Equine Community

Equine Community

©  2008 Cherry Hill   © Copyright Information

Dear Cherry,

My husband and I recently finished the book, "Horsekeeping on a Small Acreage". We found the book to be very enjoyable and enlightling. We took particular interest in chapter 5, where the Canter Club Estates idea was introduced.

A planned equine community would be an ideal solution for our current situation as well several of our acquaintences. We are living in New Jersey and there are no such places here at this time. My husband and I would like to pursue this idea on our own. However, we have found it difficult ot get any detailed information on the subject.

Any suggestions, resources, or assistance you could offer us would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time.

Amanda and John

Hi Amanda,

It is interesting that the equine communities that we photographed for the book did not want the name of the community in the book. They said it was to protect the privacy of the members. They even had a board of directors meeting to see if we could photograph the sign which shows the name of the subdivision.

From our experience, we've found that each development or subdivision is a private enterprise. The developers pay for all the legal and organizational planning which is often location specific in terms of weather, size of acreages, type of community facilities and so on. If I were looking for help in setting up an equine community, I'd contact real estate agents in your area. They would likely know of the closest equine community to you. Hopefully, once you find one, the management will be willing to help you.

Best of luck,

Thank you for your quick response! We have tried to contact 3 different communities with no response. The 4th community pretty much said find a developer.

Do you have any suggestions for financing? We are looking at a 90 acre breeding farm now, the price is $3.2 Million. I am trying to find a way to secure financing so I purchase the farm, split 10 - 5 acre lots and put the remaining 50 acres into the farmland preservation program. Not being a developer, it's difficult to know where to go from here.

Again, thanks for the response!

Amanda & John Marshall

Hi Amanda,

No suggestions for financing. If I were in your position, I'd go to my bank or credit union and ask them how these things are usually set up. Most of the communities I have been involved with (consultation etc.) have been funded by the developers who are often long-time real estate developers with large capital resources. Another way you can get some general information is to ask the same questions of any local golf communities in your area. The principles would be the same.

Best of luck,