Moving with 5 horses to ??? , but any advice welcome help!

[Tamba]

Hi folks,
I am moving from scotland, in next few weeks. I love the idea of moving to spain, and I have done lot s of research. But I am hitting a brick wall with finding a property suitable. Everything I have seen has little turnout.
I have been looking now at Bordeaux region, has the climate seems more like uk, I really, really need grazing for my three big warmbloods, who eat all day long. They like outdoors, and dont do being stabled for hours..
Any one any experience in france and spain, with horses who live out 24, 7.

I seem to have found more suitable properties for sale with good amounts of land. Im leaving 8 acres, and need something like this, where ever I move to
any thoughts???

 

[joosie]

Wow so you're moving away in a matter of weeks and haven't even decided where you're going yet? That's brave! I suppose you have already thought about how you're going to make a living

I'm in northern France so not close to Bordeaux at all! - but up here in Normandy / Brittany there are plenty of country properties with a decent amount of turnout. How much "equestrian scene" do you want to be surrounded by, because as you go further south there is less and less!

 

[Tamba]

Wow so you're moving away in a matter of weeks and haven't even decided where you're going yet? That's brave! I suppose you have already thought about how you're going to make a living

I'm in northern France so not close to Bordeaux at all! - but up here in Normandy / Brittany there are plenty of country properties with a decent amount of turnout. How much "equestrian scene" do you want to be surrounded by, because as you go further south there is less and less!

thanks, yes, I didnt think I would be able to sell my property, and now its going ahead, I cant decide where to move to.
I do want to be able to compete in dressage, but I also want somewhere warm, or warmish. I really fancied spain, but its not straightforward trying to find a property!

 

[sunnyone]

OP l do have experience of taking my own horses to Spain, some 3 years ago, and to France as I too sold up and moved them across the channel for the good of my health.
Our experience with our horses was such that they will NEVER again go to Spain. We already had a flat there, near the Med coast, which whilst not ideal for long term living, was OK. We searched for land but at that time it seemed that anything that wasn’t bare mountain was 50,000 euros a hectare with very little grass. The horses went to a livery yard for the winter a few kms from our flat. This yard had a number of foreign owners, so great for making friends. The diet however didn’t suit our horses, a hard mix and straw not hay for fibre. We had them turned our on mountain and gravel with an open shelter as they were used to being free to wander in and out. Their good quality hooves deteriorated really badly. One of the other owners told us he had to fly back each year from Austria to treat his Spanish horses for fly bites which afflicted them in summer despite all known medication and fly rugs, but that year he would be transporting them to Austria asap once the snow there had melted. None of our horses really settled and the personality of the youngest changed entirely such that she was only ever happy in the indoor school. I think we only ever had one ride with them where we could say “that was nice”. Other things went on at the yard that we really were not happy about but which might have been better if we had not been at that particular yard.
However when spring came we headed straight away for the Bordeaux area. There is ample grass here as it rains occasionally and it is rarely burning hot. We are in the Garonne valley to the East of Bordeaux. There are plenty of properties with land i.e. grass and decent livery yards for any period before you are able to take possession of your own. We paid 20 thousand euros for 4 hectares but it needed enclosing and scrub clearing, as well as water and shelters. It also included a fair size building plot. Better land may be 2-3k more a hectare but not necessarily. It depends how close to Bordeaux you go. We rarely see snow because we are just south of the river. The horses have settled really well, their hooves and personalities are back as they should be and the flies can be controlled through Butox and fly masks. Hay is 2 euros for a small bale and 12 – 25 euros for bigger round bales. Straights are impossible to come by but a basic mix or cubes is 14 euros or so from a number of sources.
One web site you may like to look at is http://www.leboncoin.fr/annonces/offres/aquitaine/
as you can choose a region to look at and then select immobilier (for property). This is used by the agents as well as private sellers. Bear in mind that you may well get your ideal property for much less than the asking price.
If I can be of use to you in your move feel free to PM me.

 

[RichardRider]

We're also in Normandy but are selling our place to move to an old home we're restoring in Bordeaux City...How funny. Hope I don't get banned for this(will stop here regarding the place in Normandy.) My wife doesn't ride and my son's doing other things but we all love surfing and the beach and the old city of Bordeaux so eventually we'll probably be living there...

But....And I never claim to be a fantastic horseman(especially here on HHO,) but it does seem rather WARM at times in the Bordeaux Area.

In fact we let out a cottage on our property this summer to a woman who was doing a 6week course at the national stud near us. She and her Spanish Showjumper husband had bought a place in an area in the SouthWest called "des Landes," a bit further south than Bordeaux, and in the end, they were selling to move back north! Though she(she wasn't Spanish, but from Normandy,) LOVED the climate and the people it was just too hard raising and selling horses...

When we eventually move down I'll just take one horse and look for a stable/yard near Bordeaux...Again, I am no expert but you may want to check out the area first. That being said, the French Southwest is a great region and Bordeaux a really wonderful city!

cheers...rr

 

[freckles22uk]

Ive been in Spain with my horses for 9 years now, (time flies!) I brought 2 over with me, appaloosa mares, and later a 20 year old welsh pony, mine have been fine and settled very well, my first property had lots (120 acres) of land, though I rented most of it to a farmer, but I did have grazing, summers were hot and winters very cold, as I was 1000 meters above sea level

Ive now moved down the mountain a bit, so the summers are very hot still, but winters a tad warmer, though I still get a little snow. My horses cope with the heat with no problems and live out 24/7

I have NO grazing on my land, (as I now have less than a acre) but a few kind neighbours have let me fence off theirs to graze the horses on.. so I do give mine hard feed morning and night, and feed straw, and alfalfa or forraja (like a cross between straw and hay)

mine have great feet, and Ive even gone barefoot, (something I thought I would never do) and to be honest the horses look fab..

I have a group on FB for Horse owners in Spain.. Ill send you the link

 

[Sarah W]

Have you considered central Portugal? Warm, lots of rain (this week - the sun returns next week!) not too cold in winter but summers can be hot so now is good time to move horses over, also cheap land and house prices.

ovaledoscavalos.com

 

[JustMe22]

Or Italy perhaps? If not, South Africa is warm and has grazing and competitions