From: jd@rust.zso.dec.com (John D'Addamio)
Newsgroups: rec.equestrian
Subject: Re: horse move
Date: 8 Jan 93 20:39:05 GMT
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation - DECwest Engineering

In article <3400012@mothra.rose.hp.com> jackiec@mothra.rose.hp.com (Jackie Christopherson) writes:
>   
>
>
>   My company is probably going to transfer me to Boise, Idaho.
>   Anybody out there in that area? I'd like info on weather, land,
>   anything that I can get regarding horse keep.  I'm currently in 
>   Sacramento area where weather is kind of rank.
>
>   jc 
>
>

I can't help directly with info on Boise but I can tell you how to get
some useful information about ANY part of the US.

1. If you're considering moving within the US, one of the best sources
of info on basics like housing costs, education, transportation,
economy, weather, etc is the "Places Rated Alamanc." That's a paperback book
that has a rating system comparing each urban area in the US on each of
about 10 basic items. It is republished every few years. The book also
gives an analysis of each item with a rating for each urban area as well as
detailed info on most/all of the areas.

The book's useful even if you're going to live in the country because
some of the "largest" urban areas aren't very large and there's
great country nearby. I think it currently rates about 350 of the largest
urban areas of the country including Boise ID. The curious thing is that 
for several states like New Hampshire and New
Mexico, the state capital isn't represented in the list(in my old
one anyway) because it's too small a town!

Our a copy is about 6-7 years old and rates 329 such areas. so, it's
out of date and I can't remember the cost but I'm pretty sure they 
are under $25, which is cheap...especially compared to the cost of 
moving...BTW, the books also good at pointing to resources for more 
information about an area you're interested in.

2. You can get VERY detailed weather info about an area from the
US government. The National Cimatic Data Center (Telephone 
(704)259-0682 ) has numerous booklets available on the
weather in each state. For example, we got the "Climatography
of the US No. 20" book for WA when we moved here. There are
several pages of info on each TOWN that has a weather reporting
station(over 60 in WA)! The info is presented on a month by 
month basis and includes: min/max daily temperature,
record high/low, total precipitation, number of days when
rain is .10" or more, .50" or more, 1.0" or more, number of
days when temp is above 90, below freezing, below 
zero(Fahrenheit), heating days,cooling days, first frost dates, etc.

3. As for horse specific information, some states have horse
councils or some other horse industry advocate  in the state
government. Usually under the agriculture but sometimes under
commerce.  When we moved to Washington, the state horse council provided us
with lots of information including a horseman's directory listing horse
farms, boarding stables, tack shops, feed dealers, etc. With the
importance of the horse in the Kentucky economy, I'll bet they have
some information they can provide!

Sometimes, local horse organizations can help too if you can find
out how to get in touch with them.

    John