in your decision - given cost, access and likely income constaints - your best bet would be to land a job in one of the satellite cites around Dallas, Houston, SA or Austin.

FE - draw a circle around DFW about 100 miles in radius plus Tyler you'll find at least two dozen smaller cities with hospitals, clinics, surgical centers, clusters of doc. offices etc. Essentially every inch bound by that ciricle outside the tighter parts of DFW are horse country and possible targets for what you are looking for.

In that you have time look into College Station, San Angelo, Brownwood, Waco.....heck acorss the state there might be 100 towns and cities that would work.

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I don't know a lot about Tennessee other than a couple of data points. We stay in Franklin a good bit and that's beautiful country. Further, my wife's company moves a good number of people from The Bay Area to Franklin and Nashville...........overall the transplants love the area. However, their number one complaint by far is cold it can be in the winter. I'm working from memory but this is about right....in Nashville/Franklin months 5 months the average low is in the 30s with Jan. squarely in the 20s and IIRC 3 of those months are freezing or below. Those temps. alone are not deal killers for me. What is - is the fact that a lot of those days it's all of dark, relatively humid and a little windy the yield of all that is it feels much colder than the temp would indicate. Just like the complaints about San Francisco only way colder. The January average overnight low in DFW is about the same as Nashville in both Nov. and March.

To be fair we get some dark, windy, humid and cold days in DFW but not many. And I fully understand that many people will takes the colder months to avoid the summer heat in DFW and other Texas cites. Not me. If I'm going to be in winter time cold it's going to be in Edwards or Estes Park Colorado.

Speaking of CO. you should investigate the state - it's big horse country and obviously most of the state is beautiful.

Sorry for the typos.....no glasses and bad internet!



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ETA - my friend from the other post works it this way. She gave up showjumping and instead just rides. Her job and home are in Dallas.....averaging probably two weekends per month accoridng to her - she'll drive to the horse and stable in Wise county near Decatur and stay in a motel if she wants to ride or tend for more than a day.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by 4Movingeast

I think maybe the other poster meant that in Dallas proper there aren't many stables esp that cater to Western type riding. In the N TX area, there are MANY stables that cater to the Western crowd.

Thank you.

[ChristieP]

Originally Posted by KRMAC7

Thank you! I don’t quite understand that post that said there are not barrel racing stables/or they don’t let horses barrel race when Texas is known for horse country and rodeos..just confused me a little

You will find ALL sorts of riding in Texas: hunter/jumper, dressage, eventing, saddleseat, and (of course) western. Even then, western could be reining, cutting, or rail events. For example, if you boarded at a dressage barn, they would be absolutely appalled if you tore up the footing in their arena by setting up a barrel pattern!

[Treasurevalley92]

Originally Posted by EDS_

However, their number one complaint by far is cold it can be in the winter.

OP is from PA, not the bay area. TN has pretty mild winters compared to most of the country.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by Treasurevalley92

OP is from PA, not the bay area. TN has pretty mild winters compared to most of the country.

Yea, I get that. I threw out a logical progression for the OP in full knowledge that you would likely object. Even though the thrust of my comments mirror claims you've made in the past. But hey, thanks for being predictable.

[turf3]

Well, OP, it's not that there's no barrel racing in Texas.

It's that you're asking about a metro area of 7 million people. Space sufficient to have stables and exercise yards and barrel racing is scarce and expensive in such a place. I'm sure someone knows of stables and places for such activity, but they are going to be few and far between and expensive.

For serious horse stuff you're going to be getting out of the DFW metro, or you're going to be spending a ton of money, or you're going to be doing a lot of driving.

[Treasurevalley92]

Horses are not a cheap hobby anywhere....but it is going to be hard to have a decent commute and a horse situation that works for someone on a middle class salary in Dallas.

Texas is a big state so yeah there are alot of horses..but the Dallas area doesn't have a huge horse culture...I mean yeah with 8 million people it totally exisits, but the area isn't overflowing with options.

You could go to a smaller town an hour or two outside the city...but then at that point you lose the main advantage Dallas has over TN....City Amenities and slightly higher salary...at that point the lower COL of TN kicks in and it would be in my book, the clear winner.

Unless you really want to live in Texas... based on what matters to you I would go TN.