100 Horses have died because cheap owners decided to feed cheap Hay....no let me rephrase that...they fed Cow Hay otherwise known as Haylage. Now I have been ticked off about this place for as long as I can remember, if you drive North up I-75 between Wildwood and Ocala you will see on the right hand side acres upon acres of dirt with horses from fence to fence. I could not believe the amount of horses that were housed on this property. I also can not believe Marion County Code Enforcement allowed them to house so many in such small areas. For the longest time I never knew what the place was and then a friend told me it was a transfer station, well I thought it was a transfer station for horses (racehorses, show horses etc.) coming from over seas into Florida it wasn't until they made the news that I found out what they were really transferring.

My friend drove me down the road in front of the place a few months ago and it is absolutley gorgeous and pristine in every respect. Me still being uninformed thought well they definately have the money to take care of all those horses plus the horses won't be there long as they are just in quarantine. That must be why they are allowed to operate with so many horses in such a small area.

Now the news has been made, there were over 400 horses on this property and they weren't there temporarily this is an Embryo Transfer facility. Read it....400 mares housed on a dirt lot waiting for some rich customers to say yes implant this horse with sperm and an egg so that my expensive horse doesn't have to be risked with pregnancy or stop racing or showing or what ever excuse they have. Disposable horses thats what the mares obviously are to this "transfer station". Feed them cheap hay and if a few die no problem they can pick a few more up at a sale cheap that will work just fine. 100 horses died at last count according to the news....

Now that the weather is cooling off I have started back slowly working the horses to get them ready for the winter show circuit. Sudden looked at me like I was crazy when I tried out her new English saddle and then had the nerve to actually get on her and ride on it.  (She has been off since the middle of May because I just can't handle the Florida summers) Anyways I lunged her and then hopped on, she barely broke a sweat but was sure breathing hard. She has really packed on the weight since the grass started growing and her work schedule ceased.

They have been locked in thier paddocks out of the pasture and are not very happy about it. Sudden has been checking out the new fence that was built to see if there are any weak points. The last time she found a weak spot and kept working at it until her and Kristie could escape into the pasture. We shall see how long this one lasts. Its such a pain installing electric fence and keeping it working but that will be the next step if she escapes again. They really need to stay in thier paddocks and get rid of thier grass bellies, they have free choice alfalfa so they really don't need the grass.

Kristie isn't broke to ride and has sure done a lot of growing the past 6 months. She is over 16 hands and starting to fill out. I put her in a lunging program to fit on her a bit too. She thought it was fun until day 4.

Tonight they saw me coming and went to the other end of thier paddocks. LOL! I was wondering how long it would take