FLORIDA PLACE TO EXPLORE
World Equestrian Center
Marion County · Central Florida
Three hundred and seventy-eight acres northwest of Ocala, the largest equestrian facility in the United States.
ABOUT THIS PLACE
It opened in phases from December 2021, the main arena first and the two hundred and forty-eight room hotel afterwards, and it was built by the Roberts family, who also own the original World Equestrian Center in Ohio. There are more than two thousand stalls and several outdoor and indoor jumping arenas, with competition running through much of the year. The part visitors miss is that it is open to the public and free to walk into: anyone can come and watch the jumping from the rail without a ticket. Around the arenas are seven restaurants including the Yellow Pony Pub and a Mexican cantina, a patisserie, a spa of seven thousand square feet, a toy shop, saddle makers, and boots, denim and jewelry shops. Beyond the horse shows the center runs food truck evenings, a farmers market, road races, hat parties and festivals. For a county whose economy rests on horses, this is the shop window
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