[freefilmbuff]

During the Covid lockdowns and before I moved to The Villages, I was looking at getting an equestrian property near Ocala. My childhood dreams included having a horse or horses. I became aware of an equestrian club, and even equestrian properties in The Villages. It would be more practical to buy a home in The Villages, and participate in the equestrian club to get a lot more experience, should I ever buy an equestrian property around Ocala.

When Covid restrictions eased in The Villages, the Just Horsin' Around club had its first post-Covid meeting. I recall about 30 people attended the Savannah Rec Center meeting about a year and a half ago. The order of business was to resume where they left off before the club was closed during Covid restrictions -- the current president/leader of the club wanted to step down because leading the club was getting too demanding of her time at her age. So she asked is there anyone willing to 'take over the reins,' of the club. Nobody there volunteered. It was wrong for me then to volunteer because of my limited and outdated equestrian knowledge. I had hoped the club would be a place where I could improve my skills and knowledge and meet other people who are interested in equestrianism. Since nobody volunteered, it was decided the club would disband and the funds in its treasury would be spent charitably on miniature ponies that visit and cheer up people in nursing or retirement homes.

This was quite a letdown. I even bought my home with the help of an realtor who once trained a Triple Crown winner. To my disappointment nobody has stepped forward yet to create a new horsemanship club in The Villages. I have spoken with various people about the topic but the best they could offer is that I go by myself and become a student of horsemanship at any Ocala venue offering trail rides. Other suggestions included that demographics here now has fewer people from rural areas who have worked with horses for much of their lives -- the demographics now is urban and suburban retirees who are not about to take up the possibility of dangerous horseback riding for the first time at 65, and possibly ending up hurt and dependent on their families or the government.

Based on these considerations, I have decided the best way forward is to create a club, hopefully teaming up with some other enthusiasts, in hopes of eventually finding experienced horse-men and -women to lead.

Please comment on this thread if you are interested in reviving an equestrian club in The Villages. If a handful of interested parties can have an informal meeting about creating the club, we can make it happen together. Otherwise, I plan to go through the motions of creating the club, with the objective of finding some experienced riders to take over the leadership when the ball is rolling. Activities would, of course, include excursions, possibly carpooled, with fellow Villagers for trail rides or horse shows in the area, and a monthly meeting with presenters, videos, tips and discussions.

Don't let equestrian pursuits shrivel and die in The Villages. If you don't use it, you'll lose it.

[milling73]

We were trail riders, owning horses for over 48 years and I have missed riding and our horses greatly.
As my personal opinion only, one of the reasons you may be getting low response is there is a great deal of difference between owning and riding your own horse - vs - taking a guided trail ride on a horse that has been trained to follow directly behind another at a walk. It is certainly not fear of getting hurt that stops me from joining a club and paying for an hour trail ride. It is because I, and probably many of us who have owned horses, prefer to do more. I would want to ride a responsive horse - that will go anywhere, at more than just a walk. Rental stables cant do that, thus for me there is little enjoyment in the ride.

You are correct though that there must be many previous horse owners here, who would love closer options to lease or board a horse here within the Villages, riding at will, and utilizing stalls, arenas, and land perhaps around the polo club, or another area.

While it would require Villages land and legal cooperation — A club with that type of access and activities would probably have much better chance of popular success.
katie millinger

[PugMom]

sounds good to me, i'd go for it

[kchilder1973]

I would be interested but I'm a snowbird from VA. I don't ride but I drive my pony (pull a carriage). I spent last winter driving (my car) 50 miles each way to Anthony (north east of Ocala) daily to drive and care for my pony. Looking for something much closer this winter if I can find someplace to keep him. I also do some therapy work with another of mine, a mini, in Virginia, that I'd love to bring down. My goal is to eventually move down here and have a place to keep my ponies fairly near by. I've worked with horses all my life, ridden mostly English, foxhunted, evented, etc. Now I've switched to combined driving but in general, my goal is to do less showing and do more fun things with my 4-legged furry critters. I'm up to help with (when I'm local) or participation in equestrian activities.

[CoachKandSportsguy]

coachk is a 4H club horse person, owner, rider, and her last ride was with my daughter when she was a stable manager.

[freefilmbuff]

There ought to be an exploratory meeting to muster support from interested participants. As a Villages resident, I can access a meeting room once in a while for a personal non-club event, such as a birthday party, neighborhood or family celebration, funeral party, or maybe even a gathering to watch streaming free election night results.

With the help of an ad in the paper, hopefully in the Club Connection (the logical place where Villagers check for any clubs they might be interested in), interested Villagers and guests would be alerted to an exploratory meeting in a rec center. The meeting's agenda would be to spread the word and discuss activities, club organization, picking the best place, time and day for the monthly meetings, and to give every attendee a free (plastic) pony! The biggest issue is getting the word out so the club can be popular enough for a sizable rec center room, and that there will be strong attendance to pass the probationary testing period for the use of a rec center room, so the club succeeds in becoming popular.

It is a pity that nobody more qualified volunteered to take over the reins of the former Horse'N Around Club at its post-CoVid final meeting, so it never disbanded, since now the club must be made from scratch. On that note, I could use some help from someone who can contact the previous leadership to see if they could and would use their club mailing list (or website if there was one) to help spread the word that another equestrian club is coming. I never learned much about the former president of the club at that first meeting when I was hoping to join the club, except that she was stepping down.

Hopefully someone who reads this will help me connect in this regard with the former club leadership. They could help with ideas of how to start a new equestrian club in The Villages, and make it a success.

Thanks,
Bob Dagit

[Dotneko]

i had a 34 horse dressage boarding and training barn in MA. Im a USEF 'S' dressage judge and travel all over the country judging. i have many connections in this area. The local shows - Grand Oaks, WEC, Tampa, Alachua, Clarcona always need volunteers with no experience needed!
Id be interested, but i fly almost every weekend.
Dot
dotneko@aol.com