Prior to leaving on our current road trip to New Hampshire I spent the last few months looking for things to do near the home base in Florida.We were getting the house ready to rent so we can move from most-of-the-time to full-time in the motorhome. (The rental still hasn’t happened, but it’s ready) Anyway, “staycations” I think is the term du jour for these low effort explorations of the neighborhood. I have been doing the day trip variety.
My very favorite was a tour of several thoroughbred horse ranches in Ocala. This trip was on my mind this morning now that the Belmont Stakes has run and once again we have no triple crown winner. I thought that beauty of a horse, I’ll Have Another, had a real shot at it, but it was not to be. But I digress, back to my close up look at some of these Ocala thoroughbreds.
Who knew this glorious world lay right at my doorstep (well, more like an hour from it) Sprawling, manicured acres of paddock after paddock, training tracks and barns you would be happy to live in. It was an up close view of working horse ranches. We watched them workout on tracks. We saw how they get trained in going in and out of a starting gate. And the horses? Wow, spectacular creatures. Lean, muscular, tall, dark, handsome (or was that the trainer?) I’ll let the photo’s speak for themselves. The horses, especially the foals, loved the camera.
Red Road Diaries 
Thanks for sharing the beauty of your travels. I feel as though I am right there as a result of your writings. Keep up the good work. Perhaps you should consider working for a travel magazine.
hi, thanks for the kind words, I’m thinking of turning it all into a book (e book?) at some point. J