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Originally Posted by Loriperrette
Does anyone know of any horse farms in Ocala that give tours? Having company and they expressed an interest in doing this.
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This is definitely the quiet season for horses in Ocala. Most of them summer up north and come down for the winter. They are “snow horses”! My girlfriend has brought her horse to Ocala for the winter a number of times, to two different barns, one of them pretty large. Here’s my impression.
These are working barns. The people there (except for me) are either owner/riders, trainers, or people who run things. They are friendly people, but they are not set up for having visitors stop by to pet the horses, especially little children. There’s a limited amount of things to see, except to watch one or more beautiful horses being ridden. This time of year, you could watch guys on riding mowers and other maintenance people.
What I recommend for a lot of people is HITS Ocala, which runs from mid-January to the end of March. This is a daily horse competition, some days busier than others. You can watch a hundred or more horses competing in various events and at different levels, some of them outrageously hard. A lot of really gorgeous horse flesh. There are also lots of little shops and places to eat. They LOVE visitors. They also have grand stands where visitors can sit and watch.
My understanding is that next year, a huge new version of this will be complete. My girlfriend is really excited about it.
Even though I don’t ride, I enjoy HITS a lot. So much great riding, most of it in arenas. I also go to what are called “three day events,” but the cross-country parts of those are exciting, but hard to see, as they are spread out. You only see parts of it.
Here’s a schedule and contact info:
HITS Ocala Winter Circuit :: HITS