Which EU country is best for living a horsey life?

[Pippity]

My job means that, post-Brexit, it's going to be far too complicated/expensive to carry on living in Britain, so I'm looking at moving elsewhere. I have Irish citizenship, so it's going to be simplest and most practical to move to an EU country. I'm just not sure which one!

I'm leaning towards Ireland, but also considering Germany and the Netherlands, largely because I can get by in the languages and they're closer to the majority of my work.

Does anybody have experience of the horsey life in any of them? What areas of the countries are good? What should I be aware of going in? Which would you choose? Is there somewhere else I should be considering?

 

[Katena]

My job means that, post-Brexit, it's going to be far too complicated/expensive to carry on living in Britain, so I'm looking at moving elsewhere. I have Irish citizenship, so it's going to be simplest and most practical to move to an EU country. I'm just not sure which one!

I'm leaning towards Ireland, but also considering Germany and the Netherlands, largely because I can get by in the languages and they're closer to the majority of my work.

Does anybody have experience of the horsey life in any of them? What areas of the countries are good? What should I be aware of going in? Which would you choose? Is there somewhere else I should be considering?

I haven't lived in any of them, but I would rank Germany over the netherlands, on the basis that the netherlands is a small, flat country with lots of people and therefore not a lot of good hacking about, whereas both Germany and Ireland has a lot more "wilderness" about them.

Have you spent a lot of time in either of the countries? Are you familiar with the respective cultures, and the quite significant differences between north and south german cultures?

 

[Cortez]

I've lived and worked (with horses) in Germany but it was 30 years ago, it is a very horsey country but not sure I'd buy into there being much "wildness" going on. It's usually extremely structured, standards of riding and training can be very high and instructors will all be highly professionally qualified. I'd imagine it'll be very different to the UK (it's certainly totally a change from Ireland, I can tell you that!).

 

[freckles22uk]

I lived in Spain for 12 years with my horses, and as much as I loved it there, the paperwork, licenses, even for transporting locally are a pain in the bum. Lots of horsey people out there and the feed/vets etc have improved massively I while I were there. But I find being in the UK with them far easier.

 

[Rowreach]

We currently have toes both sides of the Irish border, and are leaning towards hopping across permanently post Brexit.

If you are looking for a particularly horsey area in Ireland (livery yards, competitions, decent instructors) then pick your county carefully. Transport links are much better than they were though.

 

[Mule]

Ireland is very horsey. However we don't have bridle paths for hacking so you either need access to land, quiet roads or use forestry land. I haven't a clue about mainland Europe.

 

[MissTyc]

I lived in the Netherlands for one year and did a lot of riding on dedicated trails/bridlepaths. I also got to do some informal (unaffiliated) dressage competitions on a borrowed horse + watched some pretty amazing high level dressage set up on the village green

 

[paddi22]

I like near the mountains in Wicklow in ireland and its a great horsey area. Forestry tracks, local hunts, polo clubs and access to big events and shows. I absolutely love how horsey it is. Sadly not enough bridle paths

 

[Bob notacob]

I like near the mountains in Wicklow in ireland and its a great horsey area. Forestry tracks, local hunts, polo clubs and access to big events and shows. I absolutely love how horsey it is. Sadly not enough bridle paths

Sounds lovely

 

[kimberleigh]

Im in ireland and where I am has to be the most unhorsey place ever! Getting hold of feed is a nightmare as everything I want needs ordering in specially just for me, there are no decent farriers/dentists/chiros/physios/saddlers etc without travel. Next to no events etc unless you're a showjumper, and even then its almost 1hr30 to nearest venue in trailer. Zero decent instructors that I've found and in fact I had the worst lesson I've ever had in a local equestrian centre 🙈 plus no hacking at all except pure road work.

I thought Ireland would be horsey heaven but the reality is wildly different, at least where I am (mid/north west Eire)

 

[Molasses]

My job means that, post-Brexit, it's going to be far too complicated/expensive to carry on living in Britain, so I'm looking at moving elsewhere. I have Irish citizenship, so it's going to be simplest and most practical to move to an EU country. I'm just not sure which one!

I'm leaning towards Ireland, but also considering Germany and the Netherlands, largely because I can get by in the languages and they're closer to the majority of my work.

Does anybody have experience of the horsey life in any of them? What areas of the countries are good? What should I be aware of going in? Which would you choose? Is there somewhere else I should be considering?

Sorry to hear brexit is affecting your job like that,
Can you job transfer easily to any country in the EU?
Moving between countries is a small nightmare for the first year or so while you're sorting new systems and new paperwork, recommend checking out with your job/company first what's feasible. Language makes a huge difference and after that easy of travelling back to family (don't underestimate with elderly parents etc how often you might have to do that)

Ireland is very variable, you can be somewhere super horsey with lovely forest beach rides or you could be in a blank spot where you only have fast roads. same with most EU countries, you can be lucky with a very horsey area or unlucky being the only horse for miles.

do you have the opportunity to visit a few areas maybe temporary rent and explore an area to see if it suits? expensive option but if you have the time might be worth it.

 

[JulesRules]

Sorry to jump on your thread OP but if anyone has any experience if keeping horses in France in the areas around the Pyrenees I would be grateful.

OH and I are working towards starting our own cycling business in the area but my horses will be coming too. Finding a balance between a horse friendly location and being in/close to the mountains for the business will be a tricky! Luckily both my horses are hardy types (A highland and a polish warmblood who grows a very thick winter coat)

 

[pippixox]

I’m currently researching France as my husband has been offered a great job opportunity there (we are both British citizens but the job itself should be secure despite brexit and our accommodation is included). But in the northern champagne region. My friend is looking at moving more south dordonge, and apparently although there are plenty of horses there, things like feed are less varied down south. Ultimately I am not a competitive rider so I just need to find basic facilities and vet and farrier. But there are quite a few equestrian centres within an hour of husbands new job (near Troyes, east of Paris)

 

[SpringArising]

I’m currently researching France as my husband has been offered a great job opportunity there (we are both British citizens but the job itself should be secure despite brexit and our accommodation is included). But in the northern champagne region. My friend is looking at moving more south dordonge, and apparently although there are plenty of horses there, things like feed are less varied down south. Ultimately I am not a competitive rider so I just need to find basic facilities and vet and farrier. But there are quite a few equestrian centres within an hour of husbands new job (near Troyes, east of Paris)

Sorry to jump on your thread OP but if anyone has any experience if keeping horses in France in the areas around the Pyrenees I would be grateful.

I lived and kept my horses in Languedoc Roussillon for six years (Midi-Pyrenees).

Pros:

- Livery yards/riding schools/trekking centres are plentiful, so finding somewhere to keep your horse isn't hard
- Breathtaking hacking
- Relatively frequent shows

Cons:

- The standard of riding and teaching in France is poor, way below UK level
- Hard feed is very hard to source
- There's a lot of paperwork and registration involved for everything
- If you want to compete at a proper level, you'll need to take your Galops (similar to BHS exams)
- There's far fewer choice of horses for sale
- The level of horse care is bad in a lot of places. They treat horses as animals and not pets as a general rule

 

[ihatework]

OP, I suppose the first question is - for you what would constitute a good horsey life?
Do you want property or livery? What discipline(s) are important to you etc. Management/lifestyle considerations.
All these would impact what might be available in different countries/regions

 

[CorvusCorax]

I prefer NL to DE. Apart from anything, the insects seem to be much worse in Germany!!

 

[Bernster]

My friend has just gone back to Ireland largely due to Brexit related issues She's near Dublin. Similar to above posters, it's a horsey area and seems like a close fit to the UK life, but hacking is mainly road work.

 

[sywell]

Best deals in France

 

[Pippity]

Sorry to hear brexit is affecting your job like that,
Can you job transfer easily to any country in the EU?
Moving between countries is a small nightmare for the first year or so while you're sorting new systems and new paperwork, recommend checking out with your job/company first what's feasible.

I'm a contractor, so self-employed. Theoretically, I could move anywhere, but all my clients are in the EU, so it's just simpler to narrow it down to that.

OP, I suppose the first question is - for you what would constitute a good horsey life?
Do you want property or livery? What discipline(s) are important to you etc. Management/lifestyle considerations.
All these would impact what might be available in different countries/regions

I'd need full livery available because I'm away from home two or three days a week. An alternative would be property with a reliable freelance groom, but that's more something to consider when I've been settled a year or two.

Discipline-wise, my aim is to do a bit of low-level everything, but with day-to-day riding being mostly hacking. I'm used to hacking being mostly roadwork where I am now, so that wouldn't be a total no-no, as long as there was something more fun within boxing distance.

From the sound of things, Wicklow and Kildare would be options in Ireland. They also have the benefit of being reasonably close to an airport, which is an absolute requirement.

 

[teacups]

Re airports, much of the Netherlands is within an hour of Schiphol which is a very good hub & with good rail/road links. Frankfurt is also very good as a hub, don't know how good its transport links are.
If your Dutch language skills are reasonable you could try asking about moving to Holland on bokt.nl, a forum - or you could also ask in English. There are definitely members of this forum who live in NL or DE.

 

[Darbs]

Frankfurt is also very good as a hub, don't know how good its transport links are.

Frankfurt is about as good as it gets for transport links, the airport is on the junction of the north to south Autobahn 5 and the east to west Autobahn 3, the cross Europe high speed ICE trains stop at the airport and once into Frankfurt city just about all of Germany can be accessed by train.

They really got it right with the airport location and its links.

 

[buzyizzy]

I lived in Ireland last year and absolutely loved it. Yes I had to buy hay brought up from Wicklow, yes I had to pre-order feed like Coolstance, but everything else was wonderful. I would go back in a heartbeat. Plenty of very quiet hacking and obliging folk to help out with moving muck heaps, replacing gates and doors etc. Couldn't have felt more welcome.

 

[freckles22uk]

Try FB for groups for horse owners in France, I run one for Horse owners in Spain... but this is a link for the French one, though its a selling group, it does have a link for another group https://www.facebook.com/groups/449248001864671/ ( I get lots of people join on mine that are thinking of moving to Spain, so they can ask advice from people there)

 

[ChwaraeTeg]

No mention of Italy ? Fabulous riding to be had, but not spent long enough to comment further.

 

[druid]

From the sound of things, Wicklow and Kildare would be options in Ireland. They also have the benefit of being reasonably close to an airport, which is an absolute requirement.

Also the most expensive bits of Ireland (I live on the Wicklow/Kildare border) - if I needed livery again (mine are all now at studs on the Curragh) I would be trying to get into Redhill near Kildare town, they've lots of hacking and shows/clinics on site but I don't think livery spaces come up often. Also, don't underestimate how awful Irish rush hour is - we have an under developed road system with the volume of cars far too high for the infrastructure. You'd want to ensure you weren't battling traffic to get to the yard!

 

[paddi22]

Also the most expensive bits of Ireland (I live on the Wicklow/Kildare border) - if I needed livery again (mine are all now at studs on the Curragh) I would be trying to get into Redhill near Kildare town, they've lots of hacking and shows/clinics on site but I don't think livery spaces come up often. Also, don't underestimate how awful Irish rush hour is - we have an under developed road system with the volume of cars far too high for the infrastructure. You'd want to ensure you weren't battling traffic to get to the yard!

Druid i mist be close enough to you so! Its a great horsey area, but agree about the commute, if the person was working in dublin and trying to get through rush hour to kildare they'd be driven mad! Loads of lovely yards around that area.

 

[Rollin]

We live in France, Pays de la Loire. Angers has a superb micro-climate and is very horsey for everything- endurance, racing, 3 day events and lots of SJ. Cadre Noir at Saumur, Le Lion D'Angers and a big SJ centre near le Mans. Downside, you need to have a French licence to compete in anything other than club SJ or endurance so you will need qualifications.

Lots of small farms with 5-10 acres for sale, hay and straw reasonable. Vet and farrier cheaper than UK, but we are on our 5th farrier!!! We love the French life but the downside is French bureaucracy. Health care is excellent but only 70% is paid by the state so you must have private insurance.

 

[Pippity]

Druid i mist be close enough to you so! Its a great horsey area, but agree about the commute, if the person was working in dublin and trying to get through rush hour to kildare they'd be driven mad! Loads of lovely yards around that area.

Thankfully, I'll be working from home when I'm not out of the country, so it would just be the commute to the yard to worry about!

 

[HappyHollyDays]

I lived in Germany right on the border with Holland near Roermond. Plenty of forests to ride in both sides of the border and I used to hack to lessons. Vets were excellent, Farriers not so but it may have changed. Local riding club level of competition way way above the UK and lots of really good instructors. Absolutely loved it and I would move back there if I could just for the hacking, the cycle paths and the European way of life.