Horse Knowledge needed Fort Hood/Killeen (Gatesville, Lampasas: sale, lease, crime)

[TexasRain3]

I will be moving to Fort Hood in June of '08. My husband is Army. I was wondering where I should begin to look for a place for our two horses? Any ideas? We are on the waiting list for Fort Hood Stables... but we are number 35. Anyone ever have horses on base? Meanwhile, we are looking for either a place to rent close to Fort hood or one with available space for horses. Perhaps a reasonable pasture or something. As usual I don't want it to be too far for Sgt. to drive to work.

Also, I am coming from a small town in Kansas. Little to no crime. Okay well there was a bike stolen last year. LOL. Lived in Omaha, Nebraska for years and as long as you avoid North O at dark, you were fine. As far as Killeen and some of the close communities you guys have scared me with talk of crime, gangs and not wanting to live close to base.. We have a few months before we move so it's hard to get our ducks in a row for where to live and then the horses to secure.

[NOTAM]

copying and pasting what i responded to you in the other thread:
well if you dont like crime and are into the country lifestyle, which you obviously are, having horses, why not move to Gatesville or Lampasas? very country, lots of ranching, 4H, FFA, livestock shows, sale barns....Gatesville even has a great cowboy church that i go to, and they have their own roping pen!
i live in Cove right now-which is a compromise-i live way out Cove, so i have lots of open land behind me, with deer feeder, lots of deer, no back neighbors, but close to post for me to drive. but WILL be buying a house in Gatesville when my lease is up in the fall.
my girlfriend boards her horses somewhere in Killeen cuz she said the boarding was double or triple in Lampasas
County....
p.s. if you live in Gatesville, you will have NO traffic onto post-since you come in thru the back (north) gate, the drive is all ON POST, thru cattle guards, several creeks, open range, tank trail roads. only traffic would be occasional convoy
during FTX's or something. yall need to seriously look at Gatesville.
Lampasas is nice but kinda of a drive. also Lampasas is a bit more "snobby" than good ole working class Gatesville, home to 5 prisons, so lots of correctional officers there-very working class but COUNTRY. great western store there, AND A TSC (TRACTOR SUPPLY COMPANY), which is a big plus for me-i have to live in a town with a TSC.

[TexasRain3]

Thank you so much for responding. I will be looking at Gatesville. TSC is a big plus for sure. LOL. I was trying to figure out what gates there were around Hood too. I think they like to keep it a secret. Back North gate.. good good. Five prisons in Gatesville? Are ya kiddin" geez. See ya in Cowboy Church! giggle. We also will be buying a place at some point but want to know the area first to make sure its a good fit. Was wondering how long it does take to drive from Gatesville to North Gate? I understand most the drive would be going through base to his area. Well thanks for cowboying up to my post. Thanks TexasRain3

[NOTAM]

it is a 30 minute commute max. i know this cuz my coworker drives from G-ville daily.
oh and i dont know if you like to drink but another nice thing about Gatesville is that it aint dry-there is a couple liquor stores, a huge beer barn.
it has your essentials-a superWalmart, a Walgreens, HEB (grocery store), and a GREAT big western store called Leon River Mercantile (AWESOME-i go there ALL the time). i have lots of pics of Gatesville if you want me to email them to ya. and pics of Boots N Saddle Cowboy Church
and yes 5 prisons...four female, one male....women's death row is here. some folks have an issue with living in a prison town. sheesh. i never understood that. i have been a head nurse of a large mens prison and i can assure ya, Texas Department of Criminal Justice runs a good prison system. If there were to be an escape, ya think they would be hanging right around town? They would be high tailing it OUT of town and prolly out of state.
Several of the prisons have "field squads" or "field bosses", so you will see lots of land around the prisons with alot of horses, stables/barns...it's really beautiful. They have a swine operation too. Driving through the prisons is really pretty cool. It's out in the country, right outside of the downtown area. Well heck, everything there is country, outside of the downtown!

Originally Posted by TexasRain3

Thank you so much for responding. I will be looking at Gatesville. TSC is a big plus for sure. LOL. I was trying to figure out what gates there were around Hood too. I think they like to keep it a secret. Back North gate.. good good. Five prisons in Gatesville? Are ya kiddin" geez. See ya in Cowboy Church! giggle. We also will be buying a place at some point but want to know the area first to make sure its a good fit. Was wondering how long it does take to drive from Gatesville to North Gate? I understand most the drive would be going through base to his area. Well thanks for cowboying up to my post. Thanks TexasRain3

[TexasRain3]

Thank you so much for letting me know .. I would love to see pictures.
PurpleJungle3@aol.com I don't have a problem with the prisons. I was surprised that there were so many in one area. Yeah I checked on line to see if there was a Walmart. Would you happen to know if they have a volunteer fire department? Great to hear they have a western store and a TSC. I hope hubby wont mind the commute time. Right now in Kansas he is only about 10 minutes to the back gate. So he will have to adjust for raising and giving our daughter a little bit more of a smaller town. Thank you so much for the info. I can not thank you enough. Thanks

[NOTAM]

will email ya pics sometime this week, hopefully tomorrow nite if i can find the time!
i dont think their fire dept is paid, so i believe it is all volunteer, but will ask my coworker tomorrow.

Originally Posted by TexasRain3

Thank you so much for letting me know .. I would love to see pictures.
PurpleJungle3@aol.com I don't have a problem with the prisons. I was surprised that there were so many in one area. Yeah I checked on line to see if there was a Walmart. Would you happen to know if they have a volunteer fire department? Great to hear they have a western store and a TSC. I hope hubby wont mind the commute time. Right now in Kansas he is only about 10 minutes to the back gate. So he will have to adjust for raising and giving our daughter a little bit more of a smaller town. Thank you so much for the info. I can not thank you enough. Thanks

[NOTAM]

forgot to tell you! Gatesville has one of the oldest DRIVE IN MOVIE THEATERS in TEXAS! check out the link!
i love this town!

Texas Drive-ins :-: TX :-: Drive-in Movies Theatres Driveins Cinemas of Texas

[Susie1t]

Hi,

I live on 5 acres of land just outside of Gatesville, near the North end of Fort Hood.
The land is not fenced. I could rent you pasture but you have to enclose it.
Also I might be renting out the home by the end of this year.

Please let me know if you would like any more information and or pictures.

Best regards,
Susie

[lonestar2007]

Originally Posted by bellestaroftexas

it is a 30 minute commute max. i know this cuz my coworker drives from G-ville daily.
oh and i dont know if you like to drink but another nice thing about Gatesville is that it aint dry-there is a couple liquor stores, a huge beer barn.
it has your essentials-a superWalmart, a Walgreens, HEB (grocery store), and a GREAT big western store called Leon River Mercantile (AWESOME-i go there ALL the time). i have lots of pics of Gatesville if you want me to email them to ya. and pics of Boots N Saddle Cowboy Church
and yes 5 prisons...four female, one male....women's death row is here. some folks have an issue with living in a prison town. sheesh. i never understood that. i have been a head nurse of a large mens prison and i can assure ya, Texas Department of Criminal Justice runs a good prison system. If there were to be an escape, ya think they would be hanging right around town? They would be high tailing it OUT of town and prolly out of state.
Several of the prisons have "field squads" or "field bosses", so you will see lots of land around the prisons with alot of horses, stables/barns...it's really beautiful. They have a swine operation too. Driving through the prisons is really pretty cool. It's out in the country, right outside of the downtown area. Well heck, everything there is country, outside of the downtown!

Hey Belle, just now seeing this and while I fully understand what you're talking about with the escapees high tailing it out of town (that only makes sense), I can also understand the concerns of living in areas around prisons due to the fact there just might be an escape.

While an escapee wants to get away as far and fast as he can, he has got to find a way to do it. I wouldn't want to be the one ending up stuffed down a well somewhere while some con is making tracks across the state driving my car, using my cash and identity to make good his/her escape. Therein lies the problem.

[TexasRain3]

Susie1t,
Thanks for the reply and offer. I will be coming down the middle of April to search for a place. We found a place to keep our horses as a back up. I was just hoping to rent a place to live and keep our two horses close. I would love to see pictures of your place though. PurpleJungle3@aol.com. Sounds like it would be closer to the North back gate area more so then where we will be starting the horses off at.

We will have a few weeks to look around once we get there before husband starts duties with Fort Hood. I have in my mind now that I want to live around Gatesville to raise our little girl. I feel so blind making a move with our horses and belongings and family not knowing where to live or where we will find a place. It would be idea to have a place and our horses right there since I work and play with my horses daily.

I wonder how much it would cost to fence in a place for the horses. And just a thought. How much would you think for renting pasture? Email me. Hmm. Thanks, Dee