Location of horse farms in Minnesota? (Shakopee, Hastings: living in, airport, farm)

[oconnorcm3]

Hi,

We intend to retire to Minnesota in two years and I'm researching areas that best fit our family needs. I'm beginning to feel comfortable that my special son's needs could be met just about anywhere in Minnesota. This forum and Arc have been a tremendous help.

My middle child is a student of veterinarian medicine, graduating in 2011. She LOVES working with horses and thinks that a mixed vet practice (large and small animals) would be a good fit for her when she graduates. I know that there is a horse race track in Shakopee but wonder if there is a specific area where those horses are raised? I vaguely remember hearing of a large horse farm near Hastings but are there other areas where one will find farms with race type horse business (young colts, racers, brood mares, etc.)?

Thank you for any guidance.

Mari

[golfgal]

They are all over and yes there is a large one in Hastings. There is a mixed practice Vet clinic in Prior Lake and one outside of Stillwater-that I know of for sure. I have some friends that raise race horses that live in the New Prague/Elko-New Market area. There is a horse farm in Rosemount and several around Stillwater too.

[oconnorcm3]

Golfgal, you always have the best information. Thank you!

My daughter likes cows too (go figure!). Stupid question but, are there many cow farms in the areas that you mentioned (Prior Lake and Stillwater)? Any sheep farms (she's a vet student in Scotland and adores working with sheep)? I suspect that sheep are not a big business in Minnesota (too cold, perhaps?). I don't remember ever seeing a field full of sheep during my 22 years living in Minnesota but I might not have noticed. Now that I have a daughter who will be a vet it interests me.

You can probably tell by the narrowing of my questions that we are looking at southern Twin Cities for retirement. I like the idea of an international airport being about one hour away (in case our vet student daughter doesn't return to MN plus we have a second, older daughter who hopefully will visit us...or live close by! She's more of a city girl.). I hope to find the best fit for our entire family.

Thank you again, Golfgal.

Mari

[golfgal]

There are some around the Twin Cities but they are more commonly found in central and southern (especially SW) MN. We there are 3 vet clinics in Marshall that do small and large animal care so that might be an option for an area for your DD to look into as well. It is only a couple hour drive to the southern part of the metro.