BEST EQUESTRIAN TOWN

Aiken, South Carolina
Before you visit Aiken, know this: Horses have the right-of-way. In fact, Aiken is possibly the only town in the South where residents are opposed to the paving of roads, reserving them instead for horses and carriages. Even paved thoroughfares such as Whiskey Road have cross buttons at rider level to signal automobile traffic to stop, allowing horses to cross over into Hitchcock Woods, one of the largest forests in the nation. Road signs are stamped with horse profiles, and just about every house has an adjoining stable, or at least a horse trailer in its driveway.

It’s no wonder, then, that Aiken is attracting equestrian enthusiasts from around the world. “We have field hunters, show hunters, jumpers, dressage, polo, flat racing, steeplechase, reining, Western pleasure, driving. If you can name a discipline, I can name a top trainer who calls Aiken home,” says Valerie Swygert, dressage instructor and owner of Jasmine Farm. “But best of all, I can run into town in my tight riding breeches and leather boots and nobody looks at me oddly.”

With mild winters, early springs, no sand flies, and sandy soil perfect for conditioning horses, this is truly an equestrian paradise. And with its shaded streets, double avenues, historic mansions, and a thriving arts community, it isn’t a bad place for humans either.

A Typical Day: For breakfast, locals swear by the Track Kitchen across from Whitney Polo Field, a ramshackle, noisy, down-at-the-heels, bacon-’n’-grits place run by James “Pockets” Carter and his wife. Step outside to watch the Thoroughbreds training in the morning light. Stroll through beautiful Hopelands Gardens with fourteen acres of camellias, dogwoods, and scenic ponds, and end up at the Aiken Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame for a glimpse of the local racing industry from 1900 to the present. For lunch, try the peekytoe crab at Davor’s Café, tucked away in an alley downtown. Spend the afternoon walking or riding through Hitchcock Woods, or catch a Sunday polo match. For dinner, cuiZine is a sleek, cosmopolitan French-Asian spot downtown with sidewalk dining. Evening summer concerts are held at Hopelands Gardens each Monday through August. End your evening with a single-malt Scotch at Hotel Aiken’s Polo Tavern, a favorite haunt of the Argentine polo players.

Plant Your Roots: Aiken was known as the Winter Colony a century ago, when the Vanderbilts, Whitneys, and Astors built their sprawling sixty-nine-room “cottages” here. Stately, historic homes are occasionally for sale for upwards of million, but smaller cottages start at 0,000. As for newer equestrian developments, Realtor Mike Hosang commends Brigadoon for its “green” approach, with 500 acres set aside for green space and riding trails, and a 40-acre grassy area for dressage, show jumping, training, and polo practice (brigadoonsc.com, carolinahorseproperties.com). And if you want to invest in more than just property, look to Dogwood Stable, headed by W. Cothran “Cot” Campbell, an entrepreneur who pioneered the idea of selling limited partnerships in racehorses, some of whom make it to the Derby (dogwoodstable.com).

RUNNER-UP

Georgetown, KY
With all due respect to Middleburg, Virginia, and Wellington, Florida, horse lovers should keep their eye on historic Georgetown, Kentucky, where the 1,224-acre Kentucky Horse Park will host the FEI World Equestrian Games in 2010 (the first time the “Olympics for Horses” will be held outside Europe).