Colorado horse properties--what to look for

Colorado horse properties for sale--that's a popular internet search for people who want to indulge their lifestyle of owning horses, riding in the Colorado high country, and enjoying the good life. Good horse properties are hard to find!
WATER One of the most important aspects of a horse ranch is water. For those who come from other more humid parts of the country, you may not appreciate that Colorado is a dry, arid environment and you need irrigation water to make a good horse property. In places like Iowa or Virginia, you may not have ever needed to irrigate a hayfield or horse pasture. In Colorado, irrigation water essential. If you're going to be able to keep your horse pastures green and your hayfields growing, the property must have deeded irrigation water as part of the package. (See my article on irrigation systems for Colorado horse ranches and cattle ranches--link: http://www.aspenranchrealestate.com/irrigation-systems.html )
How much water you need varies according to the particulars of each ranch. In Colorado, water rights are measured in cubic feet per second (cfs) and acre feet. Usually water is delivered via a ditch company, and parcels own a certain number of shares of the ditch. One rancher may have ten shares of the Cumberland Ditch, and that doesn't seem like a lot of water, but perhaps it comprises two cubic feet per second--which is a lot of water. Another rancher may own 500 shares of the Ranchland Mesa Water Company, which seems like a lot of water, but it may only be a total of .5 cfs.
If you're looking at a horse property, you need to know the local landscape, and make sure that your water rights are adequate! Water rights can be severed from the property, and that has often been done by the seller prior to listing the property. It may look green and beautiful when you view the property, but if he stripped half the water rights from the parcel, it won't look that way next summer, when it gets only half the water it had previously.
SOILS After water rights, the next most important aspect is the soils of the local area. The local Soil Conservation Service office can give you a full report of the types of soils on a property, and the Farm Bureau can suggest ways to maximize pasture growth and hay production. Some properties can have terrible soils, with high alkalinity, lots of clay, and highly erosive--not good horse pasture.
ACCESS TO RIDING AREAS I've talked with people who have horses on a couple of acres in a semi-rural area with public lands a mile or two away. Unless you're a pretty good hand with horses and spend a lot of time training them, the public access might as well be 200 miles away. Trying to ride through a suburban neighborhood with barking dogs, speeding cars, flapping tarps, and all kinds of surprises can be very stressful. Direct proximity to public trails--or better yet, a large ranch with plenty of private trails--is the ideal solution. Do these places exist? Yes, but there's always a premium placed on parcels that abut BLM or Forest Service land with good riding trails.
ELEVATION In Colorado, elevation makes a big difference on how much you can enjoy a horse property. Crested Butte is a wonderful place to ride horses during the summer, but this winter they've gotten over 300 inches of snow. At 8,900 feet in elevation, you won't enjoy keeping horses fed and maintained over the winter--and as far as places to ride, you can forget it. Horses just can't struggle through that much snow. Western Slope towns such as Montrose, Ridgway, Crawford, Rifle, Carbondale, Silt, Parachute, Glenwood Springs, Hotchkiss, Cedaredge, and Bayfield (and there are many more) are situated typically between 5,000 and 7,000 feet in elevation, and there's a BIG difference in amounts of winter snowfall and being able to ride. Around Delta, Colorado, for example, the snow rarely stays on the surrounding mesas for more than a month or two, and there are some awesome places to ride in close proximity to Delta.
LIFESTYLE This is purely personal. If you just want to be off by yourself and live in a small community with a rural feel, I can think of several nice communities with beautiful horse properties that would suit you perfectly. Prices tend to be very affordable, too. You can enjoy watching your kids compete in 4H and riding clubs, high school and junior high sports, and summer baseball and softball. A big event is the county fair in late August.
If you like a faster-paced life with cultural amenities, nearby skiing and snowboarding, 5-star restaurants, classical music concerts, and movie stars eating at the next table--AND a horse property, you'll pay a lot of money for that combination of lifestyle, culture, and owning horses. The good news is that many such properties are on the market.
QUALITY OF FACILITIES If someone has a "horse property" listed in the MLS, will you be happy to learn that it's a 1982 double-wide with four acres, a nasty old corral, and a tattered tarp thrown over a pile of moldy hay? Or will you be happy with nothing less than a Colorado horse ranch for sale with a 322-acre ranch BLM access, a trout pond, a 7-stall horse barn with automatic waterers, separate grazing paddocks, pastures, a dog kennel, and a custom architect-designed home? It's all relative.
HOW I FIND HORSE PROPERTIES Many realtors work in only one area, and if they don't have horses themselves, they don't really network with horse people. I can think of two premiere horse properties for sale, priced reasonably, that are not even listed with brokers at the moment for various reasons. I know of these properties through a long membership in the horse fraternity. I work statewide in Colorado, not just in one little area.
Do you want to go see some real estate?
Call me and let me know exactly what you're seeking, and I'll bet I can find it.

Gary Hubbell, broker associate
Needlerock Mountain Realty & Land
Crawford, CO
970 921 5588 home
970 988 2122 cell
970 921 5331 office