France with horses - help please!

[LinzyD]

Hello to forum users in France and those who have experience of having horses in France.

My husband and I are planning to buy a property in France, where I will spend part of the year with my horses. I speak fluent French, have lived in France previously, and have non-horsey friends there.

We are planning to buy in Correze or Dordogne, for all sorts of reasons, and we're actively property hunting.

Can anyone out there tell me whether there are any particular areas within Correze or Dordogne that are better/worse than others for keeping horses? And can anyone recommend particularly good places for proximity to competition centres, farrier, vet, other horse owners? It's difficult to find information online. There is lots of information about riding for tourists, but, as you'd expect, not much for horse owners. One of the estate agents we're dealing with keeps telling me there are lots of riding clubs in the area, but I can't seem to get beyond that to find out where they are, what they do.

If there is anyone out there in Correze or Dordogne who could point me in the right direction or recommend a good place to be, I'd be very grateful. Merci

 

[sunnyone]

Here's a link to all the competitions in Dordogne and beyond (Bordeaux)http://www.cde24.ffe.com/?cs=4fda23...b97e52fb4f92454f27f82b1884e094a194533c5c23115
Another good site is chevalannonce.com. Blacksmiths etc travel between Dept's. It all depends on travelling times really. It's a very long way from one end of the dept to another, and many of the roads in Dordogne are not only bendy but atrociously surfaced. This limits peoples working areas.
. I bought a couple of horses from Tamnies and the first 10-11 miles south took the best part of an hour with our car and trailer.
Sometime tomorrow I'll check my BHS type book with club listings etc and give you more answers.
What do you compete in? I've assumed jumping.

 

[LinzyD]

Ah, thank you so much, sunnyone. Dressage and jumping. I don't plan to do so much out there, but it would be nice to do the odd low key competition now and then. I am due to visit in February - to see things at their worst. The area I seem to keep homing in on is between Brive and Sarlat and I'm trying not to stray too far off the main road between Limoges and Brive.

Many thanks for taking the time to reply. I really appreciate it.

 

[Tapir]

We have a holiday home in the Correze, about an hour south of Limoges airport. It's a beautiful area. The most horsey is probably going to be the area around Pompadour which houses the national stud, has a race course and holds loads of competitions.

I'm afraid I can't help more than that as, apart from watching some of the competitions, I have a break from horses whilst we're over there.

 

[Tapir]

I'd also add that it can be very cold and damp in the winter - we only visit now from April/May to September as we have no central heating.

 

[sunnyone]

You're welcome.
I have now done a bit of page flicking through my annuaire.
Dordogne has many more people earning their living from horses than Correze. 28 of whom are blacksmiths, as opposed to 6 in Correze.
There are 25 equestrian centres in Dordogne, plus 7 supposed poney clubs. Correze has 17 and 4. All of them could run competitions but I suspect these are limited to the list I gave you. Sunday remains a day for the family so little is done with horses unless there is a village fund raising fete or a historic chateau putting on a special event for visitors to watch before or after their tour.
I am sorry i dont know the area in detail to say which of those centres is in your proposed geographic area.
The place for all things equine is http://www.leperon.fr/ and it is they who print the guide annually. Well worth the money at €16. I search for it in newsagents in December but you may find the odd one lying around in February.
Eperon do not list vets, so sorry I can't help there but any local vet will probably tell you the name of one they'd recommend if they don't do horses themselves.
February is definitely the right month to visit, that is our winter season, January is still autumn IMO, things are at their worst then i.e. wet and probably cool, and perhaps even snowy. It soon gets better in March .