Horses in France anyone over there?!

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kombikids

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Does anyone keep horses in france? Just wondered what the price of them is like to buy/livery etc and what the general scene is like, ie is there lots of livery / schools / competitions etc? My parents live in the charente region so just interested!!! Thanks.
 
Yes, I grew up in the South near Pau which is very horsey and we kept Selle Francais and some cute little Pyrenean mountain ponies. People take a very relaxed view of horses and mostly keep at home or at a local farm, there aren't many livery yards per se except for racehorses. Most horses are kept out all the time. There are local competitions and eventing is good but France is bigger so you have to travel further. Hacking is great - nobody seems to mind about bridleways so you just go wherever you want! A lot of properties have stables and a menage but you might struggle to find an indoor school. Buying property is much cheaper and also if you know what you're looking for, buying horses is very inexpensive as well. My dad bought his Selle for 1000 francs as a yearling - about 100 pounds, she turned out to be a seriously good jumper as we discovered on her first night with us when she cleared the 5 foot stone wall in our garden with no probs!
 
I used to live in France ( Riberac in the Dordogne) and kept my horse at the local riding school. I had her on full livery and i think it was around £30 a week though that could even have been euros - so all inc. it was pretty cheap! The standard wasn't as good as English yards and i had little say in some things but there was amazing hacking and a decent arena and all year turnout.
We had intended to keep her at home as our property had stables and land but we never got around to buying a companion for her and also we thought it would be more difficult getting to know hacking routes and we didnt have an arena.
 
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Yes, I grew up in the South near Pau which is very horsey and we kept Selle Francais and some cute little Pyrenean mountain ponies. People take a very relaxed view of horses and mostly keep at home or at a local farm, there aren't many livery yards per se except for racehorses. Most horses are kept out all the time. There are local competitions and eventing is good but France is bigger so you have to travel further. Hacking is great - nobody seems to mind about bridleways so you just go wherever you want! A lot of properties have stables and a menage but you might struggle to find an indoor school. Buying property is much cheaper and also if you know what you're looking for, buying horses is very inexpensive as well. My dad bought his Selle for 1000 francs as a yearling - about 100 pounds, she turned out to be a seriously good jumper as we discovered on her first night with us when she cleared the 5 foot stone wall in our garden with no probs!

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As you said, France is bigger so conditions for keeping horses are going to vary greatly depending on region !
A Selle Francais for 100 pounds !!!! OMG -no offense to your dad !
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- but must have been centuries ago
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As for property being cheaper than in Uk: True, but salaries, cost of living and purchasing power much lower as well
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And hacking is NOT great everywhere...
Sorry for demystifying....
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but generalizations hardly ever reflect the diverse truths within one country
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