Cynthiana or Lawrenceburg from Virginia? (Lexington, Louisville: how much, school, live)

[deserthorse]

We've been in central Virginia for 20 years, but we grew up in NW Ohio. We'll be moving, and are considering KY for it's more affordable land. We have six horses. Also dogs and cats. No school age children. Husband semi-retired musician/music teacher.

My husband likes a privately situated house, but not too far from conveniences like grocery store, restaurants like Chili's, building/hardware store. I like horse things close by: feed stores, good vet, farrier. Grown son has a parks and recreation degree and as a staunch Democrat, he likes to be around some like minded people. Lexington in under an hour is a good thing.

Where we live now is paradise- we love it. But land here is so high, we're having problems finding anything nice in our range of about $300,000- $375,000. However, I'm worried about it being colder in KY. Can the horses stay out a good part of each day without blankets year-round? Does it get above freezing most winter days?

A good thing about the Lexington area is that it would make visits from and to our Ohio family much quicker. That's our second big reason for considering it. I hated the Ohio weather when I lived there, too cold for waayyy too long, and I hate it still. I know central KY is more humid than where we are in VA, and the summers might be a little hotter, but it's the cold I hate.

Thanks!

[InLondon]

I love the Lawrenceburg area, never been to Cynthiana.

Most days in the winter it does get above freezing, but we can have really cold spells that last a few days. I never see any horses with blankets during winter.

[Toria]

I think Lawrenceburg will have more of the things you mentioned close by (you are also close to Versailles, which has has a big feed place, equine vets, etc. Cynthiana has beautiful land, but its more rural so you'll travel a bit further to shopping and stores.
Temps this year were unusually cold, with lots of days not getting above freezing. We blanket our horses most of the winter with a lightweight sheet or a mid-weight blanket when it's in the 20's. A lot depends on your horses' breed, how much coat they have, how much shelter they have from the wind, whether they are clipped at all, etc. Lots of people don't blanket, but a lot also do....helps against the mud, too .

[deserthorse]

Thanks to both answerers We've found some nice looking places on realtor.com in KY, and when realtors here say "horse barn", it can mean anything... a shed, a falling down old barn, a cow barn... it looks like horse barn here means horse barn.

We aren't close-in here, so rural isn't necessarily a problem.

It sounds like a visit might be in order. We've been to Lexington and Louisville many times, but haven't really done any driving around beyond going where we were headed.

Do magnolias, boxwood and crepe myrtle grow in Kentucky?