If you were raised in the Prairies and you're moving to the Greater Toronto
Area, you're probably pretty bummed out, right? You'll have to give up
your sprawling ranch house to be crammed into a relatively small house you picked
up on the Yorkville condos market. What's worse, your beloved horses will
have to be left behind, because there's nowhere to ride in the Greater
Toronto Area, right? Wrong! Stop the sale of Lightning and Cinnamon, because
there actually are places to ride horses in the teeming metropolis that is Toronto
and the surrounding suburban areas. This is your guide to finding them.
A New Definition of "Park and Ride"
Obviously it's next to impossible for most Torontonians to stable a horse
at home, since many live in Square One condominiums that wouldn't even
give a horse room to turn around, let along leave space left over for people.
But it is possible to own a horse in Toronto by boarding it at a ranch near
the city. Your horse won't get as much you-time as before in this arrangement,
so if you would rather that they had more space and a lot of people time, you
may want to sell them and choose a horse belonging to one of the stables instead.
There are places, like Sunnybrook Stables in East York, that you can drive to,
park, and ride a horse.
Adventure: It's Not So Far From Home
Many of the suburban bedroom communities around Toronto, like Bradford or Burlington,
actually used to be agricultural communities before the suburban living trend
started. Therefore you can actually find Mississauga real estate co-existing with vast tracts of parkland with trails that are perfect for riding. While
it may be a bit of a drive from the city proper, many of the surrounding communities
attract a lot of tourists with their scenic horse-riding wilderness adventures.
Places like Wildwood Manor Ranch in Halton Hills and Horse Play in Niagara offer
you the chance to bond with your animal in a wilderness setting, perhaps as
a weekend getaway.
Keep Up Your Training
If you're just learning how to ride a horse or in training to compete
in equestrian events, there's no reason to give up these pursuits just
because you're moving to the big city. Don't give up your professional
horseback riding dreams in favor of selling big-city couples their wedding rental.
Toronto has several horseback riding schools, academies and training centers
that can help you hone your skills, whether you're a novice or looking
to go pro. The Riding Academy at the Horse Palace is just west of downtown,
and Halton School of Equestrian is located in the Streetsville neighborhood
of Mississauga.
So you see, horseback riding is one of the more popular things to do in Ontario
that you can access from the Greater Toronto Area.
|