Ocala's Florida Horse Park hosted the Ocala Winter II Horse Trials this past weekend where more participants competed in the event since 2009 when the eventing trial was founded. More than 600 horses participated from around the country and were represented by competing family members, Olympians, and event newcomers alike.
These horse trials featured three different event phases including dressage, show jumping and cross country, and each phase was judged separately with an average taken of the final scores.
While Ocala's claim to fame as "America's horse country" is not new, the city continues to blossom into a major eventing center as farms keep expanding and many riders choose to spend their winters training in Marion County.
In 1943, the first thoroughbred horse farm in Florida was developed, and ever since, Ocala's establishment as a horse capital has continued to grow. Only five cities in the world, permitted by the Chamber of Commerce guidelines, are allowed to use the title of "horse capital," and Ocala is one of them. This is based on the annual revenue that the horse industry in the city produces. In Ocala, over $2.2 billion in annual revenue is created and 44,000 jobs are sustained by horse breeding, training, and other facets of the equine industry, and the number of and size of horse farms contunes to grow.
Speaking of horse farms, Savvy Ocala currently represents 316 horse properties for sale. Ocala's mild climate means that thoroughbreds here can train outdoors all year round, making Marion County the ideal horse capital of the world. Be sure to check out the horse properties available, and for more information on the winter trials that took place over the weekend, read the full article at Gainesville.com.
