Your young daughter, when she begs you for a pony for her birthday, doesn't realize that owning a horse is not as simple as purchasing the animal itself. After all, horse owners can't just park their beasts in the driveway of their Markham homes next to the family car. Horses need special care, attention, and most of all - space. You can get around this by stabling your mount away from home, but if you truly want to make the lifestyle transition, you may need to move house. Here are some locales in the GTA to investigate when you're trying to find a suitable property.
Caledon
This town in the municipality of Peel is less than 45 minutes from Toronto in good traffic conditions, yet it is so rural in nature that it doesn't even have a public transit system. There are many working farms in this area as well as private estates owned by wealthy Torontonians. It's also one of the safest places to live in Canada according to McLean's magazine. A Brampton real estate agent would probably be able to help you find a property suitable for your horses in this locale, since the township is adjacent to Brampton to the northeast.
Bradford
Located north of Newmarket in the Greater Toronto Area, Bradford is another rural location that is only 45 minutes from the city center when it's not rush hour. While Caledon is a town, Bradford is an unincorporated urban county frequently lumped together with the equally rural West Gwillimbury. While any place you find on the Windsor, Ontario real estate listings is likely to suffer from some amount of air pollution, Bradford and the surrounding areas are industrially undeveloped. Bradford has an advantage over Caledon in that it has a GO Train station.
King City
A closer choice, located just west of Aurora, is the unincorporated village of King City. Located just 35 minutes from downtown in good traffic, King City and the surrounding area of King township feature rolling hills that are perfect for horseback riding. This has made it extremely popular with affluent people from Toronto looking to own an estate, much like the town of Lucan is with horse owners who used to own London, Ontario real estate and still want to work in the city.
Halton Hills
The presence of a UNESCO world biosphere reserve, the Niagara Escarpment, and the Bruce Trail make the Halton Hills region a great place to look into taking your horse if you like to ride scenic routes. It too is only about 45 minutes from Toronto (dependant on traffic). Although Milton, Ontario houses are encroaching on some of its territory, it should remain rural enough for your purposes for the next few years.
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