In early January Scott and I left South Carolina and headed south for a week to take advantage of the sunshine and balmy temps of central Florida. Longtime friend August Torsilieri (Gus), and his girlfriend and business partner Alexandra Hird, both show jumping professionals, generously invited us down to stay with them in Ocala. They winter in the Ocala area and were in the process of purchasing their first home, a beautiful Florida style ranch house they had rented for the previous two years and that was just minutes away from the lavish and immense World Equestrian Center.
As usual, Scott was the outfitter for the adventure and strapped as many modes of adventure as were physically possible onto his truck so that we could bike and canoe while we were down there. I always get a kick out of seeing how much stuff he can attach to the truck- it is quite impressive.
It was enjoyable seeing Gus and Alex and despite our arrival coinciding with the closing on the house, Gus cooked up an elaborate taco dinner for us the night we arrived. I was excited for Scott to get to spend time with them and get to know them. Gus and I first met back in the mid 00’s when he was assigned a horse I had contributed to the horse pool for the USPC International Tetrathlon Exchange in which he was a competitor. Then in 2010, I was his coach when the USPC Interpacific Exchange Team competed in Hong Kong. That once-in-a-lifetime trip created a long lasting friendship with his family, and all 3 of his sisters have at some point come down to SC to stay with me and ride with me. Fun fact: Gus’ father Dean owns the company that is in charge of procuring, transporting, erecting, and lighting the famous Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree every year.
On Monday we took Scott for a golf cart tour of the World Equestrian Center. It’s expanse and attention to detail is almost incomprehensible. According to their website, they are “nestled in the Horse Capital of the World” and I just want to take a moment here to discuss their choice of words. While there is little doubt that Ocala is a significant horsey area, there is no discrete “nestling” of this facility. It is bigger than some villages in eastern Europe and could just about have it’s own zip code. This facility stretches over 380 acres at the moment, with plans for development of another 300 in the works. By definition, if you are the “largest equestrian complex in the United States” and you have your own gas station (they do), you are not nestled anywhere, you are a modern day Holy Roman Empire. (Also, another sidenote… can we just stop using the word “nestled” in regards to real estate? It is overused and we just need to stop.)
The facility just opened in 2021 and has already changed Ocala. New highways are being built to accommodate the traffic it creates. The facility has an astonishing 15 outdoor arenas and 5 heated/cooled indoor arenas, over 3,000 stalls, and 8 restaurants. We enjoyed getting the tour and seeing Scott’s response to the attention to detail and opulence of the facility.
We had dinner at one of the on-site restaurants, The Yellow Pony, (complete with valet parking for the golf cart) and I was tickled that long time student, Emily Thomas was able to meet all of us for dinner. She is a senior at Clemson and was in Ocala on her winter break working and training with an upper level Eventing professional. It was ironic that it took both of us being hundreds of miles from home to be able to get together. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening and having a collection of some of my favorite people all together at a dinner table.
