The home turf of Kentucky Derby winners Secretariat and Riva Ridge is best seen from atop a hill near Doswell, north of Richmond. From there, the 347 acres of Meadow Farm stretch impressively across the lush green landscape. Listed at $4.9 million, this hallowed horse farm comes with a 13,000-square-foot home, an oak-shaded driveway, endless white fences and an extensive thoroughbred training facility featuring a full-mile dirt track. "This," says real estate agent Sue Tepper with professional understatement, "is a passion for the elite."

Meadow Farm: Secretariat's home

It is indeed. While the lifestyle doesn’t come cheap, more and more Virginians are buying a piece of it. Small horse farms are hot, whether for retirees flush with 401(k) cash or affluent young couples wanting to give their children a leg up on their peers in the perennial passion for riding.

Spurring the trend is the fact that most horse properties don’t cost a tenth of Meadow Farm’s list price, because most "horse farms" actually are not working farms — breeding, foaling and training facilities — but simply residences where horses are kept and enjoyed. And not only are these more modest properties relatively affordable, they can be found throughout the Commonwealth.

Horse farms stitch the state. In Urbanna, for example, real estate agent Jim Richardson has the 172-acre Angel Watch Farm listed at $521,000. "There certainly is an increased trend since Colonial Downs was introduced, certainly more demand for something like this farm. I don’t know if you want to call them ‘gentlemen farmers,’ but certainly the demand is increasing," he says. On the other side of Virginia, in Botetourt County, an 80-acre spread with an 1880 Mennonite-built home goes for $695,000. Sales agent Dennis Hawes sees increased interest in such properties. In Virginia all manner of horse farms can be had, from a 6-acre property outside Suffolk for $165,000 to a 13-acre Prince George County farm for $449,500 to a 200-acre Dinwiddie estate for $760,000. And like Meadow Farm, premium properties still come up for sale; Sabot Hill, for example, a historic 90-acre property in Goochland’s Deep Run Hunt Country, is listed at $3.75 million.

The popularity of horse farms has even sparked a trend of chopping bigger properties into smaller, more affordable ones. Meadow Farm agent Tepper concedes that even the revered birthplace of the legendary Secretariat could become just another subdivision. "A lot of the larger horse farms have been bought and subdivided," says Northern Virginia real estate agent Charles Ebbets. He cites Warrenton’s Broadview Farm, where the popular Gold Cup races were held until the late 1980s. "Now it’s a subdivision. There are fewer [large horse farms] every year." The market for smaller horse properties with single-family residences remains as "strong as it’s ever been," adds Ebbets. Another agent in Northern Virginia, Lofton White, who has been selling horse farms since 1973, says, "We have a hard time keeping any inventory up."

Some families want horse farms so badly that agents are placing want ads. "A lot of people just like to live in that open space," White says. "They like the atmosphere. A lot of people like to retire and try it out." Ebbets also sees more young couples from D.C. and Alexandria: "When they have children, they want to move out here to farm country."

How much horse farm can the average person afford? Agents say a good rule of thumb is $5,000 to $10,000 an acre plus the cost of the home. Potential buyers should figure toward the higher end of that range if the farm is near a major metro market or offers special amenities. "Everyone wants an older, restorable house on 25 to 30 acres, with a pond," Ebbets says. Near the Northern Virginia horse-farm hub of Warrenton, for example, that will run $300,000 to $400,000 — "if you can find one."

The lucky buyers of such farms should seek pleasure rather than profits, experts say, because only the most experienced and plugged-in breeders are likely to succeed. "If you’re thinking of coming here to make money on a horse farm, forget it," says Charlottesville real estate agent Jim Faulkner. The 27-year industry veteran says that while property values tend to appreciate nicely, and have done so "steadily the last two years," breeding "is not one of those things that pays for the farm anymore." Northern Virginia agent Don Robertson says prospective buyers should "realize they’re not going to make any money and that they are just doing it for fun and enjoyment. Some people will buy 50 to 100 acres and try to make money breeding horses, but they know what they’re doing. Some of those people are successful, but they’re already tuned into it."

Robertson is a former thoroughbred farm manager for major stables in Kentucky and Virginia. "I came up from the bottom," rising from groom to foreman, learning to foal mares, and eventually becoming a farm manager. His last assignment had him overseeing Northern Virginia-based Buckland Farm. Robertson gained real estate expertise from managing the operation’s properties in six states and, after helping the business sell them in 1998, he became an agent. "I think there has been more of an interest in the smaller horse operations, the ones that aren’t really in the business on a professional level," he says. "The demand for properties where people just want to keep a horse or two is pretty strong."

Robertson recently helped sell a 12-acre farm in Fauquier County for $425,000, and he says the typical purchase is a 10-acre farm with a three-stall barn. "You can really only support three horses on 10 acres," he says. Owners of more horses on such farms "try to make up the difference by feeding them [in addition to letting the horses graze], but the property looks terrible." Other difficulties and dangers can be found in the most innocuous places. Ordinary fescue grass, for example, can cause mares to miscarry their foals. In 1996 a breeder in Suffolk found out the hard way, losing 27 foals. And for horse farm owners there is always the danger of fire. In 1995, flames destroyed the main house and most of the buildings at a million-dollar horse farm in Floyd County; its 40 horses were rescued.

While horse farm owners can save themselves a lot of money and potential heartache by not attempting to become breeding barons, they should still expect to spend a lot of time on their horses. Says Central Virginia agent Craig Via: "I think it’s been sobering for a lot of folks: ‘This maybe is a lot more work than we thought.’" Via has a 15-acre, $785,000 farm listed in Chesterfield. "We’ve had some people say, ‘This just won’t do. It’s a farm.’" But better that they realize it before taking the plunge, he adds.

For former suburbanites Gary and Lou Ann Ladin, it’s a lifestyle change that has meant rich rewards as well as hard work. Their 15-acre property in Powhatan County is home to the Ladins’ three horses and pony. Gary, a Richmond Police Department sergeant, and Lou Ann, formerly vice president of marketing for the Virginia Chamber of Commerce and now a consultant, were seeking a rural home to balance their high-pressure careers. Lou Ann also had wanted to stable her own horses since childhood visits to her grandparents’ farm in Franklin County. "That just stuck with me since I was 8," she says. "It was always my dream."

In 1994 the Ladins purchased their farm — complete with house, stable, pasture and a 4-acre fishing pond — for under $200,000. "You say ‘horse farm’ and people think you’re a millionaire or something," Ladin laughs. But she adds that unless you are able to afford hiring farm hands, "you better be ready to commit to a certain lifestyle. They’re high-maintenance animals." Ladin estimates she spends two hours a day feeding and caring for the horses and "pretty much the whole weekend is devoted to them." That’s when the water buckets are cleaned, hay is stacked, fences are repaired, and her husband spends a few hours maintaining the pasture with the tractor.

"It takes a lot of planning. You don’t sleep in late Saturday morning or just go off on a vacation. You have to have a support system of friends," Ladin says. "It’s constant upkeep, but the rewards are worth it. I have no grand scheme of breeding, training, selling or showing. It’s just my little piece of paradise."

Return to Virginia Business - June 2001