Hello everyone! I accepted a job offer in Ocala and will be moving there this June. I have a tb gelding who I event with. Looking for boarding recommendations! Any and all advice is appreciated
Hi there!
Congrats on the new job!
I own Steppin’ Up Farm in Sparr, FL which is just north of Ocala. We are an easy 20-25 min drive to the heart of downtown Ocala, 15 min to Majestic Oaks (former Exmoor Farm- super facility that hosts schooling and USEA shows), 20 min to Longwood Farm and only 5 miles away from a lot of 4* trainers (Sinead Halpin, Clayton Fredericks, Kyle Carter, Denise Rath) that stay here year round! And we are a mile down the road from Sparr Building and Farm Supply! (Convienient when you need something 
We are a 10 acre farm on a dirt road which is great for hacking/trot sets. Large pastures, all day/night or 24h turnout, 5 acre jump/gallop field. We offer full care and partial care board (you buy your own feed/hay/grain and I feed and do daily care/cleaning).
Check us out and feel free to PM for any other info!
www.steppinupfarm.com
@xcatheart Great! I’ll get in contact with you when I go down to check out apartments/barns! Thanks for chiming in!
If anyone else has got any other info let me know!
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I have an upper level friend who runs her business out of Reddick! PM me if you’d like more info 
Hey there!
First, I have to say, the summers are not that bad. Really. I promise. I’m a Midwest transplant. I prefer the summers down here (but I do have to say, I start my mornings outside and stay outside all day so its not that bad, I’m sure its terrible if you’re coming out of an cold a/c filled building)
Join Ocala Sporthorse on FB, you will get tons of responses. You have a lot of different options at different price points.
Try to avoid costal hay at call costs- its cheaper but its not very good stuff.
You will have access to some amazing vets (with cheaper prices and no farm call generally) and some really great farriers and there are a ton of great trainers who stay down here year round in all disciplines.
We also have a lot of quality schooling shows through the summer.
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This is not true. Good quality coastal (or other varieties of Bermudagrass that end up being called “coastal” at the feed store) is fine horse hay. The issues that lead so many people to complain about bermudagrass are more related to the process of hay production than to the type of grass. Florida weather and soils are not as conducive to the production of good quality hay as some other regions of the country.
As long as you have a reliable supplier, coastal hay is fine and it’s what most people in Florida, including me, feed their equines.
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There is a higher incidence of colic in horses who eat coastal hay as compared with other hays. Coastal hay is cheap, but there is a risk. I am feeding beautiful orchard grass/alfalfa. It is expensive, but my boys each eat 1 flake twice daily. Soon, the pasture will be good enough that we don’t feed hay.
we moved to Ocala 3months ago. It is wonderful.
Thanks so much for the info! I’ll join that group ASAP! I’m not too worried about the summers, I hate the cold so this will be a welcome change! I have no problem paying extra for nice hay, so no problem with avoiding the coastal hay, thanks for the tip! So excited for the great farrier care, that has been so so hard to find here where I am. Im definitely looking forward to being in an area with a strong horse community, im moving there for residency so hoping to make some horsey friends outside the hospital bubble. Thanks again for the great response
I’ve done a bit of research into this in the past, reading research papers and talking to my vet. Yes, in some studies, there is a higher incidence of colic among horses eating coatal, but not in all studies. There are also a number of confounding factors that play a role in colic that can’t be disentangled from consuming coastal, prominent among those are sandy soils and increased risk of parasites, particularly tapeworms, both characteristic of southern climates where coastal is most likely to be fed. Most experts who are familiar with the research say that feeding good quality coastal hay does not increase the risk of colic.
Also, I want to emphasize that my argument is with the person who claimed that coastal hay is crap. No, it’s not. Good quality coastal hay is fine hay.
Is good quality orchard grass or timothy or T&A trucked in from the midwest better horse hay? Yes. I won’t argue with that at all. But, I can buy good quality, barn-stored coastal for a tiny fraction of what it would cost to feed orchard grass. After looking into the research on the relationship between colic and coastal, I decided that feeding coastal was perfectly safe to use in my feeding program. I buy good quality hay, I feed it in tubs or in a bale feeder so it’s up off the ground, and I follow the vet-recommended parasite control program.
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Also a midwest transplant (1.5 years ago), just to weight in on the coastal debate, I’m going to add that coastal is not exactly cheap. As a local hay, it’s still around $8/bale. Coming from Ohio, where I could get local grass (orchard or timothy mixes) hay for $3-4/bale and Alfalfa for $4-6/bale, $8 a bale is still expensive. But it’s the cheapest you can get of any hay around here.
I did extensive research before we moved here, and found that Bermuda coastal actually has the same basic nutritional profile as Orchard and Timothy (protein, fiber content). Bermuda tends to make a finer hay, which is believed to cause colic issues in some horses, if they don’t chew it up as well. I feed coastal to my mustang and have fed it to my OTTBs without problem, and the stuff I get usually looks no different than anything I ever got in Ohio. My vet has said she only sees issues with Bermuda when rounds are fed, and that’s likely a moisture/mold issue more than the actual hay itself. I found Tifton round bales and that’s what my thoroughbreds get right now, and I cover it with a tarp when it rains. Tifton actually has an average protein content higher than Orchard and Timothy.
Now, most of the Orchard, Timothy, and Alfalfa down here is better quality, but that’s not really the nature of the forage types themselves, it’s because it seems like the best hay from around the country gets shipped here. I have literally never seen such leprechaun-green hay before in my life, and that’s all you get here. This o/t/a is not at all like any of the same we fed in Ohio, it’s crazy. And you pay for it.
You do, however, want to stay away from Bahia, another type of coastal. That stuff is crap, like no nutritional value, should only be used for cows.
Hi there! If you haven’t found a place to board/train in Ocala yet, please email me at cheventing@gmail.com with any questions and to set up a time to come visit us at Tradewinds Farm. I moved here from Wisconsin a little less than 2 years ago. I had a large group of eventers there and still go up there to teach clinics regularly (and some of the fortunate ones come down here to train in the Winter). We have a small farm that is centrally located with customized care and professional instruction/training/coaching. We offer boarding, partial training, or full training based on your goals. I have produced multiple OTTBs to upper level competition as well as trained and coached many students to top placings in eventing through the CCI** level. We offer: Plenty of turn out, 12’ X 12’ rubber matted, well bedded, well ventilated stalls, a large jump field, and a standard GGT dressage arena. If you “like” Tradewinds Farm on Facebook, you will find some pictures (our page is still under construction as we spend more time in the barn than on the computer!) Good luck with the move!!!
Do you offer seasonal board? I’m trying to make early arrangements for a winter season for my 2 horses for next year. Dec 1 to Apr 1.
My friend Stacey Emory has a nice place for eventers in Ocala. You can find her on FB, and her place is called Camalou Farms (I think.) Very knowledgable- if I lived there, I would keep my horses there!
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Also, I want to emphasize that my argument is with the person who claimed that coastal hay is crap. No, it’s not. Good quality coastal hay is fine hay.
I’m commenting to emphasize this statement. When vets, particularly vets that frequently perform colic surgery say this, and advise against feeding Coastal, you have to consider the context in which their statements are made.
The impaction colics that they have come in as colic cases are frequently your standard “bermuda grass small intestine colics.” and they may be able to make the statement that most of the impaction colics they see are from Bermuda grass, but what they DON’T say or don’t consider is that for each case they see, there are thousands of horses across the Southeast eating predominantly coastal hay and never have an issue.
Bermuda grass can cause impaction colics, not just because it is bermuda grass, but because it is taken in with inadequate water consumption. It is great grass hay if you have otherwise good horse management. That kind of good horse management includes: buying good quality hay, ensuring horses have access to plenty of good, drinkable water, and taking other steps to see that they have healthy digestive systems. I feed a homemade salt electrolyte mixture year round, and I feed my feed wet, with soaked beet pulp for everyone, because the more nice moist stuff in their systems, the happier I am. I also feed a good quality coastal and have 24 hour turnout. If anyone is traveling, or stalled for any reason, they get perennial peanut hay (or alfalfa) mixed together with their coastal, to create a grass/legume mixture, which improves gut motility and increases water consumption.
My system isn’t perfect and I am fully aware that horses are always horses and looking for a reason to injure themselves/get sick and run up vet bills, but I’ve fed coastal bermuda hay for 20 years and it’s been fine.
FWIW, the Ocala area is better for getting T&A or O&A, but up here in Tallahassee, any T&A or Timothy that I’ve fed my horses gets used as bedding, and bales of it are $20+ so I came up with a way to feed the Coastal instead and make it work. And I’ve run my management systems past the same internists who say “don’t feed Coastal” as a general rule and they agreed with my plan.
It is just easier for them to tell people that Coastal is bad, than it is to get clients to totally change up their herd management.
Good luck in Ocala and welcome to Florida!!
Libby
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I know a few months have gone by since OP originally posted, but you should check our Andrew McConnon’s new location. Horse Power Farm or something of that sorts? He’s a great rider and trainer.
We do! I have a lot of students/training horses who come down from WI during that time but I never know who is coming until closer to Fall. It is first come, first serve until we are full so contact me at cheventing@gmail.com if you are interested in joining us!
