Which is better year round: Aiken vs Ocala

[No1]

Storms are usually over by 8 or so in the summer. I really don’t find it difficult to keep horses in, in front of fans, during the heat of the day, and put them out around dark. My horses have only ever stayed in over night like 2 or 3 times a summer. And I like my sleep. I’m not going out at 10 or 11 to bring horses in or put horses out, unless it’s an emergency.

As far as the alarm at the track, I suppose it’s possible, but it’s far more common for tracks to have loose horse alarms. Maybe someone mistook a loose horse siren for something else?

[JanM]

Florida is number one in lightning activity.

[wanderlust]

We have that on a couple of golf courses near us, not anywhere close to Florida. Frequent summer storms are a thing from the Rockies east, although FL certainly does get it more consistently.

My retired horse spent his last year living out under the oaks in Ocala, he and his friends fared just fine in the weather.

[beowulf]

I think that is the same everywhere. My single stop-light town has done a total 180 in the last 5-10 years. I think we now have 8 stoplights and several major intersections. Average rent went from sub $1,000 to now closer to $3,000.

I wouldn’t be surprised to learn the same is happening to Aiken. Aiken is close to some major satellite cities and is much more affordable for commuters. It was always going to grow.

[ClearRound]

We have the same bad thunderstorms in Aiken. We lost some fencing and run ins to a tornado at our barn. Thankfully the horses were not on property at the time ( horse show).

[ClearRound]

It is happening in Aiken. It’s insane how much Aiken has grown and how many subdivisions are being thrown up. Its not necessarily horse people moving here. We are now actually looking to relocate to Ocala because Florida ( Ocala specifically) not only offers upper level training options, but more opportunities for my husband. Plus Florida is more military friendly than SC.

[omare]

Sorry for the late response–It was a large private farm (perhaps Stronach’s?) and the person that repeated this (maybe not accurately?) ran one of the training barns. The whole place sounded like it was pretty much run with a lot of rules and oversight and not very much individual managing discretion. Things seemed very “structured” as it was run under one umbrella ( as there were not individual trainers/ owners making decisions like at the racetrack or many training centers.).