Horse Boarding on St Croix?

You could try
Cruzan Cowgirls Horse Rescue

look them up on facebook.
No idea if they do boarding but they would probably know who might.

what about the track? are there stables there to board or is that only for the race horses

It seems that many people with horses just keep them in their yards. Its hard to know if there are any real laws pertaining to keeping horses but they wouldn't be enforced or followed anyway so you can petty much do what you like.

Not a good idea to advocate ignoring zoning laws even if there is little enforcement.

Contact Jennifer here. https://www.facebook.com/cruzan.cowgirls?fref=ts&ref=br_tf

St. Croix Pony Club
340-692-4034

I believe this is the number to the group located behind Cotton Valley. I'm not a horse enthusiasts myself, but I've hiked around back there, and it looks to me like they might be able to provide you with some answers.
Good luck!

Thank you so much!

Thanks I sent a message to a realtor to ask about "horse properties" on the island and if they often come available. We'll see what they suggest.

Thanks, every suggestion helps. I'll contact them!

Pony Club no longer at Cotton Valley. Located out west now. They will sometimes board. Give them a call. Boarding a horse stateside is not the same as on island.
Care taking and needs are very different.

You may wish to explore the issues and difficulties with transporting
a horse if you wish to bring your own as well as requirements to do so.

Not a good idea to advocate ignoring zoning laws even if there is little enforcement.

Horses are kind of not considered live stock on STX (it kind of depends on if someone wants to push the issue), so zoning is not the biggest issue, check with your home owners association however, there may be additional restrictions there & that is where you'll run into friction.

Thanks I sent a message to a realtor to ask about "horse properties" on the island and if they often come available. We'll see what they suggest.

We (Cruzan Cowgirls) can definitely help you out, though it will probably start with a long conversation about NOT bringing your horses to STX, especially if they are of any quality. If you run the numbers (and account for weight) STX has a worse horse problem than even it's dogs & cats (as far as over population). The resent drought we went through has DEVASTATED local farmers and horse owners alike (and my bank account, feeding horses is exorbitantly expensive on STX when there is no forage, we have found that shipping pallets of hay and grain from P.R. is the best option, and it's not a very good option).

If you haven't gotten a hold of Jennifer feel free too, we are members of the Pony club (our daughter brings one of the rescue horses there every Saturday for lessons), good friends with Paul and Jill and know pretty much anyone who is involved with horses on the west end through our Horse Rescue.

In the VI Zoning codes, I believe they are considered livestock just like goats, sheep, pigs, donkeys and fowl, etc. It doesn't differentiate between islands.

In the VI Zoning codes, I believe they are considered livestock just like goats, sheep, pigs, donkeys and fowl, etc. It doesn't differentiate between islands.

for Zoning purposes they are considered livestock, They are not considered Livestock for agricultural reasons (its a weird grey area), if they were it would be awesome, we would qualify for ALL of the great agriculture programs offered in the USVI. as it is we qualify for none and have had to do everything we have done so far on our own.

so its a semi grey area, for instance Long point HOA allows one horse per family member but is only zoned R1 R2.

I'd say check with the HOA and neighborhood, that's what REALLY matters (not some law that MAPP over sees).

After reading all the posts above,I reiterate my statement that you can pretty much do whatever you want with your horse.

Pony Club no longer at Cotton Valley. Located out west now. They will sometimes board. Give them a call. Boarding a horse stateside is not the same as on island.
Care taking and needs are very different.

My daughter has owned horses for years and has competed also. She doesn't currently own a horse but is volunteering at a rescue for OTTBs and helps exercise those horses, well and basically does just about anything they need help with.

Living in Florida I thought the needs of a horse would be similar to the USVI. What type of care taking and needs would be different on the islands?

What type of care taking and needs would be different on the islands?

The needs of a horse are the same as anywhere else. The expense is multiplied here significantly (paucity - at least on STT/STJ - of grazing, flat land, related feed costs, etc.) plus you have more issues here with vandalism, theft and random cruelty, i.e. the issue of security.

Thanks for the info. Maybe she can stick to volunteering with rescues as opposed to owning her own horse.

@Shangirl. Have you been to St Croix? How to explain. Horses on island are not "stabled" as most are in the states. They , IMO, are predominantly mistreated.
They live in yards and I mean small yards or tied up in fields. I have even seen them tied up in government housing properties. They can be very thin and covered in ticks, un shoed and not taken care of in general. It is no surprise to see them dead on the Side of the road..hit by a car or some other cause, maybe abuse.
This is not the case with all horse owners on island but way too many.
Domestic animal mentality is very different culturally and Im not saying all people on island. Animals are seen more as workers....dogs to protect homes or to dog fight, roosters for cock fighting,cats to catch rats, horses to make money at the track or a toy for some teen boy....animals are not to be coddled and they certainly dont live in your house....again not all but way too many. It is heartbreaking , so for those making the move, prepare yourselves for the animal scene. Its a bad situation that you will see so often that you may become desensitized after the initial shock wares off.

Sheiba- Thanks for the heads up. We have never had horse property ourselves but have always boarded somewhere. Your info just further backs up my idea that it might be good for her to continue working with rescues. If she sees a dead horse on the side of the road I'll have to put her in therapy 😉 Maybe I should start a thread looking for therapists. She saw a news story when we were out in Montana recently about two horses that were hit by a car. She almost lost it.

I don't think anyone enforces ANYTHING here (AG etc) in STX when it comes to horses. I just get so sick to my stomach when I see so many starving or visibly injured. Its criminal. Today a guy was running a horse in the middle of the freeway - the horse looked ABSOLUTELY terrified and was pouring sweat. I wanted to cry. I thought animal abuse was bad on STT - more dog neglect I saw there, but the horse situation here is literally unlike anything I've ever seen. It does seem a TINY bit better with the rains but still a lot of sick looking horses tied up around.

Thanks LF for all you guys do! Hope you're feeling better 🙁 Will pizza it up soon.

Thanks LF for all you guys do! Hope you're feeling better 🙁 Will pizza it up soon.

I can mostly see again... haha let me know when your headed down, I'm pretty sure Robert owes me a pizza still 😉

Or maybe I owe him... that place can be a black hole for my memory at times.... 😎

I agree with everything said above, though let me clarify a little on some minor points:

un shoed

I'd rather have a horse "bare foot" than be shod improperly by a poor farrier.. This isn't a sign of poor care (more a sign of lack of income, the majority of horse owners here are 12-25, and then the older group that runs horses on the track, but there are a lot less of them).

It is no surprise to see them dead on the Side of the road..hit by a car

Honestly, I'd rather see them dead on the side of the road then waiting to be put down after a hit.. I've helped put down 4 horses due to vehicle strikes since I've been here & it's worse that they lived through the accident IMO. We mostly try to keep it positive and focus on the "wins" we've had, but there are definitely some dark moments.

horses to make money at the track or a toy for some teen boy

The horses "off the track" are more likely than not to be involved in the "bush races" (basically they go to a large field, line out a course & race the horses head to head... lots of side betting happens, sometimes for large amounts). The teenage boys are heavily involved in the bush races & every one of them will swear that they have a thorough bred horse.

The vast majority (85%+) of the horse culture here (STX) is centered around racing, not owning horses as pets, transportation, or aesthetics; there are almost no rules on our track so anything that goes to the track is generally very heavily drugged (I've even seen (what I assume to be) cocaine given to horses at the track before a race) so when they come off the track they crash hard, but can be recuperated with patience.

for those making the move, prepare yourselves for the animal scene. Its a bad situation that you will see so often that you may become desensitized

Oh certainly, I just saw a dead male dog (still intact) and my first thought was "well at least there won't be anymore puppies made" 🙁

The animal situation is very challenging here mostly due to the local cultures view of animals (aptly described above, more utilitarian than companion).

Today a guy was running a horse in the middle of the freeway - the horse looked ABSOLUTELY terrified and was pouring sweat

It was terrified, I bet you could see a lot of white in it's eyes, I bet it had it's head held up really high and maybe turned slightly (the head is held high to evade the bit, since reins are used as a leverage point here & it's head tilted sideways so it could see as it runs). This is a typical riding style for the locals here, I feel it is mostly due to lack of education. Even the kids with horses don't like how they themselves ride and quickly adapt (or at least incorporate) gentler techniques (which also happen to be safer for the rider and horse) when shown; we have had some great kids come and volunteer with us who really turned their riding styles around a lot once they saw that we can actually stop our horses when we want to (haha!).

Anyway, it's a lot of work, but I love animals & running a rescue means I get to interact with tons of em!

The 40 donkeys we wrangled yesterday for the donkey race were hilarious; but it's really important to give these animals a "job" & value in the eyes of the community so we support that as much as possible.