France is a great place to live if you have horses,
but where to go and how to do it?
Liz Rowlinson reports.
F
rance is one of the
world's greatest
equestrian nations
with a long racing
tradition, a renowned
breeding sector, and 2
million French horse loving people
ride regularly.
It is the top exporter of horses
to other parts of the world, and
Haras Le Pin National Stud in
Normandy is the major centre for
rearing French racehorses. With
8,600 clubs and 5,000 horse
riding centres, and 400 equestrian
tourism centres it offers all sorts of
income generation potential and is
heaven for horse loving expats.
It is a popular place for
Britons and Belgians to move over
horses because the price of land
is relatively affordable - you can
get an equestrian property from
around €150,00 in Normandy, the
most important equestrian area.
"Horses are everywhere - from the
happy hacker with just one horse
in the field to the highest levels of
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professional, Olympic riders and
world-renowned studs," says Lesley
Okey, Leggett's agent in Basse
Normandy, which includes parts of
the Orne and Calvados.
The high level of supporting
infrastructure means that specialist
equine veterinary clinics and
farriers are easy to find; there
are clubs and riding centres
everywhere, and the beautiful and
accessible chemins (paths) in the
region offer miles and miles of offroad
riding opportunities.
"Regarding properties, there
is something for all budgets - at
a fraction of the cost of those in
the U.K., where land prices are
prohibitive," she says, having
chosen Normandy for importing her
horses.
Affordability is more attractive
in the Pays d'Auge. Still, prices
soar around the chic Deauville,
where the wealthiest owners and
breeders from around the world
visit to enjoy the racing and sales
every August. Other key events in
the busiest equestrian calendar in
Europe include the Longines F.E.I.
Jumping Nations Cup at Brittany's
La Baule in May, Le Grand Complet
at Haras Le Pin and the Normandy
Horse Show at Saint-Lo (in August),
and the Paris Horse Show in
November.
Claire Murphy, another
Leggett agent, also brought over
horses to Normandy but to the
Sud-Manche facing Jersey and
Guernsey. "I worked in horsebox
sales in Avranches and Galop Baie,
a purpose-built training centre for
racehorses overlooking Mont StMichel," she says. "The temperate
climate is perfect for horses rather
than the intense heat of the south.
The combination of the warmth,
short winters, and high rainfall
make the pasture here rich and
dense."
Other areas to consider are the
Loire and south of Paris, also good
Horseplay...
the French way
PHOTOS: SHUTTERSTOCK