Horsekeeping in northwest Montana (Missoula, Helena: purchase, asbestos, organic)

[mitchmountain]

Hello,
My daughter and I have been checking into various areas with Montana being high on our list, just a little concerned though about how it is in the winter to have alot of horses to take care of, if we settle around Libby. Definitely want to be in the western part of the state (family closer) and able to ride in pine country. If you are already up there, and have horses, please write to me.
We used to live in the Black Hills with our last winter there at minus 57 degrees, but did not have five horses at home, then! Not afraid of the snow, but don't want to set my horses and us up for misery, either. Thoughts?

Where is the best part of western Montana for horse keeping... opinions please? Near a town that has organic/ health food stores, would be wonderful... and friendly people a real plus. Near pines, not out in the flat or the brown hills.
And here is a really important question though I almost forgot to ask it... fleas a problem in western Montana? I don't remember having any fleas to deal with in the Black Hills, and don't where we are now, at 7000 ft elevation in Northern AZ -- I like that!
Thank you

[MTer]

I don't have horses, but I have several neighbors (ranchers plus a working couple with 30 acres) who do. I have dogs and have no flea problems here, period.

Temps in the lower mountains of Boulder Valley have gotten to about 20 below in recent years, but no lower--definitely sounds better than where you were your last winter! (Temps in the valley and in town probably have gotten to around 30 below--in general I find the valley about 10 degrees colder than my place in winter.) The 20 below happened just two nights this past Jan., and one night a couple years ago. Normally temps are above zero in winter, with occasional days below zero but those are few and far between. Many days get above zero.

With a horse, you definitely would want shelter. My new neighbors, in fact, plan to board their horses this winter as they won't be able to get a shelter built for them til next spring.

Boulder Valley has nice flat ranchland but is surrounded by mountains and pine (mostly douglas fir) forests, with lots of national forest land (open to the public). Helena is an hour away (or half hour if find a place right around or north of Boulder, not south--Boulder Valley is south of Boulder), and Helena has natural food stores.

Boulder Valley is more like 5000 feet, with a high peak nearby, Bull Mountain, at 8000-plus. It's a long ways from Libby but is in the Rockies in western Montana, so you might want to look into this area. You might also want to look just SW of Boulder around Basin, and possibly north of Boulder towards Jefferson City and Clancy. All relatively close to Helena (for shopping, health foods), all in the mountains and near national forests. All rural (though the close you get to Helena, the more urban you are getting as well).

Originally Posted by mitchmountain

Hello,
My daughter and I have been checking into various areas with Montana being high on our list, just a little concerned though about how it is in the winter to have alot of horses to take care of, if we settle around Libby. Definitely want to be in the western part of the state (family closer) and able to ride in pine country. If you are already up there, and have horses, please write to me.
We used to live in the Black Hills with our last winter there at minus 57 degrees, but did not have five horses at home, then! Not afraid of the snow, but don't want to set my horses and us up for misery, either. Thoughts?

Where is the best part of western Montana for horse keeping... opinions please? Near a town that has organic/ health food stores, would be wonderful... and friendly people a real plus. Near pines, not out in the flat or the brown hills.
And here is a really important question though I almost forgot to ask it... fleas a problem in western Montana? I don't remember having any fleas to deal with in the Black Hills, and don't where we are now, at 7000 ft elevation in Northern AZ -- I like that!
Thank you

[ladyflyfsh]

mitchmountain,
I don't have horses but I'm surrounded by those who do. I'm in the Jefferson Valley just south of Whitehall off I-90 and we don't get horribly cold winters either. NO FLEAS at all...and the horses do fine outside. You will need hay for them as we do get some snow, although not tons. As far as the extreme NW of MT, the weather there seems to be colder and damper so it feels colder. You are more in line with the storms that come from the PNW (Seattle) so get more rain, snow and have more humitidy in the air whereas SW MT is drier with fewer snow storms etc.

Missoula area and up to Kalispell have very snowy and wet winters but we just don't get much below -30 and that never stays for longer than a week and then winter is pretty much over. We've had -30 almost every year for about a week but that is very short lived. Normal winter temps seem to be in the teens and 20's during the day.

I hope you find what you're looking for. Beware of Libby and the problems with the vermiculite mine and asbestosis etc.

[mitchmountain]

thank you soooooo much, for replying! good 'heads up' about Libby, thanks.
I will get out the map and look at the areas you have both told me about, before I write again, maybe a few more questions, but here is one for right now... can you get bermuda hay in these areas, and /or timothy? what price is it up there? terrible here!! Great news about the fleas being absent, certainly what I hoped to hear.

[sharrone]

I am in the Plains area, in the adjacent county to Libby. We are in a milder climate, we have nurseries here. I will ask my "horse friend" about the bermuda hay or timothy? We love it here, have lived here over 25 years.

[YOU-CANT-EAT-SCENERY]

Originally Posted by mitchmountain

before I write again, maybe a few more questions, but here is one for right now... can you get bermuda hay in these areas, and /or timothy? what price is it up there? terrible here!! Great news about the fleas being absent, certainly what I hoped to hear.

I would like this info also $17 for a 105# bail of Timothy here in SoCal.

[GiftShoppeGuy]

Originally Posted by MTer

I don't have horses, but I have several neighbors (ranchers plus a working couple with 30 acres) who do. I have dogs and have no flea problems here, period.

Temps in the lower mountains of Boulder Valley have gotten to about 20 below in recent years, but no lower--definitely sounds better than where you were your last winter! (Temps in the valley and in town probably have gotten to around 30 below--in general I find the valley about 10 degrees colder than my place in winter.) The 20 below happened just two nights this past Jan., and one night a couple years ago. Normally temps are above zero in winter, with occasional days below zero but those are few and far between. Many days get above zero.

With a horse, you definitely would want shelter. My new neighbors, in fact, plan to board their horses this winter as they won't be able to get a shelter built for them til next spring.

Boulder Valley has nice flat ranchland but is surrounded by mountains and pine (mostly douglas fir) forests, with lots of national forest land (open to the public). Helena is an hour away (or half hour if find a place right around or north of Boulder, not south--Boulder Valley is south of Boulder), and Helena has natural food stores.

Boulder Valley is more like 5000 feet, with a high peak nearby, Bull Mountain, at 8000-plus. It's a long ways from Libby but is in the Rockies in western Montana, so you might want to look into this area. You might also want to look just SW of Boulder around Basin, and possibly north of Boulder towards Jefferson City and Clancy. All relatively close to Helena (for shopping, health foods), all in the mountains and near national forests. All rural (though the close you get to Helena, the more urban you are getting as well).

First order of business is to let everyone in on the fact that "horses don't get fleas"

As a matter of speaking, in my early years cowboying around, if I suspected that there were fleas in my house, I'd run out to the tack shed, grab a saddle, and plant it squarely in my living room..... If I had fleas... I wouldn't, after a few days of that saddle sitting there.

Dogs, cats, or any other furry creature that lives in an area that has tons of horses don't ever get fleas..

In a nutshell........ Fleas flee from horses.

[GiftShoppeGuy]

Originally Posted by mitchmountain

thank you soooooo much, for replying! good 'heads up' about Libby, thanks.
I will get out the map and look at the areas you have both told me about, before I write again, maybe a few more questions, but here is one for right now... can you get bermuda hay in these areas, and /or timothy? what price is it up there? terrible here!! Great news about the fleas being absent, certainly what I hoped to hear.

I've lost many-o-family member to the Libby vermiculite mining.
For the most part, it's been cleaned up...... big superfund site.
Folks are still suffering from it though.... and this is unfortunate.

I think the Fed will be taking care of poor old Libby Montana for a very long time.

[Morganpony]

You may want to consider the grazing rate of horses for the area you want to purchase pasture in. Some places it is horses/acres and in others Acres/horse. In my area west of Butte the stocking rate is 20 acres per horse. While just over the rockies in Whitehall it is more like 10 horses per acres. However Hay is currently going for about $85 ton many do deliver for a small fee. If you feed hay, you have to figure about 1/2 a ton/horse per month (depending on size). Boarding can cost between $50 (pasture, own feed and own care) to over $250 ( full board with all the goodies) Most horses in Montana do not have shelters, however some place to get out of the wind is necessary in the winter. But with your horses the first year or so you should be careful abot aclimatizing them to the weather.

[Rickers]

Horses can have fleas, but very rarely in Montana.