Boerne and/or Fair Oaks Ranch - Horse Property available? (Houston: for sale, real estate)

[Dbazan1]

We are considering relocating from Southern California to the Hill Country region in Texas, but need to live within about a 30 minute drive to either San Antonio (first choice) or potentially Austin (second choice). We are finding out that Hill Country doesn't seem to have the sprawling, wide open horse properties we were hoping for though.

We would like a home with some acreage, a barn/stables, and we're hoping to be able to do trail riding accessible directly from the property, not having to trailer the horses into sites to ride. We have a 7th grade son and are also looking for an area with excellent school district or good, Christian, college prep style private school nearby. Are Boerne and Fair Oaks suitable for our needs? Are there any dedicated riding trails there, or potentially any equestrian subdivisions that have their own stables/trails for residents? If the stabling wasn't extreme in price, we could go that route if necessary, but would prefer to have them on our own land. Where do folks ride in those two towns? Or do we need to buy enough acreage that we just ride in large cycles on our own property? Our budget allows us to go as high as about $800,000 if need be, but we were sure hoping it wouldn't be that pricey. We are not looking for competitive equestrian sports, just want a few horses out back to enjoy for local trail riding and practicing skills in an arena.

Also, are there better areas we should be looking in Texas for equestrian/small home ranch living in Texas? We want to be outside the hustle and bustle of city life, but need to be within comfortable commute for hubby to work (he is self-employed and can work in any large city). Anything like this available near Waco? Should we consider Houston or is it too hot and humid there? Hill Country really reached our hearts as we love hiking, swimming, kayaking, and it seems to meet all our outdoor desires there. We want to be surrounded by trees, rolling hills, and great natural beauty. Are there any riding trails through some of the wine country areas, or lavender fields, or is all the land privately owned with no riding trails for residents? We were told Dallas area might have some land like this, but we are not wanting to get anywhere near a tornado belt! We'll take earthquakes over tornadoes any day of the week!

If we cannot find this in Texas, then we're going to stay in Southern California, and buy a few acres in Temecula Wine Country, near San Diego. There have great trails through all the vineyards, and lots of good barns and trainers too. But we want to explore some appropriate areas in Texas before we decide. Thank you for all your ideas...!!!

[TXEX06]

Should move this to the SA forum.

[ChristieP]

You need to look north of Dallas at Aubrey and Pilot Point, or west of Fort Worth in Weatherford, or southwest of Fort Worth in Stephenville.

Yes, in Texas, almost all land is privately owned, and you are not allowed to ride your horse through someone's vineyard or lavender fields without their permission. The only places here where you can ride on open land are at state and national parks. The LBJ and Caddo Grasslands Areas are very popular for trail riding.

Tornadoes are actually quite rare in most of Texas, including Dallas. Do a search here, and you will see that this has been discussed many, many times.

[texasdiver]

Your problem is that 30 minutes to Austin or San Antonio will put you in suburban sprawl or EXTREMELY expensive estates. If you want wide open rolling country with lots of room for horses you'll have to move further away from the major urban centers. Lots of land in Texas meets your criteria if you don't need to be within commuting distance of Austin. You'll find prices cheaper near Waco than Austin as there aren't so many tech millionaires looking for weekend homes. Go west of Waco and you can find places like this

REALTOR.com - Real estate listings & homes for sale

Go further west and it looks like this

REALTOR.com - Real estate listings & homes for sale

There are several areas around Waco where people ride including the parks around Lake Waco and some large private ranches such as this:

Home

[TexasHorseLady]

Define comfortable commute. There are trails all over the state, and there's plenty of horse property within your price range. There are also numerous equestrian subdivisions, some of which have their own trails, some of which adjoin trails.

You might want to check in with TETRA (Texas Equestrian Trail Riding Association). They're involved in equestrian trails in Austin, lobbying for them, working on them, getting them established, and they also assist private individuals in setting up trail riding on their land. They'd know where all the trails are.

You might also be able to get a place that is riding distance from trails (lots of people ride along the roadsides here to get to the trails).

[TexasHorseLady]

Oh, and in your price range, you can easily find something reasonably close to Austin. Not a problem. San Antonio I'm not as sure about, though I think you likely could there, too.