My horses and I are located right smack dab in the middle of the country; Kansas! Now, many think of Kansas as a state they hate to drive through because it is ugly and boring. But I call it home, and I LOVE it here. I have no plans to move anywhere else. There are many farms, and many other people own enough land to at least keep their horses at home. That being said, there are still the few larger boarding barns in the "big" cities!
- Trim: $25-$35 depending on who you use
- Shoes: $50-75 for front shoes. $80-120 for all around
- Average cost of a month of full training: : If training includes board the average is about $750-900
- Average monthly pasture board: $150-$275
- Average monthly stall board: $450 if there is an indoor arena. $300-350 if not
- Hay:
- Round bale - It depends... $60 for brome, $30-40 for prairie
- Square bales - Brome is about $7 a bale, Prairie is $5. I feed brome most of the time.
- Mountain Views? : What!? HAHAHA! No
- Weather? - Summers tend to stay in the upper 80's and 90's, but some summers can stay around the 100 degree mark for weeks. We also have very high humidity some summers which makes for extremely miserable days. Winters can be mild with upper 30's/lower 40's, with the occasional below 0 day. There is no normal with snowfall, one year we will get 30 inches, the next we get 2. Spring can be very wet, and of course we do have to deal with the threat of severe storms or maybe even the tornado threat. But the temperatures are usually very nice. Fall... we tend to go from summer to winter with what feels like three days of fall. This year however, we have had a GREAT fall in the 60's and 70's. I loved that.
- Riding demographic for the area? - The vast majority is western and trail. Three hours north or south and you can find some large english barns. There are NO tack stores within three hours (other than Atwoods, for a western saddle pad or something.)
- Other notes? - Lots of hunting here, so our horses are used to it. There are also always wild animals running around, so my horses are not really afraid of deer. Even the barn I work at, which is smack dab in the middle of the city, always has deer or coyotes running around. I love Kansas because it is so open, the very reason a lot of people do not like it. I LOVE to be able to go ride on a 10,000 acre ranch and be able to see for miles when I get up on a large hill, it's amazing to see no roads, buildings or any other sign of what humans have done to the world.... I wouldn't trade it for the world. And just because it is known as the flat state doesn't mean there aren't great places to ride!
Frustrating things about your area?
- My biggest issue? I am an English rider in a Western dominated area. But that's okay! Even though it can be a challenge you can find a good trainer. It has given me the oppurtunity to branch out and learn how to ride disciplines that I probably never would have otherwise.
- No tack stores... I always love how tack stores have special sales, etc.. With the closest English Tack store being 4 hours away I just make the most of it when I can get there!
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