Aiken vs Ocala for dressage?

[Hawks_Nest]

Ok this is planning way in advance but next winter is finally the year for me getting to take my boy south for 1-2 months (thinking feb-mar with some wiggle room). My primary trainer goes to welly world and is $$$$ (I truck in for lessons). If all goes to plan, my boy will be working towards GP next winter (first time for me).

What I need: a trainer who can help me and my wonderful horse, they must be kind and have a good understanding of biomechanics. Options for competing while I’m down there.

Aiken I know a ton of people (former eventer here) and a place to stay/board would be easy. Ocala I know fewer people but I’m assuming that showing would be easier (and the weather better).

Thoughts? Trainer suggestions?

Many thanks from a cold new englander who really really wants to go south next winter.

[Bogey2]

Gwyneth McPherson in in FL Look her up. I think she is near WEC
https://www.horsenation.com/category/gwyneth-mcpherson/

[Badger]

Lots of options for you in Aiken and quite a few recognized shows and schooling opportunities. Also lots of clinics.

[dotneko]

Ocala! Many good trainers here. WEC shows every other week in addition to more low key recognized shows in Clarcona, Lady Lake, Alachua, Tampa.

[joiedevie99]

I will throw in a word of caution. For most amateurs trying to get to those levels, consistency in approach is important. There are lots of great trainers, but someone taking a fundamentally different road to Rome isn’t going to make much forward progress with you in two months, and you’re likely to leave frustrated.

Talk to your current trainer about who they ride with, and who the other students of that trainer are. Try to find someone who is in the same training world. If that proves challenging, consider whether you can do Welly, but board elsewhere. There are less expensive options out in Deer Run (Loxahatchee) if she is willing to drive to you.

[Hawks_Nest]

Thank you for your concern. I probably should have clarified, I am a pro, I’ve just not competed beyond I1. Not looking to do an intensive training, just want eyes on the ground once a week or so. I’ll likely be bringing a client or two with me.

I’m definitely leaning more towards ocala for the showing and the slightly warmer weather.

[quietann]

Oh wow, I am thrilled for you! I hope it ends up being wonderful.

(yes we know each other IRL… HN’s mom got me back into horses in 2006.)

[lazaret]

As a Loxahatchee resident…it’s currently warmer here than it is in Ocala. It’s cooler in Ocala than in Wellington; Ocala is further north and further inland.

Having been both places, I prefer Wellington because it’s so easy to just pop down and show off the trailer. I also don’t think Ocala is any cheaper anymore, especially in season with the hunter/jumper folks in town plus the eventers. Ocala is quite huge, so depending on where you end up, it can be quite a haul to go show. Wellington and environs is much more compact, which can be easier when you’re only here for 4 or 8 weeks.

I know a lot of people who do dry stalls or board elsewhere, and haul into Wellington for lessons once a week or so (including me…) it’s super easy to do.

[Danvers]

Agree! Wellington is dressage Mecca! Aiken is wet, grey and cooold in the winter…. Okala is meh…. A lot of folks seem to be going there …. But it still isn’t Wellington … My opinion

[Mersidoats]

Ocala is sprawling compared to Wellington/Lox/Deer Run. There are many FEI trainers available, and there are options for day stalls for the season. I’ll echo what lazaret said - Ocala is no longer cheap and you will drive a lot more between barns than if you were further south. We were quite chilly this winter, I feel like I blanketed most nights (my horses are clipped). It will usually warm up to around 60-70 most days, but can dip to 30s/40s at night. The upside? Big paddocks and pastures.

The go-to trainer for many of the local pros is Anna Marek, or Ilse Schwartz when she comes up for clinics. Jaron Verheij is also fantastic, or Sarah Martin. Anna Merritt is lovely as well.

WEC has dressage shows twice a month, plus there is a monthly show series in Newberry, so plenty of show options.

[4horses]

I’m assuming your horse is used to traveling? As adjustment to a new environment and shipping can be stressors. Other than that, if you want to go south for a few months, I see no reason not too.

Ocala has better traffic than Wellington. You may drive further in Ocala but typically the traffic isn’t too terrible. West Palm Beach can have really heavy traffic and can be slow but you are probably not going as many miles. But it is about 5 hours from Ocala to Wellington so you are going further to get to Wellington.

I would vote for Ocala just because it used to take me 45 minutes just to go 8 miles to my school in West Palm Beach.

[SeeSpotEvent]

Aiken resident here, we’ve had a lot more dressage people move to the area (I event and do dressage). Definitely some very good trainers and trainer/judges around, happy to help if you PM me. It’s definitely not Welly warm, or have the density of dressage shows, but Bruce’s Field and SV have made massive improvements and have multiple USDF shows in the time frame you are looking for and oodles of schooling show opportunities. Even with all the growth, Aiken is still small and most things are 15 minutes and, at most, 30 minutes. Ocala is usually a bit warmer but trends fairly similar. Aiken is definitely a reasonable choice to get a jump start on the season if Wellington doesn’t work for you.

[lazaret]

I guess I don’t know where you were, but on the Wellington side, it takes me less than 20 minutes to get to a lesson in Wellington from my place, and it took about the same when I had the horses in Delray Beach. It was about 40 minutes from Delray to White Fences. There is traffic down in Boca Raton and Delray but I don’t see nearly as much in Wellington/Lake Worth. Loxahatchee is still pretty rural. I can take 441 to connect a lot of roads that I need to access and it’s not usually log jammed until you get above Southern.

When I was farm shopping, I looked in Ocala and it was possible to be over an hour from the Florida Horse Park and 30+ from WEC and still be in Ocala. I don’t know much about the dressage scene but both Anna Marek and Anna Merrit were both showing at the CDIs at Global this winter.

[Kemosabe]

@4horses

Ocala has better traffic than Wellington.

I disagree…I-75 is a nightmare in and out of Ocala. Unlike Wellington, Ocala does not have the infrastructure to handle the traffic that WEC has brought or the tidal wave of new residents.

Wellington is expensive, but go out to Loxahatchee and boarding prices are more reasonable (Deer Run for example). And yet you have easy access to White Fences, where there are schooling shows and recognized shows so you don’t have to go to Global if you don’t want to.

And Wellington provides something that is pretty unique: 3*, 4*, 5* dressage and jumping nearly every week with the Europeans in full force. Top Sport is in Wellington.

[Hawks_Nest]

Thanks everyone!

Wellington is really not ideal for a lot of reasons for me, cost and lack of turnout are the big sticking points. My boy loves his outside time. Plus if I did decide to do Wellington, I know where I’d board.

[lorilu]

@lazaret

Ocala and it was possible to be over an hour from the Florida Horse Park and 30+ from WEC and still be in Ocala. I don’t know much about the dressage scene but both Anna Marek and Anna Merrit were both showing at the CDIs at Global this winter.

Marion County is the largest county in Florida, so there is that…
And both “Annas” have their farms in Ocala and also show in the national and CDIs here in Ocala.
We have lots of trainers here in Ocala. One nice factor is that horses get real turnout… in real pastures… not a few hours in a postage stamp size “turnout” as is common in Welly.
There are a few facebook groups about dressage/horses/etc in Ocala. I’d suggest you look at them.

[lorilu]

@Kemosabe

I-75 is a nightmare in and out of Ocala. Unlike Wellington, Ocala does not have the infrastructure to handle the traffic that WEC has brought or the tidal wave of new residents.

Those of us who live here know the other routes, and many avoid 75. I live near the FHP, and if I have to go south I take 301 down to Wildwood to catch the turnpike. Similar if going north I dont get on the highway until 326 or if I can I take 27 north… . And we know to always check google maps because an accident will close 75…

[DMK]

@lorilu

Marion County is the largest county in Florida, so there is that…

Well, it’s actually the 4th largest county by sq. miles, so there is that…

Collier, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade have it beat by a healthy margin. But technically Marion has the most developable land of the 4, although I’m not sure that’s really much to brag about in this day and age.

[lorilu]

OOPS Sorry… But the developable land part of your answer speaks to why you can be so far from down town (or WEC, or FHP) and “still be in Ocala”.

[happilyretired]

I think it’s fair to say that traffic is bad and getting worse pretty much everywhere in Florida. WEC has changed the game in terms of equestrian sport in Central Florida. The facility is well designed and massive, and they continue to grow. Land, while more expensive than it used to be, is no doubt cheaper than in the Wellington area. AND – you can get dry land and decent turnout pastures. There are shows, trainers, vets, farriers, clinics, tack shops … pretty much anything you’ll want or need. I don’t know Aiken so can’t compare.